Eastern Michigan University’s football team (1-0) dominated in a win against Mississippi Valley State (0-1) as it won 61-14 in the season opener at Rynearson Stadium.
“The 1-0 is what our record is right now and that’s our mentality that we want to have on every play, every series, every quarter, every game and every week,” said EMU coach Chris Creighton.
The 61 points put up by the offense is the most posted by Eastern since the 2004 season. The offense posted 479 total yards of offense as 198 yards came through the air and 281 rushing yards by the Eagles.
The passing attack was led by redshirt junior Todd Porter, who had his first start for the Eagles as he threw for 171 yards, throwing three touchdowns and an interception while he was 15/22 on passing. Porter also recorded 13 yards on the ground. Redshirt freshman James Pensyl threw for 27 yards in relief.
Redshirt sophomores Shaq Vann and Ian Eriksen led the rushing attack as they combined for 253 yards. Vann continued the year he had last season as he ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns in the rout of MVSU. Eriksen fell just short of 100 yards as he ran for 97 yards and two touchdowns.
“We feel like we can play with anyone,” said Vann. “The goal is to pound the ball the way we did today.”
Redshirt freshman Nigel Kilby led the team in receiving yards as he contributed 67 yards and added a touchdown. Junior Antoine Porter also caught three receptions for 40 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, the Eagles looked like a different team compared to last season as they only allowed 23 rushing yards on 32 attempts by the Delta Devils. Additionally, they only allowed 146 passing yards by Mississippi Valley.
The return of redshirt senior Pat O’Connor on the defensive line was one of the most notable performances of the night. O’Connor led the Eagles with two sacks and three quarterback hurries. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Rachwal led the team with 10 tackles including two half-tackles for loss.
“My message at halftime was that I think we were up 21 to nothing at the end of first quarter, and like not very good teams do, we relaxed,” said Creighton.
The Eagles head down to Columbia, Missouri to face off against the University of Missouri Tigers (0-1) on Sep. 10.
