It was a successful road trip for Eastern Michigan (1-1) as they accumulated 38 first half points in their 48-29 win to hold on and get the programs first road non-conference win since 1988, against Wyoming (0-2).
Coach Chris Creighton and his staff knew they had a great opportunity to get a win on the road this week, but needed the team to move on from a tough week 1 loss to Old Dominion.
“For a team that hasn’t had much recent success, to come off a deeply disappointing loss, and to go on the road… is tough,” said Creighton. “To stay together and to take the good from last week and make it better, and start the way we did [was incredible].”
Brogan Roback started at quarterback in place of an injured Reggie Bell who suffered a fractured jaw in the ODU game a week ago. Roback didn’t disappoint going 17/24 throwing the ball and accounting for 330 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air.
The offense had no trouble moving the ball down the field in the first half. After going up 14-7, EMU attempted a surprise onside kick, which was recovered by the kicker Brendan Renius. That drive would later result in another touchdown for Eastern Michigan, putting the Eagles up 21-7.
The trend of scoring touchdowns continued as EMU poured on more points to go into halftime with a comfortable 38-14 lead.
But EMU couldn’t get too comfortable. Learning their lesson from a week ago after being up two touchdowns they needed to be sure not to let Wyoming get back into it.
“We had to finish this thing, we didn’t do that last week,” said running back Shaq Vann. “That was our plan all week, just finish.”
Wyoming slowly worked their way back with their rushing attack. The Cowboys ran for 430-yards in the game and managed to score 15 points in the third quarter but it ended up being too little too late for Wyoming.
The EMU offense combined for 506 yards against the Cowboys defense, and credit Shaq Vann for running for 129-yards and two touchdowns. Freshman wideout Eddie Daugherty led the team with 105 receiving yards and a touchdown in the big win.
Eastern Michigan will return home next weekend to kickoff conference play against the Ball State Cardinals Saturday at 3 p.m.
