Football Drops Road Contest at Western Michigan

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KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team dropped a 26-18 decision to Western Michigan University Saturday, Nov. 30, in a cold and snowy Mid-American Conference game in Kalamazoo, Mich., to close out the 2024 season. The Eagles (5-7, 2-6 MAC) were led by Delbert Mimms III, who rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns to mark his second 100-yard game of the season.

How It Happened
After a scoreless first quarter, the Broncos tallied the first points as they blocked an EMU punt for a safety. The hosts added two touchdowns in the second quarter to make it a 16-0 score at the break.

Coming out of halftime, the Eastern ground game began to come to life with Mimms (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis/NC State) scoring from 10-yards out before Cole Snyder (Lakewood, N.Y./Southwestern/Rutgers/Buffalo) found Max Reese (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) for the two-point conversion. After another WMU score, Mimms once again found the end zone, this time with a one-yard score to mark his second game of the year with two rushing scores., making it 23-15 after three. Both teams traded field goals in the fourth for the final scoring.

Game Notes
» Delbert Mimms III scored twice on the ground, marking the second time this season and the third time in his career he has scored multiple rushing touchdowns in the same game with the most recent coming at Akron, Oct. 26, after he first did so with NC State, Sept. 16, 2023, against VMI. He finished with 127 yards on 18 carries while adding two receptions for 13 yards. The 127 yards mark the second-highest rushing total of the year for Mimms, who previously ran for 145 yards and two scores at Kent State.
» Delbert Mimms III finished the game with two touchdowns to bring his season total to nine rushing scores, which is a career high. Mimms, who played three seasons at NC State, rushed for eight total touchdowns for the Wolfpack, all of which came in 2023.
» James Djonkam (Springfield, Va./West Springfield/Independence CC/Arizona State) finished the game with 17 tackles, including eight solo stops, giving him 39 tackles over the past two games. He finished the game with 3.0 TFLs, which tied for the most in a single game this season with the 3.0 recorded by Peyton Price (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) against Central Michigan, Oct. 19, and surpasses his previous career best 2.0 recorded last week against Buffalo.
» Nick Devereaux (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice/Davenport) recorded his first offensive statistics as an Eagle with a seven-yard reception in the third quarter. A mainstay on special teams, Deveraux picked up a first down and helped continue the Eagles' first scoring drive of the game.
» Late in the second quarter, an EMU punt attempt was blocked, resulting in a safety for the Broncos. The blocked punt was the first allowed this season by the Eagles, who entered the game as one of 46 FBS teams that did not allow a kick to be blocked in 2024.

Historical Notes
» With the loss, the Eagles finish the season at 5-7 overall (2-6 MAC) while the Broncos finished at 6-6 (5-3 MAC).
» The loss denied the Eagles a share of the Michigan MAC Trophy that will instead go to WMU. Eastern last secured the three-team trophy in 2022, its fifth victory in the event.
» Eastern fell to 22-36-2 all-time against Western Michigan and 9-22-1 when playing in Kalamazoo.

Up Next
The 2024 season has come to an end. Stay tuned to EMUEagles.com for all the latest news on the team, including National Signing Day, which is Wednesday, Dec. 4.

Team Stats

Cole Snyder

Players Mentioned

Nick Devereaux

James Djonkam

Delbert Mimms III

Peyton Price

Max Reese

Cole Snyder

Players Mentioned

Nick Devereaux

James Djonkam

Delbert Mimms III

Peyton Price

Max Reese

Cole Snyder

Eastern Michigan Athletics