• Blog
  • About Us
  • Links
  MAC Reporter Online

Four TD passes, four turnovers send CMU past Bulls

10/17/2015

 
Picture
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -  Cooper Rush threw four touchdown passes, Jesse Kroll caught seven passes for a career-high 133 yards, and the Central Michigan defense forced four turnovers Saturday as the Chippewas rolled to a 51-14 Mid-American Conference victory over Buffalo at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

The victory came a week after CMU made a valiant comeback only to fall at rival Western Michigan, 41-39, and two weeks after playing well before falling at then-No. 2 Michigan State.

"Definitely, we wanted to get that bad taste out of our mouth," Rush said in reference to last week's loss at Western Michigan. "We had a good week of practice; we were ready to go, and we made plays today."

(CLICK READ MORE TO CONTINUE . . . )

The 51 points was the most a CMU team has scored since a 52-14 win over Eastern Michigan on Sept. 18, 2010.

CMU, operating from a no-huddle set, scored touchdowns on five of its first six possessions and added a safety on a blocked punt in racing to a 37-7 halftime lead to make the final two quarters academic.

"Starting fast is key," Rush said. "Coach Bono talks about it all week and to come out and execute it was big; it was big for us. We stepped up to the challenge as a team and we're going to have to do it again next week. "

Rush continued his emergence as one of the MAC's top signal-callers, completing 23-of-30 pass attempts. The four TD passes tied his career high for a regular-season game. He also threw four last week at Western.

Rush engineered first-half scoring drives of 78, 56, 76, 50 and 39 yards. His one-yard quarterback sneak put CMU up, 14-7, late in the first quarter.

"It was great to see our offense operate with an up-tempo no-huddle," Bonamego said. "We felt like that was going to be an advantage for us this week, not allowing Buffalo to sub, and it turned out working very well to our advantage."

Rush's 46-yard TD pass to Kroll early in the second extended the lead to 21-7. The Chippewas then made it 23-7 when Zach Oakley blocked a punt and the ball rolled out of the Bulls' end zone for a safety.

After the ensuing free kick, Rush tossed a two-yard TD pass to backup fullback Trevor Thomas to make it 30-7.

Kavon Frazier intercepted a pass on Buffalo's next play, and CMU cashed in when Rush found Anthony Rice for a 23-yard TD pass. With under three minutes to play in the half, the Chippewas led 37-7.

"We challenged our team all week to not let one disappointment turn into two," CMU coach John Bonamego said, referring to his team's ability to bounce back after the loss last week. "It becomes very easy at times, if you allow yourself to ride the emotional roller coaster of a season.

"We challenged them to start out fast, which is something that we weren't able to do with enough consistency in (earlier) games this year. So it was great to see us come out and execute on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game in the first half. I thought in the second half we finished it off as well."

The Chippewas, 3-4, 2-1 MAC, go to Ball State (2-5, 1-2) next Saturday for a league game. Buffalo hosts Ohio. 



Comments are closed.
    Picture

    MAC Football 

    MAC FOOTBALL 
    2024
    REGULAR SEASON
    FINAL STANDINGS
    CLICK HERE

    Picture
    MAC Basketball 
    MAC BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

    MAC BASKETBALL
    STATISTICS

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Basketball
    Football
    Other

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly