CMU football’s road woes continue in loss to EMU
After Eastern Michigan football got the ball back in Central Michigan football’s territory with just over a minute remaining in the first half, the Chippewas needed to make a play to stop EMU to go up two possessions.
CMU did just that when redshirt junior defensive lineman Jonah Pace sacked EMU’s quarterback to force a fumble. Not only did defensive lineman Jason Williams recover the ball, he also took it back 67 yards to secure the scoop and score touchdown and put the Chippewas ahead 14-13 late in the first half.
“When I got into the end zone, I almost passed out,” Williams said about the return.
However, after the Chippewas built a lead in the third quarter, the Eagles mounted a comeback to give them the 38-34 victory in their homecoming game on Saturday.
CMU falls to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in Mid-American Conference play. The Chippewas have struggled on the road, losing seven-straight matchups. The last time CMU won on the road was over a year ago when it defeated South Alabama on Sept. 23, 2023.
One bright spot for the Chippewas was the defense’s ability to disrupt the quarterback. CMU had a total of five sacks and seven quarterback hurries.
“We are all just trying to do our job,” Williams said. “Every play can't be made, sometimes you gotta just be there and give the quarterback one less lane to run through.”
Redshirt junior defensive lineman Michael Heldman had two quarterback hurries to push his career total to 16, making him the all time record holder in CMU’s history.
It was all about the rushing attack for the Chippewa offense, securing a total of 285 yards on the ground. CMU ran it a total of 45 times compared to 12 passing attempts.
“(The running game) was good, but we’ve got to be able to throw the ball,” head coach Jim McElwain said. “And they got after us a little bit in protection. We've got to do a good job, come back this week, and put a plan together.”
Redshirt freshman quarterback Tyler Jefferson secured his first career start after Joe Labas suffered a season ending injury against Ohio.
After the Chippewas struggled to get anything going in the first quarter, Emanuel Jr. took the majority of snaps in the second half until he went down with an injury in the fourth quarter. He was later carted off the field.
“It's really about the guys down there, and of course, the kind of team that you're playing here, they're twisting his ankle,” McElwain said. “We don't teach that. I don't believe that in our program.”
Both quarterbacks showed off their speed combining for 168 yards on the ground.
Similar to the matchup against Ohio the week before, the Chippewas struggled on offense throughout the first half, leading to EMU getting out to an early lead.
“We got to play like we have dreams,” senior running back Marion Lukes said. “And I always say this like we got dreams… We got to show it. You can't show it in the second half just because your backs against the wall. You got to do it now, or it's never going to happen.”
The Chippewa defense set the tone early when junior linebacker Jordan Kwiatkowski secured his first career interception, putting CMU in Eagle territory on its first drive. However, the offense couldn’t capitalize after Jefferson was sacked on a fourth down try.
The interception marked CMU’s second interception of the season, and its first since week one against Central Connecticut State.
After the turnover on the first drive, the Eagles went right back to the air. This time, EMU quarterback Cole Snyder found wide receiver Marcus Allen for a 31-yard gain on the first play of the second drive.
The two connected again four plays later to secure a touchdown for the Eagles to give them the 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.
After a fumble from CMU, the Eagles wasted no time on the offensive side when Snyder found Allen again for a 45-yard gain to put them in CMU territory.
Allen started the game off unstoppable, surpassing 100 receiving yards in the first quarter. He ended the game with a season high 140 receiving yards and his first receiving touchdown of the season.
EMU secured a 22-yard field goal on the drive to give it the 10-0 lead.
The Chippewa offense couldn’t respond, struggling to get anything going in the first quarter. They ended the quarter with zero passing yards, having 60 total yards compared to EMU’s 157.
“First half, we just got to play better, man, it's just as simple as that,” Lukes said. “We have no energy in the first half. And I know the fans are tired of it, the coaches are tired of it. I'm tired of it.”
With time winding down in the first half and CMU facing a 13-point deficit, Emanuel came in at the quarterback position. Putting the team on his back, Emanuel accounted for 49 yards of the team’s 73 on the drive, including a 22-yard touchdown pass.
Emanuel ended the game with 92 yards passing and 63 yards rushing with a touchdown.
“(Emanuel’s) an extraordinary playmaker, and I don't think there's another quarterback in this league that can match up to him physically,” Lukes said.
After a Chippewa fumble on the offensive side, the CMU defense came up with its second turnover of the game when Pace caused a sack fumble where Williams returned it for a 67-yard touchdown.
The play gave the Chippewas the momentum and the 14-13 lead late in the second quarter. The Eagles added a last second field goal to take the lead back going into halftime 16-14.
CMU came out of the half with energy when Lukes started the drive with a 66-yard run to put the Chippewas on EMU’s two yard line. On the next play, Emanuel rushed it in to give CMU the lead 21-16 not even a minute into the second half.
After a slow start to the game, Lukes came alive in the second half to end the game with 140 total yards.
Redshirt senior kicker Tristan Mattson showed off his leg with back-to-back 50-plus yard field goals to secure 10 straight field goals and extend CMU’s lead to double-digits with 2:09 left in the third quarter.
It was all Chippewas in the third quarter, outpacing the Eagles with 159 yards compared to EMU’s 46.
CMU didn’t let up in the fourth, securing another touchdown to go up 33-16.
The Eagles shot back for their first score of the second half with a 49-yard touchdown pass after it tipped off of Allen and landed in EMU receiver Terry Lockett's hands. After a successful two-point conversion, the Eagles got within 10 of the Chippewas, 34-24.
After Emanuel’s injury, the Chippewa offense went three-and-out to give the Eagles the ball back.
EMU made the most of the opportunity when Snyder found Lockett for a 30-yard touchdown pass to cut CMU’s lead to three with just over seven minutes remaining.
With just under four minutes to play in the game, the Eagles offense had a chance to take the lead. As EMU was on the half yard line and with less than two minutes remaining, the Eagles punched it in to give them the 38-34 lead.
The Chippewas had one more opportunity. However, they were unable to make a play on the offensive end to give EMU the win.
“We're just gonna have to just keep moving forward and just keep pushing through these struggles that we have,” Lukes said. “I have complete faith in this team. You see what we can do. We just gotta score points in the first half, so it's not all in the last 30 minutes of the game.”
CMU continues on the road when it travels to Oxford, Ohio to face off against Miami (Ohio) on Saturday at 2 p.m.
