Football Downs Sacramento State in MAC Opener, 28-17

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Sacramento State	0	10	0	7	17
Eastern Michigan	0	21	0	7	28

Box score | Photo Gallery | Video Highlights | Watch the Postgame Press Conference

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Noah Kim threw for 279 yards and a pair of touchdowns while running for another score and Zach Mowchan collected a team-high 14 tackles to lead a stingy defense that propelled the Eastern Michigan University to an opening-night victory over visiting and Mid-American Conference newcomer Sacramento State, 28-17, Saturday, Aug. 29, inside 'The Factory' at Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilanti, Mich. The win not only started the Eagles' season with a 1-0 record overall and in league play, but also marked the 500th win in program history.

How It Happened
After both teams held one another scoreless in the first quarter, the Eagles scored the first points of the season as Kim ran in from five yards out to stake the hosts to a 7-0 lead. After the Hornets responded with a 40-yard field goal for their first points as a member of the FBS, Eastern responded with its second touchdown of the day as Kim connected with Kozy Isaac for a 40-yard score and a 14-3 lead.

Two minutes later, the Eagles tacked on their third touchdown of the game, this time on the ground as Brayden Bennett powered his way in from seven yards out. The Hornets cut into the EMU lead with 54 seconds to play in the stanza as Xavier Williams secured a strip-sack and rumbled in from 29 yards out to make it 21-10 at the break.

Following a scoreless third quarter, Eastern extended its lead at the start of the fourth as Nick Devereaux pulled in a 31-yard touchdown pass from Kim to build a 28-10 advantage. The visitors added a one-yard rushing score with 8:23 to play to end the scoring with the Eagles taking the 28-17 victory.

Game Notes
» Noah Kim finished the game with 279 yards on 27-of-38 passing with two touchdowns while adding a third score on a five-yard rush. Kim has now thrown for at least two touchdowns and run for at least one more for the sixth time with the Eagles after recording his seventh career rushing touchdown. Additionally, his 279 yards are the fourth-highest of his time in Ypsilanti, surpassed only by the 330 at Kentucky (Sept. 13), 327 against Western Michigan (Nov. 25), and 309 at Miami (Oct. 18) last year.
» Noah Kim distributed the ball around the field as nine players caught at least one pass, including lineman Cole Powell, who recorded his first career reception for -4 yards. On the play, the ball went off the hands of an EMU receiver before deflecting off a Sacramento State defender and landing in Powell's hands. He rumbled for a couple of yards before being brought down for a loss.
» Kozy Isaac was one of the nine pass catchers in the game for the Eagles and finished with one reception for his first career statistic. That grab also went for 40 yards and a touchdown.
» Benson Prosper led the receiving corps with seven grabs and 81 yards while Nick Devereaux and Joshua Long both recorded six grabs for 73 yards and one score and 44 yards, respectively. The seven grabs for Prosper nearly doubled his career-high of seven he recorded at Buffalo last year, while Long's six grabs bettered his previous best by one after he caught five against Northern Illinois last year.
» Brayden Bennett and Amareon Blue both debuted in the backfield for the Eagles, with Benn finishing with 27 yards on seven carries and one score and Blue running for 55 yards on 12 rushes. The totals for Blue marked his first collegiate statistics after appearing in two games last year on special teams. Bennett, a 2,000-yard back in his collegiate career, secured his 26th career rushing score after scoring 24 with Coastal Carolina and one with Virginia Tech.
» Offensively, Eastern scored 21 points in the first half of play, marking the most it had tallied in the opening two quarters since scoring 21 against Louisiana last year in a 34-31 home win. It also marked the first time the Eagles scored at least 21 points in the first half against a MAC foe since also scoring 21 points at Kent State, Sept. 28, 2024, in a 52-33 win. The last time EMU scored at least 21 points before halftime of a home MAC contest came Sept. 24, 2022, when it tallied 24 against Buffalo.
» The defense for the Eagles stood tall in its first game of the season, limiting the Hornets to 270 total yards in the game after allowing an average of 416.2 yards per contest one year ago. The defense, which held Sacramento State to 34 total yards in the first half, including -21 yards rushing, didn't allow the Hornets to break the 100-yard barrier until 3:14 remained in the third quarter.
» Zach Mowchan paced the EMU defense with 14 tackles, including a team-high seven solo stops, while recording 1.5 TFLs as well. Mowchan was one off his career-high total for tackles after he recorded 15 against Jacksonville State (Sept. 14, 2024).
» Quincy Byas and Marvell Eggleston combined for their first career takeaways in the game. Byas stripped the ball loose on a sack of the quarterback before Eggleston scooped up the loose ball to collect the MACoon Chain for the first time this year.
» Jason Marshall recorded the team's second takeaway of the year after he intercepted a Sacramento State pass late in the game. Marshall pulled down the pick with just under four minutes to play to help the Eagles close out the win.
» Seven players earned their first starts for Eastern Michigan, with three making their first collegiate starts, including Amareon Blue, Tyler Brumfield, and Cole Dellinger. The additional players making their first starts for EMU included Rayquan Adkins (2nd career start), Peyton Christian (16th), Guzzy Kayed (10th), and Tyler McMillan (16th).
» A total of 20 players saw their first action on the field for the Eagles in the game, including a mix of first-year players and transfers. The list included Samuel Adjin, RJ Alphonse, Rayquan Atkins, Braydon Bennett, Tyler Brumfield, Peyton Christian, Marty Collins, Mark Debiak, Cole Dellinger, Jonah Flowers, Horace Glenn III, Nate Henry, Daniel Hull, Kozy Isaac, Jack Kautz, Guzzy Kayed, Aaron Kearse, Tyler McMillan, Joseph Oluwayemi, and Armaad Sharp.

Historical Notes
» The win for Eastern Michigan was the 500th in program history and saw the Eagles improve to 500-638-47 all-time.
» The Eagles are now 1-0 all-time against Sacramento State after winning the inaugural meeting. Additionally, Eastern moved to 1-0 at home against a team from California and 3-2 all-time against teams from the Golden State. The game with the Hornets was just the fifth against a school from California in EMU's 1,184 games.
» Eastern moved to 2-3 all-time when it plays a team in its first season as a member of the FBS, which Sacramento State moved up to this year. The last time the Eagles played a first-year FBS program was a 21-0 road loss at Jacksonville State (Sept. 23, 2023), with their other win coming Sept. 2, 2000, in a 32-25 home win over UConn.
» Eastern improved to 65-62-8 in its first game of the season and 10-3 in its lid-lifter under Chris Creighton. The win marked the first season-opening win at home since scoring a 33-23 victory over visiting Howard, Sept. 1, 2023.
» The Eagles moved to 82-47-5 in their first home game of the season and bounced back from last year's loss to Long Island (28-23) after having won the previous three. Additionally, Eastern improved to 9-3-0 in home openers under Chris Creighton.
» Eastern moved to 15-36-0 in its first MAC game of the season, and 7-16-0 in its first MAC game played at home. Additionally, the Eagles moved to 18-33-0 in their first home MAC game of the year.
» The Eagles, playing in their third-earliest game in program history, moved to 8-6-0 when playing a game in the month of August. Eastern rebounded from last year's opening loss at Texas State (52-27) to win in August for the sixth time in the last seven games.

Up Next

Eastern Michigan is back in action Friday, Sept. 4, as the Eagles will play host to the Spartans of San Jose State University in a 6:30 p.m. contest inside The Factory on Crosby Field at Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilanti. The 'Friday Night Lights' game will be aired live on ESPN+ along with the radio call from Tom Helmer and Rob Rubick on WEMU (89.1 FM) and the Varsity Network app.