Ball State Cardinals vs. Central Michigan Chippewas, 9/21/2024, 4:24pm

Chippewas 37 – Cardinals 34, Attendance: 18,011

Weather: Sunny, 79; Ticket: $10 Face: $17 Parking: $25 (both CMU)

“What the small school experience should be” by Tree

Central Michigan is in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The easiest way to get there is to fly in from Detroit and then make the two- and half-hour drive west. We kind of, sorta did that. Given that seeing the Chippewas was not exactly on my wife’s bucket list, I enticed her with a side trip to Mackinac Island. A very popular tourist spot in the U.P. (that’s the Upper Peninsula for those of you not familiar with the great lakes), it is four hours north of Detroit. We drove up Thursday, then spent Friday exploring the island (on foot because there are no cars) and eating fudge (another Mackinac thing). Saturday morning, we packed up and drove the two and half hours south to Mount Pleasant. We did not spend a lot of time in Mount Pleasant as a buddy described it as “a bit seedy with casinos surrounding it.” Whether that is true or not, I would guess the draw to the town itself is limited. The side trip to Mackinac was a nice pairing. We were not the only ones doing it. USC was at Michigan the same weekend and we talked to a couple of the Trojan faithful on Island Friday doing the same thing.

If you have read any of my other small school reviews, my lament on over-priced and nearly empty tailgate lots at small schools should resonate with you. When I combined this with the fact that my wife doesn’t love tailgating, I planned to just walk around for a bit. I did only a cursory review of parking, hoping I could find a free spot on the way in rather than pre-buying a lot space for $20 from CMU. There were no side streets surrounding the stadium, so I just decided to pay $25 cash price for the CMU lot.

As we were turning the corner into the lot, I was expecting just a bunch of parked cars. Instead, we got dropped right into tailgating central. There were tents, kids, and cornhole everywhere. I looked at my wife and sighed, “This is how easy it should be.” I got out, threw up the rental car hatchback and started munching our Jersey Mike’s pregame meal. The kids next to us immediately started asking questions about Somanystadiums and I gave them some koozies. Admittedly, I was bit disappointed when instead of reciprocating with an adult beverage, they suggested that if I walked around someone would probably give me a beer. As recent grads, I guess their beer budget was still tight. After finishing eating, I toured the lot, chatting with folks trying to get background on the CMU experience. Eventually, I was offered food and thankfully an ice-cold beer from some CMU alums. It would not be fair to describe Chippewa fans as cheap/unfriendly, but it’s not Nebraska Nice either.

It is a minor complaint though. Normally, I would have my own beer in hand from the get-go. The unique thing about the tailgating was that it was heavily populated by students. While not entirely unusual, the common trend is for kids to wander over to the tailgating area to take advantage of whatever mom and dad have brought. These kids, however, were setting up their own, nicely appointed tailgates. Consider me impressed by the Chippewa students. Aside from the general atmosphere, the lot had the added advantage of being right next to the stadium. It was the only second time I could look out from the stadium and see my car in the parking lot.

The Chippewas play at Kelly/Shorts stadium. With a roughly 30,000 capacity, it is on the small side. Accordingly, any of the all-bench seats will provide a good view of the stadium. Our teacher/professor discounted General Admission tickets came in at $10 each. Unfortunately, most GA seats are under the larger than normal video screen. With no other video scoreboards, I did not enjoy turning around to see replays. On the other hand, it was a very sunny day, and we welcomed the shade. In fact, the sun was so strong that when it shifted in the 3^rd quarter, we scrambled over to home stands to get back in the shade. With a stadium that was half full, the ushers gave us no problems as we watched the second half from the forty-yard line. We also discovered that we were not missing much by sitting under the video board in the first half. You would have gotten quicker video replays by googling YouTube then waiting for the stadium crew to flash up the last play. It was about the only annoying feature in the stadium. There was a video ribbon in the opposite endzone, but if my wife noticed that it didn’t quite provide enough information, you know it has lots of room for improvement.

