2018 Central Michigan Chippewas football team

2018 Mid-American Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Buffalo x	7	–	1	10	–	4
Miami (OH)	6	–	2	6	–	6
Ohio	6	–	2	9	–	4
Akron	2	–	6	4	–	8
Bowling Green	2	–	6	3	–	9
Kent State	1	–	7	2	–	10
West Division
Northern Illinois x$	6	–	2	8	–	6
Western Michigan	5	–	3	7	–	6
Eastern Michigan	5	–	3	7	–	6
Toledo	5	–	3	7	–	6
Ball State	3	–	5	4	–	8
Central Michigan	0	–	8	1	–	11
Championship: Northern Illinois 30, Buffalo 29
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions

The 2018 Central Michigan Chippewas football team represents Central Michigan University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They are led by fourth-year head coach John Bonamego and play their home games at Kelly/Shorts Stadium as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference.

Previous season

The Chippewas finished the 2017 season 8–5, 6–2 in MAC play to finish in a tie for second place in the West Division. They received an invitation to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl where they lost to Wyoming.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Wuerffel Trophy^[1]	Mitch Stanitzek	DL	SR

Preseason media poll

The MAC released their preseason media poll on July 24, 2018, with the Chippewas predicted to finish in fifth place in the West Division.^[2]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
West Division
1	Northern Illinois	133 (15)
2	Toledo	125 (7)
3	Western Michigan	87 (1)
4	Eastern Michigan	67
5	Central Michigan	58 (1)
6	Ball State	34

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	3:30 p.m.	at Kentucky*	Kroger Field Lexington, KY	ESPNU	L 20–35	49,138
September 8	3:00 p.m.	Kansas*	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN+	L 7-31	18,127
September 15	3:30 p.m.	at Northern Illinois	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	ESPN+	L 16-24	12,354
September 22	3:00 p.m.	No. 13 (FCS) Maine*	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN+	W 17-5	16,474
September 29	12:00 p.m.	at No. 21 Michigan State*	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	FS1	L 20-31	73,752
October 6	12:00 p.m.	Buffalo	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	CBSSN	L 24-34	14,044
October 13	3:00 p.m.	Ball State	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN3	L 23–24	10,255
October 20	3:30 p.m.	Western Michigan	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI (Michigan MAC Trophy/Victory Cannon)	ESPN+
October 27		at Akron	InfoCision Stadium Akron, OH
November 3	12:00 p.m.	at Eastern Michigan	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI (Michigan MAC Trophy/rivalry)	ESPN3
November 10	3:00 p.m.	Bowling Green	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN+
November 23		at Toledo	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[3]

Game summaries

at Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	3	17	0	0	20
Wildcats	7	14	7	7	35

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–6	2011	UK, 26–13

Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jayhawks	0	7	14	10	31
Chippewas	0	0	7	0	7

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–2	2017	CMU, 45–27

at Northern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	0	3	7	6	16
Huskies	0	14	7	3	24

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
29–23–1	2017	CMU, 31–24

Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 (FCS) Black Bears	0	0	3	2	5
Chippewas	0	10	0	7	17

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Michigan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	3	0	0	17	20
No. 21 Spartans	0	17	14	0	31

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–7	2015	MSU, 30–10

Buffalo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	7	10	7	10	34
Chippewas	3	0	14	7	24

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–1	2015	CMU, 51–14

Ball State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	7	0	17	24
Chippewas	3	17	0	3	23

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
25–24–1	2017	CMU, 56–9

Western Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos					0
Chippewas					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
38–48–2	2017	CMU, 35–28

at Akron

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas					0
Zips					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
16–9–1	2015	CMU, 14–6

at Eastern Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas					0
Eagles					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
60–29–6	2017	CMU, 42–30

Bowling Green

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons					0
Chippewas					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
18–22	2010	BGSU, 17–14

Toledo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas					0
Rockets					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
60–29–6	2017	TOL, 30–10

References

^ "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
^ http://getsomemaction.com/news/2018/7/23/niu-ohio-picked-as-divisional-winners-in-2018-mac-football-media-preseason-poll.aspx
^ 2018 Central Michigan Chippewas football schedule 'FBSchedules.com'. Accessed April 11, 2018.

[1] "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.

[2] ttp://getsomemaction.com/news/2018/7/23/niu-ohio-picked-as-divisional-winners-in-2018-mac-football-media-preseason-poll.aspx

[3] 2018 Central Michigan Chippewas football schedule 'FBSchedules.com'. Accessed April 11, 2018.

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v t e Central Michigan Chippewas football
Venues	Kelly/Shorts Stadium (1972–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Eastern Michigan Western Michigan Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan: Michigan MAC Trophy
Culture & lore	Chippewa Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913–1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold