Dan Enos, you can breathe a sigh of relief.
After dialing up some shaky pass calls and going away from a run-first gameplan that seemed to be working, Enos and the Central Michigan Chippewas (4-6, 3-3) were able to milk away their annual rivalry game at Western Michigan (1-10, 1-6) 27-22 thanks in large part to a shaky performance from the arm of Zach Terrell.
Terrell, who finished the game with with 27 rushing yards including a couple decent scrambles and 147 passing yards, went an abysmal 3-for-14 in the 4th quarter, and at one point threw 8 straight incompletions. His pick-six to Tony Annese ended up being the "game-winner", and the only WMU turnover the whole game.
His counterpart, Cooper Rush, didn't do much better. While throwing for 167 yards and a touchdown (right before the Terrell interception), Rush threw 3 interceptions, and nearly threw another on that touchdown drive. Luckily, Bronco freshman linebacker Austin Lewis dropped the easy throw, and Titus Davis would catch a huge 3rd down catch to keep the Chippewa drive alive.
The Davis Brothers themselves did alright. Titus was huge, going for 122 yards on 9 catches including many 3rd down grabs. Corey only finished with 3 grabs for 40 yards, and was targeted most of the game. However, Terrell often missed him on sub-par throws.
As for the running backs, it was the tale of two halves. In the first half, Zurlon Tipton had his coming out party, going for a pair of scores in the first quarter. He finished with 114 yards on 29 carries, and was a work-horse for CMU, despite fumbling in the 2nd quarter. In the 2nd half, Dareyon Chance put on a show, with some tough runs for big gains. He finished with 93 yards on just 14 carries and had a TD.
In all, CMU was able to escape Kalamazoo with the Victory Cannon and the win. They also play in a winner-take-all for the Michigan MAC Trophy in 2 weeks against EMU. Also, they are still alive for bowl eligibility. For WMU? Well they get 10 days to prepare for NIU, on the road, on senior day. Prepare for next year!