Football Drops Heartbreaker to Toledo, 27-24

Postgame Press Conference

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University football team fell in heartbreaking fashion to the University of Toledo, 27-24, Saturday afternoon, Oct. 29, inside "The Factory" at Rynearson Stadium. The Rockets improved to 6-3 on the year and 4-1 in Mid-American Conference play, while the Eagles fell to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in conference matchups.

Senior running back Samson Evans (Crystal Lake, Ill.-Prairie Ridge) led Eastern with three touchdowns and 88 yards rushing in the contest while junior running back Jaylon Jackson (Burleson, Texas-Centennial-Lamar) also added 21 yards on the ground, averaging 4.2 yards per carry.

The most prolific target for Eastern Michigan quarterbacks was graduate student Tanner Knue (Mason, Ohio-Mason), who caught three passes for 39 yards.

Graduate student Jose Ramirez (Lake Alfred, Fla.-Auburndale-Arizona-Riverside City) led the Eastern Michigan defensive effort, recording a season-high nine tackles, 2.0 TFL, one sack, one forced fumble, and one recovered fumble. Ramirez, who now has 8.0 sacks on the season, remained one of the nation's leaders in the category, maintaining his average of 1.0 sack per game in 2022.

The Eagles won the turnover battle in Saturday's game, forcing two turnovers while only giving away the ball once. The Eastern Michigan offense did a good job extending drives, converting on 43.8 percent of third-down attempts. The Green and White's defense held up fairly well against the run, limiting Toledo to 136 yards on the ground.

How It Happened
Eastern Michigan got on the scoreboard first, jumping out to a 7-0 lead with 3:35 remaining in the first quarter. The Rockets then cut into the Eagles' lead, making it a 7-3 game before EMU added another score to build the advantage to 10-3.

After Toledo evened the game at 10-10, Eastern Michigan got on the scoreboard once again late in the first half. With 0:30 left in the second quarter, a one-yard touchdown rush from Evans put the Eagles back in front, 17-10. The Rockets came back to even the game at 17-17 until the Green and White answered back with an 11-yard touchdown run from Evans to retake the lead at 24-17. Eastern Michigan didn't score again in the game and Toledo tacked on 10 more points to finish off the scoring, including a touchdown with 2:09 to play to take the lead for the final time.

Game Notes
» Evans scored three touchdowns for the Eagles. His first, which opened the scoring for the Green and White with 3:35 left in the first quarter, marked the second game of the 2022 campaign in which he was the first player to score for EMU. His three TDs brought the Illinois-native to first in the MAC standings with nine touchdowns. Additionally, today's competition was Evans' second game this season with at least three TD's (Western Michigan University) and fourth with at least one (Eastern Kentucky University, Arizona State University, Western Michigan University, Toledo).
» Eastern Michigan recorded two fumble recoveries in the second quarter, one by junior Corry Thomas (Ecorse, Mich.-Westlake (Ga.)), the first of his career, and another by Ramirez, the sixth of his career, on Toledo's five-yard line. The statistic marks the first game this season the Eagles have recovered multiple fumble recoveries and third time this season where the Green and White have recorded at least one (Ball State, Arizona State, Eastern Kentucky).
» Ramirez finished the day with a team-leading nine tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss (eight yards), 1.0 sacks (six yards), one pass breakup and two quarterback hurries. With his sack, Ramirez now has 16.5 sacks in his career, which moved him up to seventh all-time in program history, moving past Jeremiah Harris (2014-18), who totaled 16.0 in his career. Additionally, the 2.0 TFLs Ramirez recorded against the Rockets moved him up to 27.0 TFLs in his career, tying him with Josh Hunt (2005-08) for eighth in program history.
» The Eagles' touchdown in the first quarter marks the fourth contest of the season the Green and White have scored before its opponent, the previous three coming against Sun Belt Conference member the University of Louisiana, PAC-12 member Arizona State University, and intrastate MAC rival Western Michigan.
» This afternoon's competition was the fourth time this season EMU has scored at least 17 points by halftime (Arizona State, Buffalo, Western Michigan). Eastern is now 2-2 in those games in 2022.
» Graduate student wide receiver Dylan Drummond (Cleveland, Ohio-Cuyahoga Heights) completed a career-long pass to Knue for 23 yards to set the Eagles up on the Toledo 25 yard line in the third quarter. Last season, the Cleveland-native threw for one TD against Texas State Sept. 25, 2021, the first passing attempt of his career.
» Eastern Michigan kept the Toledo offense off the scoreboard for the entirety of the first quarter. It marks the sixth time this season that EMU has held an opponent scoreless in the first 15 minutes of play with the most recent coming in the 20-16 victory at Ball State, Oct. 22. Last season, EMU only held opponents off the board in the first quarter three times in 13 games.
» A common goal in Head Coach Chris Creighton's program, Eastern has won or tied (29 wins, 7 ties) the turnover battle in 36 of its last 39 victories under Creighton. Despite the loss, the trend held this afternoon, Oct. 29, as Eastern forced two turnovers against the Rockets.
» The Eagles were once again perfect in the red zone, going 4-for-4 and scoring all of their points inside the Rockets' 20. For the season, the Eagles are now 32-of-33 in red zone appearances.
» Through eight games in 2022, Evans currently ranks 21st in the nation with 722 rushing yards. He is fourth in the MAC and 31st in the country with a 90.3 rushing yards per game average. Additionally, Evans ranks seventh in the MAC in all-purpose yards, where he has averaged 100.6 per game in 2022.

Historical Notes
» With 23 career touchdowns at EMU, Evans now ties Bob Foster (1986-88) for seventh most in program history and is one away from tying Shaq Vann (2015-19) for sixth on the charts.
» Following today's 27-24 loss, the all-time record with Toledo moves to 37-13, in favor of the Rockets. The setback marks the 17th loss against UT inside Rynearson Stadium.
» EMU now drops to fifth in the MAC Western Division standings with a 2-3 conference record.
» The Eagles still remain one win away from bowl eligibility following today's loss. The Green and White's next win would give Eastern Michigan bowl eligibility for the fifth time in the previous six full seasons, and just the seventh time in program history. A win would also give EMU bowl eligibility in four consecutive seasons for the first time in program history (excluding COVID-shortened 2020 season).
» Including today, a total of 38 of Eastern's last 45 MAC games (84.4%) and 54 of its last 69 (78.3%) games overall have either been an Eagles' win or a one-possession loss. Eastern also has seen its last two games end in one-possession decisions, including a four-point win at Ball State (20-16) and today's three-point loss (27-24).

Up Next
Eastern will begin its final road stretch of the season with a Tuesday night #MACtion contest at the University of Akron, Nov. 8, inside InfoCision Stadium in Akron, Ohio. The kickoff time and television broadcast station will be announced this week by the Mid-American Conference.

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Team Stats

Taylor Powell

Dylan Drummond

Austin Smith

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