Central Michigan University Athletics
Bowl Game Produces Fantastic Finish, Big Numbers
12/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
NASSAU, Bahamas - They're still talking about it, not only in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, and Bowling Green, Kentucky, but on ESPN, and across the country.
The final 11-plus minutes of the inaugural Popeyes Bahams Bowl will go down as one of the most memorable stretches in the history of a college football game, and with good reason.
Yes, it was that good as the Central Michigan football team darned near pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in the 100-plus years of college football as the Chippewas rallied from a 49-14 deficit to pull within one, 49-48, on the final play.
Only a failed two-point conversion attempt with no time remaining kept the Chippewas from what surely would have been the greatest comeback in CMU history, and one of the most memorable in history.
The game produced several statistical hallmarks, and CMU senior wide receiver Titus Davis furthered entrenched his legacy in the annals of program history in his last game as a Chippewa. And CMU quarterback Cooper Rush put together a record-setting, bar-raising effort.
Davis made six catches for 142 yards and a CMU-record four touchdown receptions. In the process, he became CMU's all-time leader in receiving yardage (3,705) and touchdown receptions (13) in a season. His four TD catches tied a Football Bowl Subdivision single-game record.
Rush, a sophomore who was making his 23rd consecutive start, threw an FBS bowl-game record seven TD passes and finished with a CMU-record 493 yards passing in the game.
Rush's performance, 519 totals yards in total offense (including 26 yards rushing), ranks eighth all-time in total offense in a bowl game. It also leaves him tied for first in touchdowns (7) responsibility and point responsibility (42) in FBS bowl-game history.
Davis, one of the best to ever wear the CMU maroon-and-gold, is the only receiver in FBS history to catch at least eight TD passes in his four collegiate seasons.
Courtney Williams, another senior receiver playing his final game in a CMU uniform, had three catches for 76 yards and two TDs.
"Six catches, 142 yards, four touchdowns - that's outstanding," CMU coach Dan Enos said of Davis' final line. "Courtney had two touchdowns. Between our two seniors we had six touchdowns today.
"Both of those guys brought tremendous leadership. Titus obviously gets more attention and accolades because he's had more production. He's just a super player, a tremendously hard worker and just an explosive player. And he loves to compete and Courtney does as well.
"Those two guys, Courtney and Titus, their leadership rubs off on the rest of the group. And I told the young guys today that they have a lot to live up to next year."
Davis' first three TD catches covered 21, 12 and 23 yards. He carried the ball the final 20 yards on the Chippewas' final TD - the play covered 75 yards total - as time ran out.
Davis supplanted Bryan Anderson atop the school's career receiving yardage list and the season TD receptions list. Anderson, who played at CMU from 2006-09, finished with 3,648 yards and caught 10 TD passes in 2007.
In addition, Davis closed his CMU career third in Mid-American Conference history in TD receptions and fifth in receiving yardage.
Senior standouts
Davis and Williams were part of a number of standout seniors - pillars of the program - who played their final games as Chippewas on Wednesday.
Among them were middle linebackers Justin Cherocci and Cody Lopez, cornerback Jason Wilson, defensive tackles Leterrius Walton, safeties Kevin King and Jarret Chapman, guard Andy Phillips, tackle Kevin Henry, running back Anthony Garland, and tight ends Deon Butler and Mike Kinville.
"They've done a tremendous job," said Enos, who completed his fifth season as the Chippewas' coach. "They've really gotten this program on the right track again, stabilized it with their efforts on the field and in the classroom.
"Our APR (Academic Progress Rate) scores are higher than they've ever been. Our GPA on the team is higher than it's ever been. And it's really due to the seniors. Those guys have done a phenomenal job of buying into what we're doing. They work hard every day.
"We had community service events here on the island that were voluntary. I told them where we were going and we needed four or five guys to go. We had 55 guys sign up to go to an orphanage and a kids clinic here on the island - totally by volunteering. I think that speaks volumes about the character of our football team."
Defensive standout
Cherocci, who started at CMU as a walk-on, led the Chippewas with 10 tackles and finished the season with 117. He wrapped up his career with 399 stops, good for seventh on CMU's all-time list.
