The win allowed Eastern to keep possession of the Michigan Mid-American Conference Trophy sponsored by the state of Michigan Athletic Hall of Fame. The trophy is awarded annually to the Michigan MAC team with the best record in games played between Eastern, Western and Central Michigan. Eastern, which won the trophy last year, defeated CMU this year while CMU defeated WMU. The team that currently holds the trophy retains it in case of a tie.

 

The win closed out Eastern Michigans season at 3-9 overall and 2-6 in MAC play. The loss drops CMU to 8-4 overall and 6-2 in MAC action. The victory also closed out head coach Jeff Genyks five-year EMU career on a positive note. It was announced Monday, Nov. 22, that Genyks contract would not be renewed at the conclusion of the 2008 season.

 

EMU redshirt junior quarterback Andy Schmitt set one NCAA record and established five EMU marks on the way to completing 58-of-80 passes for 516 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Eagles to victory.

 

Schmitts 58 completions broke the NCAA mark of 56 set by Jarrod DeGeorgia of Wayne State (Neb.) vs. Duke, Nov. 9, 1996. All five of his EMU records broke his own marks, including 58 completions, 80 attempts, 516 passing yards, 89 total offensive plays and 554 yards in total offense.

 

Senior wide receiver Tyler Jones caught an EMU single-game record 23 passes for 170 yards. That 23 reception mark tied UNLVs Randy Gatewood for the NCAA record. Gatewood caught his 23 passes against Idaho, Sept. 17, 1994.

 

EMU place-kicker Joe Carithers tied an EMU single-game record with eight PAT kicks.

 

For the game the Eagles rolled up a school record for offensive plays with 105 for a second-best 610 total offensive yards.

 

Junior quarterback Dan LeFevour paced the Chippewas with 22 completions on 38 attempts for 378 yards and four scores. CMU wide receiver Antonio Brown caught seven balls for 172 yards and one touchdown.

 

For the second game in a row the Eagles opened the scoring with a touchdown on its first offensive possession. This time around the Eagles marched 70 yards on 14 plays capped off by an eight yard run by Schmitt at the 10:18 mark of the first quarter. Carithers added the PAT kick for a 7-0 EMU lead.

 

From that point on the first half concluded with plenty of offensive fireworks on the field and some off-field activity as well. The two teams combined for 744 yards in total offense and 77 total points with the Eagles holding the 42-35 lead going into the lockerroom.

 

In the first half, Schmitt completed a whopping 38 passes in 52 attempts for 354 yards and a second-best EMU single game mark of five touchdown passes. Jones turned in 14 receptions for 118 yards in the first half. CMU QB LeFevour completed 13-of-19 passes for 276 yards and four touchdown throws.

 

Easterns team was hit however with two 15-yard penalty flags after confronting the Chippewas at midfield after the first half gun sounded and the Eagles had to boot the second-half kickoff from its own eight-yard line and Centrals first drive started on the EMU 47-yard line.

 

Central could not take full advantage of that field possession, however, settling for an Andrew Aguila 30-yard field goal at the 12:51 mark of the third quarter, cutting EMUs advantage to four, 42-38.

 

The Chips grabbed their first lead of the game three minutes later when Justin Hoskins sprinted 17 yards through the EMU defense for a 45-42 CMU lead with 9:30 left in the third quarter.

 

Eastern came right back to take a 48-45 lead with 6:48 remaining in the third quarter on a one-yard run by Terrence Blevins.

 

The Eagles increased their lead to 11, 56-45, with just 50 seconds left in the third quarter when Blevins added another one-yard touchdown run.

 

The Chippewas would tack on another score with 13:56 left in the game when Ontario Sneed rushed 38 yards for a score with the PAT kick making it 56-52.

 

The Eastern defense came up with a big stop late in the game when senior defensive end Spenser Smith stopped LeFevour two yards short on a fourth-and-three from the EMU 16-yard line with 5:05 left in the game.

 

CMU turned in one last effort to win the game when they regained possession on their own 29-yard line with 1:45 left in the contest. The Eagles defense forced four straight LeFevour incompletions to get the ball back with 1:25 left. Eastern ran out the clock from that point to preserve the win.

Courtesy Eastern Michigan Athletic Communications