Who needs Thomas Rawls? Saylor Lavallii, who started much of last season after an injury to Zurlon Tipton, ran for two first-half touchdowns and literally leapped for the game-sealing first down as the Central Michigan Chippewas (5-4, 3-2 MAC) survived on the road against the Buffalo Bulls (3-5, 1-3 MAC) on their Senior Night, 20-14.
The scoring started on the first drive for Central Michigan, where Cooper Rush went 4-for-4 for 68 yards before handing the ball off to Lavallii for a touchdown. Lavallii also scored in the second quarter, finishing with 80 yards on 21 carries.
Titus Davis also scored in the fourth quarter for the Chippewas, putting him as the all-time school leader in touchdowns ahead of former Chippewa great Bryan Anderson. Davis still trails Anderson for receiving yards all time. Davis finished the night with 6 receptions for 100 yards.
Buffalo kept the game a little close for comfort throughout. In the second quarter, a controversial Rush fumble was recovered by Buffalo's Adam Redden and Joe Licata took advantage of the mistake with a 28-yard TD strike for Ron Willoughby. That was enough momentum for the Bulls, as they quickly tied the game with another Licata passing TD on a drive precipitated by a 69-yard kickoff return by Devin Campbell.
Both teams exchanged punts and interceptions until a 16 play, 98 yard drive that resulted in Davis' touchdown sealed the game, even despite a missed Brian Eavey PAT.
Licata finished the game 21-for-37, 233 yards, passing for two TDs and 2 INTs. UB simply could not support Licata's efforts in the backfield, rushing for only 38 yards between all rushers. Rush finished 14-for-24, 231 yards with one TD and one INT.
Central's discipline problems from last week carried over to this game, where their eight penalties for 49 yards kept the Bulls in contention for most of the game. Buffalo had problems stopping the Chippewas from moving the sticks, with CMU gaining 21 first downs throughout the game, despite only converting 6 of 14 third downs attempts. Central also went for 4th down four times in the game, converting three of those attempts.
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In injury news, Thomas Rawls sustained a knee injury on the first series, and did not return. His status is currently unknown for next week.
Central Michigan will charge into The Factory for their next game against Eastern Michigan November 1, while Buffalo travels to Athens to face the Bobcats in Ohio.