Central Mich Chippewas

Head Coach

Butch Jones	2nd year
07-08	8-6
MAC	6-1
FCR	58

Previous Season Wins

Head Coach - Butch Jones enters his 2nd season at Central Michigan and coming in there were high expectations, and even though they ended up winning the MAC championship they weren’t the dominant team that many expected. With 17 starters returning including 1st All-MAC quarterback Dan LeFevour the bar will once again be set high. The defense was the 109th ranked unit last season and improvement is needed across the board if they hope to defend their title in the much-improved MAC.

Quarterback - It all starts with quarterback Dan LeFevour, the junior threw for 3,652 yards and rushed for an amazing 1,122 yards, he had 27 passing TD’s and 19 rushing TD’s. He’s a solid accurate passer who sees the whole field and always seems to know when to tuck the ball and run.

Running Backs - The running game in addition to LeFevour is solid where both Justin Hoskins and Ontario Sneed return, Hoskins averaged 5.8 yards a carry and Sneed rushed for 486 yards and is also a threat out of the backfield.

Receivers - At wide receiver sophomore Antonio Brown and junior Bryan Anderson are the best duo in the MAC. Brown was conference Freshman of the Year, he had 102 receptions for 1,003 yards and totaled 2,267 all-purpose yards, Anderson had 90 catches for 1,132 yards and 10 TD’s. Senior Joe Bockheim and sophomore Kito Pholah will be in the rotation as well. At the tight end spot will be redshirt freshman Rocky Weaver.

Offensive Line - The line returns four starters led by left tackle senior Andrew Hartline who may be the MAC best offensive lineman. Also returning are right tackle senior Greg Wojt, at center sophomore Colin Miller and at right guard sophomore Jeff Maddux. At left guard JUCO Joe McMahon will battle junior Allen Ollenburger for the starting spot.

Defensive Line - The front four is the one area of the defense that performed relatively well last season and three starters return. On the outside juniors Frank Zombo Sam Williams and Larry Knight all started at times last year a form a good rotation. On the inside senior Casey Droscha will be at nose guard and at tackle look for both senior Antroine Archer and sophomore Sean Murnane to contribute.

Linebackers - In the middle sophomore Nick Bellore returns, he led the team with 102 tackles last year and will be asked to do more in 08’. On the strongside will be sophomore Matt Berning and on the weakside look for both junior Tim Brazzel and junior Calvin Hissong to contribute, redshirt freshman Mike Petrucci will be in the rotation as well

Defensive Backs - As a unit this group was one of the nations worst, they were the118th ranked team against the pass and opposing passers completed 65.4% of their throws against them. Both corners return in juniors Josh Gordy and Tommy Mama, Gordon led the Chippewa’s with 4 picks. At strong safety will be junior Chaz West and at free safety it will be between sophomore Bobby Seay and junior Eric Frazier.

Special Teams - The placekicking will be handled once again by junior Andrew Aguila, he was 9-14 on his field goal attempts with a long of 51 yards. Sophomore Brett Hartmann is the leading candidate to replace four-year starter Tony Mikulec at punter. Sophomore Antonio Brown was outstanding handling the returns last season and Central Michigan appears set for the next three seasons in this area.

Schedule - They will be tested early at Georgia and two weeks later they travel to Purdue, they were beaten 51-48 by the Boilermakers in the Motor City Bowl to end last season so they’ll be entering the game with a bit of a chip on their shoulders. They get both Western Michigan and Ball St at home and that’s a plus, a trip to Indiana in November will be a good test for the Chippewa’s. They’ll score in bunches but can the defense show any improvement is the question. Look for huge numbers for the offense but in the W-L, look for 8+ wins again in 08’.