Central Michigan avoids collapse to FCS Rhode Island

The underdog mentality from the Rams had Central Michigan reeling for three overtimes at Kelly/Shorts Stadium, the first occurrence of CMU finishing a game in extra time since Oct. 15 of last year against Northern Illinois.

Mistakes on special teams, offense unable to capitalize on each of the six turnovers caused by the Central Michigan's defense and not taking an FCS school that's won four games in four years seriously enough can all be explanations to why the Chippewas walked away with a 30-27 win.

"Proud with how the team hung in there and fought," said head coach John Bonamego. "There's a lot of lessons to be learned from this game. Not really happy with some of the execution that I saw out there."

A minute into the fourth quarter saw the Chippewas maintaining a 14-point lead following sophomore running back Jonathan Ward's first touchdown of the season. Ward recorded 147 yards on 19 carries. The scoring run was his longest of 36 yards.

Ward was not on the field during CMU's game winning play, as senior captain Devon Spalding found the north end zone. The four-yard play gave him 70 total rushing yards.

CMU finished with 499 yards in total offense, with 253 coming through the air. Graduate transfer Shane Morris got the start and stayed in the game for its entirely, not counting two drives in the third quarter.

Morris, who previously started two games in his four years at the University of Michigan, completed 25 of 49 passes, recording 226 yards with both an interception and touchdown pass.

The connection to sophomore Brandon Childress with 2:24 remaining in the second quarter was Morris' first ever touchdown throw in his collegiate career.

Childress finished with 20 yards receiving, fourth most on the team. Senior Mark Chapman, who wore the No. 21 jersey in honor of the late-Derrick Nash, caught five passes for 88 yards.

"We have to execute bigger plays for touchdowns," Morris said. "People are going to look at the stats and think why we didn't score. It just comes down to us getting into the end zone."

Rhode Island went scoreless in the first half before quarterback Tyler Harris completed a 56-yard scoring play to receiver Isaiah Coulter late in the third quarter, cutting Central Michigan's lead to six.

Harris recorded two more touchdowns in the final quarter, including one with just over two minutes remaining to force overtime. He went 21-0f-40 passing for 284 yards. Harris also had six interceptions thrown to four different CMU players, tying a program record for most in a single-game.

Senior defensive backs Josh Cox and Amari Coleman each collected two picks, with the latter making a one-handed grab in the second quarter at CMU's own 23-yard line. Cox, who made the switch to safety this season, finished third on the team in tackles with eight.

Junior linebacker Alex Briones, who along with Illinois graduate transfer Darwyn Kelly, added an interception of his own, made 11 tackles including two for a loss and a sack. Fellow linebacker Malik Fountain, a first-team All-MAC selectee in 2016, recorded 10 tackles.

"Everyone was making great plays honestly," Briones said. "Our corners played well in coverage. Those interceptions were big, it kept us in the game. I'm proud of the defensive guys, flying around and making turnovers."

The two teams traded a field goal in the first overtime. Rhode Island, unable to capitalize on Morris fumbling the snap which led to a turnover, missed the potential game winning field goal, shanking the ball to the right of the goal post.

Michael Armstrong, who has two years of eligibility after graduating from Southern Methodist, was 3-of-4 from field goal opportunities, including one from 39 yards out. Sophomore Kaden Keon had kickoff responsibilities for CMU.

A 36-yard conversion by the Rams in the final overtime led to a five-play, 25-yard drive that ended in the Spalding score. It was second down on the seven-yard line after Morris nearly turned it over again but recovered and ran for nine yards.

The former five-star recruit from Warren De La Salle (Mich.) rushed for 32 yards on seven attempts.

"Confidence stayed the whole game," Morris said. "I tried not to get too high or too low. When things went rolling, we didn't just crack and tuck our heads."

Redshirt freshman Tony Poljan had a quiet outing and played less than what was expected after Bonamego iterated both quarterbacks would get equal reps Thursday. Poljan completed three of his five throws for 27 yards in the third quarter.

"The plan was to use Tony [Poljan] more," Bonamego said. "I thought he did a decent job when he was in there."

Central Michigan plays guest to Kansas and Syracuse in back-to-back weeks before hosting Miami (OH) on Sept. 23. Four games will be on the road for CMU, including a trip to Boston College, before its homecoming game Oct. 14 against Toledo.