The Central Michigan Chippewas dropped their final game of 2018 to the Toledo Rockets on Saturday.
This loss ended the statistically-worst season in program history at 1-11, 0-8 in Mid-American Conference play.
Friday’s MAC contest featured two instances of players fighting and saw three Chippewas ejected.
Takeaways as Rockets dominate Chippewas
The offense was as bad as it was all season
Earlier this week, head coach John Bonamego announced that redshirt freshman quarterback Austin Hergott would start the game in favor of sophomore Tony Poljan. Poljan officially moved to his natural tight end position after playing the entire season as quarterback and wide receiver.
Poljan’s departure paved the way for freshman George Pearson to move up the depth chart.
In Hergott’s second career start he struggled mightily, going 6-19 for 39 yards. The Chippewas only managed three first downs and just 62 total yards in the first half. Hergott was lifted in favor of Pearson. The change led to Pearson’s first collegiate appearance.
Pearson was a marginal improvement as he went 12-24 for 94 yards, an interception and a touchdown pass of his own. His first career passing attempt returned for a Toledo touchdown
The offense had one of its worst performances in the team’s final game. They managed to gain just 181 yards (48 rushing, 133 passing). The Chippewas totaled just 480 yards of total offense in their final three games of the season.
Defensively, it was the worst performance of the season
The Chippewas’ strength this season was its defense. Today that defense was almost as bad as the offense. Central Michigan gave up 473 total yards (293 rushing, 180 passing) to Toledo. More importantly, the Chippewas missed numerous tackles.
Toledo put up more points against the Chippewas than anyone else this season.
The one bright spot on defense was redshirt junior defensive tackle Mike Danna. He returned his second fumble recovery for a touchdown of the season. That score prevented Central Michigan’s first shutout since 2002 against Northern Illinois.
The season is now over and there will be a ton of questions going into the offseason. The Chippewas clearly have work to do to get back to success.
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