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GoldanDBlack express • volume 25, express 2 • 11 BY TRAVIS BAUGH AND ALAN KARPICK T itus Davis, Central Michigan's best receiver and one of the best in the Mid-American Confer- ence, may not play against Purdue on Saturday. Davis, who had 2,720 yards and 144 receptions in his first two seasons, injured his knee on a punt return in the third quarter of Central Michigan's season-opening victory. He was limited to one catch for 11 yards in Week 1 against Chatta- nooga. His biggest impact came on that 66-yard punt return. "We are 3-0 without him," Coach Dan Enos told TheMorning- Sun.com. "He's one player. He's a very good player and of course we'd like to have him. Hopefully he'll be available to us, but if not, we have to move on and move forward. Other guys have to step up." There may not be many to do that, though. Wideout Andrew Flory did not play against Chattanooga as he continued to serve a suspension for violating team rules. His suspension is being monitored on a "week-to- week" basis, according to Enos. Flory has 49 catches for 724 yards and six touchdowns in two seasons with Central Michigan. "He's been very remorseful," Enos told reporters Wednesday. "He's been on the scout team and working his way back the right way. We're all here understanding people make mistakes, but he also has to live up to our code of conduct and certainly thus far he's done that." Running with Rawls Running back Thomas Rawls, who transferred from Michigan in the offseason, stood out in his first game as a Chippewa with 25 carries for 123 yards and a six-yard touch- down run. It'll be the second time Rawls has played against Purdue. He car- ried four times for 33 yards and had his first career touchdown against the Boilermakers for the Wolverines on Oct. 6, 2012. "I just wanted to get out there early, get my feet wet, and get a feel for the game," Rawls told TheMorn- ingSun.com of his first game for CMU. "After that, I kind of zoned out. My offensive line was blocking real, real good. They finished out the game hard, and that's all it really was overall." Rawls is joined in the backfield by Saylor Lavallii, who led Central Michigan with 807 rushing yards to earn third-team All-MAC honors in 2013. standout secondaRy For the second week in a row, Purdue's wideouts will line up against a secondary that performed well statistically in 2013. The Chippewas allowed just 203.9 passing yards per game, the No. 13 mark in the country. The pass defense looked strong once again against Chattanooga, allowing just 150 yards through the air and nab- bing four interceptions. Cornerback Tony Annessee has four interceptions in four ca- reer starts and won MAC West De- fensive Player-of-the-Week honors last week after his two-interception performance. "I just want to be around the ball as much as possible and help my team out," Annessee said. "Make plays to win games." Michigan state bluepRint Central Michigan has tried to model itself after the alma mater of its head coach. The Chippewas possess a simi- lar downhill running style and 4-2- 5 similar to Michigan State, where Enos played quarterback from 1987-1990 and had coaching stints from 1991-1993 and 2006-2009. histoRically speaking It seems like yesterday when Purdue and Central Michigan played each other every other week … well almost. The teams faced each other three times in the span of 370 days in 2007 and 2008. In a regular-season matchup in Ross-Ade in 2007, Purdue won easily 45-22 after jumping to a 38-0 lead. But when the teams faced each other just over three months later in the Motor City Bowl, it took a Chris Summers' 40-yard field goal as time expired for Purdue to pull out a 51-48 win. In that game, Curtis Painter tossed a school-record 546 yards and three scores. Just about nine months later, the contest came down to the wire once again as a Kory Sheets 46-yard touchdown run with 1:00 left in the fourth quar - ter rallied Purdue to a 32-25 win. It all happed just 18 seconds after the Chippewas had taken a 25-24 lead. The victory allowed Joe Tiller to surpass Jack Mollenkopf as the win- ningest coach in school annals. In the first two meetings be- tween the schools, quarterback Drew Brees led Purdue to a couple of lopsided wins: 58-16 in 1999 and 48-0 in 2000, Purdue's first shutout of an opponent in 19 years. j What You Need To Know About Central Michigan Tom Campbell Quarterback Curtis Painter made a career against the Chippewas, averaging 389 yards passing and completing 77 percent of his pass- es in three Boilermaker wins. He was named MVP of the 2007 Motor City Bowl. The lasT Time... Chippewas' two best receivers may miss game