Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
2-1
Massachusetts
0-3
Offense Erupts in Football's 42-28 Victory over UMass
9/18/2021 7:49:00 PM | Football
Five different Eagles found the end zone for the Green and White
Photo Gallery | Highlight Video
Postgame Press Conference.
AMHERST, Mass. (EMUEagles.com) --Five different players scored touchdowns as the Eastern Michigan University football team racked up more than 500 yards of total offense en route to a 42-28 win over the University of Massachusetts Saturday afternoon, Sept. 18, inside McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
The triumph improved Eastern Michigan's record to 2-1 on the season while the Minutemen fell to 0-3.
Senior quarterback Ben Bryant (La Grange, Ill.-Lyons Twp. (Cincinnati)) led Eastern's passing attack with 298 yards through the air, tossing one touchdown without throwing an interception.
Senior running back Jawon Hamilton (Miami, Fla.-South Dade (James Madison)) totaled 122 yards to lead the Eagles' ground attack and added one touchdown in the game, picking up 7.6 yards per carry along the way. Freshman Darius Boone Jr. (Tulsa, Okla.-Union) also tacked on 27 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Junior wide out Hassan Beydoun (Dearborn, Mich.-Dearborn) reeled in six catches for 101 yards. Freshman Zach Westmoreland (Joplin, Mo.-Joplin) got in on the action in the passing game as well, hauling in two balls for 97 yards and one touchdown. The Eagles also got 73 yards receiving from junior wide receiver Dylan Drummond (Cleveland, Ohio-Cuyahoga Heights) in the contest.
Freshman T.J. Peavy (Fayetteville, Ga.-Sandy Creek) paced the Eastern Michigan defensive effort, totaling five tackles, 1.0 TFL, and one recovered fumble. Fellow underclassman David Carter Jr. (Ecorse, Mich.-River Rouge) added one interception and junior Grant Trueman (Chino Hills, Ca.-Chino Hills (Citrus)) had three tackles, 1.0 TFL, and one sack in the win.
The Eagles won the turnover battle in Saturday's game, forcing two turnovers while coughing the ball up one time, with EMU turning those takeaways into 14 points. The Eastern offense did a good job prolonging drives, converting on 55.6 percent of third-down attempts. The Eagles also went 1-for-1 on fourth down.
Eastern Michigan scored on the game's opening drive to take a 7-0 lead.The Eagles then followed with another score to expand the lead to 14-0.
Eastern Michigan kept building its advantage, scoring again with 11:59 remaining in the second quarter to go on top 21-0.The Eagles continued to extend their lead after UMass closed the gap to 21-7, scoring again to go on top 28-7.
Eastern Michigan kept building its lead after UMass made it a 28-14 game, scoring again with 12:36 left in the fourth quarter make the score 35-14.The Minutemen then rallied, tallying seven points before the Eagles responded with a touchdown to extend their lead to 42-21. Eastern Michigan didn't score again and UMass added seven more points to finish off the game.
» Eastern Michigan won the turnover battle, 2-1, after intercepting one pass and recovering one fumble.
» The Eagles scored first with 12:22 left in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game on their way to victory.
» Eastern Michigan had their highest scoring quarter in the fourth period, when they put up 14 points.
» Eastern Michigan converted 5-of-9 third downs while UMass was successful on 7 of 12.
» Senior Jake Julien (Barrie, Ontario-North Collegiate) punted one time for the Eagles with an average of 58.0 yards per punt, a single-game career-high.
» Eastern Michigan got off to a hot start in the contest, putting 21 unanswered points on the board before UMass could respond.
» Bryant completed 66.7% of his passes on the day, going 14-for-21 while averaging 14.2 yards per attempt.
»In his second-career game, freshman Westmoreland hauled in a game-long 54-yard reception, a new career-long. Two of his three career receptions have been EMU single-game highs in 2021.
»Boone rushed for two touchdowns in the contest. The game is his first with multiple scores in his career. His TD total led the Eagles.
»EMU opponents are now just 3-of-8 (38%) on fourth down conversions (UMass held to 1-of-3). That number is significantly better than last season, when EMU opponents converted 87% of fourth down tries (13-of-15).
»Peavy's fumble recovery as time expired in the third quarter was the first of his career. He added five tackles in the game, the third most of any Eagle.
»EMU's score with 4:07 left in the fourth quarter was its first of the season through the air. The team is one of the final 10 in the FBS (of 130) to throw for a touchdown in 2021.
Historical Notes
»Bryant set new career-highs in numerous categories, including passing yards (298), and total yards (314). His TD pass was his first in 364 days after he last delivered a score through the air, against Austin Peay, Sept. 19, 2020, while he was still with Cincinnati.
»EMU's 507 yards of total offense are the most since putting up 533 yards against Western Michigan, Dec. 5, 2020.
»With his touchdown run in the fourth quarter, Hamilton recorded both his first 100-yard rushing game of his EMU career and fourth overall. His touchdown was the 18th of his career, his second with EMU.
» Carter Jr. added his second interception of the season in the first half of EMU's game at UMass. Carter Jr. has interceptions in back-to-back game, making him the first EMU player to do it since senior Alvinoski LaFleur (Lake Charles, Ga.-LaGrange (Coffeyville)) did it to open the season last year at Kent State, Nov. 4, and again at Ball State, Nov. 11.
»Hamilton's 25-yard burst on EMU's second drive of the game was the longest of his EMU career. He previously went for a long of 14 yards against Saint Francis, Sept. 3.
»Hamilton's 122 yards rushing are an EMU career-best. His previous best was 64 yards, against Saint Francis, Sept. 3.
»EMU scored touchdowns on each of its first three drives, the first such occurrence since it did the same Oct. 13, 2018, vs Toledo.
»In scoring on three consecutive drives to begin the game, EMU has now produced points on three straight drives twice in three games (three TD's vs Saint Francis, Sept. 3).
»The win is EMU's first over UMass in program history. The two teams had met twice previously before Saturday's matchup.
Up Next
EMU returns home to battle Texas State Saturday, Sept. 25. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. inside "The Factory."
Team Stats
EMU 7, UMASS 0
EMU - HUTCHINSON, P. 1 yd run (RYLAND, Chad kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:38
EMU 14, UMASS 0
EMU - BOONE, Darius 8 yd run (RYLAND, Chad kick), 7 plays, 69 yards, TOP 2:44
EMU 21, UMASS 0
EMU - EVANS, Samson 13 yd run (RYLAND, Chad kick), 9 plays, 51 yards, TOP 4:18
EMU 21, UMASS 7
UMASS - Johnson,Josiah 1 yd run (Carson,Cameron kick), 8 plays, 80 yards, TOP 3:36
EMU 28, UMASS 7
EMU - BOONE, Darius 1 yd run (RYLAND, Chad kick), 9 plays, 56 yards, TOP 4:15
EMU 28, UMASS 14
UMASS - Hill,Melvin 45 yd pass from Olson,Brady (Carson,Cameron kick) 3 plays, 79 yards, TOP 0:57
EMU 35, UMASS 14
EMU - HAMILTON, Jawon 10 yd run (RYLAND, Chad kick), 5 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:24
EMU 35, UMASS 21
UMASS - Scudo,Carter 2 yd run (Carson,Cameron kick), 13 plays, 75 yards, TOP 6:09
EMU 42, UMASS 21
EMU - WESTMORELAND,Z. 54 yd pass from BRYANT, Ben (RYLAND, Chad kick) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:20
EMU 42, UMASS 28
UMASS - Johnson,Josiah 29 yd pass from Olson,Brady (Carson,Cameron kick) 8 plays, 80 yards, TOP 3:14
