Eastern Michigan Athletics
Saturday, October 3
Amherst, Mass.
3:30 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
3-3 , 2-0
38
at
14
Massachusetts
4-1 , 1-1
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Mich. | 7 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 38 |
| Massachusetts | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
EMU Dominates Previously Unbeaten UMass 38-14, Now 2-0 in the MAC
10/3/2026 7:17:00 PM | Football
Offense posted a season-high 411 total yards with a stingy defense halving the Minutemen’s scoring production
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AMHERST, Mass. (EMUEagles.com) – Five different players scored one touchdown each, and the defense held a high-powered offense in check throughout to spur the Eastern Michigan University football team to a resounding 38-14 road win over the University of Massachusetts Saturday, Oct. 3, inside McGuirk Alumni Stadium in Amherst, Mass. The Eagles (3-3, 2-0 MAC) opened their Mid-American Conference schedule at 2-0 for the first time since 2005 while handing the Minutemen (4-1, 1-1 MAC) their first loss of the year.
How It Happened
For the third straight game, Eastern won the coin toss and deferred its choice to the second half, putting its defense on the field first and stopping the Minutemen, forcing a punt. The offense took over and erased 7:16 from the game clock as Kozy Isaac (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Bay Tech) made his return to the lineup and pulled down a 27-yard pass from Noah Kim (Centreville, Va./Westfield/Michigan State/Coastal Carolina) to cap the 13-play, 80-yard drive and stake the visitors to a 7-0 lead. Late in the quarter, UMass started to drive down the field and reached the Eastern 10-yard line where the ball carrier was hit by Davion Williams (Frostproof, Fla./Frostproof/Charleston Southern), who forced his first fumble with the Eagles, and Hector Gonzalez (Monterrey, Mexico/Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School (Ga.)) recorded his first career recovery, sending the game into the second stanza with EMU ahead, 7-0.
The second quarter saw the Minutemen take possession and work their way into a 54-yard field goal that was pushed wide right, setting up the Eastern offense, who drove 62 yards to the UMass 1-yard line before Brayden Bennett (Greenville, S.C./Southside/Coastal Carolina/Virginia Tech) punched in on 4th-and-Goal from two yards out, putting Eastern ahead, 14-0, with under two minutes to play. UMass cut into the EMU lead with 28 seconds to play with a 34-yard touchdown to send the game into halftime, 14-7.
After deferring its choice until the second half, Eastern took the first possession of the second half and marched 75 yards in 10 plays with Kim finding Joshua Long (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola/El Camino CC) in the back corner of the end zone for his first score of the season to rebuild its two-score lead, 21-7, with 10:10 remaining in the third. On the first play of the ensuing UMass drive, Caleb Dobbs (Cocoa, Fla./Cocoa) stepped in front of a pass for his second interception of the season and returned it 31 yards to the UMass nine to set up an Amareon Blue (Dallas, N.C./C.E. Jordan) nine-yard touchdown run to push the EMU advantage to 28-7 with 9:46 showing in the third.
After standing tall on fourth down late in the third, the offense went back to work and moved its drive into the fourth quarter, where Eastern capped a 10-play, 61-yard drive with Joey Mattord (Hartland, Mich./Hartland) scampering home from 25 yards out to extend the Eagles' lead to 35-7 following Mattord's first touchdown of the year. Late in the game, Rudy Kessinger (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) connected on a 26-yard field goal to extend the lead to 38-7 before the Minutemen scored their second touchdown with 1:02 to play to bring the final score, 38-14.
Game Notes
» Noah Kim led the offense with 219 yards on 21-of-30 passing with two scores, with nine different receivers recording at least one grab as the Eagles amassed a season-high 411 yards of total offense. Kim added 16 yards on the ground on five carries as well. With two touchdown passes, Kim brought his EMU career total to 26, tying him for ninth on the program's career list with Ron Adams, who recorded 26 scores from 1984-87.
» Kozy Issac made his return to the lineup count as the wide receiver scored his second career touchdown on a 27-yard pass from Noah Kim on the opening drive of the game. Issac, who scored on a 40-yard reception in the opener with Sacramento State (Aug. 29), entered the game with two career grabs for 45 yards. He finished the game at UMass with three grabs for 41 yards and one score.
» Braydon Bennett dove under the pile on fourth down from the UMass 2-yard line late in the second quarter to put the Eagles ahead, 14-0, while scoring his second touchdown with the program. Bennett, who played four years with Coastal Carolina (2020-24) and one season at Virginia Tech (2025), brought his career total to 27 rushing scores with his fourth-down carry. Bennett finished the game with a season-high 10 carries for 42 yards and one score.
