Kobe

Lewis

Lewis (5'11"/220) amassed 1,579 yards and 18 touchdowns in three years with the Chippewas. He had breakout year in 2019, where he ran for 1,074 yards on 5.9 YPC and 12 scores. He followed that up by starting all six games for CMU in the shortened 2020 season, but lost all of 2021 with an injury. He takes his talents to Purdue for the 2022 season, who could really use a influx of RB talent, as their leading rusher amassed just 533 yards and two scores on 3.9 yards per carry last year.

Lewis (5'11/194) suffered a non-contact, season-ending injury last summer (knee). Central Michigan Lew Nichols emerged in Lewis’ absence to rush for 348-1848-16 and caught 40 passes for 338 yards and another two scores. With Nichols entrenched as CMU’s starter in 2022, Lewis, who is presumably healthy, is now in search of a starting job elsewhere. In his last full season (2019), Lewis rushed for 182-1074-12, while catching 23 passes for 164 yards. He should find a strong market in the transfer portal, given his production when healthy.

Lewis (5'11/194) was considered the co-starter alongside Lew Nichols in CMU’s two-back system that produced two 1,000 yard backs in 2019 (Jonathan Ward and Kobe Lewis). Last year Lewis rushed 104 times for 475 yards, 4.6 YPC and six touchdowns last year and was expected to be a major piece of the CMU rushing offense that posted 218 yards per game with a 5.0 YPC average. Expect Darius Bracy to pick up the slack for Lewis, as the junior averaged 6.3 YPC on 15 carries last year. Central Michigan opens up September 4 at Missouri in a paycheck game for the Chippewas.

Lewis (5'11"/194) brought his lunch pail today as he logged a heavy workload for the CMU offense. In addition to his stellar 100-yard effort on the ground he also caught five passes for 34 yards in the air as HC Jim McElwain’s established, all-purpose weapon. Fellow sophomore Lew Nichols is the clear number-two back with nine totes for 31 yards. Lewis handled most of the red zone snaps, punching in touchdowns from two and eight yards out. The sensational sophomore is poised for another very productive year for the Chippewas.

Lewis did almost all of his damage on one play; a 66-yard touchdown in the middle of the third quarter that still had the Chippewas down 34-11 after that score and a two-point conversion. He was mostly held in check on the remainder of his carries, but his lack of touches have more to do with the score than anything else. Lewis (5'11/194) went over the thousand-yard mark in the game, an impressive number considering he split carries with senior Jonathan Ward. It’ll be Lewis’s backfield next year, and he should be among the most productive tailbacks in the Group of Five.

Lewis (5'11/194) also added two receptions for 21 yards, but obviously most of his damage was done on the ground. It was his fifth 100-yard rushing performance of the season, and the third time he has recorded at least two rushing scores in a single outing. He was nailed to the bench in last week’s 45-44 win at Ball State when he lost a pair of fumbles, but he took care of the ball in this one. Next up is a battle with Miami (OH) in the MAC Championship Game at Ford Field next Saturday.

Lewis (5'11/194) has been on fire the past month. While Buffalo held him in check last week, Lewis now has 125-plus yards in three of the past four games. He has also scored at least once in all three of such games. Furthermore, Lewis has ripped off at least one run of over 50 yards in all of such games. It’s clear that Lewis is on a hot streak filled with explosive plays. Hopefully the success continues for Lewis down the stretch of the season.

Either Lewis (5'11/194) or senior Jonathan Ward will receive the starting nod against the Huskies, with the latter accounting for 105 yards of offense (64 yards rushing) and a rushing touchdown in last weekend’s 43-20 loss at Buffalo. As for Lewis he’s averaging 5.3 yards per carry on the season, as he has rushed for 645 yards and eight touchdowns. Ward leads the Chippewas in rushing yards (725), rushing touchdowns (nine) and yards per carry (6.8).

It’s another big game for Lewis, who has 286 yards rushing in his last two contests. He has also scored three touchdowns in the last two, and this is the fourth consecutive contest where he’s been able to reach paydirt. He and Jonathan Ward are forming a heck of a combo for the Chippewas, and they look like legitimate contenders in the MAC right now. A chance to secure a sixth win comes on Saturday against Buffalo.

CMU leaned on Lewis (5'11/194) and Jonathan Ward during Saturday’s Homecoming game, and they came through in a big way. Lewis led the way in carries, yards and rushing touchdowns, with the Chippewas finishing the game with 352 yards on the ground. The efforts of Lewis and Ward allowed CMU to ease QB Quinten Dormady back into the swing of things, as he had been out since Week 2 due to a knee injury. Lewis will look to produce another quality performance next weekend at Bowling Green.