YPSILANTI (EMUEagles.com) – Despite trailing by 18 points with 13:26 remaining in regulation, the Eastern Michigan University football team, spurred on by a vocal Homecoming crowd, scored three touchdowns in the final stanza to turn a 34-16 deficit into a 38-34 victory over rival Central Michigan University, Saturday, Oct. 19, inside Rynearson Stadium.
Prior to the game, the team heard from legendary EMU Head Coach Jim Harkema, the E-Club Hall of Famer, who stated that there are always three big plays that turn the outcome of the game. While it is easy to state that the three touchdowns in the fourth quarter could be those plays, the defensive play in the final quarter also played a big role in the victory.
How It Happened
After throwing an interception and then stopping CMU on a fourth-down try, the Eagles’ offense got into gear and marched down the field for a 15-yard touchdown reception by Markus Allen (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont/Wisconsin/Butler CC) from Cole Snyder (Lakewood, N.Y./Southwestern/Rutgers/Buffalo) to make it 7-0. From there, Eastern extended its lead to 10-0 after the first quarter as Jesús Gómez (Puebla, México/Prepa Tec Puebla) knocked in a 22-yard field goal.
Following the break, Gómez connected on a 41-yard field goal to stake the hosts to a 13-0 lead before a 22-yard touchdown pass got the Chippewas on the board, making it 13-7, EMU, with 1:41 remaining in the half. From there, things got interesting as a Snyder fumble was scooped up and returned 67 yards for a CMU score, making it 14-13 for the visitors. But, the Eagles moved the ball down the field with under one minute remaining, setting up Gómez for a 48-yard field goal and a 16-14 lead at the break.
Following the intermission, the Chippewas scored the next 20 points, including 13 in the third quarter before adding a touchdown early in the fourth for a 34-16 advantage. Despite the deficit, the Eagles mounted their biggest fourth quarter comeback since Nov. 11, 2000, when they came back from 20 down at home against Northern Illinois University (32-12) to win, 39-32.
First, Terry Lockett Jr. (St. Paul, Minn./Minnehaha Academy/Michigan State) scored on a 49-yard pass from Snyder after a fortuitous bounce off Allen’s hands at the two-yard line that sent the ball forward with Allen snagging the ball and stepping into the end zone for the score with 10:54 remaining. Three minutes later, the Eagles were back in the end zone with Snyder slinging a 30-yard score to Lockett to bring EMU to within three, 34-31. After forcing another CMU punt late in the game, the Eagles drove 62 yards with Snyder breaking the plane on a one-yard plunge to put the hosts ahead, 38-34, with 1:42 remaining to grab the Homecoming win.
Game Notes
» Markus Allen had a career day as he tallied 140 yards on seven receptions with one touchdown. Early in the game, he pulled in a 15-yard touchdown reception for his first touchdown as an Eagle, and the second of his career. The 140 yards, which rank as the 42nd-most in a single game in program history, marked the 139th 100-yard game in program history as well. Ahead of the game, Allen had recorded 178 yards on 15 catches for the Eagles, including then-season-bests of four catches at Washington (Sept. 7) and 61 yards at UMass (Aug. 31).
» Markus Allen had a particularly impressive first-quarter, tallying 105 receiving yards, which marked the first time an Eagle receiver had posted at least 100 yards in one quarter since Dieuly Aristilde had 109 receiving yards against Miami University, Oct. 29, 2016.
» Markus Allen was not the only receiver with a hot hand as Terry Lockett Jr. tallied 100 yards on three grabs and added two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter. He entered the game without a receiving touchdown, but had thrown one earlier in the against Jacksonville State (Sept. 14). All told, Lockett’s previous career high for yardage was 80 yards on three grabs at UMass (Aug. 31) and marked his third game with at least 75 yards receiving after pulling in 75 at Kent State (Sept. 28).
» The 100-yard receiving games by Markus Allen and Terry Lockett Jr. marked the first time the Eagles have had a pair of 100-yard receivers in the same game since Nov. 29, 2019, at Kent State. In that game, Arthur Jackson finished with 129 yards and Line Latu posted 108.
» Cole Snyder finished the afternoon with 300 yards while tallying three touchdown passes. The game is the first time this season that Snyder has thrown for 300 yards and the first time he threw for at least 300 yards in any game since Sept. 10, 2022, while he was at Buffalo when they played Holy Cross. Snyder found five different receivers in the game. Additionally, Snyder was second on the team in rushing as he finished with 48 yards and one score, giving him one rushing score in each of the last three games.
» Cole Snyder also showed off his kicking talents in the game as he stepped back and booted a 50 yard punt in the second quarter, marking his second career punt. His first came Sept. 10, 2022, vs. Holy Cross while playing for Buffalo, a 56-yard boot, giving him a career average of 53-yards per kick.
