Fire Up Chips! Road To CFB Visits A Central Michigan Football Game Day
You don’t just happen upon Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Situated an hour north of Lansing, this town has one major draw – FBS football. Central Michigan calls Mount Pleasant home and CMU puts on one of the best football game days in the MAC. Road to CFB usually views football through the lens of the fan. But thanks to efforts from my good friend Andrew Bauhs from College Football Tour, this Saturday was spent as a VIP.
CMU boasts the most widespread tailgating scene I’ve seen in the MAC and also its largest stadium, Kelly/Shorts Stadium (30,255 capacity). In Week 5, we hit the jackpot. Band Day, Family Day, and a gorgeous fall afternoon brought out a near-sellout crowd.
Central Michigan Behind The Scenes
Fire Up Chips!
Central Michigan University and the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe have a deep mutual respect for one another; the northern edge of town even touches the Isabella Reservation. Part of that reverence is that CMU is the Chippewas in name only. You won’t see a mascot around campus and one of the few references to the name comes in the hearty FIRE UP CHIPS! greeting passed from one CMU fan to another.
Thanks to CFT’s connections, we were given the royal treatment before the game. We toured the Chippewas Champions Center, including the locker room, and suite seating. CMU poured $50M into the facility turned recruiting tool. One of the favorite points was the 2021 Sun Bowl trophy. Jim McElwain and CMU subbed in for Miami, who backed out of the game due to a rash of COVID-19, and upended Washington State, 24-21. It stands as the biggest bowl win for CMU.
An hour through team rooms, weight spaces, and even McElwain’s office itself took up most of pregame. For fans attending Kelly/Shorts Stadium for a CMU football game day, there’s few events to see before heading in.
That is, unless you have a tailgate to attend. Central Michigan boasts the most widespread and among the most-attended tailgating in the MAC. Several lots fill to the brim, especially the rowdier student tailgates in lots 63E and 63W.
It Never Rains On Mount Pleasant
Kelly/Shorts Stadium is the MAC’s largest stadium by capacity (30,255) and has the MAC’s largest video board. Both facts CMU fans are very proud of and the scale shows. The Chippewa Champions Center provides multiple luxury seating options. One option moves a luxury box to field-level for a unique vantage point. Bar-style garage doors were popped open this afternoon and people flocked to a countertop bar to watch the action. Others chose to sit just beyond the counters in set seats, all under cover.
Those doors were popped open for good reason. This Saturday featured highs in the mid-70s and mostly overcast skies. You might say it was Pleasant outside.
The gorgeous weather and visiting San Diego State Aztecs – plus game themes of Band Day and Friends and Family Day – brought fans out in droves. CMU reported over 27,000 fans in the stands that day, among the best turnouts for CMU in awhile. Even regular fans commented on the crowds. The filled-in seats created a thunderous “MOVE THOSE CHAINS” following each CMU first down. Following each Chippewa touchdown, CMU ROTC blasts off a cannon in celebration.
Central Michigan places its student section squarely behind the opposing bench. It creates a hostile environment for opposing players, who are berated with constant jeers. Thanks to a great student turnout in the first half, the Aztecs dealt with their fair share of jeers. CMU fans claim they have the best student section in the MAC. After this turnout, it’s difficult to argue.
Central Michigan 22, San Diego State 21
Pregame festivities begin, like at most schools, with the marching band. CMU’s band starts buried in the end zone corner and, following a countdown, yell and charge the field. As far as band entrances go, the urgency to get out and lined up is one of the more exciting starts to the show. In fact, the band is worth paying attention to all game long. In the middle of the game, Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire plays and the band sings, dances, and screams along. It’s an entertaining two minutes.
For three quarters and 13 minutes, SDSU-CMU wasn’t entertaining. The Chippewas forced two pulls of the cannon but largely stalled out beyond the 50-yard line. Fans got up for big third downs, but San Diego State controlled most of the half. Big plays were hard to come by.
The Aztecs controlled a 21-19 lead with minutes to go and the ball within striking distance. CMU held them to a field goal – one the Aztec placekicker missed wide right. The ensuing drive, CMU QB Joey Labas tossed an interception that was returned inside the Chippewas five-yard line. San Diego State was forced to another field goal, one that missed wide left. The field goals amounted to 33 and 28 yards.
With the window cracked ever so slightly, CMU kicked things into gear. With ten seconds left, CMU kicker Tristan Mattson drilled a 46-yard game-winning field goal. The team joined the band and cheerleaders in a raucous celebration to the tune of the Central Michigan Fight Song.
Special thank you to Central Michigan Athletics, Asst. AD of communications Greg Hotchkiss, and Andrew Bauhs of College Football Tour for making this game day special!
Central Michigan Game Day Grades
Stadium: B. Built in 1972 and undergone few major renovations, Kelly/Shorts Stadium was designed with immense foresight. Suite spaces are creative and roomy. There’s no bad seats in the house. And, of course, it boasts the largest capacity in the MAC.
Tradition: D. It’s difficult to separate “culture” from “tradition.” Beyond FIRE UP CHIPS, CMU has very few traditions to speak of. No team walk, no mascot, few chants and hand signs, it just comes up empty here.
Atmosphere: C. Halftime cleared out a majority of students, but fans remained rowdy. Of course, there was a lot to cheer for with a walk-off win. The stadium doesn’t really trap sound, which hurts a little. The stadium speakers are difficult to hear at times. But, for a MAC game, the environment was excitable.
Tailgating: B. I’m impressed. CMU boasts the most widespread tailgating in the MAC. Tailgate Island isn’t the only location for packed rows of tents – Chippewa faithful really take their tailgating seriously.
Fans: C. Fans showed out in droves for this game. San Diego State is an unfamiliar opponent (the two only played once before, in the 2019 New Mexico Bowl) and not a large rival state school. But over 27,000 packed the stands, an admirable number. However, multiple thousands, including most of the student section, cleared out after halftime. Capacity was only pushed from the mid-first quarter to halftime.
Extracurriculars: D. Mount Pleasant has its fair share of college bars and restaurants, but it sits so far removed from a major airport or exciting city. There’s few natural points of interest (the Upper Peninsula is more than two hours and Traverse City is 90 minutes away). As mentioned up top, you don’t stumble across Mount Pleasant.
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