MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. –Nick Woodford ran for 119 yards and Jayden Clerveaux finished with 100 on Wednesday as the Central Michigan football team downed Sacramento State, 28-7, in a Mid-American Conference game on Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
It was CMU's second straight win as it improved to 5-5, 3-3 and moved within a win of bowl eligibility. The Chippewas go next week to Buffalo and then close the regular season at Ball State.
The Chippewas turned in a dominant offensive performance, finishing with 424 total yards, 319 on the ground and gained 24 first downs.
They held a near 2-to-1 advantage in possession time and held the Hornets to 211 yards and 10 first downs.
It marked the first time two CMU running backs reached the century mark in a game since Kobe Lewis and Lew Nichols accomplished the feat on Nov. 27, 2020 at Eastern Michigan.
Brock Townsend added 58 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns, while Clerveaux and Vaughn Blue had one each.
"They're fun to watch," CMU coach Matt Drinkall said of his quartet of running backs. "And it's one of those deals where they're all so different. It's kind of like (our) quarterbacks, they're good at everything, but each of them has kind of their own like signature calling card that they're really good at.
"We've really kind of found a niche of kind of like what these four guys like are good at. … I just I can't say enough great things about our backs."
It marked Woodford's second straight 100-yard game. He had 123 last week in a win at Ford Field in Detroit over Eastern Michigan.
CMU quarterback Jadyn Glasser, making his third consecutive start, threw for 105 yards on 11-of-19 passing.
"Jadyn Glaser probably played his best game out of the three that he has started," Drinkall said. "Incredibly effective and efficient, even though it didn't require him to throw it all over the yard. But boy, he managed the game great."
Clerveaux sprinted 27 yards for a TD to cap the Chippewas' opening drive of the game for a 7-0 lead.
After Sacramento State tied it with a touchdown with 4:01 remaining in the first half, the Chippewas went 71 yards in 11 plays. Blue dove across the goal line from 8 yards out to put the Chippewas in front for good, 14-7, with 19 seconds left in the half.
CMU then went 97 yards in 12 plays on its first possession of the second half. Townsend finished the march – CMU's longest of the season -- with a 40-yard TD run for a 21-7 lead.
Glasser made what may stand as the play of the game with the Chippewas facing a third-and-8 at their own 5-yard line, when the junior from Tampa, Fla. scrambled to his left for a 27-yard gain and a first down at the 32. It was the longest run of Glasser's career.
Townsend added the icing on the cake with a 6-yard TD run with just over a minute remaining.
