Miami enters its Week 4 matchup with Central Michigan as massive, 40-plus-point favorites. The Hurricanes, with a talent edge at every position, are expected to win with ease, especially considering the fact that the Chippewas rank 134th out of 138 teams nationally in total yards per game.
Still, Central Michigan (2-1) is well-coached and plays a physical brand of football that Miami (3-0, 2-0 ACC) must be prepared for. The strength of the Chippewas’ offense is their ground game, which ran for 339 yards and three touchdowns in a 24-10 win over Wyoming in Week 3.
This rushing attack is led by quarterback Angel Flores, who has a team-high 312 rushing yards this season. Central Michigan head coach Matt Drinkall was previously the offensive line coach at Army, and that background is apparent in how his offense is centered around Flores making plays with his legs.
“Since last year when Coach Drinkall came in and Jim Chapin, our offensive coordinator, they’ve always said, ‘We want to have an extra blocker in the run game, so if we can get a dual-threat quarterback, where he can run the football and there’s that extra running back blocker, we’re gonna use that to our advantage.’ Wyoming couldn’t stop that,” said Central Michigan play-by-play announcer Adam Jaska on “Canes Culture,” presented by CanesWearTV.
Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal complemented the Chippewas’ QB-focused run game when asked about Central Michigan during his Monday press conference.
“They get after it up front, and they do it in every way possible: quarterback stretch, quarterback power, power read, quarterback counter, toss away, quarterback counter the other way,” he said. “A lot of ways to not only run the quarterback but to use him as a decoy and get the ball out on the perimeter, so it’s one of those weeks where the level of eye discipline is critical to attain success.”
In addition to Flores, the Chippewas feature the running back duo of Jayden Clerveaux and Vaughn Blue, who each have over 100 yards this year.
“They love their running back room,” Jaska said. “I think if you ask Coach Chapin, the OC, ‘what’s the strength of this offense,” it’s the running back room. And no surprise, they want to be physical. They want to be able to run the football, and they want to be able to do it without having to throw their quarterback out there every single play.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Central Michigan has been more competitive, ranking 54th in the country in total yards allowed per game. Linebackers Xavier White, Mayson Hitchens and Brett McCalla have emerged as the stars of the defense, combining for 70 tackles through three games.
“What I love about our linebackers is that none of them were really playing much for us last year … This defense, for the most part, there’s two guys back from last year’s squad that got a pretty good amount of time.”
“Pretty much everybody else is new. White, he’s been waiting in the wings and has learned from the seniors that were before him. And then Mayson Hitchens and Brett McCalla, those guys didn’t join Central Michigan and get up to Mount Pleasant until the summer. So I think Sean Cronin, the defensive coordinator, has just done a nice job with this defense and making sure that they’re in the right spots, and they’re able to make plays.”
