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It’s fitting that the first game going for 2016 is an opportunity for the country to get a hot and heavy dose of MACtion all up in them when we are all clambering so hard for football. It’s been a while. So good to see you, old friend.
If this were a straight laced media type place, I’d play it straight and act like this FBS/FCS matchup is going to be entertaining and thrilling and throw in some platitudes about “any given Thursday” or something else to make it seem like CMU fans need to be worried. But you didn’t come here for that, did you? If you did, you may want to get your search engine checked out, because straight laced sports tropes isn’t how we do things around here.
No, this is a Central Michigan team that comes in with great expectations and even greater personnel. Sure, Cooper Rush grabs top billing on the player marquee, and deservedly so, but CMU as a whole returns 16 starters off a 7-6 bowl team last season. A surprising effort given preseason thoughts, but a successful all the same.
Presbyterian brings in a cool name, The Blue Hose, which I thought was a primary-colored less than upstanding female, which shows that spelling matters. They are located in Clinton, South Carolina and have been an D1 member since 2007. The player you’ll want to know is Darrel Bridges, who isn’t related to Jeff Bridges that we know of. However, if he shows up to the game in a bathrobe, with a white Russian, I’m going to be impressed and may have to edit the prior statement. The Dude abides, indeed.
Bridges did rush for 1065 yards last season and became the school’s first rusher to break the 1000-yard mark. CMU returns 5 of last season’s front 7, a unit that allowed 139 yards per game. Contain Bridges, as expected, and the Chips should have a nice easy warmup to start their 2016. We’ll have post game reaction immediately following the game.