Ground Game Powers Eagles to 52-33 Win at Kent State

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KENT, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team tallied 273 yards rushing along with six touchdowns on the ground, as the Eagles captured a 52-33 road win at Kent State University Saturday, Sept. 28, inside Dix Stadium in both teams' Mid-American Conference opener. The Eagles improved to 4-1 (1-0 MAC), their best start since starting the 2016 season with the same record, while the Golden Flashes fell to 0-5 (0-1 MAC).

How It Happened
The Eagles drove down the field on their opening drive with Elijah Jackson-Anderson (Flint, Mich./Dearborn) punching it in from four yards out to make it 7-0 early. After the hosts tied the game before the end of the first, EMU reclaimed the lead in the second as Delbert Mimms III (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis/NC State) raced in from 27 yards out to make 14-7 before KSU tied it at 14. Eastern responded with 2:12 remaining in the half as Jackson-Anderson secured his second, 4-yard rushing touchdown of the game to stake Eastern to a 21-14 lead at the break.

Following the break, the Golden Flashes tied the game at 21-21 just 30 seconds into the stanza, but that was the closest they would get as the Eagles would score the next 23 points to put the game away, starting with Cole Snyder (Lakewood, N.Y./Southwestern/Rutgers/Buffalo) rushing in from two yards out for a 28-21 lead. After Jesus Gomez (Puebla, Mexico/Prepa Tec Puebla) added a field goal from 27 yards out, Snyder connected with Oran Singleton (Clewiston, Fla./Clewiston/Akron/Hutchinson CC) for a 5-yard score to make it 38-21 at the end of three. In the final quarter, Mimms III found pay dirt for the second time, this time from 27 yards out with Deion Brown (St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood) scoring from 26 yards out to end the EMU scoring.

Game Notes
» Delbert Mimms III had a career day for the Eagles as the back finished with 145 yards on the ground with two touchdowns and two catches for 21 yards. His 94 rushing yards in the first half marked the most in an opening half for an EMU runner since Samson Evans tallied 96 yards at Arizona State, Sept. 17, 2022. Additionally, the 166 total yards Mimms tallied in the game surpassed the single-game career high of 89 (39 rushing, 50 receiving) he accumulated with NC State at home against Charleston Southern, Sept. 10, 2022. All told, his effort today surpassed his previous career best of 65 yards for NC State against Marshall, Oct. 7, 2023.
» Delbert Mimms III eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the first time in his career and the first for an Eagle since Samson Evans finished with 127 yards at Buffalo, Nov. 21, 2023. Mimms' total marked the 247^th time an EMU player surpassed 100 rushing yards in a game in program history.
» Elijah Jackson-Anderson scored the first touchdown of the day as he ran in from four yards out on the Eagles' opening drive and added a second, 4-yard plunge in the second quarter for his first multiple touchdown game. His two rushing scores are the first on the ground for the running back in 2024 and his second and third scores, respectively, after catching a 24-yard pass from Cole Snyder against Jacksonville State, Sept. 14. For the games, Jackson-Anderson finished 31 yards on nine carries with two scores.
» As a team, Eastern finished the game with 49 carries for 273 yards and six rushing touchdowns. The 273 yards are the most for the team since accumulating 305 yards on the ground at Arizona State, Sept. 17, 2022. Additionally, the six ground scores are the most since Eastern piled up six rushing touchdowns at Akron, Nov. 12, 2019.
» Cole Snyder had another efficient day as he was 26-of-33 passing for 213 yards and one score while adding 53 yards on the ground with one score. Snyder has thrown 229 consecutive passes without an interception dating back Oct. 31, 2023, while playing for Buffalo at Toledo. The NCAA FBS's record is 444 by Colby Cameron at Louisiana Tech (2011–12).
» EMU has thrown the ball 152 times this season without recording an interception in four contests. Last year, EMU's longest stretch without throwing a pick was 105 pass attempts. EMU last went four games without an INT thrown during the 2018 campaign, Sept. 28-Oct. 27, totaling a stretch of 142 pass attempts. EMU also had a four-game stretch in 2011 without throwing for a turnover. These are the only three occurrences since 1999 that Eastern Michigan has had four consecutive games without an interception thrown.
» The defense forced 4 turnovers on the day, including three fumbles recovered and one interception. With the fumble recoveries, the Eagles have collected two-or-more recovered fumbles in each of the last two games after collecting two last week against St. Francis. The last time the Eagles recovered two-or-more fumbles in consecutive games came in the 2020 season when Eastern took two from Central Michigan (Nov. 27) and three at Western Michigan (Dec. 5).
» It was quite a homecoming for Luke Murphy (Massillon, Ohio/Massillon Washington/Kent State) as the linebacker, a graduate of KSU, led the team with eight tackles, one interception, and one fumble recovery. Both of his takeaways led to touchdowns for the Eagles, allowing the visitors to begin to pull away.

Historical Notes
» With the win, EMU moved to 4-1 (1-0 MAC) on the year while Kent State fell to 0-5 (0-1 MAC).
» Eastern is now 17-19-0 all-time against Kent State and 8-11-0 when playing the series in Kent, Ohio. The win also marked the first back-to-back wins at KSU since claiming victories Oct. 3, 1998 (26-17) and Nov. 18, 1995 (41-7). Those two wins capped a four-game winning streak at KSU.
» The victory improved EMU's record to 14-35 all-time in its first MAC game of the season and snapped a seven-game losing streak in such games. Prior to the win at KSU, the last MAC-opening victory came Oct. 1, 2016, in a 28-25 score at Bowling Green. The Eagles also improved to 8-19 all-time when their first MAC game of the season is played away from home.
» Eastern has captured wins in four of its first five games of the year for just the second time under Chris Creighton and the first time since starting 4-1 in 2016. Since joining the MAC in time for the 1976 season, Eastern has now won at four games in its first five contests of the year, joining the teams from 2016, 1995 (4-1), 1989 (4-0-1), and 1977 (4-1).
» The 52 points scored by the Eagles are the most they have tallied in a game against the Golden Flashes in the history of the series. The previous high was 51 points in 51-10 win, Oct. 26, 1996, at home.

Up Next
Eastern enters its bye week and returns to action Saturday, Oct. 12, when the RedHawks of Miami University visit Ypsilanti. The game time and television designation will be announced next week and released on EMUEagles.com when available. As always, fans will be able listen to the game live on WEMU (89.1 FM) and The Varsity app with Tom Helmer and Rob Rubick on the call. The World-Famous Temptations will perform with the EMU Marching Band at halftime of the contest. Single-game tickets for the game and the unique halftime show are on sale now at EMUEagles.com/tickets or by calling the EMU Ticket Office at 734.487.3669. Tickets purchased in advance of gameday start at just $20. In addition, group tickets (15 or more individuals) start at just $8 per person and are also available.

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Team Stats

Cole Snyder

Players Mentioned

Deion Brown

Samson Evans

Elijah Jackson-Anderson

Delbert Mimms III

Luke Murphy

Oran Singleton

Cole Snyder

Players Mentioned

Deion Brown

Samson Evans

Elijah Jackson-Anderson

Delbert Mimms III

Luke Murphy

Oran Singleton

Cole Snyder

Eastern Michigan Athletics