Enos wants another turnover-free game against EMU
A video camera for ESPN captured head coach Dan Enos with a smile on his face in the second quarter of the football team’s game against Massachusetts on Saturday.
The reaction came after quarterback Cooper Rush had thrown a pass just over the defenders and right to receiver Andrew Flory for 27 yards to UMass’ 20 yard line.
It was one of 13 completions for 231 yards for Rush in a game he did not throw an interception for the first time as a starting quarterback.
While the running backs struggled, they did not give away the ball either, marking the first time the offense did not have a turnover this season.
“It wasn’t like we had to throw 45 times to win," said head coach Dan Enos. "Once your pass attempts start going up, than a ball goes in the air and more things can happen. I thought our guys were really good at holding onto it and hopefully we can put another one together here this week.”
There was no indication the offense would go without a turnover as it had given up five in its last game against Western Michigan, which was only forcing 1.3 turnovers a game.
Plus, it faced a team in UMass that relied on its defense and the blustery and wet weather conditions would not help matters.
“It’s football. Every game’s different. There’s adversity,” Enos said. “Sometimes when you turn the ball over the defense makes a great play. . . and sometimes it’s like Cooper Rush trying to throw the ball away and he didn’t throw the ball out-of-bounds enough.”
Rush said it was nice to see a zero under interceptions for the game on Saturday.
While he said he has much to learn, he is getting more comfortable at quarterback, learning defensive coverages and adjusting to the speed of the game.
The last game he did not throw an interception was against New Hampshire when he stepped in for quarterback Alex Niznak.
The redshirt freshman quarterback took over for the rest of the season and has relied on receiver Titus Davis.
In CMU’s last two wins, he has completed 29 passes for 398 and Davis was on the receiving end of 16 of the passes for 276 yards.
The most impressive reception by Davis came at the start of the UMass game when he leaped in the air as two defenders were also going for the ball and he still made the catch.
“He bailed me out on that one,” Rush said. “He’s a great receiver. You throw it up, you know he’s going to get it.”
Contact Jeff Papworth: jeffpapworth@ymail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffPapworth.
