As Central Michigan battled Purdue in the 2007 Motor City Bowl, senior center Nick Beamish — a middle-schooler at the time — watched the Chippewas in person for the first time.
Eight years later, he’s one of the Chippewas on the field looking to take down a Power Five for the first time in CMU postseason history.
“They almost beat Purdue and played really hard. I never knew that that was going to set the tempo for how we would play now,” Beamish said. “I was still in like seventh or eighth grade, so I was just a plain fan, but it was kind of awesome how it worked out, to get to play on Ford Field yet again.