Down 13-0 to begin the game, Eastern (9-4, 5-3 MAC) scored 33 unanswered points between the mid-first and . . .
Quarterback Taylor Powell earned the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl's Most Valuable Player honor after going 18-for-30 for 298 yards, accounting for two touchdowns in the victory.
Senior running back Samson Evans, meanwhile, totaled 82 rushing yards on 25 carries, notching two touchdowns for the Green and White. Fellow back Jaylon Jackson contributed 54 rushing yards, including a 31-yard touchdown run to help push Eastern past SJSU.
On the outside, junior Darius Lassiter hauled in six passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns to lead the receiving corps. He is just the 16th player to go for more than 100 yards through the air in the bowl game's history.
Defensive back Joshua Scott totaled four pass breakups (the second most in EMU single-game history) and an interception for the Eagles. Furthermore, senior Russell Vaden IV grabbed an interception to seal the game for the Eagles while senior linebacker Luke Cameron added an interception for the Green and White defense.
How it Happened
Down 13-2, the Eagles engineered four touchdown drives before intermission, including a bowl-record 96-yard drive that spanned 13 plays and concluded with a one-yard touchdown pass from Powell to Lassiter.
Two of Eastern Michigan's scoring series began courtesy of an interception, one each Cameron and Scott. Evans punched in a pair of touchdowns on the ground in the opening half.
San Jose State marched 59 yards in just over a minute to score the game's first points. Junior quarterback Chevan Cordeiro found the end zone on a 27-yard scamper to cap the three-play opening possession.
The Spartans outscored the Eagles 14-11 in the second half, as Cordeiro tossed a pair of 17-yard touchdowns to senior wide receivers Nick Nash and Isaiah Hamilton. Cordeiro finished 26-for-44 for 366 yards and four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing).
Game Notes
» Down 13-0 with just over seven minutes on the clock, EMU's special teams came up big. Junior Sterling Miles busted through to block his third PAT attempt of the season, his and the team's first since it blocked a point-after at Ball State, Oct. 22. He has the only three PAT blocks for the team this season, and three of the four during the Chris Creighton era (2014-Pres.).
» Miles' blocked kick was returned 97 yards for a touchdown by Junior Tristin Hines. It was the first PAT returned for a score for Eastern Michigan since Ryan Downard also ran a blocked PAT back for a 97-yard score against the University of Michigan, Oct. 6, 2007.
» The Eastern Michigan offense used the momentum from the special teams unit to pull itself back in the game during its third offensive possession of the game. The Eagles used a seven-play, 74-yard drive capped by a one-yard Evans touchdown to find the pay dirt. The touchdown was Evans' career-best 14th of the season.
» The EMU scoring unit put together another scoring drive in its first touch of the ball in the second quarter. The Eagles used 13 plays to march 96 yards to find the end zone yet again. That score, the longest of the season for Eastern Michigan in terms of yards, gave EMU its first lead of the game, 15-13.
» EMU's 96-yard scoring drive was capped by a one-yard Lassiter touchdown reception. The catch was Lassiter's third touchdown of the season, and capped a four-reception drive for the first-year Eagle. The four receptions tied for the second-best single-game total for Lassiter this season.
» The Eastern Michigan defense came up big in numerous spots in the first half. After a critical fourth-down stop to begin the second quarter, it was Cameron that hauled in his first career interception. Just one possession later, Scott added his third interception of the season. The three interceptions give EMU multiple picks in a game for the fourth time this season, the most four any Chris Creighton-led team (2014-Pres.). The trio of picks ties a season-high for the Eagles (3 - Akron, Nov. 8; 3 - Central Michigan, Nov. 25).
» Evans added another rushing score with just under five minutes remaining in the second quarter. The touchdown was his second of the game, giving him his career-best fifth multiple-score game of the season.
» Lassiter added his second score of the game, a 28-yard grab, with just 55 seconds on the clock in the second quarter. Coming into the game, Lassiter had never recorded a multiple-score game, and had just two total touchdowns.
» EMU totaled 21 points in the second quarter of today's game. Eastern scored 21 points in a single frame just one other time this season, against Western Michigan, Oct. 8.
» Eastern scored 33 unanswered points between the first and third quarters of today's game. That number is the most for the team in any game this season.
» EMU scored its first points of the third quarter when sophomore kicker Jesús Gómez (Puebla, Mexico-Prepa Tec Puebla) drilled a 51-yard field goal with 8:23 on the clock. The kick was hi