Football Has a Homecoming Date with Central Michigan

Football vs. Central Michigan
Date	Saturday, Oct. 19 \| 2 p.m. ET
Venue	Rynearson Stadium (30,200) \| Ypsilanti, Mich.
Preview Info	EMU Notes (PDF) \| Media Guide (PDF) \| Press Conference Video
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN+
Listen	WEMU (89.1 WEMU-FM) \| The Varsity Network App \| Eastern Insider Podcast
Twitter	@EMUFB \| @EMUAthletics
Tickets	Purchase Tickets \| Game Program \| Homecoming Events \| Parking Plan

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team is set to play host to rival Central Michigan University Saturday, Oct. 19, as the two teams will meet on Crosby Field inside Rynearson Stadium. EMU's 96th Homecoming game will kick off at 2 p.m. and be broadcast on both ESPN+ and WEMU (89.1 FM). Both teams are looking to bounce back from their first Mid-American Conference losses of the season after EMU dropped a 38-14 home decision to Miami University, Oct. 12, while CMU fell to visiting Ohio University, 27-25.
    EMU football will also proudly welcome back E-Club Hall of Fame Coach Jim Harkema as the honorary coach for the Homecoming game. Harkema will be in attendance at the team's alumni breakfast and will be honored on the field before the game.

ON AIR
The game between the Eagles and Chippewas will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Michael Reghi and Marcus Ray on the call. Additionally, fans can listen to the game locally on WEMU (89.1 FM) and on The Varsity Network app with Tom Helmer, Rob Rubick, and Greg Steiner calling all the action from Rynearson Stadium.

HOMECOMING: PAINT IT GREEN
Homecoming Week is set to begin Tuesday, Oct. 15, and will culminate with the Eagles facing Central Michigan on the gridiron, Oct. 19. Numerous events are planned on campus throughout the week to celebrate everything that makes Eastern Michigan unique and special. For more information and a full schedule of events, visit emich.edu/homecoming.

BATTLE FOR THE MICHIGAN MAC TROPHY
EMU's first game against an in-state rival also means the beginning of its quest for the "Michigan MAC Trophy." Given annually to one of the Michigan-based, Mid-American Conference institutions (EMU, WMU, CMU), the trophy is awarded to the team which has the best head-to-head record against each other. It is one of just two regularly-awarded trophies between three teams (the other is the Commander-in-Chief's trophy between Army, Navy, and Air Force). Originating in 2005, EMU has claimed ownership five times (2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2022).

ONE AWAY FROM A RECORD
Head Coach Chris Creighton, in his 11 seasons, has achieved 32 MAC wins, tying him with Jim Harkema for the most MAC victories in Eastern Michigan football history.

HOMECOMING HISTORY
This week's contest will mark the 96th Homecoming game in program history with Eastern holding an all-time record of 49-46-2 in such games. The Eagles have won three consecutive Homecoming games, including a 24-10 win over Ball State, Oct. 7, 2023. The trio of wins came after no Homecoming game was played in 2020 because the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to single-season hiatus, the team had dropped five Homecoming games in a row. All told, Central Michigan has served as the Homecoming opponent 14 times previously with Eastern holding a 4-10 record in those games. The Chippewas won the last Homecoming game, 26-23 in overtime, Oct. 10, 1998, and have taken seven in a row in such games with EMU's last defeat of CMU on Homecoming coming Nov. 6, 1948, in a 6-0 decision in Ypsilanti.

HARKEMA IS COMING HOME
EMU football proudly welcomes back E-Club Hall of Fame Coach Jim Harkema as the honorary coach for the Homecoming game versus Central Michigan. Harkema will be in attendance at the team's alumni breakfast and will be honored on the field before the game.
    A 1999 inductee into the E-Club Athletic Hall of Fame, Harkema enjoyed a successful 10-year career at EMU. He took over an EMU football program that had won just two games in three previous years and developed the program into one of the best in the MAC, resulting in the best MAC won-lost record from 1986-89.
    Harkema turned the team into a championship contender with his 1987 football squad reaching the top of the Mid-American Conference, capturing the first-ever league title and leading the team to a 30-27 upset win over a highly favored San Jose State University team in the California Bowl. That 1987 squad notched the most wins in school history with a 10-2 record and he was named MAC Coach of the Year for his efforts. He followed it up by directing the 1988 and 1989 teams to runner-up spots in the final league standings.

