By Roy J. Akers- www.skyviewsports.net
Ypsilanti, Mich. —
Football is a game of plays and the choices you make. That is what happened at the factory at Eastern Michigan as a couple of extra point tries made the difference between an EMU win and loss to Toledo on Saturday. EMU led for most of the game against the always tough Toledo Rockets. When Toledo went up 19-7 on Saturday, they inexplicably went for two when an extra point made more sense and let Toledo take the big chance coming from behind. EMU failed that time and after punting with 1:25 to go in the game on fourth and 25 with Toledo holding a , it looked like
Eastern Michigan and Toledo enter the game with identical (2-2 MAC, 5-3) overall records. Toledo lost plenty of players after the 2023 football season where they were the favorites in the MAC championship game, but lost to Miami of Ohio. Last year, cornerback Quinyon Mitchell was a first-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles. This year, both Schools enter the game with offensive units near the top of the MAC in production. They are right next to each other mid pack in the conference.
First Quarter
After Toledo threw an interception (McNulty, Dramarian) after taking the opening kickoff, EMU goes three and out. Toldeo looks to be going nowhere before a Connor WALENDZAKrush up the middle for a gain of 8 yards for the games first, first down. On second and long QB Tucker Gleason runs for 16 yards. The drive ends when EMU’s Justin Jefferson collects the football after Gleason coughs it up. Toledo has two drives and two turnovers to open the game. The Eagles do not capitalize as Jesus Gomez misses the 45-yard field goal.
Toledo gets a key first down- EMU’s first score
The Rockets third drive was going nowhere before a 22 yard third down pass is brought in by J Vandeross III. The drive stalls. After the punt, the Eagles get some momentum with back to back first downs. Deion runs for 11 yards. and Cole passes to Singleton for ten more yards. The Eagles are now cooking. A scramble by the Eagles results in a EMU clutch first down on a very tough throw. Now inside the ten, Marcus Allen takes a throw from the halfback option pass from Cole Snyder. TD EMU. Extra Point is good. 7-0 EMU over Toledo. Scoring Drive: 11 plays, 89 yards, 4:24 the quarter ends with the score EMU 7- Toledo 0. Key Stat: Toledo- two turnovers in their first two drives.
Second Quarter
Toledo’s First TD
EMU’s Cory Snyder is ranked as the MAC’s top ranked passer entering the game and he opens with some clutch throws that earn the Eagles their one touchdown lead. His is 7-11 for 59 yards is respectable to open the game. Toledo’s Tucker Gleason is second in the league in passing but he threw the football up for grabs quite a bit in the first quarter. His 13-yard grab by Thomas Zsiros moved the chains and the Rockets are keeping the Eagles off balanced. Gleason with the QB draw, a designed play evens the game at seven as he scores from four yards out. Rockets 7- Eagles -7. Key Play- the grab by Zsiros for 13 yards. For the first quarter, the Rockets have 60 yards in 11 rushes for a 5.5 average and a TD.
EMU’s near TD- They settle for 3
EMU’s Tucker goes for 29 yards on the keeper to for a first down on the Rockets 42. A big EMU run is called for a holding penalty pushes them back. Snyder then throws into the flat for 19 yards to JACKSON-ANDERSON, for a first down. Great grab. A TD grab is negated later in the drive as the receiver drops the ball when he did not complete the process. The Eagles 45 yard field goal by Gomez makes it Eagles 10- Rockets 7. Scoring Drive: 10 plays, 48 yards, 4:20. Key play was the dropped TD Pass that could have made it a seven point game.
Scary Injury
Toledo’s Jeremiah Peters collapses on the Toledo sidelines and it happened when he was not in the game and virtually no one saw him go down except for a few teammates. The ambulances took about ten minutes to arrive and after 15 minutes or so, the crowd cheered as it appeared to be awake and taken to an area hospital. With warmups, there is a 27-minute delay.
Play after the injury
After the Injury, neither team moves the ball and Toledo’s second possession results in a first down run by SeVaughn. The Rockets field goal try from the 35 is no good. EMU 10- Toledo 7.
Toledo on first down completes a 21-yard pass from Gleason to Stewart. Connor then rushes for 12. On third and less than a yard, a pressure from EMU results in an incomplete pass. Toledo goes for it on fourth and less than one at the EMU 21. Snyder’s keeper is short and the turnover on downs comes with 18 seconds to go in the half. HALFTIME. EMU 10- Toledo 7.
Neither QB tearing it up after 30 minutes.
Halftime Fact
EMU’s James Djonkam has ten tackles, (3 solo) at the half for the home team. He entered the game 10th in the MAC in total tackles. Djonkam has already had quite a game after only 30 minutes.
Third Quarter
EMU takes the second half kickoff and a scrambling Gleason hits JB Mitchell for an 11-yard gain. On the next set of downs, Gleason’s 17-yard pitch and catch to Joey Mattord gets the Eagles rumbling. On third down, Gleason’s pass to max Reese results in a Toledo PI call. Eastern has the ball on the Rockets 21. Three plays later, EMU’s Jesus Gomez nails a 32-yard field goal. EMU 13- Toledo 7. Key Play- The Mattord catch. Scoring Drive: 12 plays, 64 yards, 6:47
EMU Extends their lead
After the kickoff, Toledo demonstrates power on the ground with a power run for eight and a pass for a first down. The visitors stall and go for it on fourth down at their own 41 and are stuffed. EMU takes over. EMU runs three plays to move the chains twice including a QB keeper by Gleason. With the football on the Rockets 18, the Eagles run a pair of plays when ten yards and a first down to Mattord. With an Eagles goal to goal at the Rockets one, the Eagles go off guard for a one yard Joey Mattord rushing TD. . Scoring Drive: 10 plays, 41 yards, 4:27 Two-pt conversion fails. EMU 19-Toledo 7. Key Play: Mattord ten-yard catch for an Eagle first down to set up the TD.
Toledo goes nowhere to mop up less than a minute late in the quarter and Snyder nearly throws his second interception of the game. Toledo punts and the quarter expires with EMU starting the fourth quarter second down and four at their own 28. EMU 19- Toledo 7.
Fourth Quarter
The Bomb
EMU cannot convert on their opening drive and Toledo needs to capitalize on a game in which they have two turnovers and are trailing in time of possession 27 min to 18. The Rockets play themselves back into the football game with a 78-yard pass from Gleason to Tucker Torres. Torrez had no catches in the game until cating the deep pass. The XP is good. EMU 19- Toledo 14. Scoring Drive: 3 plays, 80 yards, 0:51
Toledo takes their first lead
EMU does not move the chains after taking the kickoff following the Rockets TD. EMU lines up to go for it 4th and one on their own 34. The officials re spot the ball and EMU has a first down. Snyder is intercepted by Nasir Bowers and the 20 yard return gives Toledo the football at the EMU 27. Toledo capitalizes and the 27 yard TD throw from Tucker to Vandeross III and the Rockets go for two but the attempt is no good. Toledo 22- EMU 19.
EMU counterpunches
With a drive sputtering, Snyder hits Oran Singleton for 42 yards. The drive sputters and the 21-yard field goal by Gomez ties the game at 22. With neither team able to move the football on their next possessions EMU shows they are going for it but a pooch punt and a short Toledo return give them the football at their own 40.
Putting it Away
Toledo takes the football inside their own 40 and Sevaughn Clark rumbles for 26 yards. Two plays later, Clark runs for five more. Then the hammer. , Tucker pass short to the right complete for 23 yards to ZSIROS, Thomas caught at the EMU24 and advanced to the EMU2 (MCNULTY, Dramarian),The play was ruled a TD. The extra point is good. Toledo 29- EMU 22. Scoring Drive: 5 plays, 60 yards, 2:48 The Key Play is the 23 yard pass to Zsiros. Toledo leads EMU 29-22.
After the kickoff, EMU is sacked on first down and the drive goes nowhere. Mitchell Tomasek punts from his own endzone on fourth and 25. Toledo has the ball at midfield with 1:25 to go in the ballgame. One first down and the game is over. Instead, Toledo uses only 25 seconds in three plays setting up the final drive by Eastern.
EMU’s Hail Mary
To skip to the final play, Snyder connects with Lockett for the 36 yard Hail Mary. EMU elects to go for two. Touchdown Scored by T.Lockett on a pass from Snyder. EMU goes 82 yards in eight plays and one minute but Coach Chris Creighton elects to go for two and end the game with one play instead of the college overtime where each team starts in scoring position. All of the power side receivers are doubled and line up bunched. The weakside receiver is close to the front side of the endzone and blanketed. Toledo had Eagles options snuffed out.
Three Stars
First Star
Tucker Gleason had a poor first half but a much better second half and put together the line below.
Second Star
Both Djonkam and Murphy finish with 11 tackles, with four solo. When your two top defensive players finish with stats like that, you can see why Toledo was bottled up.
Third Star
Cole Snyder looks more polished than Tucker Gleason but in the end, Gleason had more production and his second half interception fueled Toledo’s comeback. The Hail Mary completion to Lockett was spectacular. He was put in a poor position with the two point throw that sealed their one point loss. Everyone was double teamed and the throw had little chance of succeeding.
Game Stats
Final Take
Football is a game of many plays, and many results. EMU Eagles Coach Chris Creighton made two calls that did not work out by going for two points when an extra point would have been the better option. My observation is asking your players to play their hearts out and not letting them compete for the win in overtime. I would not have went for two when the score was 19-7. I do understand going for the win with a two-point conversion trailing 29-28, but let the kids have a chance to beat a Toledo team that they rarely beat with Coach Candle on the other sideline. I would have chosen to let the kids earn the win. Creighton is a good coach. It would not surprise me to see EMU come out on the positive side of the next decisions of going for it.
Roy J. Akers is a multi-media reporter and covers several sports for www.skyviewsports.net
Historical Notes
» With the loss, the Eagles fell to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in MAC play while the Rockets improved to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in league action.
» Eastern slipped to 13-29-0 all-time in its series with Toledo and 8-18-0 when hosting the Rockets. The Eagles have lost three consecutive games in the series overall and at home. The last win over UT was Nov. 2, 2021, a 52-49 victory in Toledo, while the last home win in the series was a 28-26 victory, Oct. 13, 2018, at Rynearson Stadium.
» The one-point decision marked the second consecutive game in Ypsilanti that was decided by one score as the Rockets won, 27-24, in 2022.
» With the one-point loss, the Eagles are now 22-26 all-time in games decided by one point and saw their three-game winning streak snapped. The last time EMU had lost a one-point contest was Oct. 14, 2017, in a 28-27 road loss at Army. Additionally, the Eagles are now 69-70 in games decided by three-points or less.
Up Next
Eastern will enjoy an 11-day break as it adjusts to the midweek #MACtion schedule, next taking the field Wednesday, Nov. 13, at Ohio University. Game time is set for 7 p.m. from Peden Stadium in Athens, Ohio. It marks Eastern’s first visit to the banks of the Hocking River since 2016 when the squad escaped with a 27-20 triumph, Oct. 15, 2016