Safety Tony Annese added nine tackles, while King had seven.
Defensive difference
While the final play - Davis' TD that capped an absolutely zany 75-yard pass play that included three laterals and six Chippewas (center Nick Beamish, Rush, Jesse Kroll, Deon Butler, Williams and Davis) touching the ball - will be the play that most will recall, another play that will leave a lasting impression was turned in by the defense.
Just after CMU scored to cut WKU's lead to 49-28 with 8:03 remaining, Western Kentucky took over at its own 25. On second-and-10 from the WKU 35, Hilltopper quarterback Brandon Doughty hit receiver Willie McNeal with a short pass. McNeal turned it into a big gain deep into CMU territory.
McNeal was caught by CMU sophomore defensive end Joe Ostman at the Chippewas' 10-yard line. Ostman's hit jarred the ball loose, and safety Tony Annese returned the fumble 27 yards to the Chippewa 36.
Just over three minutes later, the Chippewas were in the end zone again, slicing their deficit to 49-35.
A big hole
Western Kentucky dominated the game through three quarters, leading 49-14 heading into the fourth.
While WKU's offense was potent through the first 45 minutes, the Chippewas did themselves no favors, particularly in the first half when they came up empty on back-to-back trips into the red zone.
Trailing 14-7, the Chippewas had the ball at the Hilltoppers' 16-yard line. Rush, under heavy pressure, was intercepted in the end zone by Cam Thomas at the 3:26 mark of the first quarter. On CMU's first possession of the second quarter, the Chippewas failed to pick up a first down on fourth-and-1 at the WKU 19.
Streak snapped
The Chippewas' streak of bowl wins ended at two with the loss .
CMU defeated Western Kentucky in the 2012 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, 24-21, in Detroit; and in 2011, topped Troy, 44-41, in double overtime in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
The Chippewas are 3-5 in bowl games.
On the run
Sophomore Martez Walker led the CMU ground game with a career-high 76 yards on nine carries.
The Chippewas finished with 122 yards on the ground, more than 30 yards below their per-game average. But that was due in large part to the fact that the Chippewas' deficit was so big that they were forced to abandon the run game for long stretches in favor of the pass game.
CMU had just 55 yards, on 22 attempts, on the ground through the end of the third quarter.
The Chippewas played without leading rusher Thomas Rawls, a senior who did not make the trip to the Bahamas because of academic issues.
The four Chippewas - Walker, Rush, Saylor Lavallii and Devon Spalding -- who carried the ball in the game all will return next season.
Rawls finished the season with a team-best 1,103 yard rushing. Lavallii, Spalding and Walker combined to rush for 986 yards on 219 carries in 2014, a 4.5-yard-per-carry average.
Heady company
Rush's seven TD passes are an FBS bowl-game record, and his total tied the MAC mark for TD passes in a game.
He shares the standard with Jose Davis of Kent State (1997) and Alex Carter of Western Michigan (2011).
Big numbers
The Chippewas and Hilltoppers combined for 1,254 total yards of offense, the second-highest for a bowl game in FBS history.
The teams set FBS bowl game records with a combined 12 TD passes (seven by Rush, five by WKU's Brandon Doughty) and combined passing yards (979). Rush finished with 493 yards, Doughty with 486.
The Chippewas' 34-point fourth quarter is the second-most ever scored in a single quarter in an FBS bowl game, and their five TDs in that quarter tie CMU for the second-most in a single quarter in an FBS bowl game.
The teams combined for 58 first downs (WKU had 30, WKU 28) including 42 passing (19 for CMU, 22 for WKU), which ranks No. 2 all-time for FBS teams in a bowl game.
CMU's 48 points ranks No. 4 all-time for a losing team in an FBS bowl game, and the game featured 14 touchdowns, which ties for the third-highest total in an FBS bowl game.
The combined 97 points posted by the Chippewas and Hilltoppers ties for ninth in FBS bowl game history, and the teams combined to tie for 10th in most pass completions (59) and most first downs (58) in an FBS bowl game.
Davis' four TDs rank seventh and his 24 points put him eighth all-time in an FBS bowl game.
