FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 26, Eastern Michigan 18

EMU finishes the year without going to a bowl game for the first time since 2020.

PUBLISHING NOTE: I’ve noted it before, but one last time — sorry, I was out of town for Thanksgiving Week and was unable to cover this game in real-time. This was the soonest I was able to watch the game uninterrupted and write a recap on it.

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And like that, the season’s over.

Eastern Michigan will not go to a bowl game this year after it lost yesterday 26-18 at Western Michigan to end the regular season. The Broncos retain the Michigan MAC trophy with its win, and will go on to play in a bowl game next month. EMU, which started the year with a 5-2 overall record, lost its final five straight to fall short of bowl eligibility.

A passionate performance, especially in the second half, but not enough execution. EMU had its third scoreless first half of the year, and had three costly turnovers, even if they didn’t all turn into points.

RB Delbert Mimms had big rushes to give EMU the second-half surge it was dying for, and he ended the day with 127 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries (7.1 avg.). Cole Snyder had 91 pass yards and was 7/22 through the air. WMU had two rushers finish with over 100 yards apiece, and combined for 238 yards.

Here’s how Saturday’s post-Thanksgiving Day festivities unfolded:

SCORING DRIVES

First Quarter

No scores.

Second Quarter

2Q, 3:41, SAFETY VIA PUNT BLOCK + BALL GOING OUT THE BACK OF THE END ZONE BY WMU’S ANTERIO THOMPSON. WESTERN MICHIGAN 2, EASTERN MICHIGAN 0.

Eastern Michigan’s offense failed to score in the first half for the third and final time in MAC play. Three and out, three and out, a 13-play drive that ended with a turnover, and another punt. Mitch Tomasek was tasked to punt three times in the first half, then EMU’s special teams unit saw itself lose a rare battle. Having to punt from EMU’s 22-yard line, Tomasek’s punt was blocked by WMU’s Anterio Thompson, and the ball dribbled its way out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

2Q, 1:50, 31-YARD CATCH BY WMU’S ZAHIR ABDUS-SALAAM, FROM HAYDEN WOLFF. WESTERN MICHIGAN 9, EASTERN MICHIGAN 0.

Not only did WMU get the 2-0 lead, but it got the ball back too. Between EMU’s kick placed at the 20 and WMU’s 24-yard return, WMU was able to start its drive in EMU territory and needed just four plays to get in the end zone. WMU RB Zahir Abdus-Salaam caught a short pass out of the WMU backfield and outran Eastern’s entire defense for a 31-score.

2Q, 0:19, 15-YARD RUN BY WMU’S JALEN BUCKLEY. WESTERN MICHIGAN 16, EASTERN MICHIGAN 0.

After getting the ball back on a successful squib kick turnover, WMU had even more good luck in its favor. WMU converted on a 4th & 1 with an impressive catch by Chris Toudle, who ran an In route, reached back with one hand to try and grab the pass thrown behind him, and bobbled it a couple of times before securing his grab with both hands. Two plays later, Jalen Buckley busted through the EMU defense for a 15-yard touchdown.

Third Quarter

3Q, 12:02, 10-YARD RUN BY DELBERT MIMMS III. WESTERN MICHIGAN 16, EASTERN MICHIGAN 8.

EMU’s offense began to churn in the second half, but Delbert Mimms was the playmaker this team needed most. On 3rd & 10, he took an inside handoff 41 yards to take EMU to the red zone, then got the 10-yard score on the very next play.

EMU was successful with its two-point try as Cole Snyder connected with Max Reese with a quick pass.

3Q, 6:04, 22-YARD RUN BY WMU’S ZAHIR ABDUS-SALAAM. WESTERN MICHIGAN 23, EASTERN MICHIGAN 8.

WMU’s Buckley for 17 yards. Abdus-Salaam for 13. Buckley again, converting on 4th and short. Then Abdus-Salaam finished the 9-play 72-yard drive with a 22-yard scamper to the end zone. No passes were thrown on the drive.

3Q, 2:16, 1-YARD RUN BY DELBERT MIMMS III. WESTERN MICHIGAN 23, EASTERN MICHIGAN 15.

Wash, rinse, and repeat from its last scoring drive, because it was a very similar possession. Some short and medium gains through the air, but Mimms highlighted the drive with an explosive when his team was begging for one — a 41-yard run up the middle got EMU to the goal line, and got the touchdown just two plays later.

Instead of going for two points again, EMU settled for a 1-point PAT kick to be down by 8.

Fourth Quarter

4Q, 11:33, 25-YARD FIELD GOAL BY WMU’S LUKA ZURAK. WESTERN MICHIGAN 26, EASTERN MICHIGAN 15.

WMU got five first downs on this 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a chip-shot field goal. WMU cruised its way to the red zone, but a couple of incompletions inside the 20 led to WMU’s field goal unit hitting the field from the 8-yard line. WMU kicker Luka Zurak had no problems making that short kick.

4Q, 7:52, 32-YARD FIELD GOAL BY JESUS GOMEZ. WESTERN MICHIGAN 26, EASTERN MICHIGAN 18.

Markus Allen started the next drive with gains of 17 and 33 to get EMU’s offense in WMU territory. Snyder tried feeding him one more time for a touchdown throw, but their attempt would be no good, and EMU settled for a Jesus Gomez field goal to bring the deficit back to 8 points.

KEY PLAYS, MOMENTS, TURNOVERS

Scoreless first quarter

Five punts combined by both teams. EMU hadn’t picked up a first down until its third possession, *right* before the quarter’s end.

Fumble by Joey Mattord

EMU finally strung together a proud drive before fumbling away its scoring opportunity. A 58-yard drive that got EMU to flirt with the red zone for the first time was squashed by a Joey Mattord fumble, who had the ball knocked out of his arms as he was trying to make a cutback move.

Deveraux miscue

Up 9-0 with 1:50 left in the first half, WMU attempted to chase a squib kick to its right side of the field, and Nick Deveraux had the ball bounce off his arms and fall on the turf when he turned and chased for the ball. WMU’s Joey Pope came through with the loose ball on Eastern’s 37.

Mimms’ big runs

EMU has a lot to be thankful for with RB Mimms, who had rushes of 31 and 41 on its two touchdown drives in the third quarter.

EMU defense gets turnover on downs, but Snyder instantly re-turned ball back over

As time wound down in the fourth quarter, EMU’s defense limited WMU to rushes of 7, 4, 3, 4, 0, then a loss of 3 on 4th down to force a turnover on downs with 2:18 still remaining in the game. However, as soon as EMU was able to celebrate its big stop, Snyder threw the ball out of Terry Lockett’s reach and right back into WMU’s hands. Curtains.

NEXT GAME

There are 272 days until EMU’s next game. EMU will open up the 2025 regular season at Texas State. The Bobcats finished the season with a 7-5 overall record, 5-3 in Sun Belt play, and still have a bowl game to go to.