» Joey Mattord got on the scoresheet for the first time in 2026 as he busted up the middle from 25 yards out in the early part of the fourth quarter to extend the EMU lead. The touchdown was Mattord's first of the year and his first since scoring on the ground the 2025 season-opening game at Texas State (Aug. 30, 2025). Mattord finished the game 54 yards on eight carries, giving him a career-high yardage, surpassing the 48 yards he recorded last week against Lindenwood.
» Joshua Long recorded his first touchdown of the year as he pulled in a 2-yard grab in the third quarter. The tight end finished with a team-leading five grabs for 37 yards in the game.
» As a team, Eastern recorded 411 total yards of offense, surpassing the 396 yards it tallied last week against Lindenwood. The last time the Eagles recorded 400+ yards of total offense was in the 2025 finale against Western Michigan when the team posted 461 yards.
» Davion Williams posted a career-high-tying 10 tackles – all of which came in the first half – to mark the most he has recorded with the Eagles. He tied his best set Oct. 5, 2024, against Western Illinois when he played for Charleston Southern. Williams added one forced fumble as well.
» Caleb Dobbs recorded his second interception of the season and his first since the game with San Jose State before returning the ball 31 yards to set up the fourth touchdown of the day for the Eastern offense. Dobbs closed the game with two tackles (two solo) and one pass breakup.
» As a team, the Eagles held UMass to a season-low 14 points, well below its average of 36.3 it carried into the game. Eastern got off to a torrid start by allowing just seven points to a team that was averaging 20.3 points in the first half through its first four games of the year.
» After not recording a takeaway in the game with Lindenwood (Sept. 26), which halted a four-game streak of forcing at least one turnover, the EMU defense got back on track in the first quarter as Davion Williams put his helmet on the ball and forced a fumble on the EMU 10-yard line with Hector Gonzalez securing the loose ball. The force marked Williams' first with the Eagles and the second of his career after he forced a fumble for Charleston Southern against Gardner-Webb on Nov. 2, 2024, while the recovery marked Gonzalez's first.
» With the fumble recovery and interception, the Eagles won the turnover battle, 2-0, and moved to 44-17 under Chris Creighton. EMU is 20-69 when tying or losing the battle in that time.
» For the third consecutive game, the Eagles started the game on defense and held their opponent off the scoreboard before taking over and marching the field for a touchdown as Kozy Isaac pulled in a 27-yard pass from Noah Kim to cap a 13-play, 80-yard drive. Eastern opened its season with being shutout in the first quarter of play in its first three games before its current run of opening-quarter success.
Historical Notes
» With the win, Eastern Michigan squared its record at 3-3 overall and 2-0 in the MAC while UMass fell to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the MAC after taking its first loss of the year.
» The Eagles improved to 5-2 all-time against the Minutemen and 3-1 when playing in Amherst. The win marked the Eagles' fifth straight win in the series and their third straight as guests at UMass.
» The victory for Eastern marked its first in a MAC contest against UMass after dropping the only other two instances in 2014 (36-14 away) and 2015 (28-17 at home).
» Eastern, who defeated visiting Sacramento State, 28-17, in Week 0 (Aug. 29), stands 2-0 in MAC play for the first time since 2005. That year, EMU opened league play with a 23-20 overtime win at Central Michigan (Sept. 24) before securing a 27-20 Homecoming victory over Kent State (Oct. 1).
» Head Coach Chris Creighton earned his 64th win leading the Eastern Michigan program to move into a tie for the No. 10 spot on the all-time coaching wins in MAC history ledger. Creighton, who is in 13th season in Ypsilanti, is tied with Bill Mallory, who won 64 times combined while leading Miami (1969-73) and Northern Illinois (1980-83).
Up Next
Eastern Michigan faces its second of back-to-back Mid-American Conference road games next week, traveling to InfoCision Stadium to take on the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. The game is set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+. Tom Helmer and Rob Rubick will have the call on WEMU (89.1 FM), the Varsity Network app, and SiriusXM radio.
AMHERST, Mass. (EMUEagles.com) – Five different players scored one touchdown each, and the defense held a high-powered offense in check throughout to spur the Eastern Michigan University football team to a resounding 38-14 road win over the University of Massachusetts Saturday, Oct. 3, inside McGuirk Alumni Stadium in Amherst, Mass. The Eagles (3-3, 2-0 MAC) opened their Mid-American Conference schedule at 2-0 for the first time since 2005 while handing the Minutemen (4-1, 1-1 MAC) their first loss of the year.