CONTINUING A TREND?
In the last three years, Eastern has not only won its Homecoming contest, it has done so just one game removed from a loss. The trend started in 2021 with a 27-20 loss at Northern Illinois before returning home to down Miami, 13-12. In 2022, EMU dropped a 50-31 score to visiting Buffalo and then-quarterback Cole Snyder before defeating UMass, 20-13. Last year, the Eagles fell, 26-23, at CMU before coming home to defeat Ball State, 24-10.

LOOKING FOR THREE
With a win over Central Michigan this week, the Eagles would move to 3-1 at home and give a Chris Creighton-led EMU squad a trio of home wins for the fourth consecutive season. In his 11th year with the Eagles, Creighton's teams won at least three home contests in 2016, 2017, and 2018, before not doing so until 2021, which started the current streak of three years in a row.

PROTECTING HOME TURF
EMU has won eight of its last 10 home contests at Rynearson Stadium. It is just off the pace set in 1986-87 when the team was victorious in 10 of 11 home games. Jim Harkema's then-Hurons won five of six during the 1986 campaign before going 5-for-5 during the 1987 MAC Championship season. EMU followed it up by winning 10 of its next 13 home games from 1988-90.
    The school record for consecutive home wins is 22 set between 1924-29 when EMU posted an astounding 35-3-1 mark under the leadership of Elton J. Rynearson.

ALL-TIME VERSUS THE CHIPPEWAS
This week's game will mark the 102nd all-time meeting between the two Michigan schools that was first played Nov. 1, 1902, a 10-0 win for CMU in Mount Pleasant. Overall, CMU holds a 64-31-6 advantage in the series with a 25-20-4 lead when the game is played in Ypsilanti. The two teams have traded wins in the last three seasons with CMU taking a 26-23 win in Mount Pleasant last year (Sept. 30) after EMU was victorious at home in 2022, 38-19 (Nov. 25). The Chippewas won, 31-10, Nov. 26, 2021, which was the last of three wins in a row in the series.

HISTORY LESSON
The football rivalry between Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan is the longest-running rivalry between any two schools in the Mid-American Conference. It is also the second-longest running series within the state of Michigan, trailing only the Michigan-Michigan State series, which has been played 116 times. Furthermore, it is tied for the 85th most played game at any level of college football.

MOST PLAYED MAC SERIES
EMU-CMU: 101 games (CMU leads 64-31-6)
Miami-Ohio: 99 games (Miami leads 55-42-2)
CMU-WMU: 94 games (WMU leads 53-39-2)
Kent State-BGSU: 91 games (BGSU leads 61-24-6)
BGSU-Toledo: 88 games (Toledo leads 43-41-4)
Toledo-WMU: 78 games (Toledo leads 46-32)
BGSU-Miami: 77 games (Miami leads 47-25-5)
Kent State-Miami: 70 games (Miami leads 52-18)
Akron-Kent State: 66 games (Akron leads 36-28-2)
Miami-WMU: 63 games (Miami leads 38-24-1)

LAST MEETING WITH CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Eastern Michigan came back from a 14-10 halftime deficit to build a 23-19 lead, but Central Michigan's 24-yard touchdown run with 7:55 remaining in the fourth stood as the winning score to hand the Eagles a 26-23 loss in Mount Pleasant, Sept. 30, 2023.
    Austin Smith led the way with one rushing and one passing touchdown (to Tanner Knue) while Samson Evans ran one in from two-yards out and Jesús Gómez connected on a 55-yard field goal to pace the offense. Defensively, Chase Kline posted a team-leading 12 tackles while Quentavius Scandrett tallied an interception. Additionally, Justin Jefferson and Joey Zelinsky combined for the team's lone sack in the game.

TIES BETWEEN EMU AND CMU
EMU's defensive tackles coach, Jerone Steckle, served as a graduate assistant at Central Michigan for the 2017 season.

MUDDY MAC
Three weeks into the conference slate, the top of the MAC standings have three teams sitting at 2-0 (Buffalo, Ohio, and Western Michigan), whom the Eagles play over the final three weeks of the season. Eastern is one of six teams sitting at 1-1 in league play, which includes two of the Eagles' next three opponents, including CMU and Toledo. Starting this year, there are no divisions in the MAC with the top 2 teams in the standings heading to Detroit for the MAC Championship game, Dec. 7.

FALLING ON FUMBLES
In the game against Miami, Oct. 12, the Eagles forced another fumble, this time seeing Delbert Mimms III ripping the ball out a punt returner's hands before Daniel Warnsman recovered the loose ball for Eastern. As a team, Eastern has compiled seven fumbles recovered, which ties for the third-most in the nation -- one off the pace of both Memphis and Oklahoma -- and leads the MAC. The forced fumble by Mimms was the first of his career and makes him the fifth different Eagle to pop the ball loose in 2024 while Warnsman recorded his first recovery and is the seventh different Eagle to fall on a loose ball this season.