As a small school, they do lots of bits during TV times outs. From costume races to trivia contests, there was always something going on to fill the dead air. It was unusual to hear Disturbed’s “Down with the Sickness” over the P.A. system. It’s not exactly “Sweet Caroline” or “Mr. Brightside”, but it didn’t feel out of place either. They also played Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” at the start of the fourth quarter, but it felt like I was the only one singing along, much to the embarrassment of my wife. The attire of the attendees is strictly Midwest – t-shirts, ripped jeans, polos and the occasional tennis skirt. There were some gold and maroon striped coveralls in the mix also. Overall, the fan enthusiasm was average – not awful, but not impressive either.

CMU came into this game at 1-2 and the Cardinal was not any better with a record of 1-1. On paper, this game was not impressive. However, the actual game far exceeded our meager expectations. It started out slow with Central Michigan having to punt after one first down. Ball State then drove the distance and kicked a field goal to go up by three. CMU muster followed up with a decent drive to the Ball State 37, only to fail with the Chippewa QB missed a wide-open receiver on a fourth and four. The Cardinals responded with a nice mix of pass and run to score a touchdown as the 1^st quarter wound down. CMU struggled again on offense, but the next Ball State drive was stopped by a nice fourth down tackle.

Perhaps this is what CMU needed to get fired up because it took them all of three plays to score a touchdown. Ball State could only muster one first down on their next drive and punted into the endzone. The Chippewa’s offense struck again with another quick drive highlighted by a 76-yard run. In general, CMU ran the ball better than BSU, but the Cardinal threw the ball better than the Chippewas. However, each of the offenses displayed a nice mix in play calling.

Ball State was unable to answer, and CMU got the ball back within three minutes and change. That’s when the fun started. The Chippewa no-huddle drove down the field and scored in less than two minutes. Unfortunately, the kick failed. The Cardinals were not to be outplayed however and answered with their own less than two-minute touchdown drive. At this point it was 20-17 favoring CMU and they held the ball with 20 seconds left in the half. I thought the heroics were done for the half (suggesting to my wife, brilliantly, that the Chips should just take a knee), but instead the Chips ripped off a 71-yard run to the BSU four-yard line. A botched run on the next play left CMU with a short field goal. It was 23-17 Chips, and the frantic last three minutes would be a foreshadowing of more exciting things to come.

Ball State answered by scoring a touchdown on their first drive of the second half, but the rest of the quarter was highlighted by long but unfruitful drives. By mid-fourth quarter, the Cardinal lead was stretched to four. However, CMU responded with another quick drive to score a touchdown and go up by three. The teams traded possessions, leaving Ball state with the ball at their third yard line and a 1:59 on the clock, down by three. It only took them a minute to drive the length of the field and score a touchdown. It gave Ball State a four-point lead with only fifty-three seconds left in the game.

At this point, however, it felt like anything was possible. Central Michigan calmly executes a five-play drive with a nice mix of pass and run. They scored on a pretty twenty-yard pass with sixteen seconds left. The fireworks finally ended as Ball State missed a couple of passes and closed with a failed lateral play to end the game. But wow, three scores in the last five minutes made for a great finish, especially when the home team won. It made for a great day at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

Central Michigan has a strong relationship with the Chippewa tribe and clearly goes to great lengths to ensure the name is used in a respectful and appropriate manner. No where was this more obvious that when the tribe performed a war song before the start of the game. While a nice touch, I could not help but observe that it was perhaps not the best selection. It was a bit slow, and it was a bit long. I think I’d have a sit down with the tribe chief and see if they could come up with something with a little more punch.

That minor observation aside, I would have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by our Central Michigan experience. Some of the folks we talked to mentioned that CMU is all about family and it certainly felt that way. There was a nice, easy-going vibe to the environment. The tailgating was super easy, the ticket prices were fair, and the game was off the charts exciting. To be fair, you may not always get a great game, and I suppose the weather could get dicey later in the season. But, when all the elements align, it has more pluses than several other small schools.  I am not going to say this is a must-see stadium, but it is not one to be avoided. In fact, if your team is playing at Kelly/Shorts, I’d give some serious thought to coming a day or two early, hitting Mackinaw Island, and making it a long weekend. It is small school football done right.