Eastern Opens 2023 with 33-23 Home Win over Howard

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team opened its 2023 season with a 33-23 home victory over Howard University Friday, Sept. 1, inside 'The Factory' at Rynearson Stadium. The Eagles (1-0) scored the first 23 points in the game to lead wire-to-wire with two kickoff returns sparking EMU past the Bison (0-1).

Jaylon Jackson (Burleson, Texas/Centennial/Lamar) returned a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown after the Eagles forced a safety and Hamze El-Zayat (Dearborn, Mich./Fordson/Fordham) added another kickoff score as he sprinted 94 yards for the score. Samson Evans (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge/Iowa) opened the scoring with a 2-yard run on EMU's opening drive to record the 30^th touchdown of his career, leaving him one shy of tying Gary Patton, who found pay dirt 31 times from 1984-87.

Defensively, Eastern recorded 4.0 sacks on the night, including 1.5 by Tim Grant-Randall (Conroe, Texas/Oak Ridge/Blinn), 1.0 each from Mikah Coleman (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) and Peyton Price (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson), and 0.5 from Joey Zelinsky (Cressona, Pa./Blue Mountain/Hudson Valley), who wore the No. 0 jersey, given weekly to the defensive player that exhibits the team's 'Hard Hat Mentality'. Overall, Joe Sparacio (Naples, Fla./First Baptist Academy/Boston College) led the team with 10 tackles, including a team-high four solo tackles.

How It Happened
Eastern jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the opening drive as Evans crashed into the end zone from two yards out for the score. Near the end of the quarter, the EMU defense pushed the Bison back and forced a punt from their own end zone where the ball was snapped through the punter's hands, out of the back of the end zone, and scoring a safety for the Eagles. On the ensuing, the free kick was fielded by Jackson, who wove his way 84 yards for the score to stake the hosts to a 16-0 score at the end of one.

In the second quarter, Tanner Knue (Mason, Ohio/Mason) pulled down a 20-yard pass from Austin Smith (Ellenwood, Ga./Cedar Grove) to make it 23-0 before the Bison responded with a 69-yard passing score. The ensuing PAT was blocked, making it 23-6. The ensuing kickoff saw the Eagles' special teams shine again, this time with El-Zayat taking the kick 96 yards to the house. Howard would add a field goal at the end of the half for a 30-9 EMU lead. Howard scored twice in the third quarter to make it interesting as two rushing touchdowns brought the hosts to within seven points, 30-23. But, late in the fourth, the Eagles stood tall and added a field goal to make it 33-23, solidifying the victory on opening night.

Game Notes
» Eastern Michigan saw Evans score the first touchdown of the season four minutes into the game as he carried the ball for two yards for the score. Evans now has 30 career rushing touchdowns in his Eastern Michigan career, which is one off Gary Patton (1984-87), who holds the record with 31.
» The Eastern defense started the game strong, refusing to relinquish a singular point to the Bison in the first quarter. This marks the third consecutive home opener where the Green and White defense held their opponent scoreless in the first quarter. The Eagles locked up Eastern Kentucky in the first quarter last season, Sept. 2, 2022, along with stuffing the Red Flash of St. Francis University in the first frame of the first game of the 2021 campaign, Sept. 3.
» As a team, Eastern Michigan scored 30 points in the first half. It is the second straight game in which the Eagles have scored 30 points in a half, dating back to the 2022 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl against San Jose State on Dec. 22, 2022. The Eagles also scored 30 points in the first half in that game as well.
» Finishing the game with 33 points, the Eastern Michigan Eagles notched another 30-point effort in the win. In 2022, the Eagles scored 30 points in 8-of- 13 games. Dating back to last season, the Eagles have scored 30 points in five consecutive games. The last time the Eagles were under 30 points in a game was October 29, 2022, in a 27-24 home loss to Toledo.
» Senior defensive lineman Grant-Randall dragged down the Howard signal caller late in the second quarter, registering his second career sack as an Eagle. The Texas native's first sack came in a 45-23 thrashing of the Western Michigan Broncos, Oct. 8, 2022. Grant-Randall would also go on to have six tackles in the game, one of five Eagles to record at least five tackles in the opener.
» Junior defensive back Quentavious Scandrett (Hampton, Ga./Lovejoy) contributed on defense for the Eagles, totaling six tackles for the Green and White. It is the fourth time in his career that Scandrett has recorded five or more tackles in a game, all of the previous three came in the 2022 season.
» El-Zayat's second quarter 96-yard kick return for a touchdown ties for the fourth-longest punt or kickoff return for a touchdown in the 55-year history of Rynearson Stadium. Former Eagle Lincoln Dupree holds the longest kickoff return in school history when he ran it back an even 100-yards at Northern Illinois, Nov. 20, 1999. The second longest is co-owned by Clarence Champman and Craig Thompson, who each ran one back 98-yards in their EMU tenures. El-Zayat finished the game with 138 return yards in his first game donning the Green and White and El-Zayat recorded a career-high in both return yards and kickoffs returned for a touchdown (one).
» Eastern Michigan had both a punt return and a kick return in the first half against the Bison. It is the first time that has happened in the same game in the history of the program. With the returns posted by El-Zayat and Jackson, the Eagles posted multiple returns for touchdowns in a single game for the first time since Sept. 2, 1995, when EMU ran back a pair of fumble returns at Akron, measuring 45 and 60 yards.
» Jackson compiled 107-return yards in the battle against Howard, marking the second highest return yardage in the ball carrier's career. Jackson's career high was 123 in a 50-31 win over the University at Buffalo last season, Sept. 24.
» Sparacio picked up right where he left off one season ago on defense, recording 10 tackles for the Eagles. Dating back to his Boston College days, it is his 16th career college game with at least five tackles, 11 of which have come since wearing the colors of Eastern Michigan. Moreover, it is Sparacio's second career game recording 10 plus tackles. He tabbed 16 total takedowns versus Ball State last season, Oct. 22.
» T.J. Peavy (Fayetteville, Ga./Sandy Creek) had six tackles on defense for the Eagles. It is the 11th time in his career in which he has recorded five or more tackles for the Eagles in four seasons with the program.
» Kicker Kenynon Bowyer (Sacramento, Calif./Capital Christian) converted a field goal attempt at the 4:04 mark of the fourth quarter to give Eastern Michigan the 33-23 edge, extending the Eagles lead to 10 points at the time. The field goal, along with four successful point-after-touchdown kicks, marked the first points for Bowyer with EMU after transferring in from Marshall.
» Knue, who donned 'The Deuce' for the first time this season, pulled in a pass in the second quarter for a touchdown, which marked the 15th of his career, putting him fourth all-time in receiving touchdowns in program history. Two more receiving TDs would put the wide-out third all-time, and reaching 21 by season's end would slot the graduate student at second in program history.

