Eastern Michigan humbles UMass in 38-14 victory

While most of the hype followed the undefeated UMass Minutemen entering their game with Eastern Michigan, the Eagles were the ones to make a statement to the conference and country in an emphatic 38-14 win at McGuirk Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Noah Kim threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns, while the Eastern Michigan ground game accumulated 192 yards. The Eagle defense forced two turnovers and held the normally powerful UMass running game to 106 yards on just 25 attempts.

Eastern Michigan kicked off the scoring with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Noah Kim to Kozy Isaac with 5:38 left in the first quarter. Braydon Bennett added to Eastern Michigan’s lead with a two-yard touchdown run with 1:55 left in the first half.

UMass promptly drove down the field on the ensuing drive to make the game 14-7 entering halftime. However, this was as close as the Minutemen got.

Eastern Michigan drove 75 yards on the opening possession to score a touchdown and make it a 21-7 game on Joshua Long’s two-yard touchdown from Noah Kim. Two plays later, Caleb Dobbs intercepted a Pop Watson pass and returned it to the UMass nine to set up Amareon Blue’s nine-yard touchdown with 9:46 left in the third. 

The Eagles added a 25-yard touchdown run by Joey Mattord and a 26-yard Rudy Kissinger field goal to make it a 38-7 game late in the fourth quarter. UMass added a late touchdown run from Curtis Kimmons IV to give the game its 38-14 final score.

Eastern Michigan forced UMass out of its comfort zone, making the Minutemen attempt a season-high 27 passes. The Eagles got a few stops early and pressured the Minutemen into abandoning their run game. Their offense added even more pressure by holding the ball for nearly 35 minutes.

Pop Watson III completed 20 of his 27 passes for 210 yards, one touchdown, and an interception in the losing effort. Jabari Lewis emerged as a surprise contributor in the passing game, with six receptions for 102 yards, after entering the contest with four receptions for 50 yards on the season.

On a day when Western Michigan escaped Buffalo’s upset bid on the final play and Miami lost to Bowling Green at home, the Eagles established themselves as a potential MAC contender. The Eagles are 2-0 in MAC play and have a direct path to Detroit with games against Toledo and Western Michigan. UMass drops to 4-1 (1-1 MAC) and enters a pivotal stretch against Miami, Buffalo, and UConn.

UMass remains an amazing story with its still-solid 4-1 start, and are still on track to make their first postseason bowl gmae since the 1972 Boardwalk Bowl– which would also be their first bowl game as an FBS team. However, Eastern Michigan’s path to its potential first MAC Championship Game ever could supplant the Minutemen as story of the year in the MAC.