The Eastern Michigan Eagles traveled to Huskie Stadium in Dekalb, Illinois for their first Mid-American Conference matchup against the Northern Illinois Huskies on Saturday, Oct. 2. The Eagles fought back from 17 unanswered points in the first half for the Huskies, ultimately falling short 20-27. Sitting fourth in the MAC at 3-2, the Eagles look ahead to their homecoming matchup against the Miami RedHawks.
Northern Illinois started the first quarter off strong. A five yard run by junior quarterback Rocky Lombardi put the Huskies on the board early in the first quarter. The Huskies made it a two-possession game late in the first quarter with a 28 yard field goal by sophomore John Richardson, giving NIU a 10-0 lead.
Reported by EMU Athletics, Saturday’s game marked the second time the Eagles failed to score in an opening quarter this season.
Due to inclement weather, the game was delayed for two hours and 45 minutes after the first quarter.
Following the weather delay, the Eagles would start the second quarter with a ball possession. A swatted-pass attempt from Ben Bryant fell into the hands of the Huskies for a 55-yard pick-six. With four-seconds left in the second quarter, a career-long 47-yard field goal from junior place-kicker Chad Ryland would finally put the Eagles on the scoreboard, heading into halftime down 3-17.
Ben Bryant’s 42-yard pass to Bryson Cannon opened up a high-scoring third quarter with the Eagle’s first touchdown of the game.
Northern Illinois quickly answered back with a 5-yard touchdown run to increase their lead to 24-10 over the Eagles. Senior quarterback Ben Bryant led a late third quarter drive, completing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Drummond to bring the game within a possession at 17-24.
A slow fourth-quarter led to field-goals for both teams, maintaining the Huskies 7-point lead over the Eagles into the end of the fourth quarter. The Eagles fell 27-20, leaving them 3-2 on the season so far (0-1 in MAC).