» Jesús Gómez had another strong kicking performance for the Eagles as he was a perfect 3-of-3 in extra point tries and 3-of-3 in field goal attempts as he connected on kicks of 22, 41, and 48 yards. Gómez finished the game with 12 points, tying his second-most in a game this year and one off his season-best of 13 points recorded against Jacksonville State (Sept. 14) when he connected on three field goals and four PATs. He has now converted three field goals in the same game for the fourth time this year and the fifth time in his career.
» With his exceptional kicking, Jesús Gómez has scored 15 field goals this year, one more than his previous season-best 14 in 2022. All told, his 41 career makes have moved him into fourth on the program’s all-time field goal lists with Justin Ventura (1995-98) next on the list with 42.
» Only the eighth player to score 200+ points in a career at EMU, Jesús Gómez’ 12 points scored against Central Michigan brought his career total to 212, the fifth-most in program history. During the game, he moved past the 209 points Dylan Mulder recorded from 2012-15 and is now looking to chase down Justin Ventura, who scored 239 points from 1995-98.
» Trey Laing (Tallahassee, Fla./Godby/Indiana/Southern) had an outstanding fourth quarter as he was a pivotal player in the Eagles’ defensive stand to win the game. With EMU trailing, 34-31, the Eagles forced a punt with Laing in on four of the five tackles to force the punt. Then, on the final drive, Laing got his hands up on a second-down play that started a string of three consecutive incomplete passes to end the CMU hopes. For the game, Laing finished with five tackles, 0.5 sacks, 0.5 TFLs, and one pass defended.
» James Djonkam (Springfield, Va./West Springfield/Independence CC/Arizona State) recorded his second sack as an Eagle on a pivotal 4th-and-1 play to stop the Chippewas after an EMU turnover. His first as an Eagle came in the season-opening win over UMass, Aug. 31. Djonjam finished the game with seven total tackles, his second-highest output of the season after notching 13 against UMass, Aug. 31, a performance that earned him MAC Defensive Player of the Week honors, Sept. 2.
» Barry Manning (Stone Mountain, Ga./Tucker) forced his second career fumble, also recovering it for his first career fumble recovery. The Eagles now have nine recovered fumbles on the year, a figure that leads the nation. Manning is the sixth different Eagle to force a fumble this season, eighth to recover a fumble, and third on the team to accomplish both feats. Defensive lineman Donovan Green (Palmetto, La./Opelousas Catholic/Northwestern State) also jarred one loose, his first time doing so while donning the Block E, becoming the seventh different Eagle to force a fumble, while Dylan Shelton (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way/East Indianapolis) recovered for his first fumble recovery of the season. He is the ninth different Eagle to recover a fumble in 2024.
» As a team, the Eagles have recovered nine opponent fumbles. Entering the game, both Memphis and Oklahoma held the national lead with eight fumble recoveries.
» Jaivian Norman (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) had a standout performance, as he recorded the first sack and pass break up of his career. Norman teamed up with Jefferson Adam (Ypsilanti, Mich./Washtenaw International/Hocking College/Iowa State) to take down the CMU signal caller in the first quarter, before breaking-up a Chippewas’ pass on 4th-and-3 to force a turnover-on-downs, sending the Eagles into victory formation to kneel-out the remainder of the clock.
Historical Notes
» With the win, the Eagles moved to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in MAC play while the Chippewas fell to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in league play.
» Eastern is now one win from securing bowl eligibility for the fourth year in a row, the seventh time under Chris Creighton, and the ninth time in program history.
» The win marks the 33rd MAC victory for Chris Creighton, the most by any one coach in Eastern history. Creighton broke the tie with E-Club Hall of Famer Jim Harkema, who also served as the honorary head coach for the game against CMU.
» The Eagles are now 32-64-6 all-time against Central Michigan and 21-26-4 when playing host to the Chippewas. The win also marks two consecutive at home in the series.
» Eastern improved to 50-46-2 in its Homecoming game and have now won four consecutive such games. Additionally, the Eagles snapped a seven-game losing streak in Homecoming games when playing Central Michigan with the previous win coming in a 6-0 decision, Nov. 6, 1948. Overall, Eastern is now 5-10 in Homecoming games against the Chippewas.
» Eastern Michigan came back from down 34-16 with 10:49 left to play in the fourth quarter. The game is the first time that Eastern Michigan came back from down 18 points in any game since Nov. 8, 2016 against Ball State in a 48-41 victory over the Cardinals. The Eagles trailed the game 21-3 at the end of the first quarter. In addition, it is also the first time Eastern Michigan came back from down 18 or more in the fourth quarter since Nov. 11, 2000 against Northern Illinois at Rynearson Stadium. They trailed 32-12 with 9 minutes to go and came back to win the game 39-32.
» The 56-yard field goal kicked by CMU’s Tristan Mattson in the third quarter stands as the longest made field goal by an opposing kicker in Rynearson Stadium history, The previous was a 54-yard conversion from Ohio’s Mike Fultz, Oct. 31, 1987.
Up Next
Eastern returns to the road next weekend when the Eagles travel to Akron, Ohio, to face the University of Akron Saturday, Oct. 26. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
