Former Florida head coach Jim McElwain is entering his fourth year in Mount Pleasant after putting together 20 wins in his first three seasons with Central Michigan. Last season, the Chippewas started off with a 2-3 record thanks to a pair of tough non-conference matchup losses against Missouri and LSU. Once they entered conference play, the Chippewas were able to find their footing by mid-October, winning seven of their final eight games. They would finish their strong 2021 campaign off with a Sun Bowl victory over Washington State to finish their season at 9-4.

The Chippewas were led by their offense in 2021, averaging 32.3 points per game last season. The defense, while not bad, was about average nationally, allowing 25.8 points per game.

Entering this season, the Chippewas will once again have a tough non-conference schedule consisting of road games against Oklahoma State and Penn State with home games against South Alabama and Bucknell sandwiched between them. In conference play, they should stack up well against the MAC and on paper are one of the favorites to compete for the MAC title.

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As mentioned above, the offense was the driving force behind Central Michigan's 9-4 record a season ago. The good news for the Chippewas is they return seven of 11 starters on the offensive side of the ball including quarterback Daniel Richardson, running back Lew Nicholas, and WR Dallas Dixon.

Sophomore quarterback Drew Richardson might be undersized at 5-foot-10 but he's a solid quarterback. Last season, he completed 60.4% of his passes for 2,633 yards and 24 touchdowns to just six interceptions. As good as Richardson was for Central Michigan, sophomore running Lew Nicholas was even better. Nicholas totaled over 2,000 total yards as a freshman including 1,848 yards on the ground and 338 receiving yards. He also totaled 18 touchdowns on the season.

As mentioned above, Richardson will also have senior wide receiver, Dallas Dixon, at his disposal. Dixon had 45 receptions for 701 yards and eight touchdowns in 2021. TE Joel Wilson also returns after 31 receptions for 367 yards and six touchdowns a season ago. Those will be the names to know offensively for Central Michigan.

On the offensive line, Central Michigan will need to replace both their tackles from a season ago including LT Bernhard Raimann who was a third-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in this past April's NFL Draft. The offensive line, however, still should be a quality one.

As a whole, Central Michigan's offense is rather balanced and looks to be close to a 50/50 split in play calling most games. They certainly can be dangerous both through the air and on the ground.

While Central Michigan's high-powered offense returns seven starters from last season, the defense returns just four. After a tough 2021, that does not bode well for the Chippewas this upcoming season. Each of their top four tacklers from a season ago is gone. Sophomore DB Donte Kent is the leading returning tackler with 55 tackles, he also had 14 pass breakups and one interception.

While the Chippewas front seven was solid against the run, against the pass, they struggled to create consistent pressure. Last season, they totaled 27 sacks on 475 passing plays. Their leading sack getter a year ago was defensive lineman John Wesley Whiteside with 6.5 who does notably return in 2022. With the struggle of the front seven, the Central Michigan secondary had its own struggles, opposing quarterbacks completed 61% of their passes for 260 yards per game last season. Out of their 13 games, five offenses were able to pass for 300+ yards and seven had 250+ yards.

Overall, the Central Michigan defense is once again likely to be a weakness for the Chippewas. There weren't a ton of positives to build off on from the 2021 season and with limited experience returning, it could be an even tougher going for Jim McElwain's defense. While the defense could potentially gain momentum towards the back half of the season, I don't see them posing much of a challenge to Penn State's offense.

Central Michigan returns three of its four major starters on special teams including sophomore punter Luke Elzinga who averaged 41.3 yards per punt a season ago. Kicker Marshall Meeder was solid last season and has a strong leg, he converted 17-of-26 attempts a season ago including 7-of-11 beyond 40-yards and 3-of-4 beyond 50.

Punt return and running back Marion Lukes also returns after 21 returns for 485 yards and a touchdown last season. He averaged 23.1 yards per return. They will have to, however, replace leading kickoff returner Kalil Pimpleton who averaged 19.1 yards per return last season. Special teams should be solid for Central Michigan in all aspects.

Overall, Central Michigan should be a solid team once again in 2022. If the offense can carry over its success from last season, they'll have a chance at another eight or nine-win season. However, with the state of the defense, if the Chippewas offense struggles at all in 2022, it could be tough going overall for the program. While Central Michigan's offense could be one that puts up a better fight than expected against Penn State's defense but barring a poor performance from Penn State's offense, it shouldn't enough to pull off an upset of the Nittany Lions. Overall, we expect Central Michigan as an eight-win team in the regular season, they likely won't be a rollover opponent for Penn State.

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