Football Falls to Long Island, 28-23

Photo Gallery | Postgame Press Conference

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University saw its four-game home-opener win streak come to an end as visiting Long Island University scored a 28-23 decision over the Eagles Saturday, Sept. 6, inside Rynearson Stadium. The Eagles (0-2) tried to make a comeback, but the Sharks (1-1) held off the hosts for their first win of the season.

How It Happened
The Eagles opened the game with possession, but a 3-and-out led to the Sharks scoring a touchdown on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead. After Rudy Kessinger (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) scored on a 32-yard field goal, the visitors found the end zone once again to open the second stanza, covering 86 yards in six plays for a 14-3 lead. The Eagles responded once again as Dontae McMillan (Seattle, Wash./Chief Sealth/Weber State) grabbed a 33-yard pass Noah Kim (Centreville, Va./Westfield/Michigan State/Coastal Carolina) to take the game into halftime a 14-10 for LIU.

After neither team scored in the third, both teams combined for 27 points in the fourth with back-and-forth scoring the entire way. After EMU was stopped on a fourth-down attempt deep in its own end, the Sharks scored on the next play from 14 yards out to build a 21-10 advantage. Eastern responded again with McMillan scoring his second of the night, this time running in from 40 yards out for a 21-16 score. With 1:56 to play, LIU punched in its fourth score of the day for a 28-16 lead before Kim hit Jamarien Wheeler (Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn/Iowa Central) in the end zone with 41 seconds to play. Trailing 28-23, EMU attempted an onside kick but was unable to secure the ball.

Game Notes
» Dontae McMillan scored twice in the game, including a 33-yard rushing touchdown and a 40-yard receiving score as he finished with 58 yards rushing on eight carries and 33 yards on one reception for 91 total yards. It marked the first time in his three seasons in Ypsilanti that he scored two touchdowns in the same game and just the third time he had done so in his career. The last time came Oct. 8, 2022, with two rushing scores for Weber State at home against Eastern Washington with the first coming in his debut with the Wildcats, Feb. 27, 2021, at Idaho State. Overall, his two scores against the Sharks marked his first game with one rushing and one receiving score while also standing as his first collegiate receiving touchdown.
» Dontae McMillan's scoring plays marked two of the longest recorded by the Eagles in 2025. His 40-yard rushing touchdown is the longest play this season for EMU while his 33-yard reception ties for third. The plays rank as the longest two scoring plays of 2025 for the Eagles as well.
» Noah Kim finished the game 18-of-29 passing for 189 yards and two scores while rushing for 38 yards on six carries for 227 yards of total offense. The two scores marked his first multiple touchdown game with the Eagles and his first since throwing for two touchdowns against Louisiana, Oct. 19, 2024, while playing for Coastal Carolina. Kim, who recorded his fourth career multiple touchdown game, has now done so for three different schools after accomplishing the feat twice with Michigan State in 2023.
» Noah Kim's 38 yards on the ground stands as a career high, surpassing the 35 yards he tallied at Iowa, Sept. 30, 2023, while playing for Michigan State. Additionally, his 20-yard rush is the longest of his career, bettering the 14 yards recorded in the game with the Hawkeyes.
» Jamarien Wheeler pulled in his first career touchdown reception as Noah Kim found him in the end zone from five yards out. Wheeler's lone reception brought his total to four grabs in 16 games for the Eagles.
» Mitchel Tomasek (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) finished the game with five punts for 253 yards, including three punts of 50+ yards and two coming down inside the LIU 20-yard line. Tomasek's 50.6-yard average stands as the fourth-highest in a single game in EMU history and comes one week after he set the record with a 52.4 average at Texas State. His average against the Sharks marked the sixth game in EMU history with a punter averaging 50.0+ yards with Tomasek holding two, Jake Julien holding three, and Austin Barnes with one.
» With his 253 yards in the game, Mitchell Tomasek brought his career total to 7,768 yards, placing him sixth on the program's career ledger. Tomasek, who passed Zach Johnson (7,794 yards, 2006-09), Austin Barnes (7,664 yards, 2013-16), and George Bailey (7,591 yards, 1967-70), is now 295 yards behind Jay Kurtz (2010-12) for fifth after Kurtz tallied 8,063 yards in his career.
» Eastern Michigan was 2-for-2 in red zone chances in the game to remain perfect on the season. The Eagles are now 7-of-7 in 2025.

Historical Notes
» Eastern fell to 0-1 all-time against the Sharks with its loss to Long Island and fell to 4-1 all-time against the current members of the Northeast Conference (NEC).
» With the loss, the Eagles fell to 81-47-5 in their home opener and saw their four-game winning streak in such contests come to an end. Eastern also slipped to 9-3 in its first home game of the season under Chris Creighton.
» Eastern fell to 0-2 overall, marking the first time the Eagles have started the year winless through two games since 2012. That year, EMU lost a Mid-American Conference game at Ball State, 37-26, before falling at home to Illinois State, 31-14.
» The 28-23 final score is a Scorigami, marking the first time an EMU football game has ended in that score. In 1,173 games played, EMU has tallied 512 Scorigami's, including both games played this season.

Up Next
Eastern Michigan returns to action Saturday, Sept. 13, when the Eagles venture to Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky., to face the University of Kentucky Wildcats (1-1, 0-1 SEC) in a 7:30 p.m. game that will be aired live on ESPNU. The game can also be heard on WEMU (89.1 FM) and The Varsity Network app with Tom Helmer, Greg Steiner, and Elena Davis calling all the action.

Next Event

Team Stats

Noah Kim

Players Mentioned

Rudy Kessinger

Noah Kim

Dontae McMillan

Mitchell Tomasek

Jamarien Wheeler

Players Mentioned

Rudy Kessinger

Noah Kim

Dontae McMillan

Mitchell Tomasek

Jamarien Wheeler

Eastern Michigan Athletics