The Eastern Michigan University Football team went on the road to open conference play. It won against the Kent State University Golden Flashes by scoring 52-33 to improve to 4-1 on the season.
Eastern Michigan's 4-1 record is the first time since the 2016 season that it has started a season 4-1. The victory lifted EMU's record to 14-35 in its MAC season openers, ending a seven-game losing streak in those matchups.
It took a while for Eastern Michigan's offense to pull away from Kent State. The game was tied for half of the third quarter, but Eastern notched 31 points after that in contrast to the Golden Flashes having 12.
Exploding for 52 points, the total is the most that Eastern Michigan has scored since Nov. 2, 2021, when they beat Toledo by a score of 52-49.
Cole Snyder (Lakewood, New York) only had 213 yards of passing despite the high-scoring effort, but the Eagles rushed for 277 yards as a team, for a total of almost 500 yards of offense.
Delbert Mimms III (Indianapolis, Indiana) put in an impressive effort rushing the football, tallying 145 yards on two touchdown passes.
The result is also the first time since 2016 that Eastern Michigan has opened MAC play with a win, losing their last seven conference openers.
First Quarter:
Temperatures were at around 73 degrees at kickoff. Eastern Michigan started with the football and scored on their first possession with the ball on a drive that was 75 yards and lasted 12 plays.
The Golden Flashes would eventually get the football, and near the end of the quarter, they responded with a touchdown of their own, tying the game up at seven at the end of the first quarter.
Eastern Michigan recorded 123 total yards in the first quarter, which included 106 yards of passing and 17 yards of rushing.
Second Quarter:
The second quarter had a little more offense than the first quarter. Eastern Michigan started off with the football and eventually drove it down to the Kent State 32-yard line. Soon, the Eagles did not convert on a fourth down, which allowed the Golden Flashes to get the ball back.
Eastern Michigan also struck first in the second quarter when Mimms rushed for a 27-yard touchdown to give Eastern Michigan the lead of 14-7.
Kent State came right back for the second time in the game, tying the score at 14 with five minutes to play in the quarter.
The Eagles would finally strike one more time before the end of the half after driving 75 yards to have a 21-14 lead heading into the locker. The 21 points were the most the Eagles have scored in the first half in their three road games.
Third Quarter:
Because the Eagles started with the ball in the first quarter, Kent State got it coming out of halftime only down seven, and they didn’t wait long to score. They tied the game on just their second play with the football to tie the game at 21. The game would remain tied at 21 until just over seven minutes left in the third quarter.
After Eastern Michigan recovered a fumble, they got the ball and scored three plays later to give themselves their fourth seven-point cushion of the day. Forcing another fumble on the next Kent State possession, they would get a field goal from kicker Jesús Gómez (Puebla, Mexico) to give them their largest lead of the game at the time of 31-21.
Eastern Michigan's lead grew after that, as they took a 38-21 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter:
Once again, Eastern got the ball to start the fourth quarter, and they scored another touchdown to give themselves a 45-21 lead. A favorite going into this game, the Green and White did not prove that until later in the second half.
The Eagles scored seven more points after that and led by 25 points, 52-27, their largest lead of the game. Kent State scored another touchdown to add to its total, ultimately making the Eagles victorious by 19 points.
Up Next:
Eastern Michigan has a rare bye week before the weekly night MACtion. After that, the Eagles will return to Rynearson Stadium to take on the Miami RedHawks. The game's kickoff time will be set closer to the game as part of the Mid-American Conference 12-day selection process.
For more information on the Eastern Michigan University Football program, you can visit the Echo’s website.
