Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
4-4 , 2-2
Northern Illinois
4-4 , 3-1
Football Falls at Northern Illinois, 20-13
10/21/2023 7:01:00 PM | Football
The Eastern defense allowed a season-low 289 yards of offense
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DeKALB, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team fell to Northern Illinois University, 20-13, on a windy day inside Huskie Stadium on NIU's DeKalb campus, Oct. 21. The Huskies improved to 4-4 on the year and 3-1 in Mid-American Conference play, while the Eagles fell to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in conference matchups.
Samson Evans (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge/Iowa) led all Eagles rushers with 68 yards and one touchdown in the contest. Jaylon Jackson (Burleson, Texas/Centennial/Lamar) also added 31 yards on the ground, averaging 4.4 yards per carry.
Austin Smith's (Ellenwood, Ga./Cedar Grove) most prolific target in the ballgame was Hamze El-Zayat (Dearborn, Mich./Fordson/Fordham), who caught six passes for 74 yards, marking season-highs for the first-year Eagle.
The Eastern Michigan offense did a good job keeping drives alive, converting on 50 percent (7-of-14) of third-down attempts, tying a season-best output.. Defensively, Eastern Michigan held up fairly well against the Northern Illinois offensive attack, holding the Huskies to 289 total yards, a season-low for the Eagles defense.
How It Happened
After falling behind 7-0, allowing just the third first-quarter touchdown of the season, Eastern Michigan fired back with a touchdown with 5:26 left in the first quarter to tie it at 7-7 as Evans found paydirt from two-yards out.The Eagles proceeded to break the 7-7 tie with a 34-yard field goal from Jesús Gómez (Puebla, Mexico/Prepa Tec Puebla), making the score 10-7.
After Northern Illinois scored to tie the game at 10-10, Eastern Michigan got on the scoreboard again with 8:28 remaining in the third quarter with a 37-yard field goal from Gómez to retake the lead at 13-10. Eastern Michigan went scoreless the rest of the game while Northern Illinois tacked on 10 points to finish off the scoring. The contest concluded in a 20-13 victory in favor of the Huskies.
Game Notes
» Blake Daniels (Macomb,Mich./L'Anse Creuse North/Davenport) hauled in his longest reception of the season, a 37-yarder from quarterback Austin Smith (Ellenwood, Ga./Cedar Grove) to set up Samson Evans (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge/Iowa) for a two-yard rushing TD, the 35th of his career. The completion marks the third-longest of the 2023 season for Smith as he completed two 50 yard passes, one each versus UMass, Sept. 16, and Ball State, Oct. 7.
» Evans had a productive day on the ground, rushing for 68 yards on a season-high 19 carries with one touchdown. Evans rushing for 60+ typically bodes well for the Eagles; after today's contest, they hold a 10-5 record when Evans goes for 60 or more on the ground.
» El-Zayat set a season-high with six receptions and 74 receiving yards throughout the game.
» The Eagles played some of their best defense of the season as they held NIU to just 290 yards of offense, marking the least amount of yards allowed in Eastern's 2023 campaign.
» With a quick forward pitch to Tanner Knue (Mason,Ohio/Mason) in the first quarter, Knue has caught a pass in 32 consecutive games, the 11th-longest active streak in the nation.
» Entering today's game with 134 career receptions, Knue caught two passes for 10 yards in the contest, bringing his career-total to 136, vaulting him past former Eastern wideout Savon Edwards (1994-97) for the sixth-most in program history. Knue now trails Jacory Stone (2006-09), who raked in 180 receptions in his time with Eastern, for fifth all-time in school history.
» Elijah Williams (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) entered the game with eight total tackles in his career before collecting six at Northern Illinois. Williams, who recorded three for loss, saw both total stand career-highs for the linebacker. Prior to today's contest, Williams totaled 2.5 TFLs in his career.
» The Eastern defense allowed a touchdown in the first stanza for just the third time this season. The Eagles also gave up first-quarter TDs at Jacksonville State, Sept. 23, and at Central Michigan, Sept. 30, respectively. Additionally, EMU has not relinquished a touchdown in the first quarter at home in the 2023 season.
» Gómez knocked in two field goals, one from 34 yards and 37 yards, marking Gómez' third game with multiple made field goals in the 2023 season as he previously did so against Minnesota, Sept. 9, and UMass, Sept. 16. Overall, it is the junior's sixth game making multiple field goals in his three-year college football career.
» The Eastern offense stepped it up on third down as the Eagles made the line to gain in 7-of-14 (50%) third down opportunities against the Huskies, tying for EMU's best third down output of the season, as it also converted on half of its third down opportunities against the Chippewas, Sept. 30.
» Kempton Shine (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) led the team in tackles with nine against the Huskies for a season-high output. The nine stops rank tied for the second-highest total he has recorded in a game behind the 14 he tallied at home against Central Michigan, Nov. 27, 2020.
» With his start today, Brian Dooley (Bowling Green, Ohio/Toledo St. John's Jesuit) tied the school record for games started at 55 and games played at 57, equaling the marks set by Sidy Sow (2018-22). Should Dooley start next week at home against Western Michigan (1 p.m., ESPN+), he would take the record by himself.
» After winning the coin toss today the Eagles are 2-2 when winning the coin toss in 2023. Their previous wins came at home against Howard, Sept. 1, and Ball State, Oct. 7, with the loss coming at Minnesota, Sept. 16.
» Linebacker Justin Jefferson (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) broke up an NIU pass attempt and tabbed a quarterback hurry in the same play at the 5:40 mark in the third quarter. For Jefferson, it went down as his second PBU in his career with the first one coming two games prior, a 24-10 win for Eastern over Ball State, Oct. 7.
Historical Notes
» The loss dropped the Eagles to 16-36-2 in the all-time series with the Huskies with NIU having won three in a row in the series. The last Eastern victory came Dec. 12, 2020, in a 41-33 home win. EMU last won in DeKalb Nov. 19, 2019, with a 45-17 decision.
Up Next
EMU next returns home Saturday, Oct. 28, to host instate rival Western Michigan University. The game, which will kick at 1 p.m. and streamed live on ESPN+, will be Hall of Fame Day with Eric Alejandro (track and field), Ryan Coleman (women's basketball), Charles Gordon (football), Natalie Hashimoto (gymnastics), and Camila Olaio (volleyball) being enshrined in the E-Club Athletic Hall of Fame. For tickets, call 734.487.3669 or visit EMUEagles.com/tickets.
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Team Stats
EMU 0, NIU 7
NIU - Brown,Antario 2 yd run (Woodill,Kanon kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:27
EMU 7, NIU 7
EMU - Evans,Samson 2 yd run (Gomez,Jesus kick), 9 plays, 65 yards, TOP 04:54
EMU 10, NIU 7
EMU - Gomez,Jesus 34 yd field goal 12 plays, 64 yards, TOP 05:36
EMU 10, NIU 10
NIU - Woodill,Kanon 35 yd field goal 10 plays, 40 yards, TOP 02:32
EMU 13, NIU 10
EMU - Gomez,Jesus 37 yd field goal 12 plays, 50 yards, TOP 06:32
EMU 13, NIU 13
NIU - Woodill,Kanon 39 yd field goal 9 plays, 44 yards, TOP 04:03
EMU 13, NIU 20
NIU - Lombardi,Rocky 1 yd run (Woodill,Kanon kick), 15 plays, 80 yards, TOP 06:47
