Football Falls to Western Michigan

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YPSILANTI, Mich (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team fell to cross-state rival, the Western Michigan University Broncos, 45-21, in what was Eastern's final Saturday game of the season inside Rynearson Stadium, Oct. 28. The Broncos improved to 3-6 on the year and 2-3 in Mid-American Conference play while the Eagles fell to 4-5 overall and 2-3 in conference matchups.

Joe Sparacio (Naples, Fla./First Baptist Academy/Boston College) collected a career-high 23 tackles while Chase Kline (Chardon, Oho/Chardon/Michigan State) added 19 as the top two tacklers in the MAC combined for 42 stops on the day. Sparacio's total ranks as the most in a single game in the FBS this year while Kline's total tied for second.

Offensively, Austin Smith (Ellenwood, Ga./Cedar Grove) led Eastern Michigan's passing attack with 231 yards through the air, tossing one touchdown and one interception. Jaylon Jackson (Burleson, Texas/Centennial/Lamar) reeled in nine catches for 111 yards and one score while JB Mitchell III (Alabaster, Ala./Thompson) got in on the action in the passing game as well, hauling in five balls for 99 yards. The Eagles also got 66 yards receiving from Tanner Knue (Mason, Ohio/Mason) in the contest.

Samson Evans (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge/Iowa) paced the Eagles rushing attack by accumulating 26 yards and two touchdowns throughout the game, giving him at least one score in each of the last five contests. Ike Udengwu III (City of Industry, Calif./Workman/Mt. San Antonio College), who earned his first career start under center, also added 12 yards on the ground, averaging four yards per carry.

How It Happened
After Western Michigan took a 21-0 lead to start the contest, Eastern Michigan got on the board with 3:29 left in the second quarter as Evans ran in from 15 yards out to pick-up his first score of the day and cut the deficit to 21-7 at the break. In the third quarter, the Eagles added to their total as Evans again scored, this time from five yards out, making it 25-13 heading into the fourth quarter.
After the Broncos scored to increase their lead to 32-13, Eastern responded with a touchdown with 11:14 left in regulation to cut the deficit to 32-21 as Jackson pulled in a 68-yard pass from Smith for the score. But, EMU wasn't able to score again and Western Michigan tacked on 13 more points to finish off the scoring. The game concluded shortly after, resulting in a 45-21 win in favor of the Broncos.
Game Notes
» Joe Sparacio had a career day as he accumulated 23 total tackles in the game, including six solo and 17 assisted, to go along with 1.5 TFLs that amassed nine yards. Those 23 tackles rank as the most in a single game in the FBS this year, surpassing the 19 tallied by Bryce Gallagher of Northwestern against Rutgers, Sept. 3. Additionally, Sparacio's tackles marked the sixth time this season and the seventh time with EMU he has tallied double-digit stops in a game.
» The Eagles saw a solid game on the defensive end from Chase Kline, notching 19 total tackles, including 16 assisted and three solo stops. It is the sixth game this season in which the linebacker has recorded 10 or more tackles in a game this season after doing so just three times in 2022. The 19 stops also tops his previous career high of 14, which he recorded twice last year, including against Buffalo, Sept. 24, and Akron, Nov. 8.
» Additionally, Chase Kline forced a fumble on WMU's opening drive of the third quarter, his second of the season and his career, with Daiquan White (Fairburn, Ga./Creekside) collecting his first collegiate fumble recovery. The fumble is the 12th forced this year by the Eagles and the seventh recovery recorded.
» Daiquan White recorded a career-high-tying three passes defended, equaling his previous best recorded two weeks ago, Oct. 14, at home against Kent State. White was one of six Eagles to record at least one PBU in a game in which Eastern tallied eight, which ties for the most this season. EMU previously knocked down eighth passes against both Massachusetts (Sept. 16) and KSU earlier this season.
» Justin Jefferson (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) recorded the first full sack of his career late in the second quarter as he hit a spin-move at the line and took the WMU quarterback to the ground with 1:22 remaining in the second quarter. Jefferson entered the game with 0.5 sacks for his career, which he recorded at Central Michigan Sept. 30. He finished the game with five total tackles, including one solo.
» Samson Evans rushed for two touchdowns in the game, marking the second time this season (vs. Kent State, Oct. 14) and 11th time he has scored multiple rushing scores in a game for the Eagles in his career. He also has now scored at least one touchdown in five consecutive games this season, which ties for the longest consecutive game streak in his career after scoring at least one in each of the last five games of the 2022 season. Evans, who finished the game with 26 yards on eight carries, brought his career total to 37 rushing touchdowns, the second-most by an active player in the FBS this year behind Michigan's Blake Corum, who has 44.
» EMU's passing touchdown in the fourth quarter came when Smith connected on a 68-yard connection with Jaylon Jackson. The play, the longest of Jackson's career from scrimmage and his first receiving score with the Eagles, helped him finish with 111 yards through the air on nine catches, which doubled his season receptions total and bettered his previous receiving yard high of 32 at Central Michigan, Sept. 30. Jackson is the first Eagle to record 100+ receiving yards in a game since Darius Lassiter tallied 108 yards against San Jose State in the 2022 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho, Dec. 20.
» Jackson's 68-yard touchdown marks the longest play Eastern Michigan has had from scrimmage in 2023. The Eagles had two kick returns longer than that of 96 yards and 84 yards in the season opener against Howard.
» Austin Smith entered the game in the second quarter and, on his first drive, connected with JB Mitchell III for a 50-yard reception, tying for the longest pass play of the season. It marked Smith's third 50-yard connection of the year with the first two going for touchdowns to Hamze El-Zayat (Dearborn, Mich./Fordson/Fordham) against Massachusetts (Sept. 16) and Ball State (Oct. 7). Smith, who engineered a touchdown drive of five plays and 90 yards in 2:05 upon entering the game, finished the contest with 231 yards and completed 15 out of 25 passing attempts. Smith's 231 yards were a career high for the junior and the first time he has thrown for over 200 yards in his college career. Smith's previous high was 197 yards at Ball State, Oct. 16, 2022.
» Ike Udengwu III made his first career start and second appearance for the Eagles, taking over the quarterback duties to open the game. The junior college transfer, who first saw action at Jacksonville State, Sept. 23, finished the game with 58 yards and completed 6-of-10 pass attempts. It was his second game of action in his Eastern Michigan career and has thrown for 100 yards in his two games.
» JB Mitchell III finished the contest with 99 yards receiving for the Eagles, which stands as a season-high for the junior. His previous high was 71 yards against Ball State on Oct. 7.
» As a team, Eastern Michigan finished with a total of 289 and receiving yards in the loss to the Broncos. The total is a season-high by 97 yards, breaking their previous best of 192 done against Ball State, Oct. 7. In 2022, the Eagles had more than 200 yards of passing and receiving six times.
» Tanner Knue finished the game with 5 receptions and 66 yards, including a 39-yard catch from Smith, surpassing his previous season-high 34-yard catch against Kent State, Oct. 14. Knue extended his streak to 32 games in a row with at least one reception, which ranks him among the top 10 in the FBS for longest active streaks nationally.

