YPSILANTI, Mich. — Eastern Michigan’s homecoming got away from the Eagles early on Saturday. Toledo scored on four of its first five possessions, led 31-7 at the half and coasted to a 34-14 Mid-American Conference win at Rynearson Stadium.
The Rockets’ defense set the tone. Toledo stopped the Eagles on a fourth-and-4 on the game’s first drive, then went 65 yards in seven plays for a 28-yard scoring pass from John Alan Richter to Adjatay Dabbs. A forced fumble on the very next snap led to a Reice Griffith field goal and a 10-0 lead.
Richter finished with 288 passing yards, and running back Autavius Ison added 104 yards on the ground, including a 13-yard touchdown. CJ Miller scored twice on short runs, the second capping a 90-yard march just before halftime.
Eastern Michigan could not get its running game going, managing only 34 rushing yards all day, and it had a single rushing yard through three quarters. Toledo sacked the Eagles six times, piled up nine tackles for loss and turned Eastern away on downs four times.
Quarterback Noah Kim still found the end zone twice through the air for Eastern, hitting Joshua Long from 30 yards out on an eight-play, 73-yard drive in the second quarter and later connecting with Harold Mack on a 12-yard score.
A muffed Eastern punt early in the third quarter set up another Griffith field goal, and a fourth-down sack later snuffed out the Eagles’ best chance to pull within two scores.
Eastern Michigan falls to 4-4 overall and 3-1 in the MAC. Toledo improves to 5-2 and 2-1 and hosts Western Michigan next Saturday.
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