Football vs. Purdue Notebook

Sept. 7, 2014

By Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com -

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Yeah, Central Michigan produced points. Plenty, in fact in Saturday's 38-17 victory over Purdue at Ross-Ade Stadium.

But in the end, it was the defense - again -- that ultimately shined most brightly, and most consistently, for the Chippewas.

That defense gave CMU an early 7-0 lead, courtesy of Brandon Greer's first career pick-6. And it was the defense that held in check what appeared, on paper at least, a potentially explosive Purdue offense throughout most of the day.

The Chippewas forced three turnovers and limited speedy running back Raheem Mostert to 53 yards rushing on 19 attempts, an average of just 2.8 yards. Mostert rolled up 146 yards on 22 attempts last week in Purdue's 43-34 home win over Western Michigan.

The Chippewas recorded five tackles-for-loss against the Boilermakers, six pass breakups, and two sacks, both coming from sophomore defensive end Joe Ostman. Ostman finished the day with three tackles for loss and has 4 ½ such stops on the season.

Cornerback Jason Wilson led CMU with nine total tackles, including eight solos. One of his solos came on a key third-quarter third-and-3 play at CMU's 22-yard line, when Mostert ran wide toward the sideline and was corralled and dropped for a 3-yard loss by Wilson.

The Chippewas led at that point, 21-7, and Wilson's play forced a field goal, which Paul Griggs converted.

Linebacker Justin Cherocci had eight tackles, while safety Tony Annese added seven.

It was a memorable day for both Wilson and Greer, CMU's starting corners.

"Both the corners are doing a great job," CMU coach Dan Enos said. "You've got to credit a lot of that to Archie Collins, our secondary coach. How much those guys have improved in a year under his tutelage is amazing. He does a great job with those guys."

Thomas, again

Senior running back Thomas Rawls further cemented his role as a major asset in the CMU offense, as appeared to get stronger as the game progressed, just as he did in the Chippewas' 20-16 win last week over Chattanooga.

Rawls finished with 155 yards on 31 carries and scored two touchdowns on Saturday, and he added 50 yards on three receptions.

One of his catches was a second-quarter screen pass the he turned into a 40-yard gain to the Purdue 5-yard line, leading to a touchdown that put CMU up, 21-7.

Rawls churned out 134 yards of his rushing total in the second half, when he carried 24 times. That allowed the Chippewas, playing with the lead, to chew up the clock and keep Purdue's offense off the field.

Last week against Chattanooga, Rawls gained 91 of his 123 rushing yards after halftime. True freshman Devon Spalding, in his first action in a CMU uniform, added 21 yards on four attempts against Purdue.

"The offensive line, we knew they were going to be a strength of our team coming in," Enos said. "We have everybody back (on the line) and they're just so unselfish. Our tight ends are too, and so are our wideouts."

That pounding running attack allowed CMU to hold a 2-to-1 time-of-possession advantage in the second half.

Turnovers a key

The Chippewas forced Purdue into three turnovers, while committing just one.

Last week against Chattanooga, the Chippewas created four turnovers - all interceptions - and lost one fumble. That gives CMU a plus-5 turnover margin, a critical statistic at any level of football.

The Chippewas have six interceptions this season after collecting 14 for the entire 2013 season. CMU finished minus-3 in turnover margin last season.

In CMU's last five games, including the final three in 2013, the Chippewas have recorded 11 picks, four of which have been returned for touchdowns. The Chippewas have won all five of those games.

Clean game

The Chippewas were penalized just once, for five yards, in the game, while Purdue was flagged seven times for 69 yards. CMU's lone penalty came in the second half from punt formation, when the Chippewas were flagged for illegal procedure.

Nice homecoming

CMU sophomore Anthony Rice scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 65-yard pass play from quarterback Cooper Rush in the first quarter, giving the Chippewas a 14-0 lead.

Rice, who hails from Mishawaka, Ind., turned and made a nice catch over the middle at about the Purdue 40-yard line, picked up a big block from teammate Courtney Williams, and sprinted to the end zone.

"Anthony's from the state of Indiana," Enos said. "I know this was an important game for him. Very happy to see him play well."

Kicking in

CMU placerkicker/punter Ron Coluzzi was injured making a tackle as his first punt of the game was returned early in the first quarter.

That sent Enos to the bullpen for redshirt freshman placekicker Brian Eavey and junior punter Matt Mills.

Mills punted four times for an average of 30.5 yards with a long of 44, while Eavey - with Mills holding -- was good on all five of his extra-point attempts and booted his first collegiate field goal, a 23-yarder, early in the fourth quarter.

Eavey averaged a shade under 60 yards on all six of his kickoffs. Neither player had ever appeared in a game for CMU until Saturday.

"How about Brian Eavey?" Enos said. "He's never played a college game before and all of a sudden he looks up and he makes every extra point, the field goal, and handled our kickoff duties.

"I have so much respect for that young man. He's a walk-on, and he's not even a recruited walk-on. He was in school and he came out on a tryout day.

"He's a great example that I point to for our players that, hey you know what, you might not think you're going to play today, but you had better prepare every day like you're going to because the next thing you know you might be out there in front of everybody."

Enos credited Plas Presnell, who retired at the end of last season after three-plus decades of coaching at CMU, with discovering Eavey.

"Plas saw something in him and talked me in to keeping him," Enos said. "Boy I'm glad Plas talked me into keeping him. (Eavey) did a tremendous job this summer. He's a hard worker."

A different route

The Chippewas took a vastly different route to Saturday's victory than they did nine days ago when they opened at home on a Thursday night with a 20-16 win over Football Championship Subdivision member Chattanooga.

In that game, CMU found itself in a 16-0 first-half hole. A touchdown late in the first half gave the Chippewas a spark, then they took control in the second half.

Against Purdue, the Chippewas jumped to a 14-0 lead and the Boilermakers never tied it or took the lead.

Enos said the Chippewas played tight against Chattanooga and were relieved to get a victory. Their collective demeanor was much different in playing on the road against the Boilermakers.

"All week in practice it was just kind of like, OK, we got the first one out of the way, now we're moving on," he said. "There's always a lot of anxiety in college football for that first game."

That may have been due to the fact that the Chippewas returned so many veterans from last season, veterans who were itching to get back on the field.

"You play the last game in November in our case because we didn't go to a bowl, and then your next game is in September, or late August," Enos said. "It's a long time that you don't play."

Against the Big Ten

The Chippewas are 6-23 all-time against Big Ten opponents, but 4-4 in their last eight meetings with teams from that conference.

Saturday's win was the Chippewas' first in six meetings with the Boilermakers, and their first since a dramatic 32-31 win at Iowa in 2012 when David Harman kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired.

Next up

The Chippewas play host to Syracuse at noon, Saturday, Sept. 13, at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. The game will be carried live by ESPNews.

Syracuse is 1-0 after a 27-26 win over FCS member Villanova a week ago and was idle this weekend.