Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
4-3 , 1-2
Northern Illinois
2-5 , 1-2
Football Comes up Short Against Northern Illinois
10/15/2022 6:41:00 PM | Football
Ramirez moves into 9th place in EMU history in single-season and career sack yardage
Postgame Press Conference
Photo Gallery | Highlight Video
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University football team fell, 39-10, to Northern Illinois University inside "The Factory" at Rynearson Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Huskies improved to 2-5 on the year and 1-2 in Mid-American Conference play, while the Eagles fell to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in conference matchups.
Junior Jaylon Jackson (Burleson, Texas-Centennial-Lamar) paced the Green and White rushing attack, accumulating 60 yards over the course of the game. Jackson also tacked on 48 receiving yards. Junior Darius Boone (Tulsa, Okla.-Union) added 14 yards on the ground for Eastern Michigan, averaging seven yards per carry.
Sophomore Andreas Paaske (Copenhagen, Denmark, Søllerød Senior-Denmark Gold Diggers) reeled in one catch for 75 yards and one score, the only touchdown of the afternoon for the Eagles. Senior Dylan Drummond (Cleveland, Ohio-Cuyahoga Heights) got in on the action in the passing game as well, hauling in three balls for 60 yards.
Graduate student Jose Ramirez (Lake Alfred, Fla.-Auburndale-Arizona-Riverside City) paced the Eastern Michigan defensive effort, collecting four tackles, 2.0 of which were for loss, and two sacks.
Defensively, Eastern Michigan held up against the Northern Illinois passing attack, holding NIU to 123 yards through the air. In part because of that strong defense, Eastern Michigan receivers out-gained their Husky counterparts 197-123.
How It HappenedAfter falling behind 7-0, Eastern Michigan responded with a touchdown from Paaske with 10:34 left in the first quarter to tie at 7-7. The Huskies then scored 13 unanswered points to take a 20-7 lead before the Eagles put a field goal on the board to make it a 20-10 game. Northern Illinois kept the Green and White off the board for the rest of the game and added 19 more points to finish off the scoring for the Huskies.
Game Notes
» Paaske put the Eagles on the board with a 75-yard bomb from Powell with 10:34 left in the first, his first career score at EMU. It was the second Eagle touchdown of 70 or more yards this season, the first since Tanner Knue (Mason, Ohio-Mason) hauled in a 74-yard score from Austin Smith (Ellenwood, Ga.-Cedar Grove) against Buffalo, Sept. 24. Paaske's score was also the longest EMU play from scrimmage on the season.
» Ramirez tallied his second consecutive multi-sack game with two, one week after setting the Eastern Michigan single-game sack record with four at Western Michigan, Oct. 8. He now has a single-season career-high seven sacks in 2022. His previous best effort came in 2021, where he totaled 6.5 sacks for EMU.
» Midway through the third quarter, sophomore kicker Jesus Gomez (Puebla, Mexico-Prepa Tec Puebla) fired a 46-yard field goal through the uprights. The 46-yard field goal was the Puebla, Mexico native's career-long field goal, besting a 42-yard effort at Western Michigan, Oct. 8.
» Sophomore punter Mitchell Tomasek (Columbus, Ohio-Worthington Kilbourne) tied his career-high with a booming 62-yard punt that downed the Huskies on their 15-yard line. Tomasek's previous high came against Buffalo, Sept. 24. On the day, he punted five times with an average of 47.8 yards per punt while pinning the NIU inside their own 20 twice.
» Drummond hauled in three catches on the day, extending his consecutive games with a reception streak to 35, the fourth-longest in the nation.
» Jackson set a new career-high in rushing attempts with 16, besting his previous career high of 11 set against the University of Massachusetts, Oct. 1. He also tied his career-high in rushing yards with 60, matching the total also set against UMass. Jackson's 42-yard reception in the fourth quarter is his longest career offensive play, besting a 26-yard rush also against UMass. The Texas native went over 100 all-purpose yards for the fourth game this season, totaling 125 today.
» In his best game as an Eagle, graduate student Joe Sparacio (Naples, Fla.-First Baptist Academy-Boston College) set a new career-high in tackles with 10. His previous high of eight came one week ago at Western Michigan, Oct. 8.
» Graduate student defensive lineman Jordan Crawford (Houston, Texas-Pearland-Tyler J.C.) set a new career-high in tackles today with seven, besting his previous high of 6 set against the University of Toledo, Nov. 18, 2020. He added in one tackle for loss as well.
» In his collegiate debut, freshman running back Elijah Jackson-Anderson (Flint, Mich-Grand Blanc) tallied four kick returns for 10 yards.
» Graduate student Taylor Powell (Fayetteville, Ark.-Missouri-Troy) posted his longest season pass on the long bomb to Paaske of 75 yards. In the last two games, Powell and the Eagles have tallied eight passes of over 20 yards, six of those going for more than 30 yards, and three going for more than 40 yards. Two of those 40-yard plays came today, which is the first time this season Eastern has had two passes of more than 40 yards in the same game.
» A Powell pass was intercepted in the end zone with 10:49 left to play in the first. This is the first pick-six given up by the Eagles since a Preston Hutchinson pass was returned for a touchdown by the Toledo defense, Nov. 18, 2020.
Historical Notes
» Ramirez vaulted into the EMU single-season leader boards, taking ninth place in Eastern history in sack yardage in a season with 48 and tying for 10th in TFL yardage with 62. He also joined the career sack yardage list in ninth, with 84 yards, and the career TFL yardage list with 110. The Florida native is only the 10th Eastern player to tally 100 yards in TFLs.
» Ramirez jumps ahead on the EMU career sack list, ending the day in eighth place with 15.5 career sacks.
» The Eagles fall to 118-241-6 all-time in MAC play.
» Eastern Michigan now stands at 16-35-2 all-time against the Huskies.
Up Next
The Eagles will continue their Mid-American Conference slate with a road trip to Muncie, Ind. to battle Ball State University Saturday, Oct. 22. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. inside Scheumann Stadium.
Team Stats
NIU 7, EMU 0
NIU - Ester,James 0 yd interception (Richardson,John kick)
NIU 7, EMU 7
EMU - PAASKE, Andreas 75 yd pass from POWELL, Taylor (GOMEZ, Jesus kick) 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:15
NIU 14, EMU 7
NIU - Brown,Antario 47 yd run (Richardson,John kick), 2 plays, 55 yards, TOP 0:39
NIU 17, EMU 7
NIU - Richardson,John 41 yd field goal 5 plays, 29 yards, TOP 2:03
NIU 20, EMU 7
NIU - Richardson,John 39 yd field goal 5 plays, 39 yards, TOP 0:30
NIU 20, EMU 10
EMU - GOMEZ, Jesus 46 yd field goal 5 plays, 30 yards, TOP 1:00
NIU 23, EMU 10
NIU - Richardson,John 28 yd field goal 9 plays, 62 yards, TOP 5:40
NIU 29, EMU 10
NIU - Brown,Antario 6 yd run (Rutkiewicz,Kacp passfailed), 6 plays, 45 yards, TOP 3:12
NIU 32, EMU 10
NIU - Richardson,John 33 yd field goal 7 plays, 12 yards, TOP 4:23
NIU 39, EMU 10
NIU - Waylee,Harrison 76 yd run (Richardson,John kick), 3 plays, 85 yards, TOP 1:42
