Central Michigan University
5-4 , 3-2
Buffalo
3-5 , 1-3
Chippewas Flex Depth, Defensive Muscle in Beating Buffalo
10/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Once again, Saylor Lavallii answered the call.
So did the Central Michigan defense.
Lavallii came off the bench to rush for 80 yards and two touchdowns and the Chippewa defense stymied Buffalo's strong run game Saturday as CMU defeated the Bulls, 20-14, in a Mid-American Conference football game at UB Stadium.
The win lifted the Chippewas to 5-4, 3-2 MAC. Buffalo is 3-5, 1-3.
CMU quarterback Cooper Rush completed 14 of 24 pass attempts for 231 yards and a touchdown. The TD went to senior Titus Davis and it broke a 14-14 tie with just over eight minutes remaining.
It was Davis' 29th career TD reception, the most in CMU history. He finished with six catches for 100 yards, and he moved into second place on the school's reception yardage list with 3,322.
"That's great that he accomplished that career touchdown reception record," CMU coach Dan Enos said. "That's great for him. He's such a hard worker. He's missed several games over the past few years with injuries so who knows had he stayed healthy all the time how many touchdown catches he would have had. He's an explosive player, he makes big catches at big times, and he'll certainly have a future after he's done here."
CMU lost running back Thomas Rawls, the MAC's leading rusher, to a knee injury early in the first quarter. That sent Enos to the bullpen where he summoned Lavallii and sophomore Martez Walker.
Both backs have had their moments in a Chippewa uniform, particularly Lavallii. Last season, he stepped into the starting lineup when then-senior Zurlon Tipton was injured in the season opener.
Lavallii started eight games in 2013, rushing for 807 yards and five TDs. This season, he had seen his carries dwindle as Rawls established himself as a productive workhorse.
Walker, who showed flashes of potential earlier this season when he carried 10 times for 56 yards at Kansas during Rawls' absence, finished Saturday's game with 57 yards on 16 attempts.
The Lavallii-Walker combo produced 137 yards on 37 carries, in the neighborhood of what a healthy Rawls has produced week in and week out this season.
"I think both of those guys were, at times, were effective and ran hard," Enos said. "Saylor in particular got some tough yards. Saylor's a guy that led our team in rushing last year and he doesn't get a lot of carries right now.
"So I give him a lot of credit for every day coming to work and knowing that Thomas is going to get the majority of the carries. He came in today, and he was in the right frame of mind and Thomas got hurt and he stepped in there."
The CMU defense limited Buffalo's Anthone Taylor to 25 yards rushing and the Bulls to 38 yards total on the ground, both season lows. Taylor entered the game averaging 132.3 yards per game, and the Bulls came in averaging 185.1 per game on the ground. CMU held Buffalo to 271 yards, also a season low.
"I thought the defense played great," Enos said. "Our defensive line was very disruptive. I thought our D line and our linebackers did a really good job and I thought our coaches had a really good game plan."
UB quarterback Joe Licata completed 21 of 35 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted twice. Both picks - one by Josh Cox, the other by Brandon Greer - led to Chippewa touchdowns.
Greer's came late in the third quarter with Buffalo driving at the Chippewa 34. On second-and-9, Licata lofted a pass down the left sideline. Greer had perfect inside position on Buffalo receiver Devon Hughes and managed to secure the ball falling down near the 2-yard line.
CMU then went 98 yards in 16 plays, milking more then 9 minutes from the clock. It ended with Rush's 7-yard TD toss to Davis, putting CMU ahead for good.
The drive was CMU's longest of the season on all three fronts: number of plays, yardage and elapsed time.
"That 98-yard drive was just a great job by our team," Enos said. "Any time you can win a football game in your league, it's big, and any time you can win a road league game, that's even bigger."
Lavallii scored on two short bursts in the first half to stake the Chippewas to a 14-0 lead. Buffalo drew to 14-7 on a Licata 28-yard TD pass to Ron Willoughby with under two minutes to play in the half.
Devin Campbell returned the second-half kickoff 69 yards to set up Licata's 6-yard TD pass to Malcolm Robinson less than two minutes into the third quarter. That tied the game at 14-14.
Team Stats
CMU 7, UB 0
CMU - LAVALLII, S. 4 yd run (EAVEY, Brian kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:24
CMU 14, UB 0
CMU - LAVALLII, S. 9 yd run (EAVEY, Brian kick), 7 plays, 57 yards, TOP 3:15
CMU 14, UB 7
UB - WILLOUGHBY, Ron 28 yd pass from LICATA, Joe (CLARKE, Patrick kick) 11 plays, 67 yards, TOP 4:37
CMU 14, UB 14
UB - ROBINSON, M. 6 yd pass from LICATA, Joe (CLARKE, Patrick kick) 3 plays, 23 yards, TOP 1:06
CMU 20, UB 14
CMU - DAVIS, Titus 7 yd pass from RUSH, Cooper (EAVEY, Brian kickfailed) 16 plays, 98 yards, TOP 9:29
