Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
4-3 , 2-1
Kent State
1-6 , 0-3
Football Soaks Up 28-14 Victory Over Visiting Kent State
10/14/2023 3:35:00 PM | Football
Evans reached 2,000 yards rushing while the defense secured three fumbles in the win
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Postgame Presser | Creighton Interview with CBSSN
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team got on the scoreboard first and never looked back on its way to a 28-14 victory over Kent State University inside 'The Factory' at Rynearson Stadium, Oct. 14.
The Eagles improved to 4-3 on the year and 2-1 in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play while the Golden Flashes fell to 1-6 and 0-3.
Samson Evans (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge/Iowa) paced the Eagles rushing attack by accumulating 47 yards and two touchdowns over the course of the game. Evans' 47 yards brought him past the 2,000-yard mark for his career as the graduate student now stands with 2,015 yards in his career. Jaylon Jackson (Burleson, Texas/Centennial/Lamar) also added 43 yards on the ground.
Austin Smith's (Ellenwood, Ga./Cedar Grove) most prolific target in the ballgame was Tanner Knue (Mason, Ohio, Mason), who caught five passes for 85 yards and one score. Knue's 85 yards are the most by any Eagles receiver in a single game in 2023.
The duo of Chase Kline (Chardon, Ohio/Chardon/Michigan State) and Joe Sparacio (Naples, Fla./First Baptist Academy/Boston College) led the defensive charge as they each recorded 13 tackles, respectively, with Sparacio, who tallied eight solo tackles, adding a forced fumble. Peyton Price (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) added seven tackles and one recovered fumble while Adrian Gonzalez (Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico/Liceo Cancún) and Elijah Williams (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) each recovered one fumble in the win.
The Eagles won the turnover battle, doing so for the 43rd time in its previous 46 victories as it forced three turnovers while coughing the ball up one time. Defensively, Eastern Michigan held up fairly well against the Kent State offensive attack, holding the Golden Flashes to 343 total yards, 14 points, and 4.34 yards per carry.
Eastern Michigan's offense made the most of its visits to the red zone, scoring on all three of its trips, with all of those scores being touchdowns.
How It Happened
Chaos struck upon the opening kickoff as EMU defensive back Kendrick Nowling (Chicago, Ill./Marist) scooped up the ball on an attempted KSU on-side kick and trotted 44 yards into the endzone with a crew of Golden Flashes on his tail, granting Eastern an early 7-0 advantage just six seconds into the contest.
Eastern Michigan grew its lead to 14-0 after scoring the game's first points from scrimmage with 0:44 left in the second quarter, an Evans 19-yard TD run. The Eagles then followed with another score with 7:02 to go in the third, extending the EMU lead to 21-0 as Smith floated a ball right into the hands of Knue in the far corner of the endzone for a TD.
Kent State then scored to make it a 21-7 game, but Eastern Michigan responded with 9:28 left in the fourth quarter to extend its lead to 28-7 as Evans plowed in from three yards out for his second score of the day. Eastern Michigan went scoreless the rest of the game while Kent State tacked on seven points to finish off the scoring.
The game concluded in a 24-14 win for Eastern, marking Chris Creighton's 50th win as the Eastern Michigan head coach
Game Notes
» With 47 yards and two scores against Kent State, Samson Evans eclipsed the 2,000-yard plateau, becoming the 11th player in the 132-year history of EMU football to do so. Evans now sits at 2,015 career rushing yards, 34 TDs, and 447 carries in his time donning the Block E.
» Kendric Nowling put the Eagles on the board on the opening play of the game as he scooped an attempted on-side kick by Kent State on the opening kick and ran 44 yards into the end zone for a 7-0 lead just six seconds into the game. The last time the Eagles scored on the opening kickoff of a game came Oct. 19, 2013, when Tyler Allen ran the kick back 90 yards against Ohio. The touchdown is the first for Nowling.
» With Nowling's kick-off return to open the game, the Eagles now have three kick-off returns for touchdowns this year. Entering the day, the Eagles were joined by only Houston as teams with multiple returns for scores in 2023 with Matthew Golden returning two on his own for the Cougars. Eastern got on the board early in the year with both Hamze El-Zayat (Dearborn, Mich./Fordson/Fordham) and Jaylon Jackson running kick-offs back against Howard, Sept. 1.
» The Eagles created the first turnover of the game on Kent State's second drive as Mikah Coleman (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) popped the ball loose and Elijah Williams recovered the fumble, marking the first force and recovery for each, respectively. The turnover also marked the fourth fumble recovered this season for the EMU defense and the ninth forced fumble.
» Eastern Michigan recorded three fumble recoveries on the day, doubling the team's total on the season and recording the first three fumbles lost by Kent State this season. Adrian Gonzalez, Peyton Price, and Elijah Williams each recovered a fumble against the Golden Flashes, joining David Carter Jr. (Ecorse, Mich./River Rouge) and Justin Jefferson (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice with recoveries on the season. The three fumbles recovered are the most in a single game by any MAC team this season, surpassing the two recorded five times previously.
