Football Falls at Toledo in #MACtion

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TOLEDO, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team fell to the University of Toledo Rockets on the road Wednesday, Nov. 8, inside the Glass Bowl in its first #MACtion game of the season, 49-23.

The Rockets improved to 9-1 on the year and 6-0 in Mid-American Conference play, while the Eagles fell to 4-6 overall and 2-4 in conference matchups. With the victory, the Rockets claimed the MAC West Division title and a berth in the MAC Championship game in Detroit, Dec. 2.

Jaylon Jackson (Burleson, Texas/Centennial/Lamar) paced the Eagles rushing attack by accumulating 74 yards and one touchdown over the course of the game, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Austin Smith (Ellenwood, Ga./Cedar Grove) also added 25 yards on the ground.

Elijah Jackson-Anderson (Flint, Mich./Grand Blanc) reeled in one catch for 28 yards and one score, marking the first score of his college football career as he pulled in a pass from running back Samson Evans (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge/Iowa). Dontae McMillan (Seattle, Wash./Chief Sealth/Weber State) also scored his first touchdown with the Eagles as he bounced his way in from one yard out.

Chase Kline (Chardon, Ohio/Chardon/Michigan State) paced the Eastern Michigan defensive effort, recording 13 tackles and one recovered fumble while Cameron Smith (Cleveland, Ohio/Euclid) added four tackles and one interception, the first of his career. Peyton Price (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) had five tackles, 1.0 TFL, and one sack in the loss.

The Eagles won the turnover battle, forcing two turnovers while coughing the ball up one time. The Eastern Michigan offense did a good job keeping drives alive, converting on 40 percent of third-down attempts. The Eagles also went 2-for-2 on fourth down.

Defensively, Eastern Michigan held up fairly well against the Toledo rushing attack, holding the Rockets to 101 yards on the ground. In part because of that stellar defense, Eastern Michigan runners out-gained its Toledo counterparts 141-101.

How It Happened
After Toledo took a 35-0 lead, Eastern Michigan responded with a Jésus Gómez (Puebla, Mexico/Prepa Tec Puebla) as time expired to narrow the margin to 35-3 at halftime. Toledo increased its lead to 42-3, but the Eagles responded with a touchdown to cut the lead to 42-9.

After Toledo scored to increase its lead to 49-9, Eastern Michigan scored again with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter to close the gap and make it a 49-16 game. The Eagles then scored again, narrowing the gap to 49-23.

Game Notes
» On just the second play from scrimmage, Tanner Knue (Mason, Ohio/Mason) secured a pass for five yards, marking his 34th consecutive game with at least one catch. His 34 games with at least one reception ranks tied for 13th in the country among active players.
» Senior David Carter Jr. (Ecorse, Mich./River Rouge) forced the first fumble of his collegiate football career when he jarred it loose while taking down the Toledo punt returner in the first quarter. The forced fumble goes down as the 10th of the season for the Eagles.
» With six tackles in tonight's contest, Joe Sparacio (Naples, Fla./First Baptist Academy/Boston College) eclipsed the 200 tackle mark in his Eastern Michigan career (2022-pres.). Sparacio became the 89th player in the 132-year history of EMU football to reach the mark. The graduate student now totals 201 tackles in his time donning the block E.
» Price took down the Toledo signal-caller in the second quarter, marking the fifth sack of his Eastern Michigan career. Price has had a career season for the Eagles as he totals 3.5 sacks thus far, in his previous two seasons he collected just 1.5.
» Wide receiver Terry Lockett Jr. (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnehaha/Michigan State) recorded his first offensive touch in five games played for the Eagles this season as he carried the ball for a gain of six-yards. Additionally, the rush attempt marks the first of his career dating back to his days at Michigan State (2020-21).
» Smith secured the first interception of his career early in the third quarter when he traversed across the end zone to capture possession for Eastern. The interception marks the first for the Eagles since Tim Grant-Randall (Conroe, Texas/Oak Ridge/Blinn) also notched his first against Ball State University, Oct. 7, a contest that concluded in a 24-10 homecoming win for Eastern Michigan.
Corralling 13 tackles in tonight's game, Kline joined Sparacio as he also surpassed the 200 tackle mark in his Eastern Michigan career (2022-pres.). Kline became the 90th player in the 132 year history of EMU football to reach the mark. The senior now totals an even tackles in his time donning the block E.
» Evans improved to 6-for-6 passing in his career with five TDs following his 28-yard touchdown toss to Jackson-Anderson, marking the first touchdown of the running back's career. Additionally, Evans' five passing touchdowns as a running back ranks second among active running backs to Frank Gore of Southern Mississippi (7).
» Continuing his breakout season on defense, linebacker Elijah Willimas (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) raked in seven tackles in the contest, marking a career-high for the graduate student. Beyond a career-high output in tackles, Williams has tabbed the first TFL, sack, forced and recovered fumble of his career this season.
» Defensive end Jaden Gaines (Alpharetta, Ga./Chattahoochee) recorded the first sack and forced fumble of his career in the same play when he took down the UT quarterback late in the fourth, leading to an EMU touchdown.
» Senior running back Dontae McMillan (Seattle, Wash./Chief Sealth/Weber State) notched the first rushing touchdown of his Eastern Michigan career as he found pay-dirt from one-yard out five plays after the fumble recovery.
» With five punts for 237 yards tonight, Mitchell Tomasek (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) now sits 13th in career punting yards with 4,522, he now sits one spot behind Lonny Head (1964-66), who ranks 12th all-time with 4,779 yards.
» Putting one through the uprights in the game, Jésus Gómez now ranks eighth in career field goals made with 23 in his EMU career. That breaks the tie with Jim Langeloh (1989-92), who finished his career with 22.

Historical Notes
» With the loss, the Eagles fell to 13-38-0 in their all-time series with the Rockets and have lost two in a row overall to Toledo after a 27-24 decision last year in Ypsilanti. When playing the game in Toledo, the Eagles are now 5-21-0 all-time.
» The Eagles slipped to 11-6 in midweek #MACtion games under Chris Creighton with the team's three-game winning streak in such contests coming to an end as well. Eastern had won its last three #MACtion contests, including wins of 22-21 at home over Western Michigan (Nov. 16, 2021), 34-28 at Kent State (Nov. 8, 2022), and 31-24 at Akron (Nov. 16, 2022).

Up Next
Eastern returns to action Tuesday, Nov. 14, when the University of Akron Zips come to town for a 7 p.m. kick off inside Rynearson Stadium. The game, which will serve as Senior Night for the Eagles and the team's final home game of the 2023 season, will air live to a national television audience on CBS Sports Network while veteran broadcasters Tom Helmer and Rob Rubick call the action live on WEMU (89.1 FM) and the Varsity Network app.

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Team Stats

Austin Smith

Samson Evans

Players Mentioned

David Carter Jr.

Samson Evans

Jaden Gaines

Tim Grant-Randall

Jaylon Jackson

Elijah Jackson-Anderson

Chase Kline

Tanner Knue

Terry Lockett Jr.

Dontae McMillan

Peyton Price

Austin Smith

Cameron Smith

Joe Sparacio

Mitchell Tomasek

Players Mentioned

David Carter Jr.

Samson Evans

Jaden Gaines

Tim Grant-Randall

Jaylon Jackson

Elijah Jackson-Anderson

Chase Kline

Tanner Knue

Terry Lockett Jr.

Dontae McMillan

Peyton Price

Austin Smith

Cameron Smith

Joe Sparacio

Mitchell Tomasek

Eastern Michigan Athletics