25 Questions to Fire Up

What is their body of work?

They are very unhappy in Mt. Pleasant over how the season has progressed.  Their only FBS win is over EMU and they are 2-6 overall.  They have lot five straight, including a bad loss to Ball State at home and getting killed at NIU.

How many seniors and juniors on the two-deep?

21

Do they have players in the National Top 20 rankings?

WR Cody Wilson is #18 in receiving yards per game with 87.

What is their turnover ratio?

This is their biggest issue.  They are -10 for the season, worst in the MAC and only 5 FBS teams have done worse.

Offense:

How is their QB Play?

Their QB is Ryan Radcliffe, a R-So seeing his first game action.  (He's from Sherwood, which is over near Indiana).  He is 8th in the conference in passing efficiency, hitting under 60% with 11 TDs and 14 Ints, which is the highest in the MAC.  Their coach benched him and brought in JUCO Brandon Fricke against NIU.  Based on what I have seen, it would appear he's going to be really good when he brings the INTs around.  He has a higher efficiency rating that Matt Schilz, for example.  But, clearly, when you give the ball away that much, you are putting your team in a position to lose.

What is their scoring and yards per play?

They are 2nd in yards per play in the MAC (tie), but 6th in scoring offense, probably due to all the turnovers.

Can they run the ball?

Central is tied for sixth in yards per carry.  Paris Cotton is their best back, and he is above average.  He is ranked as #4 in yards per game, but gets a lot of carries, so that's a little misleading.  He is not in the elite level of MAC runners.  He was also injured and missed NIU, but is expected to play on Saturday according to the CMU Student Paper.  One of his replacements (Volny) had a good game and the other (Tipton) did not.

Do they pass the ball?

They are second in the MAC in pass yardage.  This team is very effective in gaining yards passing and has a really good receiver in Cody Wilson.  What is holding them back is INTs.

How is their run/pass balance?

They are pretty balanced.  They run on 51.8% of their plays.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

They are 8th in the MAC on 3rd down conversion, so pretty average for a team with a good yards per play.

Do they score in the red zone?

They have gotten to the red zone 33 times, which is 2nd in the MAC.  They are averaging 3.9 points per trip, which is not very good.  They have 9 red zone whiffs, 6 of which have come on missed FGs.  They have also turned the ball over 3 times in the red zone.

Do they protect the quarterback?

This is not a strong point.  They have given up 22 sacks, which is tied for 9th in the MAC and is 1 less than BG.  They have had a lot of injuries on the line, which has caused people to move around and a lack of consistency.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play.

They are above average.  They are 5th in scoring defense and 7th in yards per play.

Do they defend the run effectively?

Well, they aren't as good as Kent.  That helps, right?  They are 6th in the MAC in yards per carry allowed.

Could they be passed on?

No, they are 7th in pass defense efficiency.  They have only 2 INTs this year.  (So, their run defense and their pass defense are pretty much the same, which is in the middle of the pack).

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

For an average defensive team, they are bringing it on 3rd down, and lead the MAC in 3rd down conversion allowed.

Do they defend in the red zone?

Well, on straight percentage they are not good, allowing a score 80% of the time.  However, of the 24 scores, 11 have been FGs, and they are only allowing 3.7 points per red zone trip, which is really good.  They have five earned stops, not counting missed FGs.

Do they pressure the QB?

They are second in the MAC in sacks, so we can expect our line to be tested to protect Matt Schilz.

Special Teams:

Punting?

Not a strong point.  They are 12th in net punting and in punt return yardage allowed.  They have been blocked once and had one punt returned for a TD.

Punt Return?

They are 6th in punt return average, with no TDs and no blocks.

Placekicking?

Big changes here from in the past, when Aguilar was money.  They have used 3 kickers who are a collective 6-14 with a long of 41 and one block.  Now, the guy who currently has the job is 5/6 and has the 41 long, so things might be getting a little better.

Kickoff?

They lead the MAC in kickoff coverage with teams starting on their own 24.

Kickoff Return?

They usually start on the 27 off a kickoff.  They have no TDs this year and their long is 42 yards.

Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.

In many ways, right down the line, these teams are very similar.  Records are similar, injuries are similar, and
young QBs are similar.  The difference is that I have the impression that feelings are strong in Mt. Pleasant about the state of the program, whereas BG fans I think are tolerant of the season and waiting for things to get better.

CMU's Coach Enos has been doing a lot of "coaching" this week and he might be making things worse or losing his team.  Time will tell.

Both teams have nothing tangible to play for, and that almost always has an effect on teams.

The game is at CMU, but I wouldn't expect a big gameday atmosphere there.

Neither team seems healthy.