» Entering today's contest, Chase Kline totaled 199 career tackles. With 13 stops in the 28-14 win over the Golden Flashes, Kline has surpassed the mark, now sitting at 212 career tackles in his fifth season of college football (played at Michigan State University from 2019-21)
» The 14-0 lead at halftime marked the first time this year the Eagles have shut out an opponent in the opening half of play. Coupled with the second half shutout pitched at home against Ball State, Oct. 7, the EMU defense did not allow a point scored in four consecutive quarters of play. The last time Eastern shutout a MAC foe in the first half was Nov. 12, 2019, at Akron (21-0 at halftime) in a 42-14 EMU victory.
» The EMU defense stood tall throughout the game and particularly in the first half. The Eagles held the Golden Flashes scoreless throughout the first half of play, marking the first time it did so since Sept, 10, 2022, against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Kent State made its first scratch on the scoreboard late in the third quarter with a touchdown at the 2:12 mark, which prevented EMU from recording three shutout quarters in the same game. The last time the Eagles went three quarters without relinquishing a point was Nov. 10, 2018, in a 27-7 home win over the University of Akron when the Eagles held the Zips scoreless in the first, third, and fourth quarters of play.
» The Eagles finished the game holding Kent State below several scoring averages during the game. EMU entered the game allowing an average of 2.8 points in the first quarter and held KSU scoreless in the first frame. Additionally, the Eagles ranked 38th nationally in first half scoring defense, allowing 10.0 points per game, which will come down after shutting out the Golden Flashes in the opening half. Overall, the Eagles were allowing 20.3 points per game, but held KSU to just 14 in the game.
» Kent State went for it on fourth down five times during the game, converting twice in the game. To date, the Eastern defense has held opponents to a 30-percent conversion rate on fourth down as opponents are now 6-of-20 on the year.
» Through seven games, the EMU defense has allowed just 136 points, the third-fewest in the MAC Era (1976-present) behind the 74 allowed in 1977 and the 129 in 1989. The 2023 Eagles are one for four EMU squads to relinquish 140 or less points in the opening seven contests (2017, 139 points), and one of just six teams to allow 150 or less.
» Tanner Knue pulled down this third touchdown reception of the season on the opening drive of the third quarter to move his career total to 17, the third-most in program history. He now trails only Eric Deslauriers (2003-06) with 27 and Kevin Walter (1999-02) with 20. Knue finished the game with five receptions for 85 yards. He has now recorded at least one catch in his 31st consecutive game played and is one of 15 currently active players in the FBS with a streak of at least 30 games in a row with at least one grab.
» Brian Dooley earned a spot in the starting line up for the 54th time in 56 games played for Eastern Michigan, leaving him one shy in each category of tying Sidy Sow (2018-22), who holds the records in both categories after starting 55-of-57 games for the Eagles.
Historical Notes
» Eastern improved to 16-19-0 in its all-time series with Kent State following the victory and has won back-to-back games against the Golden Flashes for the first time since winning four in a row between 1993-96. The win also snapped a three-game slide when hosting KSU with the last win in Ypsilanti coming Oct. 1, 2025, in a 27-20 decision. The win also moves the Eagles in front, 9-8-0, when hosting KSU.
» With the victory over Kent State, the Eagles have collected five consecutive home wins for the first time under Chris Creighton. The streak began with a 38-19 win over rival Central Michigan, Nov. 25, 2022, and includes home wins this year over Howard (33-23) Sept. 1, UMass (19-17), Sept. 16, and Ball State (24-10), Oct. 7.
» Chris Creighton is now tied for second on the program's all-time coaching wins ledger after he collected his 50th win at the helm of the EMU program. Now in his 10th season leading the program, Creighton is tied with Fred Trosko (1952-64) for second place in EMU history with Elton J. Rynearson (1917, 1919-20, 1925-48), the namesake of EMU's home stadium, leading the way with 114 victories.
Up Next
Eastern returns to the road next week as the Eagles will venture to DeKalb, Ill., to take on the Huskies of Northern Illinois University. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. CT) on ESPN+. Tom Helmer and Rob Rubick will have the call live on WEMU (89.1 FM) and the Varsity Network app.
Team Stats
KSU 0, EMU 7
EMU - Nowling,Kendric 44 yd kickoff return (Gomez,Jesus kick)
KSU 0, EMU 14
EMU - Evans,Samson 19 yd run (Gomez,Jesus kick), 12 plays, 85 yards, TOP 04:34
KSU 0, EMU 21
EMU - Knue,Tanner 18 yd pass from Smith,Austin (Gomez,Jesus kick) 7 plays, 59 yards, TOP 04:17
KSU 7, EMU 21
KSU - Floriea,Luke 14 yd pass from Ulatowski,Tommy (Glass,Andrew kick) 7 plays, 87 yards, TOP 01:55
KSU 7, EMU 28
EMU - Evans,Samson 3 yd run (Gomez,Jesus kick), 2 plays, 37 yards, TOP 00:30
KSU 14, EMU 28
KSU - Floriea,Luke 43 yd pass from Ulatowski,Tommy (Glass,Andrew kick) 2 plays, 43 yards, TOP 00:16
