FOOTBALL: Ferris grad, former player and ex-assistant Butch Jones leads Central Michigan past Michigan State

MOUNT PLEASANT - Congratulations to former Ferris State University football player and assistant coach Butch Jones for leading, as head coach, Central Michigan University to an upset over Michigan State University Saturday afternoon in East Lansing.

As one might expect, Jones, his coaching staff and his players obviously were gratified to have earned a sensational upset win over Michigan State on the road. The win not only shows how far Jones has helped bring the CMU program to a more prominent status in the Mid-American Conference. The improvements of programs like Central's has raised the status of the MAC.

Here are some comments from Jones, a 1990 graduate of Ferris, made after the big 29-27 win for the Chippewas to knock off the heavily-favored Spartans:

JONES: It's a big win for our football team and our football program because it's victory number one. It's a long season and so to get the first W is always special. I can't say enough about the perseverance of our kids. We talked about it day one at training camp because our motto is to persevere. Every man to a man believed we were going to win the football game. The kids and myself made the decision to go for two, and we came up a little bit short, but they still believed. We made the plays at the end to win the game.

Jones was a two-year letterwinner as a football player for the Bulldogs before he became as an assistant coach for his alma mater.