PROTECT THE ROCK
Through seven weeks of play in the FBS, the Eagles are among the best in the nation when it comes to taking care of the ball. Entering the game with Central Michigan, Eastern ranks 15th nationally in turnover margin at 1.00 per game and sixth nationally in turnovers lost with three. Of those three turnovers, just one came from throwing an interception, which ranks second nationally behind Army, who is the only team yet to throw a pick.

NEW BEAMER BALL?
During the 1990s, Virginia Tech blocked 66 kicks, more than any school in the country. Beamer Ball became a frightening proposition for opponents. Since 2014, special teams under Chris Creighton have been using that blueprint with 25 during that span.
    EMU added to that tally when Joey Mattord blocked a punt attempt against Saint Francis, Sept. 14, in the third quarter with Kendrick Nowling falling on the ball in the end zone for EMU's second non-offensive score of the day. All told, it marked EMU's 14th blocked punt in the last 11 years and the sixth blocked punt that has resulted in a TD. Additionally, the block was the third blocked kick of the season for EMU after the Eagles blocked a punt and an extra point at Washington, Sept. 7.
    As a team, the Eagles second nationally in blocked kicks in 2024 with three and rank second nationally with two blocked punts. On the opposite side of the ball, EMU is one of 76 schools to have not allowed a blocked kick in 2024 and one of 100 that have not allowed a blocked punt this year.

MORE ON REJECTIONS
Since 2016, no Mid-American Conference school has recorded more kick/punt blocks than Eastern Michigan. The Eagles have tallied 19, while Miami (18), Northern Illinois (17), and Buffalo (12) follows closely. EMU's total ranks tied for sixth nationally during that span, trailing just Army (29), Notre Dame (22), Old Dominion (21), Oklahoma State (21), and South Carolina (21).

A GIVE AND TAKE(AWAY)
During his time guiding the Eagles, Chris Creighton's teams have won the turnover battle 55 times, lost it 45 times, and saw the game end with takeaways tied 26 times. Under Creighton (since the start of the 2014 season), Eastern is 41-14 when winning the turnover battle, 6-39 when losing the battle, including last week's 38-14 loss to Miami, and 11-15 when the battle is tied.

QUIET! SNYDER IS WORKING
In the game with Miami, Oct. 12, Cole Snyder threw his first interception, which halted a streak at 245 consecutive attempts without a pick. Snyder, who attempted 15 more passes after the pick, started his streak with Buffalo at Toledo, Oct. 31, 2023. At the point of his pick, Eastern had not been intercepted all season, a total of 169 consecutive attempts.

GETTING HIS KICKS
Jesús Gómez tallied two extra points against Miami, Oct. 12, to bring his season total to 54 points. The MAC leader at 9.0 points per game (27th nationally), his 54 points rank 25th nationally while his 2.0 field goals made per game ranks sixth.

KICKING IT IN
Jesús Gómez has made 12 field goals in 2024 after making 12 throughout the entire 2023 season. Those 12 makes rank seventh nationally in the FBS with one player, Tyler Loop (Arizona), at 14 makes and five others with 13 makes.

MOVING BACK
Kicking numbers are up this year with distances on the rise. Through seven weeks of play, Jesús Gómez holds one of 13 made field goals of 57-yards or longer, which is already seven makes ahead of the entire 2023 season. Additionally, there have been 21 field goals of 55+ made in 2024 after just 21 were made in 2023. Gomez' longest of the year still stands at 57 yards (at Washington, Sept. 7, which ranks him tied for ninth by distance.

MOVING ON UP
For his career, Jesús Gómez has connected on 86 extra points and 38 field goals for 200 points, which rank him sixth, fifth, and seventh, respectively, on the Eastern all-time scoring ledger. Tim Henneghan (1986-89) is the next player in line on all three of those lists as his career has him fifth with 92 PATs, fourth with 38 field goals, and sixth with 206 total points.

GROUND DELIVERIES
Through six games, Delbert Mimms III has found the end zone six times. Through games played Oct. 12, Mimms III remains among the top scorers in the MAC as the six rushing touchdowns he has tallied ties him with Jaden Nixon (WMU) for the most ground scores in the league while his 6.0 points per game average are tied for third overall among non-kickers.

