Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, November 23
Rynearson Stadium
1 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
2-10 , 1-7
7
vs
49
Northern Illinois
11-1 , 8-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Northern Illinois
14
14
7
14
49
Eastern Michigan
7
0
0
0
7
Photo by: Steve King/KingStudios
EMU Football Falls in Season Finale 49-7
11/23/2012 5:09:00 PM | Football, E-Gridiron Group
Eagles finish 2012 season with 2-10 record
Photo Gallery.
Postgame Audio.
YPSILANTIi, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team ended its 2012 campaign with a 49-7 loss to Northern Illinois University Friday afternoon, Nov. 23, at Rynearson Stadium. The Green and White finish the season with a 2-10 (1-7 MAC) record. Before playing in their final game as a member of the EMU football team, 20 seniors were honored in a ceremony prior to the start of the game.
Behind 42 unanswered points and a career-high four rushing touchdowns for Akeem Daniels, NIU (11-1, 8-0 MAC) won its 11th straight game of the season. The Huskies, champions of the MAC West Division, will now head to Detroit, Mich. for a second-straight MAC Championship, Nov. 30, to square off with the Kent State Golden Flashes.
Daniels finished with 12 carries for 112 yards, finding the end zone on four of those carries. NIU quarterback Jordan Lynch ran for 107 yards while completing 16-of-25 passes for 168 yard and one touchdown. Martel Moore who had nine catches in the game for 116 yards.
In the loss, Eastern quarterback Tyler Benz (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine Township South) was 10-of-22 for 96 yards through the air with one touchdown and one interception. His top target was senior Alex Gillett (Green Springs, Ohio-Clyde), who caught four passes for 34 yards.
Bronson Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.-Catholic Central) led the rushing attack for the Eagles with 11 carries for 29 yards.
For the game, the Huskies held a 415-227 advantage in total yards with 242 coming on the ground.
Northern Illinois notched the scoring column first as Daniels capped off a five-play, 53-yard drive with a 25-yard scamper up the middle to give the Huskies a 7-0 lead with 5:35 remaining in the first quarter.
Eastern Michigan answered with a scoring drive of its own as Benz found senior Matt Boyd (Southfield, Mich.-Lathrup) on a 20-yard, play-action pass. The EMU offense kept the high-powered NIU offense off the field by going 82 yards in 11 plays that took 5:13 off of the clock. Dylan Mulder's (Saline, Mich.-Saline) extra point tied it up at 7-7 with just 16 seconds to go in the first 15 minutes of play.
The game did not stay tied for long. On the ensuing kickoff, Tommylee Lewis used his speed to go 93 yards down the sideline to pay dirt, giving his Huskies the lead back, 14-7.
As the second quarter began, snow began to cover the entire field, making the playing conditions tougher. After forcing the Eagles to punt, NIU increased its lead courtesy of a 20-yard Daniels touchdown run, his second touchdown of the afternoon, part of a 13-play, 80-yard drive. With 4:06 left in the first half, Northern Illinois took a 21-7 lead.
On the next NIU drive, EMU appeared to have forced the Huskies to punt. However, an illegal substitution by Eastern gave Northern Illinois an automatic first down to keep the drive alive. Four plays later, NIU turned a fourth down conversion into a touchdown as Lynch found Moore, who caught the ball just past the first down marker before turning up-field 43 yards to the end zone. At halftime, the Eagles faced a 28-7 deficit.
With NIU starting the second half with the ball, Daniels picked up right where he left off with his third touchdown run of the day, a 19-yard dash to the house, increasing the Huskies lead to 35-7 with 10:44 to go in the third quarter.
Following an interception thrown by Benz, the first turnover of the game, Daniels finished another NIU scoring drive with a 16-yard run, his fourth rushing touchdown of the game to make the score 42-7 with 8:42 remaining in the contest.
To finish off the game's scoring, Jacob Brinlee found the end zone from 11 yards out to give the Huskies a 49-7 lead.
Postgame Audio.
YPSILANTIi, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team ended its 2012 campaign with a 49-7 loss to Northern Illinois University Friday afternoon, Nov. 23, at Rynearson Stadium. The Green and White finish the season with a 2-10 (1-7 MAC) record. Before playing in their final game as a member of the EMU football team, 20 seniors were honored in a ceremony prior to the start of the game.
Behind 42 unanswered points and a career-high four rushing touchdowns for Akeem Daniels, NIU (11-1, 8-0 MAC) won its 11th straight game of the season. The Huskies, champions of the MAC West Division, will now head to Detroit, Mich. for a second-straight MAC Championship, Nov. 30, to square off with the Kent State Golden Flashes.
