# 2018 Central Michigan Chippewas football team

The 2018 Central Michigan Chippewas football team represented Central Michigan University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach John Bonamego and played their home games at Kelly/Shorts Stadium as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 1–11, 0–8 in MAC play to finish in last place in the West Division.
On November 23, following a loss to Toledo, head coach John Bonamego was fired. He finished at Central Michigan with a four-year record of 22–29. On December 2, the school hired Michigan wide receivers coach Jim McElwain, who previously served as head coach at Colorado State and Florida.

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Wuerffel Trophy | Mitch Stanitzek | DL | SR |

### Preseason media poll

The MAC released their preseason media poll on July 24, 2018, with the Chippewas predicted to finish in fifth place in the West Division.
West Division :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Northern Illinois | 133 (15) |
| 2 | Toledo | 125 (7) |
| 3 | Western Michigan | 87 (1) |
| 4 | Eastern Michigan | 67 |
| 5 | Central Michigan | 58 (1) |
| 6 | Ball State | 34 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 3:30 p.m. | at Kentucky* | Kroger FieldLexington, KY | ESPNU | L 20–35 | 49,138 |
| September 8 | 3:00 p.m. | Kansas* | Kelly/Shorts StadiumMount Pleasant, MI | ESPN+ | L 7–31 | 18,127 |
| September 15 | 3:30 p.m. | at Northern Illinois | Huskie StadiumDeKalb, IL | ESPN+ | L 16–24 | 12,354 |
| September 22 | 3:00 p.m. | No. 13 (FCS) Maine* | Kelly/Shorts StadiumMount Pleasant, MI | ESPN+ | W 17–5 | 16,474 |
| September 29 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 21 Michigan State* | Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI | FS1 | L 20–31 | 73,752 |
| October 6 | 12:00 p.m. | Buffalo | Kelly/Shorts StadiumMount Pleasant, MI | CBSSN | L 24–34 | 14,044 |
| October 13 | 3:00 p.m. | Ball State | Kelly/Shorts StadiumMount Pleasant, MI | ESPN3 | L 23–24 | 10,255 |
| October 20 | 3:30 p.m. | Western Michigan | Kelly/Shorts StadiumMount Pleasant, MI (rivalry) | ESPN+ | L 10–35 | 10,097 |
| October 27 | 12:00 p.m. | at Akron | InfoCision StadiumAkron, OH | ESPN3 | L 10–17 | 17,582 |
| November 3 | 12:00 p.m. | at Eastern Michigan | Rynearson StadiumYpsilanti, MI (rivalry) | ESPN3 | L 7–17 | 13,468 |
| November 10 | 3:00 p.m. | Bowling Green | Kelly/Shorts StadiumMount Pleasant, MI | ESPN+ | L 13–24 | 8,041 |
| November 23 | 12:00 p.m. | at Toledo | Glass BowlToledo, OH | ESPN3 | L 13–51 | 15,521 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||

## Game summaries
### At Kentucky

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chippewas | 3 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Wildcats | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 |

### Kansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jayhawks | 0 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 31 |
| Chippewas | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |

### At Northern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chippewas | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 16 |
| Huskies | 0 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 24 |

### Maine

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 13 (FCS) Black Bears | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Chippewas | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

### At Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chippewas | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 20 |
| No. 21 Spartans | 0 | 17 | 14 | 0 | 31 |

### Buffalo

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulls | 7 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 34 |
| Chippewas | 3 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 24 |

### Ball State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 0 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 24 |
| Chippewas | 3 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 23 |

### Western Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Broncos | 7 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 35 |
| Chippewas | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 |

### At Akron

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chippewas | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| Zips | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 17 |

### At Eastern Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chippewas | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Eagles | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 17 |

### Bowling Green

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Falcons | 0 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 24 |
| Chippewas | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 |

### Toledo

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chippewas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| Rockets | 14 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 51 |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 2 | 39 | Sean Murphy-Bunting | CB | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 6 | 195 | Xavier Crawford | CB | Houston Texans |