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College Bowl Record (4-2)
+$1990
Motor City Bowl
Middle Tennesee vs. Central Michigan
Line: CMU -8
My play: Central Michigan minus the 8
Amount: 1100 to win 1000
I usually don't like to play on teams dealing with coaches leaving, but CMU is a completely different scenario, because Jeff Quinn was Brian Kelly's right hand man for 18 years, and Quinn has extra motivation in this one because this is in effect his audition for the full time coaching job. He isn't some lame duck coach keeping the seat warm, he has a chance to win this job, so I expect him to have his guys ready on Tuesday at Ford Field. He has already stated that he isn't going to change anything that CMU has been doing, besides stepping up the intensity both on and off the field, and that should bode well for the cover as I expect CMU to come out fired up as they really love Quinn and want him to be the next head coach. Remember that he was the Offensive Coordinator, the Associated Head Coach, and the OL Coach, so the guys are familiar with his schemes and won't need to worry about learning anything new for this one. I do expect him to throw in a wrinkle or two though to show why he deserves this job. Being a long time assistant, possibly one win away from a head coaching job, I expect him to be focused on winning this one handily to show that there is no drop off from Kelly to him.
CMU has set a ticket sales record by the way, as they have already sold about 16,000 tickets for this one, as the faithful from Mt Pleasant will be out in full force for this one, so this will be in essence a home game for the Chips. MTSU has made a lot of comments about just being happy to be here and just being blown away by everything they are experiencing, while CMU is all business in this one. I expect them to put on a show for the "home crowd" as MTSU just doesn't have the guns to keep up with the Chips in this one.
I think MTSU is overmatched in this one, both in the trenches and in the specialty positions. I look for the Chips to put on a nice show for the almost 20,000 fans making the trip down from Mt Pleasant. This will be a home game for them and I think MTSU will be somewhat overwhelmed from the get go, and will fall into a happy to just be here mentality. See below for some quotes on the game from both coaches that support some of my thoughts.
CMU NOTES and QUOTES
...Quinn, however, has spent most of his career standing next to Kelly. Quinn coached for 15 years as an assistant with Kelly at Grand Valley State University. When Kelly came to CMU, so did Quinn.
When CMU takes the field Tuesday, so will Quinn, just with a few more hats. Quinn is the offensive coordinator, offensive line coach and interim head coach for the game.
"What you've seen CMU do all season long is what you'll see in the Motor City Bowl," Quinn said. "The team has an identity. They players know what they're all about. You're going to see four tough, aggressive quarters of football.
"We're going to push the envelope, try to make big plays on defense, create turnovers ... then on offense we're going to be aggressive, too, taking advantage of the turnovers. Nothing is going to change because of the coaching or because of the bowl game."
...The scene-stealer for the Blue Raiders, however, is defensive back and kick returner Damon Nickson, who was named to several all-American teams, including SI.com and Scout.com.
Nickson returned 19 kickoffs for 569 yards for two touchdowns and an average of 29.94 yards per return. As a defensive back, Nickson had 56 tackles and five interceptions.
"We're going to do everything we can to take him out of the game, not to let him beat us," Quinn said. "Guys like him, playmakers, are guys that can beat you. Our strategy has always been not to let guys like that beat you. You do whatever you have to do."
MTSU NOTES AND QUOTES
"Going to the Motor City Bowl is a great reward for everything this team, especially the seniors, have gone through," Stockstill said. "It's been a lot of hard work to get to this point. Everybody here, from the players to the community to the university, is excited to get to play in a bowl game."
"The one thing that caught our attention was how big their offensive line is," Stockstill said. "They're a lot bigger than what we're used to seeing, both on the offensive and defensive lines.
"You've got the big lines, then you've got a quarterback (Dan LeFevour) who's having a great year, a very accurate year. Plus, he's surrounded by big-play receivers and a solid running game that's the best we've seen outside of Adrian Peterson at Oklahoma."
