Opposition Research: Everything you need to know about Central Michigan

Kentucky's season opener against Central Michigan is just more than a week away and that means it's time to kick football coverage into high gear.

We'll be writing a lot more on the looming UK-CMU matchup over the next 10 or so days, but here's a good place to start: Opposition Research. Learn about the Chippewas and read up on what you should expect to see from the Wildcats' first opponent.

Offensive Scheme & Strategy

CMU's offense enters its second year under coordinator Chris Ostrowsky, also its quarterbacks coach. Tempo is a big emphasis and that was reflected in the numbers: 959 total plays run (about 5-6 more per game than Kentucky). It remains to be seen if the tempo will change with so much personnel turnover, especially at quarterback. CMU did not huddle last year, and they will only be under center very rarely.

The Chippewas aspire to a balanced run-pass ratio which includes plenty of quarterback runs. That shouldn't change with the new quarterback and the number of quarterback runs might actually go up. In fact, last year at quarterback Poljan had 21 pass attempts and 27 carries. That ratio will move much more heavily towards throws, to keep Poljan healthy, but says a lot about what his strengths are as a player. "The designed quarterback runs, it's part of what we do," head coach John Bonamego said at CMU's Media Day.

CMU throws to its backs frequently; Jonathan Ward, its starting back, is the team's leading receiver by catches (48).

This is a team that began last season committing to the run but got a little too pass happy when things turned south. Recommitting to the ground game was a part of the team's resurgence, and they are likely to keep that commitment going into 2018.

Because CMU's kicker does not have a strong leg the Chips might opt to be aggressive when they cross the 50-yard line.

Continue reading this story at the House of Blue.

It includes:

CMU's offensive and defensive personnel strengths and weaknesses, a special teams overview and matchup notes related to the personnel on both teams.

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