Daniels finished with 12 carries for 112 yards, finding the end zone on four of those carries. NIU quarterback Jordan Lynch ran for 107 yards while completing 16-of-25 passes for 168 yard and one touchdown. Martel Moore who had nine catches in the game for 116 yards.
In the loss, Eastern quarterback Tyler Benz (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine Township South) was 10-of-22 for 96 yards through the air with one touchdown and one interception. His top target was senior Alex Gillett (Green Springs, Ohio-Clyde), who caught four passes for 34 yards.
Bronson Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.-Catholic Central) led the rushing attack for the Eagles with 11 carries for 29 yards.
For the game, the Huskies held a 415-227 advantage in total yards with 242 coming on the ground.
Northern Illinois notched the scoring column first as Daniels capped off a five-play, 53-yard drive with a 25-yard scamper up the middle to give the Huskies a 7-0 lead with 5:35 remaining in the first quarter.
Eastern Michigan answered with a scoring drive of its own as Benz found senior Matt Boyd (Southfield, Mich.-Lathrup) on a 20-yard, play-action pass. The EMU offense kept the high-powered NIU offense off the field by going 82 yards in 11 plays that took 5:13 off of the clock. Dylan Mulder's (Saline, Mich.-Saline) extra point tied it up at 7-7 with just 16 seconds to go in the first 15 minutes of play.
The game did not stay tied for long. On the ensuing kickoff, Tommylee Lewis used his speed to go 93 yards down the sideline to pay dirt, giving his Huskies the lead back, 14-7.
As the second quarter began, snow began to cover the entire field, making the playing conditions tougher. After forcing the Eagles to punt, NIU increased its lead courtesy of a 20-yard Daniels touchdown run, his second touchdown of the afternoon, part of a 13-play, 80-yard drive. With 4:06 left in the first half, Northern Illinois took a 21-7 lead.
On the next NIU drive, EMU appeared to have forced the Huskies to punt. However, an illegal substitution by Eastern gave Northern Illinois an automatic first down to keep the drive alive. Four plays later, NIU turned a fourth down conversion into a touchdown as Lynch found Moore, who caught the ball just past the first down marker before turning up-field 43 yards to the end zone. At halftime, the Eagles faced a 28-7 deficit.
With NIU starting the second half with the ball, Daniels picked up right where he left off with his third touchdown run of the day, a 19-yard dash to the house, increasing the Huskies lead to 35-7 with 10:44 to go in the third quarter.
Following an interception thrown by Benz, the first turnover of the game, Daniels finished another NIU scoring drive with a 16-yard run, his fourth rushing touchdown of the game to make the score 42-7 with 8:42 remaining in the contest.
To finish off the game's scoring, Jacob Brinlee found the end zone from 11 yards out to give the Huskies a 49-7 lead.
Team Stats
NIU
EMU
Total Yards
415
227
Pass Yards
173
133
Rushing Yards
242
94
Penalty Yards
25
30
1st Downs
24
15
3rd Downs
6
4
4th Downs
2
0
TOP
27:34
32:26
1st Quarter
NIU 7, EMU 0
NIU - DANIELS, Akeem 25 yd run (SIMS, Mathew kick), 5 plays, 53 yards, TOP 2:03
NIU 7, EMU 7
EMU - BOYD, Matt 20 yd pass from BENZ, Tyler (MULDER, Dylan kick) 11 plays, 82 yards, TOP 5:13
NIU 14, EMU 7
NIU - LEWIS, Tommylee 93 yd kickoff return (SIMS, Mathew kick)
2nd Quarter
NIU 21, EMU 7
NIU - DANIELS, Akeem 20 yd run (SIMS, Mathew kick), 13 plays, 80 yards, TOP 5:56
NIU 28, EMU 7
NIU - MOORE, Martel 43 yd pass from LYNCH, Jordan (SIMS, Mathew kick) 7 plays, 65 yards, TOP 1:22
3rd Quarter
NIU 35, EMU 7
NIU - DANIELS, Akeem 19 yd run (SIMS, Mathew kick), 10 plays, 73 yards, TOP 4:11
4th Quarter
NIU 42, EMU 7
NIU - DANIELS, Akeem 16 yd run (SIMS, Mathew kick), 5 plays, 42 yards, TOP 2:01
NIU 49, EMU 7
NIU - BRINLEE, Jacob 11 yd run (SIMS, Mathew kick), 6 plays, 33 yards, TOP 3:41
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
10
TD
1
YDS
96
INT
1
CMP
2
TD
0
YDS
37
INT
0
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
PK
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