Eagles' Ground Game Flies High in 30-21 Victory at Arizona State

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TEMPE, Ariz. (EMUEagles.com) - Samson Evans' (Crystal Lake, Ill.-Prairie Ridge) career night on the ground led the Eastern Michigan University football team to a 30-21 victory at Arizona State University Saturday, Sept. 17. Evans, who ran for 258 yards on 36 carries, recorded his first career 100-yard game while helping the Eagles (2-1, 0-0 MAC) to their first all-time win against a member of the Pac-12 Conference.

Evans, who came into the game with a career-best 89 yards rushing he accumulated earlier this season against Eastern Kentucky University, finished with the third-most rushing yards in a single game at EMU, passing the mark of Bronson Hill, who rushed for 257 against Ohio University, Oct. 19, 2013. Larry Ratcliff holds the all-time record with 291 yards against Eastern Kentucky University, Oct. 16, 1971.

How it Happened
Eastern jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with Jesus Gomez (Puebla, Mexico-Prepa Tec Puebla) connecting on his first career field goal attempt - a 27-yard kick - before Jaylon Jackson (Burleson, Texas-Centennial) ran in from four yards to build the lead to 10-0. From there, the Eagles maintained their advantage as they were able to score points on five of their first six possessions to claim victory.

Sophomore quarterback Austin Smith (Ellenwood, Ga.-Cedar Grove) came off the bench in the first quarter and made an immediate impact as he ran for 20 yards to keep the drive alive. Unofficially, Smith ended the night with 60 yards passing - the first passing yards of his career - with one touchdown while adding 62 yards on the ground.

Overall, the victory marked the fourth time in the Chris Creighton era that Eastern has defeated a Power Five opponent. The only coach in the Mid-American Conference with multiple wins over a Power Five team, Creighton's Eagles added the Sun Devils to the list that includes Rutgers University (2017), Purdue University (2018), and the University of Illinois (2019).

The Eagles return home next week, Sept. 24, when they play host to the University at Buffalo in a noon kick at Rynearson Stadium. The MAC opener will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.

Game Notes
» The Eastern Michigan offense has been dialed in at the start of its last two respective contests. The Green and White put together a 12-play, 56-yard drive over 3:56 to start its game against the Sun Devils. The drive ended in a field goal, and secured consecutive game-opening scoring drives for EMU. The last time Eastern had back-to-back contests with opening-drive scores came in November 2021, when it did so in games against Ohio University, Nov. 9, and Western Michigan University, Nov. 16.
» Gomez split the uprights on a 27-yard field goal attempt with 11:04 in the first quarter. It is the first field goal make of his career. Moreover, it was the first three-point attempt for Eastern Michigan this season. Prior to tonight's game, EMU had not made a field goal since Dec. 18, 2021, against Liberty University.
» The Eastern Michigan defense was stout to begin the game, forcing an Arizona State three-and-out in its first possession of the contest. The Eagles have now forced opponent three-and-outs in back to back contests, the first time for the program since the 2021 campaign, when it did so against Central Michigan University, Nov. 26, and Liberty University, Dec. 18.
» A. Smith came off the bench in the second quarter and made an immediate impact. In just his second-career drive, the Peach State native helped Eastern complete a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in which he completed 2-of-2 pass attempts, a career-high, as well as ran for 52 yards on four attempts, including a long of 20 yards. All of those statistics were also career bests.
» Eastern Michigan scored 24 points in the first half against Arizona State. That total is the highest for the team since Nov. 2, 2021, when EMU dropped 24 in the first half of its game at the University of Toledo. That game ended in victorious fashion for the Eagles, who defeated the Rockets, 52-49.
»The Eagles finished the first half with 307 total yards of offense, the most for the team in any game this season. Additionally, EMU's 154 rushing yards in the first half were more than any full-game total for the team this season. Eastern's previous high of 124 yards came against Eastern Kentucky University, Sept. 2.
» Evans had an outstanding first half against the Sun Devils. The third-year Eagle rushed a career-high 15 times in the first 30 minutes of action, accumulating a personal-best 96 yards on the ground. Unofficially, Evans finished the contest with a career-high 257 yards on 35 carries. He is the first EMU player to rush for 100 yards or more in a contest since Nov. 16, 2021, when former Eagle Jawon Hamilton went for 187 yards on the ground in a game against Western Michigan University. He also is the first Eagle to rush for 200+ yards since Reginald Bell ran for 202 against Buffalo on Oct. 11, 2014.
» The EMU defense was stout in the first half of play against ASU. Coming into the contest, Eastern had allowed 237.8 yards per half in 2022. Tonight, the Eagles held the Sun Devils to just 127 total yards in the first 30 minutes, a 47-percent decrease in total yardage compared to the team's season average.
» In addition to its first-quarter success on defense, Eastern Michigan has also been impressive coming out of the locker room in 2022. The Eagles prevented the Sun Devils from scoring their opening drive of the second half tonight. No EMU opponent has scored on its first drive of the second half in 2022.
» With their 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Eagles have now kept their opponents off the scoreboard in the opening stanza in all three games this season, equaling the total recorded in the 2021 season. Last year, the three teams Eastern shutout in the first quarter were Saint Francis University (14-0), the University of Massachusetts (14-0), and Western Michigan University (0-0).
» Eastern Michigan has held its opponents off the scoreboard in the first quarter in three consecutive contests. It marks the first time in the Chris Creighton era (2014-Pres.) that the team has accomplished that statistic. Furthermore, EMU has not kept opponents off the board in three consecutive first quarters since 2005-06, when the Eagles did it in weeks 11 and 12 of 2005, and again in week one of 2006.
» At the half, the Eagles had accumulated 154 yards on the ground. Ahead of the game, Eastern totaled 124 rushing yards against EKU and 41 at Louisiana. Additionally, Eastern entered the game with 165 total rushing yards on the season and averaged 2.9 per carry.
» Eastern's second touchdown of the game, a 6-yard pass from A. Smith to Hassan Beydoun (Dearborn, Mich.-Dearborn), covered 75 yards in 13 plays and eroded 6:43 off the game clock. The drive yardage and number of plays are season-highs while the time of possession is the longest scoring drive of the 2022 campaign, bettering the 6:41 it took the Eagles to score against the University of Louisiana, Sept. 10.

Historical Notes
» Chris Creighton now holds four victories over "Power 5" opponents. He is the only active coach in MAC with multiple wins over "Power 5" programs. Previously, Eastern's victories came in 2017 against Rutgers University, 2018 against Purdue University, and 2019 against the University of Illinois.
» EMU has now won a non-conference contest in every year since the 2011 season. That streak is the longest in the program's history since 1966-75.
» Additionally, Eastern has earned a non-conference road victory in every season since 2015.
» With the victory, Eastern takes the first head-to-head matchup between the two programs. The Eagles lead the series 1-0 and are now 1-1 all-time against the Pac-12 Conference.
» With its win, Eastern Michigan becomes the first program in the Mid-American Conference to earn a regular season win over a PAC-12 Conference member.
» Eastern Michigan handed Arizona State it's first non-conference home loss since the 2017 season.

Eagles' Ground Game Flies High in 30-21 Victory at Arizona State

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Team Stats

Taylor Powell

Austin Smith

Players Mentioned

Hassan Beydoun

Samson Evans

Jawon Hamilton

Jaylon Jackson

Players Mentioned

Hassan Beydoun

Samson Evans

Jawon Hamilton

Jaylon Jackson

Eastern Michigan Athletics