Chippewas Let Lead Slip Away, Fall at Eastern Michigan, 38-34

YPSILANTI, Mich. – Twists and turns.

Central Michigan squandered a 34-16 fourth-quarter lead on Saturday in dropping a 38-34 Mid-American Conference heartbreaker to Eastern Michigan before 17,974 at the Eagles' Rynearson Stadium.

The Chippewas are 3-4, 1-2 MAC and have lost their last two games by a combined six points. Their last four games, in which they are 2-2, have been decided by a total of 13 points.

Saturday's game turned on CMU quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr., who came off the bench to give the Chippewas a much-needed spark in the second quarter.

With Emanuel pulling the levers, the Chippewas took control in building a 34-16 lead that then shrunk to 34-24 early in the fourth quarter.

Emanuel left the game with 10:57 to play with what appeared to be an ankle injury after he carried for a 3-yard gain to the Chippewas' 11-yard line. The injury was painful enough that Emanuel needed the aid of the cart to leave the sideline. He did not return.

Emanuel accounted for 155 yards rushing and passing and two touchdowns and his presence helped to open running lanes for teammate Marion Lukes, who ran for 115 of his 118 yards in the final two quarters.

"The guy's down there," CMU coach Jim McElwain said, referring to EMU defenders at the bottom of the pile where Emanuel was tackled, "and the kind of team that you're playing here, they're twisting his ankle. We don't teach that. I don't believe in that in our program. Whatever."

Without Emanuel on the field, the Chippewas struggled to move the ball consistently and Eastern's offense rediscovered its rhythm.

"Losing Bert's a big thing," Lukes said. "He's an extraordinary playmaker and I don't think there's another quarterback in this league who can match up to him physically."

Quarterback Cole Snyder found Terry Lockett for a 30-yard touchdown with 7:19 to play to cut CMU's lead to 34-31.

The Chippewas could muster just one first down on their next possession and were forced to punt. The Eagles drove 62 yards in seven plays with Snyder scoring on a fourth-down quarterback sneak to give EMU the lead for good.

The Chippewas finished with 383 yards in total offense while surrendering 450, a season high for a CMU opponent. CMU had just 98 yards through the air as Emanuel and Tyler Jefferson went a combined 5-of-12 passing.

"Win, lose or draw you kind of move on," said CMU defensive lineman Jason Williams, who returned a fumble 67 yards for a touchdown late in the first half to give the Chippewas a 14-13 lead. "You've got the 24-hour rule. For 24 hours, you can sit there and feel sorry for yourself, for a little bit, it's OK. But after that we've got to flush it and move on to the next week."

The Chippewas, as they have done so often this season, started slow and fell into a 13-0 deficit.

Things swung CMU's way when Emanuel hit Evan Boyd for a 22-yard touchdown with just 1:41 left in the first half. Williams' fumble return came just 41 seconds later and gave CMU a brief one-point lead.

Eastern kicked a field goal as time expired in the first half to re-take the lead, 16-14.

The Chippewas, with Emanuel at the helm, scored 20 straight points to seize all the momentum and a seemingly secure 34-16 advantage early in the fourth quarter.

Emanuel and Gavin Harris each scored on a 2-yard run and Tristan Mattson booted two field goals, the first a season-long 56-yarder and the second a 51-yarder.

"The first half, we've just got to play better, it's as simple as that," Lukes said. "No energy in the first half. I know the fans are tired of it, the coaches are tired of it. I'm tired of it.

"We just have to keep moving forward and push through the struggles that we have. I have complete faith in this team. You see what we can do; you've got to score points in the first half so it's not all in the last 30 minutes of the game."

"All of our losses literally have been from the first half and it's just people being Lackadaisical in certain situations. We've got to play like we have dreams. … You can't just show it in the second half when your back's against the wall. You've got to do it now or it's never going to happen."

Chippewas Let Lead Slip Away, Fall at Eastern Michigan, 38-34

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Team Stats

Bert Emanuel, Jr.

Tyler Jefferson

Players Mentioned

Evan Boyd

Gavin Harris

Tyler Jefferson

Marion Lukes

Tristan Mattson

Jason Williams