DEL-IVERING SCORES
Entering the season, Delbert Mimms III recorded eight rushing touchdowns during his three seasons at NC State with all eight coming during the 13-game 2023 season. Through six games with Eastern, Mimms has already scored six times, including five in the last four games. That four-game streak ties a career-best streak after he tallied five in a four-game stretch for the Wolfpack last year, including two scores against VMI (Sept. 16) before running for one each in games at Virginia (Sept. 22), home against Louisville (Sept. 29), and home against Marshall (Oct. 7). For the season, Mimms has nearly equaled his career totals at NC State as he has 392 yards on 89 carries with six touchdowns after rushing 127 times for 439 yards and eight scores in the previous three years.

SACK RACE
The defense posted 6.0 sacks against St. Francis, Sept. 21, tying its single-game season high after recording 6.0 in the season-opening win at UMass, Aug. 31. The Eagles have 16.0 this season, which is third in the MAC (2.67) and stands 25th nationally. The Eagles, who tallied just 22 total sacks in 2023, saw two individuals secure their first sacks of the season, including both Miles Sterling and Carter Evans, as 10 different players have accounted for at least 0.5 sacks this season.

LONG DISTANCE RETURN
Late in the first quarter and with St. Francis (Sept. 21) driving, the Red Flash reached the EMU one yard line and were looking to run the ball in for a score. But, on the play, the snap was fumbled and the ball rolled through the line where David Carter Jr. scooped up the ball, ran to the outside of the scrum, and took it 99 yards down the field for a touchdown, the third score of his career. Not only did that stake the Eagles to a 7-0 lead, it marked the longest fumble return in program history and the fourth-longest return in EMU history behind a trio of interception returns for scores.

SINGLE SCORES
Since the start of the 2016 season, Eastern ranks third nationally with 53, one-score games played, sitting behind only Northern Illinois (58) and Texas (54).
    Additionally, only three teams in the top 10 of the national list are at .500 or better in such games, including EMU (27-26), and Navy (23-23) at .500 and Oklahoma State at .660 (31-16)

1. Northern Illinois - 58 (28-30)
2. Texas - 54 (24-30)
3. Eastern Michigan - 53 (27-26)
4. North Carolina - 50 (21-29)
T5. Iowa State - 49 (19-30)
T5. Nebraska - 49 (14-35)
7. Oklahoma State - 48 (31-17)
T8. Tulsa - 47 (21-26)
T8. Kansas State - 47 (23-24)
T9. Navy - 46 (23-23)

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS UNDER CREIGHTON
Since the start of the 1976 season, Eastern Michigan has won 55 games in non-conference play with 43.6 percent of those victories (24 wins) coming in the past 11 seasons under Chris Creighton, an average of two non-conference wins per season.
    In that same span, 14 of those wins have come on the road with a Creighton-led squad capturing nine wins (64.3 percent), including wins at Big Ten Conference opponents Rutgers (16-13, Sept. 9, 2017), Purdue (20-19, Sept. 8, 2018), and Illinois (34-31, Sept. 14, 2019), while adding a 30-21 win at Arizona State (Sept. 17, 2022), a then-member of the Pac-12 (currently Big 12).

FIRST STARTS
Two rookies earned their first collegiate starts with both coming in the defensive secondary. The newcomers included Jordan Toney, who recorded four tackles, 0.5 TFLs, and one fumble recovery, and Jaivian Norman, who made one stop in the game. The duo joins nine of their teammates in starting a game for the first time at Eastern after they did so at UMass, Aug. 31, including five on offense and four on defense. Those newcomers on offense included Markus Allen (WR), Blake Bustard (OL), Donate McMillan (RB), Oran Singleton (WR), and Cole Snyder (QB) while the defensive list featured James Djonkam (LB), JT Killen (LB), Dramarian McNulty (DB), and Dylan Shelton (DL). All told, 19 newcomers saw their first action in the game as well.

ON THE HORIZON
Eastern returns to the road next weekend when the Eagles travel to Akron, Ohio, to face the University of Akron Saturday, Oct. 26. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Markus Allen

Blake Bustard

David Carter Jr.

James Djonkam

Carter Evans

Samson Evans

Justin Jefferson

JT Killen

Chase Kline

Tanner Knue

Joey Mattord

Dramarian McNulty

Delbert Mimms III

Jaivian Norman

Quentavius Scandrett

Dylan Shelton

Oran Singleton

Austin Smith

Cole Snyder

Jordan Toney

Daniel Warnsman

Joey Zelinsky

Eastern Michigan Athletics