Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
2-3 , 0-1
Central Michigan
3-2 , 1-0
Eastern Drops MAC Opener at Central Michigan
9/30/2023 4:57:00 PM | Football
Evans ties the school record with his 31st career touchdown
Video Recap | Postgame Audio | Photo Gallery
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team dropped a nail-biting loss to Central Michigan University, 26-23, Sept. 30, inside Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
The Eagles fell to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in Mid-American Conference play while the Chippewas improved to 3-2 on the year and 1-0 in Mid-American Conference play.
Austin Smith (Ellenwood, Ga./Cedar Grove) led all Eagles rushers with 71 yards and one touchdown in the contest. Jaylon Jackson (Burleson, Tex./Centennial/Lamar) also added 62 yards on the ground, averaging 6.2 yards per carry, as well as 32 receiving yards.
Running back Samson Evans (Crystal lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge/Iowa) brought himself one step closer to making EMU football history as the graduate student broke through from inside the CMU five yard line to score the 31st touchdown of his EMU career, tying him with former Huron great Gary Patton (1984-87). One more touchdown and Evans will sit firmly atop the Eastern leader board with 32 career touchdowns.
Through the air, Tanner Knue (Mason, Ohio/Mason) reeled in seven catches for 68 yards and one score. Quentavius Scandrett (Hampton, Ga./Lovejoy) showed out for the Eastern Michigan defense, totaling one interception, bringing the Eagles' season total to five.
The Eagles won the turnover battle in Saturday's game, forcing one turnover while avoiding any giveaways, with EMU turning that takeaway into three points. The Eastern Michigan offense did a good job extending drives, converting on 50 percent of third-down attempts (7-of-14)..
Defensively, Eastern Michigan held up well against the Central Michigan rushing attack, holding the Chippewas to 193 yards on the ground.
How It Happened
After falling behind 7-0, Eastern Michigan responded with a touchdown with 5:24 left in the first quarter to tie it at 7-7.The Eagles proceeded to break the 7-7 tie with a 55-yard field goal from Jesús Gómez (Puebla, Mexico/Prepa Tec Puebla), making the score 10-7.
Central Michigan then grabbed a 14-10 lead, but Eastern Michigan scored again at the 9:24 mark in the third quarter with a four-yard touchdown reception from Smith to Knue to jump back ahead, 16-14.
Central Michigan then took control of the lead, building a 19-16 advantage before the Eagles scored again with a two-yard touchdown run from Evans to jump back in front 23-19. Eastern Michigan did not score again in the game and Central Michigan tacked on seven more points to finish off the scoring.
Game Notes
» Knocking a field goal through the uprights late in the second quarter, Gómez tied his career-long of 55 yards. Gómez also knocked through a 55-yarder last season against Ball State University, Oct. 22, which tied Dylan Mulder (Nov. 7, 2015, at Miami University) and Chad Ryland (Nov. 9, 2021, vs. Ohio University) for the longest in program history. Additionally, the made field goal was just one yard off what would have been a stadium-long for Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
» Thanks to a tipped pass by Joe Sparacio (Naples, Fla./First Baptist Academy/Boston College), Scandrett executed the tip-drill perfectly, securing the football for his second interception of the season, and the fifth overall for the Eagles. Eastern Michigan is tied for second in the MAC along with Toledo with five interceptions this season. EMU defensive back Bennett Walker (San Diego, calif./Patrick Henry/San Diego Mesa) is tied with 15 other student-athletes for number one in the country in passes intercepted per game with 0.8.
» The EMU rushing attack started strong as it put up 78 yards on the ground in the first quarter of play. The 78 yards in the first frame is the most from the eagles in the first quarter of play this season and the most in the first since it rushed for 76 yards in the first quarter in last season's road win over Arizona State University, Sept. 17.
» Knue grabbed a pass from Smith in the back corner of the end zone on the opening drive of the second half to record his second receiving touchdown of the season and the 16th of his career. On the career ledger, Knue, who finished the game with seven receptions for 68 yards, is now tied with Sergio Bailey II (2016-17) for the third-most touchdown receptions in program history and just the fourth EMU player to record 15 or more receiving scores in program history. Eric Deslauriers (2003-06) and Kevin Walter (1999-02) are the only Eagles with more scores having pulled down 27 and 20, respectively. Also, Knue's seven catch day marks the second time this season he has surpassed fi receptions as he also did so in EMU's opening-night game against the Howard Bison with eight receptions for 73 yards and one touchdown, Sept. 1.
» Wide receiver JB Mitchell III (Alabaster, Ala./Thompson) had another career game as the junior pulled down a career-high five passes for a career-best 48 yards. It marks the second game in a row in which he caught three or more passes after grabbing three for a then-career-best 23 yards at Jacksonville State University, Sept. 23.
