It was a Magical Night Under the Flares in Mount Pleasant

Written by: Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. on 12th November 2009

It was electric. The pre-game festivities and atmosphere would rival more than half of the Big Ten for game day atmosphere. I am talking about last night’s CMU vs. Toledo nationally televised game.

The CMU student section literally rocked Kelly Shorts stadium, but it was something other than football that had the place rocking at the feverish pitch well before kickoff. As the Chippewa fans sang their alma mater, prior to the team coming on the field, the student section broke into thunderous applause. A standing ovation as (being Veteran’s Day the CMU athletic administration did nothing short of an outstanding job of honoring the military) current Army soldiers filed past them and the classy Chip students saluted our heroes with their respect.

It was moving. In fact, I take no shame in admitting that it brought tears to my eyes, but they weren’t done yet. Soon after the standing ovation, the PA announcer drew the stadium crowds’ attention to the heavens. From two miles up in the air, a group of four Army paratroopers had just jumped out of a plane.

Invisible to the eye due to the black sky, the announcer told us that they would jump from two miles up, free fall for 4,000 feet and then, with what looked like streaming comets (actually burning flares), land at the 50-yard line of the stadium.

They did just that. Football players stood mesmerized looking to the sky and applauding perfect landings by our heroes. In a nationally televised game that most schools would salivate to make all about them, CMU masterfully made it about the military, and oh by the way…the fireworks weren’t over. CMU had given perhaps the most glorious salute to the troops I have ever seen from an athletic team.

They created an energy that never let up the entire game.

The crowd rocked, the Chippewas rocked, and they played terrible host to the Toledo Rockets. CMU ran over, around, and through, as the proud Rocket team had no business being on the field. The CMU “Football Family,” as they like to be called, outdid Toledo in every aspect of the game of football. Butch Jones and his staff clearly out-coached them, the players out-played them, and the crowd intimidated them.

Dan LeFevour (ignorantly) has had to face questions of arm strength. With one play running out of bounds to his right, he threw a strike for a long gain that made one NFL scout say, “What arm strength issues?”

The score isn’t even indicative of the outcome. Toledo made some late scores against CMU backups, and Butch Jones called off the hounds and still scored when trying to run the clock out. LeFevour became the all time Chippewa career rushing TD leader with 45. In a game that he personally accounted for six touchdowns he owned the Rockets.

At one point CMU accounted for 49 unanswered points in a 56-28 blowout.

Now, I have admitted many times my friendship with Jones and I say that only in the interest of fair disclosure, but what he has done since Brian Kelly departed is amazing. He inherited a team that was beat up emotionally, devoid of depth on the defensive side of the ball, and needing more personal attention than the Bill Murray character in the movie “What about Bob?” What has Jones done? Win!

The Chips now sit with an 8-2 record, and they are begging God that the Wolverines win a coveted sixth spot so they can face them in the Little Caesar’s Pizza Pizza bowl. All night the fans clamored for the imaginary State of Michigan trophy that the Chips could fictitiously win if they faced and beat the Wolverines after having beat MSU, WMU and EMU already.

Wednesday night wasn’t about Jones. It wasn’t even about LeFevour or a win. It was about the entire night. For schools to succeed at any level or conference in college football the game event has to become the center of attention. At CMU they get it.

With plans for adding an additional 15,000 seats, more luxury boxes, and more amenities as they look to the celebrate the state game against MSU, they are getting what football is all about.

Their student section literally rocks and cheers at a head splitting pace all night from kickoff to the final seconds. They may be a MAC school, but they bring fervor better than many Big Ten schools.

They aren’t OSU or USC, but CMU is special. Special enough that with temperatures in the high 20s on a Wednesday night, ahead by multiple touchdowns, the fans, the students, and the team didn’t quit. Game day at CMU hasn’t become so proud of itself that it forgets that the game day is about football, family, and friends. They get it.

Last night was bigger than CMU, it was a victory for the State of Michigan and, even more importantly, it was bigger for the game of football. CMU played as a University on the national stage, and like a magical maestro they hit every note and took every action and the game of football won.

The day after Thanksgiving, Northern Illinois will make a trip to Mount Pleasant. Trust me, making the short drive for that experience is worth it. You won’t be disappointed.

Last night’s finale said it all. A la Boise State vs. Oklahoma, a Chippewa dropped to one knee to ask his girlfriend to marry him. That stadium may not hold 77,000, but it does do the game day experience better than several Big Ten teams and has become a jewel in crown of the State.

Maybe NW, Indiana, and Purdue should come to Mount Pleasant. From the students to the fans they could take some lessons from Central Michigan on how to run a Big Ten caliber football game day experience off the field.

Maybe not the more THEY think of it, they may not like leaving Mt. Pleasant with a loss on it.

You CAN CLICK HERE or on the Hondo’s House ICON on the right side of the main page to watch Coach Jones and Dan LeFevour’s post game press conference.