Eastern Michigan University's football team fell to the Toledo Rockets 37-34 in overtime after a hard fought and high staked road game. Running the football was important for both teams with the inclement weather. Eastern Michigan allowed a season-high 366 yards.
Bryant Koback had a career-high 259 yards for the Rockets. Koback averaged over eight yards per carry and rushed for two touchdowns. Shakif Seymour also chipped in for Toledo rushing attack with 94 yards of his own. Those two combined for 53 of the Rockets' 57 rushing attempts.
The Eagles run game had a successful day as well but did not hold up to the historic performance of Koback and the Rockets. Shaq Vann rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns on the day. This showing by Vann gave the Eagles their first 100-yard rusher since the Central Michigan game of the 2018 season.
It also marked the first rushing touchdown by an EMU running back since Week 3 against Illinois. Averaging 5.5 yards per carry, Vann left his mark on the game by scoring those two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to give the Eagles the lead at one point after climbing out of a 31-10 hole.
Eastern Michigan head coach Chris Creighton was disappointed in the loss but showed admiration for his team's efforts: "I'm super proud of the fight that we had, the belief that we had that we were going to win and just devastated for our guys right now. I love my team."
Mike Glass III was back as the starter after being out due to injury against Western Michigan, where Preston Hutchinson led the Eagles to their first win over the Broncos in Creighton's tenure. Glass threw for 286 yards and a touchdown and also ran in another score against Toledo. The touchdown pass came on a one-handed snag by Arthur Jackson III as he was falling into the back of the end zone.
Jackson had four receptions for 73 yards and a score. Quian Williams led the way for all Eagles receivers though with nine catches for 87 yards. In a game with such poor weather conditions, the Eagles were still able to combine for 21 receptions.
Defensively, Eastern Michigan forced three fumbles and recovered two of them, one of which being a fumble through the end zone by Koback giving the Eagles the ball as a touchback. Eastern Michigan was successful in the pass defense, allowing just a 50% completion percentage and 138 yards passing. Mikey Haney and Kobie Beltram led the way with 10 tackles each for the Eagles defense.
Following the loss to Toledo, Eastern Michigan returns back home to Ypsilanti for a battle with Buffalo. Creighton spoke on how his team will respond: "There's a lot of people hurting in the locker room right now. Our guys love each other and I would be surprised if we don't bind to each other even stronger after this."
The Eagles are now 4-4 (1-3) on the year.