How It Happened
For the third straight game, Eastern won the coin toss and deferred its choice to the second half, putting its defense on the field first and stopping the Minutemen, forcing a punt. The offense took over and erased 7:16 from the game clock as Kozy Isaac (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Bay Tech) made his return to the lineup and pulled down a 27-yard pass from Noah Kim (Centreville, Va./Westfield/Michigan State/Coastal Carolina) to cap the 13-play, 80-yard drive and stake the visitors to a 7-0 lead. Late in the quarter, UMass started to drive down the field and reached the Eastern 10-yard line where the ball carrier was hit by Davion Williams (Frostproof, Fla./Frostproof/Charleston Southern), who forced his first fumble with the Eagles, and Hector Gonzalez (Monterrey, Mexico/Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School (Ga.)) recorded his first career recovery, sending the game into the second stanza with EMU ahead, 7-0.
The second quarter saw the Minutemen take possession and work their way into a 54-yard field goal that was pushed wide right, setting up the Eastern offense, who drove 62 yards to the UMass 1-yard line before Brayden Bennett (Greenville, S.C./Southside/Coastal Carolina/Virginia Tech) punched in on 4th-and-Goal from two yards out, putting Eastern ahead, 14-0, with under two minutes to play. UMass cut into the EMU lead with 28 seconds to play with a 34-yard touchdown to send the game into halftime, 14-7.
After deferring its choice until the second half, Eastern took the first possession of the second half and marched 75 yards in 10 plays with Kim finding Joshua Long (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola/El Camino CC) in the back corner of the end zone for his first score of the season to rebuild its two-score lead, 21-7, with 10:10 remaining in the third. On the first play of the ensuing UMass drive, Caleb Dobbs (Cocoa, Fla./Cocoa) stepped in front of a pass for his second interception of the season and returned it 31 yards to the UMass nine to set up an Amareon Blue (Dallas, N.C./C.E. Jordan) nine-yard touchdown run to push the EMU advantage to 28-7 with 9:46 showing in the third.
After standing tall on fourth down late in the third, the offense went back to work and moved its drive into the fourth quarter, where Eastern capped a 10-play, 61-yard drive with Joey Mattord (Hartland, Mich./Hartland) scampering home from 25 yards out to extend the Eagles' lead to 35-7 following Mattord's first touchdown of the year. Late in the game, Rudy Kessinger (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) connected on a 26-yard field goal to extend the lead to 38-7 before the Minutemen scored their second touchdown with 1:02 to play to bring the final score, 38-14.
Game Notes
» Noah Kim led the offense with 219 yards on 21-of-30 passing with two scores, with nine different receivers recording at least one grab as the Eagles amassed a season-high 411 yards of total offense. Kim added 16 yards on the ground on five carries as well. With two touchdown passes, Kim brought his EMU career total to 26, tying him for ninth on the program's career list with Ron Adams, who recorded 26 scores from 1984-87.
» Kozy Issac made his return to the lineup count as the wide receiver scored his second career touchdown on a 27-yard pass from Noah Kim on the opening drive of the game. Issac, who scored on a 40-yard reception in the opener with Sacramento State (Aug. 29), entered the game with two career grabs for 45 yards. He finished the game at UMass with three grabs for 41 yards and one score.
» Braydon Bennett dove under the pile on fourth down from the UMass 2-yard line late in the second quarter to put the Eagles ahead, 14-0, while scoring his second touchdown with the program. Bennett, who played four years with Coastal Carolina (2020-24) and one season at Virginia Tech (2025), brought his career total to 27 rushing scores with his fourth-down carry. Bennett finished the game with a season-high 10 carries for 42 yards and one score.
» Joey Mattord got on the scoresheet for the first time in 2026 as he busted up the middle from 25 yards out in the early part of the fourth quarter to extend the EMU lead. The touchdown was Mattord's first of the year and his first since scoring on the ground the 2025 season-opening game at Texas State (Aug. 30, 2025). Mattord finished the game 54 yards on eight carries, giving him a career-high yardage, surpassing the 48 yards he recorded last week against Lindenwood.
» Joshua Long recorded his first touchdown of the year as he pulled in a 2-yard grab in the third quarter. The tight end finished with a team-leading five grabs for 37 yards in the game.
» As a team, Eastern recorded 411 total yards of offense, surpassing the 396 yards it tallied last week against Lindenwood. The last time the Eagles recorded 400+ yards of total offense was in the 2025 finale against Western Michigan when the team posted 461 yards.
» Davion Williams posted a career-high-tying 10 tackles – all of which came in the first half – to mark the most he has recorded with the Eagles. He tied his best set Oct. 5, 2024, against Western Illinois when he played for Charleston Southern. Williams added one forced fumble as well.
