‘Don't try to be Superman of the defense:’ Simple formula fueling Central Michigan’s early defensive success

Maddix Blackwell dropped into his deep middle zone with about :15 left in the third quarter against Eastern Michigan.

His mind zeroed in on his assignment, making sure he got enough depth in his zone to be the last line of defense on a play where the Central Michigan defense blitzed and left the coverage unit without much room for error. Then, when Eagles quarterback Noah Kim lofted up a bad throw, Blackwell saw he had a chance to make a play on it, sprinted to his left, and laid out to make a critical interception in a 24-13 win. 

Blackwell’s takeaway was the lone turnover in Saturday’s game, cutting off momentum for the Eagles in the second half and giving the Chippewas just enough margin to get a rivalry win. And it’s the sort of play that the Chippewas defense has made all season.

“It's kind of a combination of everyone doing their job and just playing hard, getting pressure on the quarterback,” Blackwell said. “Obviously like I said, Kalen Carroll being all over the receiver. As long as everyone's playing hard, the ball is going to come our way. We've seen it multiple times this season already.”

Blackwell’s interception is, in many ways, a clean encapsulation of the underpinnings of the Central Michigan (3-2, 1-0 MAC) defense and what’s made it work well through five games under defensive coordinator Sean Cronin in 2025. The group has turned a corner from last season, growing into a unit that contributes to CMU’s winning formula and has turned over opponents eight times already. Outside of two ugly road losses to Power 4 teams, the Central Michigan defense is giving up 12.3 points per game, and is 3-0 in those contests. 

Visiting Akron (1-4, 0-1) this weekend, Central Michigan’s defense will face a notable test trying to slow a Joe Moorhead-coached offense. But if there’s one thing Cronin and his defense have done so far, it’s meeting the moment. And the defensive results have been satisfying to watch for head coach Matt Drinkall. 

“Because I coached the offensive line at Army and he was the defensive line coach,” Drinkall said. “So for him, to watch him become a coordinator here where me and him, when you're not coordinators, you're sitting there talking about how you got all these smart ideas and 'Here's what I'd be doing.’ So to get to watch him do this and, as head coach when you hire a first-time coordinator, yeah he's got a plan of how it's all going to go, but it's about your ability to solve problems once it doesn't go the way you think. So I'm blown away impressed with him and his staff and the players, how good of a job they have done defensively.”

Through five games, turnovers and turnover margin are the starkest areas of improvement for the Chippewas. In 2024, Central Michigan finished as one of the worst FBS teams in the country in terms of total takeaways and turnover margin. 

Entering Week 6, Central Michigan has eight takeaways — six interceptions, two fumble recoveries — and a plus-three turnover margin. 

In the opener against San Jose State, three first half takeaways proved to be a key difference in the game, which Central Michigan held on to win, 16-14. A first half interception at Pitt kept that game close into the second half, and a pick six opened the scoring in Week 4 against Wagner. And of course Blackwell came up with the lone takeaway on Saturday, helping his team cap a win.

But for all the success in taking the ball away from opponents, it’s not something that the coaching staff is seeking out so much as it’s an expected byproduct of sound scheme and elite effort resulting in players getting in positions to make plays. 

“I think they've just done such a great job of playing situational football,” Drinkall said, “where it's like, man, if you're aligning and winning pre-snap with alignment and where your eyes go and you understand the situation and the personnel grouping and the alignments of the backs and the splits and what the quarterback is seeing at the line of scrimmage, all of that stuff really starts to add up, and coach is putting you in a good position to make a good play or make it tough or have good leverage post-snap on the play.”

Blackwell’s interception is a good example. 

The Chippewas bring a six-man pressure on the play, with the four down lineman joined by linebacker Lawai'a Brown from between the tackles and defensive back Elijah Gordon from the slot to the field side on Kim’s left. This leaves five players in coverage, potentially defending five men on routes. 

But the Chippewas had the right call in for the protection, as the Eagles kept a tight end and back in pass protection, giving a numbers advantage on the line but sending three routes against five defenders on the back end. 

The pressure got home to Kim, namely the combo of a blitzing Gordon and defensive lineman Michael Heldman on the left, and the quarterback heaved up an inaccurate throw down the right side, with his receiver blanketed by Carroll, and Blackwell roved from his spot to lay out for an interception. 

No single Chippewa made a miraculous play — save maybe for Blackwell’s lay out for the catch — or single-handledly blew up the play. But everyone got put in a position to do a job they can do well, do fast, and without thinking. 

The rush came, the coverage was sticky, and Blackwell got rewarded as a result. 

“I feel like that's definitely what it is,” Carroll said. “When you line up and just do your job, the plays are going to happen. Like just do your job, don't try to be Superman of the defense. I feel like everybody does what they're supposed to do, plays are going to happen, plays are going to be made.”

And that will be much of the recipe for the Chippewas defense going forward: Veteran, experienced players playing hard, assignment-sound football in schemes that elevate their abilities. 

Playing a lower-variance style of defense that forces offenses to execute at a mind-numbing rate, marching down the field for 10 or more plays to score, is generally a recipe for good defensive results in college football. If the Chippewas defense plays mistake free, it’s likely their opponents each week will blunder into one or more. 

And so far, this Central Michigan defense is making opponents pay for those mistakes. 

“Just playing really structured, straining,” Drinkall said. “They see it, kind of, as like pack hunting mentality, which is really cool.”