Centralight

5 centralight spring '15 5 centralight spring '15 Last-second 'Hail Mary' play in bowl game named No. 1 by ESPN's 'SportsCenter' Cooper Rush's Hail Mary pass vs. Western Kentucky tops ESPN's list of best plays of the 2014 bowl season The Chippewas' comeback effort against Western Kentucky in December's inaugural Popeyes Bahamas Bowl was impressive. CMU was down by five touchdowns when the team went to work chipping away at the lead headed into the fourth quarter. With just one second on the clock and still down by seven points, quarterback Cooper Rush let fly a Hail Mary pass, connecting with wideout Jesse Kroll who started a string of laterals that led to an improbable touchdown. While the team's attempt at a two-point conversion to win didn't work, ESPN's "SportsCenter" put the play at the top of its list of best plays of the 2014 bowl season. Relive the moment here: http://bit.ly/CMU2014Bowl • CMU welcomes home John Bonamego as the newest football head coach CMU Today Applications to the CMU College of Medicine are up 53 percent from a year ago, driven in part by a spike from out-of-state students. A record 4,603 people applied to be part of the third class, a jump from the 3,008 last year and well above the 2,765 students who applied to be part of the inaugural class. Students from Michigan made up 90 percent of the first two classes, a reflection of the founding mission for the College of Medicine to provide highly trained physicians to rural and underserved areas in Michigan and the region. For the third class, 3,297 out-of-state applications make up 71 percent of the pool. "Not only are we seeing more out-of-state applicants, but it's obvious many of them fully understand why CMU launched a medical school and are excited to be part of the mission," says Chris Austin, director of admissions for the college. The class roster of 104 students – full capacity – will be final after April 30. • Third College of Medicine class attracts 4,603 applicants CMU announced today that Detroit Lions special teams coordinator John Bonamego, who played at CMU during the mid 1980s, is the 28th football head coach in Central Michigan history. He is the first CMU alum to lead the football program since Bill Kelly in 1951-66. Bonamego has spent the past two seasons as the special teams coordinator of the Detroit Lions. Last season, he helped the Lions win 11 games for the first time since 1991 as they qualified for the playoffs. "Since I left CMU in 1987, my dream job was to be the head coach of the Central Michigan football program. That dream came true," Bonamego says. "During my time here, I had some of the best experiences of my life, and I expect to make many, many more in the coming years. The Mount Pleasant community is a very special place, and my family and I are excited to be a part of it. •

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