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Chippewas going for first 4-0 start since 1985 Saturday at Virginia

Senior defensive lineman Jabari Dean (52) will the No. 21 memorial jersey this Saturday to honor the late Derrick Nash.

During the 1985 football season, a player named John Bonamego walked on to the Central Michigan football team and landed a spot as a wide receiver, backup quarterback and special teamer.

That team was coached by Herb Deromedi, and they went on to start the season 4-0 after beating Pacific, Ohio, Kent State and Western Michigan en route to a 7-3 record.

That team is significant for a pair of reasons. The first being that it was the last time the Chippewas started a season 4-0, and the second being that the walk-on named Bonamego is now coaching CMU, looking to get back to that 4-0 mark.

The Chippewas travel to Charlottesville, Virginia this Saturday to take on the UVA Cavaliers from the ACC. It will be the second Power 5 conference team the Chippewas will face on the road this season, the first being a 30-27 win over Oklahoma State in week two.

CMU will enter Saturday's contest with a ton of momentum after scoring 44 points against UNLV last weekend behind six touchdown passes from quarterback Cooper Rush.

Virginia on the other hand will come into the game without a win after losing a heartbreaker last Saturday to Connecticut. Virginia had a chance to tie the game with a last second field goal, but they brought on a former Division III soccer player who was competing in his first football game. He missed the kick.

The Chippewas and Cavaliers have only met one other time in their history, and it was UVA winning that game 55-21 at home in 1996. On top of that, CMU is 0-13 all time against the ACC, and will be looking to break that streak against a struggling Virginia team. The Cavs are 11-2-1 all time against the Mid-American Conference.

The offense and the defense for CMU both rank inside the top 30 in the entire country, averaging 41 points per game on offense while giving up just 17 points per game on defense.

While the offense has shown great flashes, it's been the defense that has really shined in 2016. On third downs, the Chippewas have the second best efficiency rate in the country and have been able to get off the field at an incredible clip (7-for-45). The run defense has also been stellar ranking in the top-20 in the country, relinquishing just 92 yards per game on the ground.

They have five interceptions through the first three games this year while only have seven interceptions all of last season. But CMU is just +1 in the turnover margin as the offense has found trouble holding onto the ball at times.

Quarterback Cooper Rush seemed to shake the turnover bug last week, however, throwing for six touchdowns and no interceptions setting a new Kelly/Shorts Stadium record for touchdown passes in a game. He has continued to spread the ball around with four different receivers have 10-plus catches on the year.

The Cavaliers do not rank in the top 50 in any offensive or defensive category this season.

While Devon Spalding continues to lead the CMU rushing attack with 166 yards on 31 carries this season (5.4 YPC), it has been freshman Jonathan Ward that has shown the biggest burst this season. He has compiled 135 yards on 22 carries (6.1 YPC) and should continue to get more and more work as the season goes on. Goal-line back Jahray Hayes has 99 yards on 25 carries to go with three touchdowns.

While the big news this week came out about the game on October 1st against Western Michigan, head coach John Bonamego has made no mention of the Broncos, and knows how important it is to not overlook the Cavaliers.

They are a well-coached team under Bronco Mendenhall, who was the head coach at BYU for a decade (2005-2015) while having many successful seasons. He enters Saturday's game with 99 career wins, so you know his team will be looking to get him to that special number 100.

The big player to watch for on the Virginia side of the ball is Taquan "Smoke" Mizzell. He is a dynamic player who can run the ball out of the backfield and can line up at wide receiver. He is one of just five players in Virginia's history to have 1,000 career rushing yards and 1,000 career receiving yards.

On defense, junior linebacker Micah Kiser has had a special season with 34 tackles, good enough for first in the ACC and 10th in the country. He led the ACC last season in total tackles as a sophomore averaging nearly 10 tackles per game.

If the Chippewas can remain poised and avoid the big mistakes they should continue to see their successful season get even better.


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