Historical Notes
» Today's game marked the fourth all-time meeting between the Eagles and the Howard Bison. With the win, Eastern Michigan leads the all-time series, 4-0.
» With the victory over Howard, Eastern Michigan football has recorded a non-conference win every season dating back to 2011, which is the longest streak for the program since stats began being kept in 1976. The previous best was a five-year stretch between 1985-89. Additionally, Chris Creighton's teams have won 21-of-53 total non-conference games, for a 40 percent winning percentage.
» The game officially marked the beginning of Eastern Michigan's 55th season inside Rynearson Stadium. The Eagles are 32-23 in home openers inside The Factory.
» With the victory over the Bison, Eastern Michigan improves its record to an impressive 63-61-8 in season openers.
» The game against Howard was Eastern Michigan's 138th all-time meeting against an FCS opponent. The Eagles have a 73-55-10 all-time record against FCS Schools, including a seven-game winning streak dating back to a win against Mississippi Valley State on Sept. 2, 2017.
» With the result of tonight's game, Eastern Michigan now has a non-conference record of 14-10 since 2016. From 2013-2015, the Eagles had an 0-9 record in non-conference play.
» Eastern Michigan played in their sixth game all-time against a Mid-East Atlantic Conference opponent. The Eagles are a perfect 6-0 all time in these games.
» With the 10-point victory over the Bison, Eastern Michigan had another double-digit win under current head coach Chris Creighton. The result was Eastern Michigan's 20th double-digit win over an opponent and was Creighton's 47th as EMU's leader.
» At the 2:19 mark in the first quarter, Eastern Michigan forced a safety on Howard's punting unit. The safety was the first that Eastern Michigan has recorded in any game since September 2, 2016, a 61-14 victory over Mississippi Valley State.
» Smith started at quarterback for Eastern Michigan. The game was Smith's 11th appearance for the Eagles. With this occurrence, the Eagles have had a different starting quarterback in each of the last eight season openers. The last time the same quarterback started in back-to-back openers for EMU was Reginald Bell in 2014 and 2015.

Up Next:
The Eagles will hit the road for the first time in the 2023 season Saturday, Sept. 9, when Eastern takes on the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. The game can be watched live on Big Ten Network, and fans can listen to Tom Helmer and Rob Rubick on WEMU 89.1 and the Varsity Network app.

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Team Stats

Austin Smith

Players Mentioned

Mikah Coleman

Hamze El-Zayat

Samson Evans

Tim Grant-Randall

Jaylon Jackson

Tanner Knue

T.J. Peavy

Peyton Price

Austin Smith

Joe Sparacio

Joey Zelinsky

Players Mentioned

Mikah Coleman

Hamze El-Zayat

Samson Evans

Tim Grant-Randall

Jaylon Jackson

Tanner Knue

T.J. Peavy

Peyton Price

Austin Smith

Joe Sparacio

Joey Zelinsky

Eastern Michigan Athletics