CMU scrimmage notes: Quarterbacks take center stage

Mt. Pleasant — Over the course of about 90 minutes on Friday night, Central Michigan held a scrimmage open the public, about two weeks ahead of the Chippewas’ opener at New Mexico on Sept. 5.

And all the focus was on the quarterbacks. 

With a number of key starters being held out, head coach Matt Drinkall and offensive coordinator Jim Chapin set out for each of the three quarterbacks vying to start — Marcus Beamon, Angel Flores and Jadyn Glasser — to get about 20 snaps of game-situation reps. All three are vying to earn the starting job in a quarterback battle where Drinkall would like to settle on one quarterback to start and play, with perhaps another for situational packages, a notable departure from last year's rotation. 

“The hard part is we are not going to play three guys at quarterback and it's going to be hard for one of them because we got 3 guys that can all play at quarterback,” Drinkall said.

“They were able to battle back and persevere,” Drinkall said after Friday’s scrimmage. “So it was like different huddles and all that stuff. Man, for us to be able to do that. and then be able to respond. That's great. Because you wanna see how those guys lead through the hard times. So we talk about, in our building, we have a saying, 'Be your best, when things are at the worst.' So, that was really good to see, but, you know, we'll have to watch it because so much of it, we run their quarterbacks some and tag off and we'll just watch the tape, but they all did a great job.”

Here are some notes from the scrimmage. 

The word on the quarterbacks

In general, Drinkall said he hopes to have a quarterback decision sorted out by the end of the coming week, so as to enter game week with a clear starter. Friday will be a big evaluation point, as will plenty of other things in the coming days and looking back over the course of camp. 

“We'll have some pretty big evaluations early in the — early in this next week, and then here pretty quick, but we'll have it picked out before the game week starts,” Drinkall said.

On Friday, Glasser went out for the very first series, followed by Flores and then Beamon for the third drive. Glasser completed a nice pass across the middle to Nasir Williams on his very first play, but the receiver got thumped by safety Darrell Bryant Jr. to force a fumble, recovered by linebacker Mayson Hitchens. 

That one-play series sent Flores in, who dropped back and threw a backside route a beat too late, allowing Coen Ali to fly in and intercept it. With those early hiccups, Drinkall commended his quarterbacks for settling down and turning the tide. 

Beamon was the first to get the offense going, with one drive highlighted with a 38-year completion up the seam to take the Chippewas inside the five. He had a keeper that likely would’ve gone for a touchdown where things live, but it was a nice series, regardless. 

And eventually, Flores and Glasser got things going. 

Flores completed a touchdown pass to running back Brock Townsend, getting vertical out of the backfield from 25 yards out. 

Glasser also had a pair of passing scores, both on outlets to running backs. The first was an easy pitch and catch to the left to Jordan Stapleton who scurried in untouched, and he later connected with true freshman Trav Moore, who made a man miss before finding paydirt. 

“Coach Chapin brought up a great point today where it's like, man, the reps that are really fun to watch are when they're not going with the ones,” Drinkall said. “When you're not surrounded by the actual team. And the decisions and choices you make with the football team, and so there's still a lot that goes into it. But Coach Chapin does such an incredible job with bringing those guys along and communicating and evaluating. And he's really, I mean, he's really turned those guys, that room into a huge asset of ours.”

And to wrap this up on a purely speculative note: Glasser starting with Flores serving as the 1b option for various packages and Beamon serving as a platinum-level insurance policy feels like a likely outcome. 

Defense shows its teeth as transfers shine

After its early pair of turnovers and plenty of success early on forcing quick stops, defensive coordinator Sean Cronin gathered his defense in a huddle during a break in the scrimmage. 

“You guys are playing your balls off,” Cronin could be overheard saying to the group. 

The early turnovers set the tone, with transfers involved in those plays (Bryant Jr., Hitchens, Ali) and more transfers made plays as the game went on. 

Transfer cornerback Matthew McKenzie had a nice pass breakup in single coverage in the end zone to prevent a score and defensive lineman Jaxon Cherry — who was once a sprinter — made a great play coming down the line of scrimmage from the backside to force a stop on a 4th and 1 run. 

Matthew Plumb also came up with a sack, among a few others. 

The defense played a lot of people and were flying around to the ball and making plenty of plays. It’s going to look very different in terms of personnel, but if Friday is any indication, Cronin’s got this unit close to dialed in. 

Three freshmen to watch out for 

The first is Trav Moore, who is pretty well known as someone who will make an impact for the Chippewas as a freshman. 

His real rate limiter might honestly be more to do with the fact that Brock Townsend, Vaughn Blue and Jayden Clerveaux, among others, are also good backs the Chippewas want to use. 

The other two freshmen are in the secondary: Colton Benaitis and Jajuan Jones. 

Benaitis, a safety from Illinois, is someone Drinkall came out of spring excited about and expects to be a factor playing on the backend for CMU. 

Jones, a Harper Woods graduate, enrolled in January and can do whatever the Chippewas want him to in the secondary, Drinkall said. He expects Jones to be a factor on the defense, too. 

Caden VanHuis can boot it

Cade Graham was ever-so-solid for CMU last season and VanHuis might even be better, a top in-state kicking recruit who will now get his chance. 

He was aces on his field goal attempts on Friday, even stretching out and nailing one from 50 yards with room to spare. He also detonated his opening kickoff, sending it through the field goal uprights. 

And in a league where plenty of games are decided by a score, having a weapon at kicker will surely be a benefit at some point for CMU.