Toledo, Ohio — The Eastern Michigan University football team dropped its third consecutive game Tuesday, falling to 4-6 (2-4 in the MAC), after making the 49-mile trip south to the Glass City and losing 49-23, to the University of Toledo Rockets.
The Rockets took the lead from the get go and hardly looked back, scoring 35 unanswered points in the first half to take the lead 35-0, before junior kicker Jesus Gomez (Puebla, Mexico) finally made a field goal with time running out to give Eastern Michigan their first points of the game at halftime.
While Toledo, 9-1 (6-0), dominated the first half, the Eagles would score more points in the second half, outscoring the Rockets 20-14.
Toledo would hold their largest lead of the game in the fourth quarter, when they led 49-9 for six minutes of the quarter.
The 49 points are the most points the Eastern Michigan defense has allowed this season, having previously allowed 45 points against Western Michigan, on Oct. 28, at Rynearson Stadium.
The 49 points are also the most points that the Eagles have allowed on defense since they allowed that total at Louisiana on Sept. 10, 2022.
Scoring just nine points in the first three quarters, the Eagles had a tough time on offense for most of the game.
Junior quarterback Austin Smith (Ellenwood, Georgia) only threw for 86 yards and running back Samson Evans (Crystal Lake, Illinois) had 28 yards of passing as the Eagles only had 114 total yards of offense.
The Eagles did have three touchdowns in the game, two rushing and one receiving. The receiving touchdown was by Elijah Jackson-Anderson (Flint, Michigan) on a 28-yard reception by Evans.
The rushing touchdowns came from senior running backs Jaylon Jackson (Burleson, Texas) and Dontae McMillan (Seattle, Washington). These were six- and one-yard rushing plays, respectively.
Senior linebacker Chase Kline (Chardon, Ohio) was the only defensive spark for Eastern Michigan all night long. The senior linebacker recorded 13 tackles in the loss against the Rockets, including five that were solo tackles.
The five solo tackles are the first time since Jacksonville State on Sept. 23 that he has recorded that many solo tackles in a game.
Eastern Michigan finds themselves in a tough position after Tuesday's loss.
To even have the possibility of playing in a bowl game, Eastern must win its last two regular season games and if they can do that, they will await a selection committee decision on after-season play.
The Eagles’ last two regular season games are Nov. 14 against Akron (2-7, 1-5 MAC) at Rynearson Stadium, which will be the last home game of the season, and Nov. 21 at Buffalo (3-7, 3-3 MAC).
The Green and White won at Akron in 2022, but lost against Buffalo at home the last time those two teams met in 2022.
EMU’s next week matchup against Akron will be Tuesday Nov. 14, the final home game of the season. The game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network and will also be airing on WEMU 89.1 FM.
To stay up-to-date on all things EMU football, you can visit The Echo's website.
