MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — P.J. Fleck knew that with injuries to the receiving core, he and Darrell Hill had to make plays.

With three receivers out — Keith Perry, Turner Pugh and Kandras Bledsoe — quarterback Chris Finlen looked only to Hill and Fleck, hooking up with the two for a combined 14 receptions for 203 yards.

“We had to,” Fleck said about carrying the load on the passing side. “Darrell and I talked all through the week about how we are going to have to step up. I think we did a pretty good job of that.”

Not only did Hill have four receptions for 108 yards, the senior scored on a 75-yard kickoff return to start the second half. But Hill was not too pleased with his play Saturday.

“I don’t think I played great,” the senior said. “I could have made some more plays.”

Fleck, who finished with a career-high 10 receptions for 95 yards and one touchdown, knew going up against CMU’s secondary was going to be rough, but said he goes up against the best secondary in the Mid-American Conference every day in practice.

“We get better every day in practice because we go up against some great DB’s,” the junior said. “We know they are good and I respect them, but we have some talents wide-outs too. It was a good matchup and we were looking forward to it all week. We just came out and made the plays.”