Prediction: CMU 34 MTSU 17
+$1990
Motor City Bowl
Middle Tennesee vs. Central Michigan
Line: CMU -8
My play: Central Michigan minus the 8
Amount: 1100 to win 1000
I usually don't like to play on teams dealing with coaches leaving, but CMU is a completely different scenario, because Jeff Quinn was Brian Kelly's right hand man for 18 years, and Quinn has extra motivation in this one because this is in effect his audition for the full time coaching job. He isn't some lame duck coach keeping the seat warm, he has a chance to win this job, so I expect him to have his guys ready on Tuesday at Ford Field. He has already stated that he isn't going to change anything that CMU has been doing, besides stepping up the intensity both on and off the field, and that should bode well for the cover as I expect CMU to come out fired up as they really love Quinn and want him to be the next head coach. Remember that he was the Offensive Coordinator, the Associated Head Coach, and the OL Coach, so the guys are familiar with his schemes and won't need to worry about learning anything new for this one. I do expect him to throw in a wrinkle or two though to show why he deserves this job. Being a long time assistant, possibly one win away from a head coaching job, I expect him to be focused on winning this one handily to show that there is no drop off from Kelly to him.
CMU has set a ticket sales record by the way, as they have already sold about 16,000 tickets for this one, as the faithful from Mt Pleasant will be out in full force for this one, so this will be in essence a home game for the Chips. MTSU has made a lot of comments about just being happy to be here and just being blown away by everything they are experiencing, while CMU is all business in this one. I expect them to put on a show for the "home crowd" as MTSU just doesn't have the guns to keep up with the Chips in this one.
I think MTSU is overmatched in this one, both in the trenches and in the specialty positions. I look for the Chips to put on a nice show for the almost 20,000 fans making the trip down from Mt Pleasant. This will be a home game for them and I think MTSU will be somewhat overwhelmed from the get go, and will fall into a happy to just be here mentality. See below for some quotes on the game from both coaches that support some of my thoughts.
CMU NOTES and QUOTES
...Quinn, however, has spent most of his career standing next to Kelly. Quinn coached for 15 years as an assistant with Kelly at Grand Valley State University. When Kelly came to CMU, so did Quinn.
When CMU takes the field Tuesday, so will Quinn, just with a few more hats. Quinn is the offensive coordinator, offensive line coach and interim head coach for the game.
"What you've seen CMU do all season long is what you'll see in the Motor City Bowl," Quinn said. "The team has an identity. They players know what they're all about. You're going to see four tough, aggressive quarters of football.
"We're going to push the envelope, try to make big plays on defense, create turnovers ... then on offense we're going to be aggressive, too, taking advantage of the turnovers. Nothing is going to change because of the coaching or because of the bowl game."
...The scene-stealer for the Blue Raiders, however, is defensive back and kick returner Damon Nickson, who was named to several all-American teams, including SI.com and Scout.com.
Nickson returned 19 kickoffs for 569 yards for two touchdowns and an average of 29.94 yards per return. As a defensive back, Nickson had 56 tackles and five interceptions.
"We're going to do everything we can to take him out of the game, not to let him beat us," Quinn said. "Guys like him, playmakers, are guys that can beat you. Our strategy has always been not to let guys like that beat you. You do whatever you have to do."
MTSU NOTES AND QUOTES
"Going to the Motor City Bowl is a great reward for everything this team, especially the seniors, have gone through," Stockstill said. "It's been a lot of hard work to get to this point. Everybody here, from the players to the community to the university, is excited to get to play in a bowl game."
"The one thing that caught our attention was how big their offensive line is," Stockstill said. "They're a lot bigger than what we're used to seeing, both on the offensive and defensive lines.
"You've got the big lines, then you've got a quarterback (Dan LeFevour) who's having a great year, a very accurate year. Plus, he's surrounded by big-play receivers and a solid running game that's the best we've seen outside of Adrian Peterson at Oklahoma."
Prediction: CMU 34 MTSU 17
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