Snyder throws for 241 yards; Defense piles up six sacks on the day
By EMU Staff for www.skyviewsports.net
AMHERST, Mass. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team opened its 2024 season with a well-balanced victory as the Eagles downed the University of Massachusetts, 28-14, inside McGuirk Alumni Stadium in Amherst, Mass, Saturday, Aug. 31.
How It Happened
After a scoreless first quarter, the Eagles stood tall on defense to force a punt. From there, Cole Snyder (Lakewood, N.Y./Southwestern/Rutgers/Buffalo) directed a 10-play, 97-yard touchdown drive with Snyder capping the drive with a one-yard plunge for the score. Later in the half, Eastern found the end zone for a second time, this time with Snyder dropping an 18-yard pass into the arms of Oran Singleton (Clewiston, Fla./Clewiston/Akron/Hutchinson CC), who hauled in the grab for six, sending EMU to the locker room with a 14-0 lead.
UMass scored its first points of the game in the third as they capped a 10-play, 70-yard drive with a touchdown, but the Eagles came back down the field and added three points as Jesús Gómez (Puebla, Mexico/Prepa Tec Puebla) was true from 19 yards to make it 17-7. Gomez came back in the fourth and added a shot from 31 yards to build the lead to 20-7 before Delbert Mimms III (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis/NC State) pounded the ball across the line from six yards out for another EMU touchdown. Snyder connected with Markus Allen (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont/Wisconsin/Butler CC) for the two-point try to make it 28-7. The hosts added a late score to bring about the final margin.
Game Notes
» The first scoring drive of the season started at the end of the first quarter and spilled into the second as Cole Snyder guided a 10-play, 97-yard drive that resulted in his one-yard scoring rush. On the drive, Snyder was 4-of-6 passing for 59 yards and added two rushes for 12 yards and one score.
» With 31 seconds remaining in the first half, the Eagles scored their second touchdown, this time through the air with Cole Snyder connecting with Oran Singleton on an 18-yard pass just over the defense in the end zone for the score. It marked Snyder’s first passing score with EMU and Singleton’s first score with the team.
» Cole Snyder, who added a two-point pass to Markus Allen in the fourth quarter, connected on four passes of 20+ in the game as the team tallied just 19 all last season. On the day, Snyder’s first appearance for Eastern saw him throw 17-of-29 for 241 yards and one score. He also rushed six times for 28 yards and one score.
» The offense saw five players record at least one reception in the game with Oran Singleton leading the way with eight grabs, 89 yards, and one touchdown. Terry Lockett Jr. (St. Paul, Minn./Minnehaha Academy/Michigan State) tallied 80 yards on three grabs while Markus Allen had 61 yards on three catches as well.
» It was a sack attack from the EMU defense tallied 6.0 sacks, including 5.0 in the first half alone, to help Eastern to the win. The 6.0 sacks are the most by the Eagles since Eastern recorded 7.0 at Western Michigan, Oct. 8, 2022. Overall, the 6.0 sacks rank tied for fifth-most in a single game for Eastern, equaling the total accumulated at Illinois, Sept. 14, 2019. The single-game record is 8.0 at home against Alabama State, Sept. 10, 2011.
» Individually on defense, five players recorded at least 0.5 sacks with Justin Jefferson leading the charge with 2.0. Peyton Price () added 1.5 with 1.0 sacks tallied by newcomers James Djonkam (Springfield, Va./West Spingfield/Arizona State) and Trey Laing (Tallahassee, Fla./Godby/Southern/Indiana). Newcomer Donovan Green (Palmetto, La./Opelousas Catholic/Northwestern State) added 0.5 sacks.
» Jesus Gomez added a pair of field goals in the game, connecting from 20 yards and 31 yards. Gomez connected on multiple field goals three times in 2023 and three times in 2022.
» EMU’s first scoring drive of the season went 10 plays for 97 yards and ate 3:53 off the game clock. The 97 yards accumulated is the longest since the Eagles went 98 yards at Akron, Nov. 12, 2019, with Shaq Vann running in from 17-yards out for the score. Last year, the longest EMU drive by yardage came with 96 yards at home against UMass.
» Eastern held UMass scoreless in the opening half of play, taking a 14-0 lead into the half. Last year, the EMU defense pitched a shutout in the opening quarter six times, including at home against UMass. The defense also allowed zero points in one half of play three times in 2023, including the first half against Kent State and Buffalo, and the second half against Buffalo.
» Nine different players recorded their first start for the Eagles including five on offense and four on defense. The newcomers to the starting ledger on offense included Markus Allen, Blake Bustard (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores/Wayne State), Donate McMillan (Seattle, Wash./Chief Sealth/Weber State), Oran Singleton, and Cole Snyder while the defensive list featured James Djonkam, JT Killen (Lake Wylie, S.C./Charlotte Christian/Coastal Carolina), Dramarian McNulty (Brookhaven, Mass./Niceville, Fla./WCU/Mississippi Gulf Coast CC), and Dylan Shelton (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East/Indianapolis). All told, 19 newcomers saw their first action in the game as well.
Historical Notes
» With the victory, Eastern improved to 1-0 on the year while UMass fell to 0-1.
» The Eagles improved to 4-2-0 all-time in the series with the Minutemen and have now won four consecutive games in the series. Eastern also moved to 2-1-0 all-time when playing in Amherst after winning its second consecutive game at UMass (W, 42-28, Sept. 18, 2021).
» Eastern has played UMass four seasons in a row and won four consecutive games. The last time the Eagles defeated the same non-conference opponent in consecutive seasons came from 1985-89 with five consecutive wins over Youngstown State.
» The Eagles improved to 64-61-8 all-time in their season-opening game and have won four in a row in such games. Eastern also improved to 17-44-7 when its first game of the season takes place on the road.
» Eastern opened its season on the road for only the second time in the Chris Creighton Era and won for the first time. The only other instance came in the COVID season of 2020 when the Eagles fell, 27-23, at Kent State, Nov. 11, 2020.
» The Eagles are now 6-5-0 when playing in August and have won four August games in a row.
» Eastern has won at least one non-conference game each season since 2015 with the lone exception coming last season. Additionally, since 1976, the win at UMass marked just the 14th non-conference road win in program history with the last coming Sept. 17, 2022, at Arizona State.
Up Next
Eastern returns to the road next with a trip to the Pacific Northwest and a meeting with the University of Washington Huskies, one of the new members of the Big Ten Conference and the 2024 College Football Playoff National Runners-up. The Eagles and Huskies will meet inside Husky Stadium Saturday, Sept. 7, with a 12:30 p.m. PT (3:30 p.m. ET) kickoff live on the Big Ten Network. The game also can be heard live on WEMU (89.1 FM) and The Varsity Network app with Tom Helmer and Rob Rubick calling the action.