» The Eagles allowed one touchdown from Central Michigan in the first quarter. This season, Eastern is allowing just seven points on average during the opening quarter of play, tying the eagles for 20th nationally in points allowed in the first quarter.
» Sparacio defended both on the ground and through the air as EMU's leading tackler thus far in the season also recorded two pass-break-ups on the day. Sparacio now has three PBUs in his college career as he set a career-best today with two in a single game. The first of his career came last season in Eastern's first road contest at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, Sept. 10.
» With his fourth tackle of the day, Sparacio has surpassed 200 tackles in his college football career. He would end the day with eight tackles and currently sits with 206 tackles in his five seasons of collegiate football. Sparacio entered today's contest with 197 dating back to his days playing for Boston College (2019-21).
» Smith was surgical through the air today as the junior quarterback set a career-high in completion percentage. Smith completed 20-of-26 passes today equaling out to a 76.9% completion percentage, which ranks as the 10th best single-game completion percentage in the MAC thus far in the 2023 season. Furthermore, Smith's 20 completions today tied a career-high. He also completed 20 last season against Ball State, Oct. 22.
» The Eagles' offense came to life in its rivalry bout with the Chippewas as the offense totaled 341 yards throughout the game. This marks Eastern's second time surpassing 300 total yards on the season, as it also did so against the UMass Minutemen, putting up 371 yards, Sept. 16.
» Evans finished the game with 28 yards, bringing him to 1,934 yards total in his career. By reaching the 2,000-yard plateau, Evans will become the 12th player in Eastern history to record at least 2,000 yards in a career with the last coming in 2019 when Shaq Vann (2015-19) finished his EMU career with 2,577 yards.
» Jackson finished the game with career-high 139 total yards (62 rushing, 32 receiving, 45 return). The Burleson, Tex., native has eclipsed 100 total yards three times in the 2023 campaign, also doing so against Howard (125), Sept. 1, and UMass (119), Sept. 16.
» Chase Kline (Chardon, Ohio/Chardon/Michigan State) led the EMU defense in tackles today with 12. Kline's 12 tackles means that eastern has registered a double-digit tackler in its first four games.
» Joey Zelinsky (Cresona, Pa./Blue Mountain/Hudson valley CC) and Adrian Gonzalez (Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico/Liceo Cancún) each grabbed a piece of their first collegiate sack as the duo teamed up to drag down the Central quarterback with 14:19 to go in regulation.
Historical Notes
» With the loss, the Eagles fell to 31-64-6 all-time when playing Central Michigan and 11-38-2 when playing in Mount Pleasant. The loss today also marks the sixth in a row at CMU with the previous road win in the series came Oct. 15, 2011, with EMU's 35-28 victory. Eastern is 1-3 when opening its MAC season on the road at Central Michigan.
» The loss extended the Eagles' skid in MAC road openers to seven in a row. The last time Eastern won its road conference opener came Oct. 1, 2016, in a 28-25 victory at Bowling Green.
» Samson Evans scored a rushing touchdown from the three yard line with roughly two minutes remaining in the third to record the 31st touchdown for the Eagles, tying him with Gary Patton (1984-87) for the most touchdowns in Eastern history, and granting the Eagles a 23-19 lead at the time.
Up Next
Eastern returns to action Saturday, Oct. 7, when the Cardinals of Ball State University come to town for a 3:30 p.m. Homecoming kick inside Rynearson Stadium. The game, which will be aired live on ESPN+, WEMU (89.1 FM), and the Varsity App, will also be part of the 102nd celebration of Homecoming on the EMU campus.
Team Stats
EMU 0, CMU 7
CMU - Bauer,Jase 4 yd run (Mattson,Tristan kick), 9 plays, 91 yards, TOP 04:39
EMU 7, CMU 7
EMU - Smith,Austin 1 yd run (Gomez,Jesus kick), 9 plays, 65 yards, TOP 04:44
EMU 10, CMU 7
EMU - Gomez,Jesus 55 yd field goal 11 plays, 41 yards, TOP 05:13
EMU 10, CMU 14
CMU - Parker,Chris 19 yd pass from Bauer,Jase (Mattson,Tristan kick) 4 plays, 52 yards, TOP 00:31
EMU 16, CMU 14
EMU - Knue,Tanner 4 yd pass from Smith,Austin ( kick) 10 plays, 62 yards, TOP 05:29
EMU 16, CMU 16
CMU - Cochran,Dakota 89 yd PAT return
EMU 16, CMU 19
CMU - Mattson,Tristan 27 yd field goal 9 plays, 66 yards, TOP 04:02
EMU 23, CMU 19
EMU - Evans,Samson 2 yd run (Gomez,Jesus kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:08
EMU 23, CMU 26
CMU - Lukes,Marion 24 yd run (Mattson,Tristan kick), 6 plays, 58 yards, TOP 02:46
