 In the hype that led to their game against the Central Michigan Chippewas , the press billed the contest as the de facto MAC championship game . At Mount Pleasant , the Rockets failed to score a touchdown and suffered their first loss of the season in a 13 – 12 loss . The Rockets scored first on a 28 @-@ yard Rusty Hanna field goal , but the Chippewas responded with a 53 @-@ yard Jeff Bender touchdown pass to Ken Ealy to take a 7 – 3 lead at the end of the first quarter . A 46 @-@ yard Hanna field goal in the second cut the Central lead to 7 – 6 at halftime . 