Historical Notes
» With his start on the offensive line, Brian Dooley (Bowling Green, Ohio/Toledo St. John's Jesuit) became the team's Iron Man as he started his school-record 56th game for the Eagles while making his 58th career appearance, which also stands as a school record. Dooley surpassed the previous marks of 55 starts and 57 games played that Sidy Sow recorded from 2018-22.
» The loss dropped EMU to 22-35-2 in the all-time series with WMU and saw its four-game winning streak in the series snapped. The last time the Eagles lost to the Broncos was Oc. 6, 2018, in a 20-17 overtime decision on Homecoming in Ypsilanti.
» Eastern saw its five-game winning streak come to an end with the loss to Western Michigan. Dating back to the regular season finale last year, a 38-19 home win over Central Michigan, the Eagles had won five in a row, which was the longest streak for Eastern since Oct. 18, 1986-Oct. 17 1988, a span of 10 consecutive games ending in wins inside Rynearson Stadium for the Eagles.
» The loss also ended a streak that ranked highly among the conference and nation. Ahead of the game, the Eagles' five-game winning streak at home ranked as the second-longest in the MAC while tying for the 14th-longest in the FBS.

Up Next
Eastern returns to action for its first of three midweek #MACtion games when the Eagles travel to face the Rockets of the University of Toledo, Wednesday, Nov. 7, inside the Glass Bowl in Toledo, Ohio. The game time, which will be either 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m., and television broadcast designation will be announced later next week.

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Team Stats

Austin Smith

Ike Udengwu III

Cam’Ron McCoy

Players Mentioned

Brian Dooley

Hamze El-Zayat

Samson Evans

Jaylon Jackson

Justin Jefferson

Chase Kline

Tanner Knue

Darius Lassiter

JB Mitchell III

Austin Smith

Sidy Sow

Joe Sparacio

Ike Udengwu III

Daiquan White

Players Mentioned

Brian Dooley

Hamze El-Zayat

Samson Evans

Jaylon Jackson

Justin Jefferson

Chase Kline

Tanner Knue

Darius Lassiter

JB Mitchell III

Austin Smith

Sidy Sow

Joe Sparacio

Ike Udengwu III

Daiquan White

Eastern Michigan Athletics