Eastern Rally Falls Short Against Ohio, 28-21

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team battled to the end but came up short as the Eagles dropped a 28-21 home Mid-American Conference game to visiting Ohio University Saturday, Oct. 25, inside Rynearson Stadium. Noah Kim threw for 259 yards and two scores with Nick Devereaux scoring twice through the air while recording his first career 100-yard game with 121 yards as the Eagles fell to 2-7 overall and 1-4 in the MAC while the Bobcats improved to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in league play.

How It Happened
The Eagles received the opening kickoff and marched down the field with Devereux (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice/Davenport) pulling in a 38-yard pass from Kim (Centerville, Va./Westfield/Michigan State/Coastal Carolina) for a 7-0 lead following a nine-play, 75-yard drive. The visitors answered back on their opening possession to make 7-7 before the Eagles reclaimed the lead as Kim ran in from three-yards out for a 14-7 lead. Neither team scored in the second quarter to send the game to halftime, 14-7, in favor of EMU.

Late in the third quarter, the Bobcats tied the game on a 10-play, 67-yard drive and then took their first lead of the contest with 13:36 to play in the fourth on a quick drive. Ohio added its final touchdown with 2:15 to play, but that didn't stop the Eagles as EMU needed just 36 seconds to go 75 yards on four plays to see Kim hook up with Devereaux on a 17-yard score with 1:39 to play. EMU tried an onside kick, but were unable to gain possession before the Bobcats kneeled out the game and a 28-21 win.

Game Notes
» Noah Kim had another productive day as he finished with 259 yards on 21-of-30 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions while adding 30 yards on eight rushes and one score. With the touchdowns, it marked his fourth game this season and in his career that he threw for at least one score while adding at least one rushing touchdown after previously doing so at Kentucky, home against Louisiana, and at Buffalo.
» Noah Kim reached the 2,000-yard milestone for the season as his 258 yards brought his season total 2,051 yards, the 17th-most in a single season in program history. Kim became the 11th different player in EMU history to reach the milestone and marked the 18th time in the program's 134-year history an EMU quarterback has thrown for 2,000+ yards in a single season.
» With two touchdown passes – both to Nick Deveraux – Noah Kim brought his season total to 14 passing scores, which ties for the 12th-highest single-season total in EMU history. Kim, who currently shares the spot with Bob Middlekauff (1854), Kainoa Akina (2001), Matt Bohnet (2005), Andy Schmitt (2007), Alex Gillett (2011), Tyler Benz (2012), and Ben Bryant (2021), needs six more touchdowns this season to reach 20, which would be the sixth time in program history.
» Nick Devereaux had a career day as he caught five passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns for the Eagles. The former walk on recorded the 145th 100-yard receiving game in program history while tying or breaking career highs in all three categories, including tying his marks for receptions (5 at Miami, 10/18/25) and touchdowns (2 at Miami, 10/18/25) while breaking his yardage mark by 45 yards as his previous best was 76 yards against Louisiana (9/20/25).
» The Eagles have had a 100-yard receiver in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2021 season. The current streak started last week (Oct. 18) at Miami with Harold Mack Jr. (Fort Wayne, Ind./Wayne) recording 179 yards before Nick Devereaux added 121 against Ohio. The last time EMU had consecutive games with 100-yard receivers was when Hassan Beydoun pulled in 197 yards on 12 catches at Toledo (Nov. 2, 2021) before Tanner Knue recorded 127 yards on 11 grabs at home against Ohio (Nov. 9, 2021).
» The Eagles scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the first time this season and the first time in 14 games with the last coming at home against Miami, Oct. 12, 2024. The touchdown also marked just the second opening-drive points for the Eagles in 2025 after kicking a field goal at Texas State in the opener.
» Mitchell Tomasek (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) reached the 9,000-yard milestone for his career as his six punts for 292 yards against Ohio brought his career total to 9,136 yards, the fifth-best in program history. Tomasek became only the sixth player in EMU history to surpass 9,000 yards for his career and the first since Jake Julien (2017-21) finished his time in Ypsilanti with 9,726 yards. His 48.7 yards per punt average against the Bobcats marked the fourth time this year he has averaged 48.7 or more yards and brought his career total to six on a list of 16 total entries.
» The EMU offense remained perfect in the red zone this year as the Eagles scored touchdowns on both drives that entered the Ohio 20-yard line. With the scores, the Eagles, who entered the game as one of only five teams nationally that were perfect in the red zone, are now 27-of-27 on the year with 17 touchdowns (nine rushing and eight passing) and 10 field goals.
» Harold Mack Jr. earned his first career start, making him the 22nd different Eagle to earn his first collegiate start this year, the most in the nation.
» Mekhi Fox (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena/Colorado State) recorded his first reception with the Eagles as he pulled in a 51-yard pass on his lone catch of the day. It also stands as his second reception in NCAA Division I play after he tallied one grab for 15 yards with Colorado State during the 2022 season.
» Tyrelle Deener (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney/Adrian) and Juan Salas, Jr. (Eastvale, Calif./Roosevelt/Southwest Baptist) each recorded interceptions in the game with each also posting their first picks with the Eagles. The two picks marked the first time since the 2023 season when the Eagles intercepted multiple passes in a single game with the last instance coming Sept. 16, 2023, at home against UMass when the EMU defense picked off three passes.
» Bryce Llewellyn (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral/Charleston Southern) led the defense with a career-high 13 tackles, surpassing the 12 he recorded at Central Michigan earlier this season. Llewellyn has now recorded double-digit tackles in four games this season with 10 each against Louisiana and Miami.

Historical Notes
» With the loss, the Eagles fell to 2-7 overall and 1-4 in MAC play while the Bobcats moved to 5-3 with a 3-1 league record.
» Eastern fell to 12-22-1 all-time against Ohio and 7-12-0 when hosting the Bobcats. Additionally, the Eagles have now lost four consecutive games in the series with the last win coming Oct. 15, 2016, in a 27-20 win in Athens. The loss also saw EMU fall for the sixth consecutive meeting with Ohio in Ypsilanti with the last win coming Oct. 16, 1999, in a 27-26 decision.
» Eastern fell to 2-1 this year when leading at halftime. The Eagles had previously defeated both Louisiana and Northern Illinois at home after holding the lead at the break.
» The Eagles fell to 180-178 all-time in one-score contests and 2-3 this season.

Up Next
Eastern Michigan is on its bye week and will return to action Saturday, Nov. 8, when it welcomes the Falcons of Bowling Green State University to Rynearson Stadium. The game time and television designation will be announced next week. Tom Helmer (play-by-play), Rob Rubick (analyst), Elena Davis (sideline), and Greg Steiner (halftime) will have the call on WEMU (89.1 FM), The Varsity Network app, and SiriusXM.

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Team Stats

Noah Kim

Players Mentioned

Tyrelle Deener

Nick Devereaux

Mekhi Fox

Noah Kim

Bryce Llewellyn

Harold Mack

Juan Salas

Mitchell Tomasek

Players Mentioned

Tyrelle Deener

Nick Devereaux

Mekhi Fox

Noah Kim

Bryce Llewellyn

Harold Mack

Juan Salas

Mitchell Tomasek

Eastern Michigan Athletics