Football Notebook: Davis Continues to Shine

Nov. 16, 2014

Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Titus Davis further solidified his place in Central Michigan football history Saturday during the Chippewas 34-27 victory over Miami (Ohio) at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

The senior from Wheaton, Ill. finished with eight catches for 102 yards and three touchdowns.

Davis became the seventh Chippewa to catch three TD passes in a game. The feat was most recently accomplished by Bryan Anderson in 2007.

Davis also made NCAA history, becoming the first receiver to catch at least eight TD passes in all four of his seasons.

"I just wanted to come through for the team," Davis said. "I didn't care how I was going to do it, how many catches I had, how many touchdowns, I just wanted to come out with the win.

"Coach talked about this being the biggest game of the season thus far and we needed it so I just wanted to give it everything I had."

What more can be said about Davis, CMU coach Dan Enos was asked in his post-game press conference.

"There's nothing left (to say)," Enos said. "He's good, isn't he? He gets open and runs great routes."

Enos relayed a story he heard about a scout from an NFL team and a general manager of that team, and the GM's query to the scout whether he had been to Mount Pleasant this season to observe Davis.

The answer, Enos said, was that the scout saw the Chippewas play, but it was during a stretch early in the season when Davis was out with an injury.

"He was told he had to go back tomorrow," Enos said, smiling. "My point is that as Titus has gotten healthier, he's been playing at a high level. There are certain seniors - Titus, Andy Phillips, LT (Leterrius Walton) - where I just tell our coaches to enjoy it."

Davis continued his ascension on the CMU career and single-season receiving charts.

• His three TD receptions gave him a school-record 11 for the season and 33 for his career. The previous single-season mark was held by Bryan Anderson, who caught 10 in 2007. Davis was already the school's leader in career TD receptions.

• Davis moved from sixth to fourth on the career pass receptions list with 193. He leap-frogged Bryan Schorman and Reggie Allen in that category. Schorman had 187 and Allen had 192. Both played from 1995-98.

• Davis' 102-yard effort upped his season yardage receiving total to 1,2011 and moved him into second all-time behind Allen, who had 1,229 yards in 1996.

Davis entered Saturday's game with 1,109 yards, good for fifth on the list. He passed Anderson (1,132 in 2007), Cody Wilson (1,137 in 2010) and Antonio Brown (1,198 in 2009).

The most exciting part of the day for Davis? Playing a role in freshman running back Devon Spalding's 51-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

"I love blocking, so any time I throw a touchdown block, I'm going to (celebrate) for the team," said Davis, who threw a block that helped spring Spalding to the end zone untouched.

Rush on the rise CMU quarterback Cooper Rush completed 16-of-23 passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns, bringing his season totals to 191 completions on 293 attempts for 2,416 yards.

He was intercepted once on Saturday, his ninth of the year. He's thrown 18 touchdown passes. His efficiency rating is 148.58.

Last season, Rush was 117-for-312 for 2,349 yards with a 126.22 efficiency rating. He threw 15 TD passes and 15 interceptions.

Cherocci leads, again Middle linebacker Justin Cherocci made nine tackles, including eight solos, to lead the CMU defense.

Cherocci made the defensive play of the game when he sacked Miami quarterback Andrew Hendrix with the RedHawks on CMU's 1-yard line with 10 seconds remaining.

"Coach made the right call and put me in the right spot to make the play and I just wanted to come through for the team," said Cherocci, who is averaging 9.2 tackles per game, which ties him for sixth in the MAC.

The sack pushed Miami back to the 9, and the Chippewa defense stood tall when it most needed to to preserve the victory.

Cherocci also was credited with forcing a fumble in the game.

Plenty of help Three of CMU's five leading tacklers in the game play in the secondary, a testament to how often Miami put the ball in the air (41 times, the second-highest number of attempts against the Chippewas this season).

Safety Tony Annese finished with eight stops, cornerback Jason Wilson had six, and safety Josh Cox had four.

Cox, a redshirt freshman, played perhaps his best game as he recorded a sack and was credited with two pass breakups.

Defensive end Joe Ostman also had a sack, bringing his season total in that category to three. Cherocci and defensive end Blake Serpa also have three sacks apiece. Serpa finished the day with five tackles.

Still No. 1 Miami finished with 471 total yards, 369 of which came through the air thanks to a solid performance by RedHawk quarterback Andrew Hendrix, a Notre Dame transfer.

The 369 yards passing was the most allowed by CMU this season, and the 471 total yards was the second-highest surrendered by the Chippewas in 2014.

Still, CMU emerged from the game as the MAC's best defense. The Chippewas remain tops in the league in total defense (328.4 yards per game), pass defense (209.5), rushing defense (118.9), and scoring defense (22.4).

CMU coach Dan Enos displayed the confidence he has in his defensive unit when he chose to punt on fourth-and-a-foot with 2 minutes remaining at Miami's 41-yard line.

By doing that, he gave Hendrix the ball with 1:52 left at his own 20. The RedHawks reached the Chippewas 1, but never punched it in the end zone, a turn of events that epitomizes the bend-but-don't-break philosophy many teams have when it comes to defense.

"We have a lot of confidence in our guys," Enos said. "There was some questionable calls down there at the end. (Defensive backs) Jason Wilson, Brandon Greer, Tony Annese played very well for us."

Rawls returns Running back Thomas Rawls returned to the CMU lineup, carrying three times for 16 yards. His final attempt went for a 3-yard loss.

Junior Saylor Lavallii started at running back for CMU and left with an injury in the third quarter.

That left it up to freshman Devon Spalding, who delivered 147 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. His was his second consecutive 100-yard game.

Spalding averaged 6.7 yards per carry. His 51-yard TD run late in the third quarter gave CMU a 27-20 lead.

"You have to go into the game expecting to carry the rock a lot," said Spalding, who didn't carry the ball until the second quarter and had just three attempts before halftime. "If I went in (to a game) and I didn't expect anything I wouldn't have been ready to play. So yes, I expected a lot of carries. You have to have that mindset as a running back."

Rawls, a senior transfer from Michigan who has made a huge impact on the Chippewas in 2014, injured his knee three weeks ago in the 20-14 win at Buffalo. He sat out the victory at Eastern Michigan two weeks ago, and the Chippewas had a bye last week.

Enos said in his postgame press conference that he chose not to go to Rawls beyond the three carries because of the risk of aggravating the injury.

Enos said he did not know the extent of the injury to Lavallii, who finished with 35 yards on 11 attempts.

Tie-breaker The Chippewas are 13-12-1 all-time against Miami and have won five of the last six in the series.

Next up The Chippewas play host to archrival Western Michigan next Saturday at Kelly/Shorts Stadium (1 p.m.).

The Chippewas won last year's matchup in Kalamazoo, 27-22, breaking a two-game Western win streak in the series. CMU has won seven of the last 10 meetings.

Western Michigan has made dramatic improvements under second-year coach P.J. Fleck, going from 1-11 last year to 7-3 this season, including 5-1 in the MAC. A 51-7 win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday extended the Broncos' win streak to five games.