» Caleb Dobbs recorded his second interception of the season and his first since the game with San Jose State before returning the ball 31 yards to set up the fourth touchdown of the day for the Eastern offense. Dobbs closed the game with two tackles (two solo) and one pass breakup.
» As a team, the Eagles held UMass to a season-low 14 points, well below its average of 36.3 it carried into the game. Eastern got off to a torrid start by allowing just seven points to a team that was averaging 20.3 points in the first half through its first four games of the year.
» After not recording a takeaway in the game with Lindenwood (Sept. 26), which halted a four-game streak of forcing at least one turnover, the EMU defense got back on track in the first quarter as Davion Williams put his helmet on the ball and forced a fumble on the EMU 10-yard line with Hector Gonzalez securing the loose ball. The force marked Williams' first with the Eagles and the second of his career after he forced a fumble for Charleston Southern against Gardner-Webb on Nov. 2, 2024, while the recovery marked Gonzalez's first.
» With the fumble recovery and interception, the Eagles won the turnover battle, 2-0, and moved to 44-17 under Chris Creighton. EMU is 20-69 when tying or losing the battle in that time.
» For the third consecutive game, the Eagles started the game on defense and held their opponent off the scoreboard before taking over and marching the field for a touchdown as Kozy Isaac pulled in a 27-yard pass from Noah Kim to cap a 13-play, 80-yard drive. Eastern opened its season with being shutout in the first quarter of play in its first three games before its current run of opening-quarter success.
Historical Notes
» With the win, Eastern Michigan squared its record at 3-3 overall and 2-0 in the MAC while UMass fell to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the MAC after taking its first loss of the year.
» The Eagles improved to 5-2 all-time against the Minutemen and 3-1 when playing in Amherst. The win marked the Eagles' fifth straight win in the series and their third straight as guests at UMass.
» The victory for Eastern marked its first in a MAC contest against UMass after dropping the only other two instances in 2014 (36-14 away) and 2015 (28-17 at home).
» Eastern, who defeated visiting Sacramento State, 28-17, in Week 0 (Aug. 29), stands 2-0 in MAC play for the first time since 2005. That year, EMU opened league play with a 23-20 overtime win at Central Michigan (Sept. 24) before securing a 27-20 Homecoming victory over Kent State (Oct. 1).
» Head Coach Chris Creighton earned his 64th win leading the Eastern Michigan program to move into a tie for the No. 10 spot on the all-time coaching wins in MAC history ledger. Creighton, who is in 13th season in Ypsilanti, is tied with Bill Mallory, who won 64 times combined while leading Miami (1969-73) and Northern Illinois (1980-83).
Up Next
Eastern Michigan faces its second of back-to-back Mid-American Conference road games next week, traveling to InfoCision Stadium to take on the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. The game is set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+. Tom Helmer and Rob Rubick will have the call on WEMU (89.1 FM), the Varsity Network app, and SiriusXM radio.
Players Mentioned
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/ FootballTeam Stats
EMU
UMA
Total Yards
411
316
Pass Yards
219
210
Rushing Yards
192
106
Penalty Yards
70
59
1st Downs
26
18
3rd Downs
11
6
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
34:35
19:22
1st Quarter
EMU 7, UMA 0
EMU - Isaac,Kozy 27 yd pass from Kim,Noah (Kessinger,Rudy kick) 13 plays, 80 yards, TOP 07:16
2nd Quarter
EMU 14, UMA 0
EMU - Bennett,Braydon 2 yd run (Kessinger,Rudy kick), 13 plays, 64 yards, TOP 07:09
EMU 14, UMA 7
UMA - Dowling,Max 34 yd pass from Watson III,William (Morris,Derek kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:27
3rd Quarter
EMU 21, UMA 7
EMU - Long,Joshua 2 yd pass from Kim,Noah (Kessinger,Rudy kick) 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:50
EMU 28, UMA 7
EMU - Blue,Amareon 9 yd run (Kessinger,Rudy kick), 2 plays, 9 yards, TOP 00:10
4th Quarter
EMU 35, UMA 7
EMU - Mattord,Joey 25 yd run (Kessinger,Rudy kick), 10 plays, 61 yards, TOP 04:30
EMU 38, UMA 7
EMU - Kessinger,Rudy 26 yd field goal 13 plays, 64 yards, TOP 08:10
EMU 38, UMA 14
UMA - Kimmons IV,Curtis 3 yd run (Morris,Derek kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:05
Game Leaders
CMP
21
TD
2
YDS
219
INT
0
Sunday, October 04
Sunday, October 04
Sunday, October 04
Sunday, October 04