Chippewas look to put Ball State loss out of memory Saturday at Buffalo


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Senior runningback Anthony Garland runs onto the field before the Chippewas

Dropping from one of the favorites in the Mid-American Conference West Division to MAC mediocrity with it’s most recent loss to Ball State, the Central Michigan football team heads to Buffalo on Saturday.

A total of 10 penalties for 91 yards sank the Chippewas in their loss to Ball State last week.

Head coach Dan Enos said sarcastically that he solved the issue in practice this week.

“I took my magic wand out, waved it over them and said ‘Now we’re disciplined,’” Enos said.

Buffalo (3-4, 1-2 MAC) fired head coach Jeff Quinn after losing to Eastern Michigan two weeks ago.

One of the two teams will be at least partially redeemed Saturday.

“Nothing’s changed,” said CMU senior running back Thomas Rawls. “Even if we’re out of the race for the MAC Championship, we’re going to play with a chip on our shoulder. We’re going to run the ball, we’re going to play great defense and we’re going to try to bring home the win.”

Head coach Dan Enos’ ’24 hour rule,’ allow the Chippewas to celebrate or mourn a game for 24 hours before refocusing on the next opponent.

Those 24 hours were painful for sophomore quarterback Cooper Rush, who engineered a fourth-quarter comeback before the defense relinquished the lead with 17 seconds to play.

“It stings,” Rush said. “You try to (forget about it). It doesn’t work. You’re just up all night thinking about stuff and certain plays. Interceptions, fumbles, plays that, if this would have happened, this could have happened.”

Rawls said he’s had trouble sleeping this week, but not just because of the loss.

“I couldn’t sleep period because of my body,” Rawls said. “But even if my body was feeling good I probably would have lost a little bit of sleep.”

With the second-most rushing attempts in college football, Rawls has 185 carries, even after missing two games.

Rawls is fifth in rushing yards and ninth in touchdowns and insisted that he will be ready come game day.

Senior wide receiver Titus Davis echoed statements he has made earlier this season after previous losses ahead of this weekend’s matchup with the Bulls.

“You have to look in the mirror and ask ‘what could I have done better,’” Davis said. “The things that I thought I could’ve done better, I really put emphasis on this week.”

Davis’ two touchdowns Saturday tied him with Bryan Anderson with 28 career receiving touchdowns, the most in Chippewa history.

The Wheaton, Ill. native compares Buffalo’s defense to Ohio’s man-coverage defense. Davis gathered 10 catches for 181 yards and two touchdowns—all season highs—against the Bobcats on Oct. 4.

“They have pretty much everyone in the box and they will leave their corners out on an island,” Davis said. “We, as wide outs, see that as an opportunity and we want to take full advantage of that.”

On defense, the Chippewas will have to deal with a well-rounded Buffalo offense.

“Their offensive line is pretty big,” said junior defensive end Blake Serpa. “Their running back does a nice job at hitting holes and just getting forward.”

Buffalo running back Anthone Taylor, is not far behind Rawls in the stat book. The junior is third in the country with 183 rushing attempts and ranks in the top 10 in the FCS in rushing yards.

Joe Licata has thrown for 1,892 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions for the Bulls this year.

The game will start at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the University at Buffalo Stadium. The game can be viewed on ESPN3.

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About Taylor DesOrmeau

Taylor DesOrmeau is a senior at Central Michigan University, majoring in integrative public relations ...

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