The Chippewas committed three turnovers and lost starting quarterback Daniel Richardson to an injury early in the third quarter, but they dug deep and overcame a 20-6 fourth-quarter deficit to knock off the stubborn Eagles and improve to 3-1 overall and in the MAC.
"We figured out a . . .
BACKUP QB STEPS UP
Junior Ty Brock came out of the bullpen in relief of Richardson, who left with a leg injury early in the third quarter. In his first extended action since transferring to CMU from Sam Houston State, Brock engineered three scoring drives in the fourth quarter, two for touchdowns and one for a field goal, a 26-yarder from freshman Marshall Meeder with 2:31 to play that put CMU in front, 24-23.
It was CMU's first lead of the game, and the field goal was set up when CMU's Troy Hairston pounced on an Eastern fumble at the Eagle 7-yard line.
After the go-ahead field goal, CMU safety Devonni Reed intercepted an EMU pass with 2:26 remaining. Three plays later, Kobe Lewis scored an insurance TD from nine yards out, making it 31-23.
Donte Kent's first career interception with 53 seconds remaining iced it.
NICHOLS, LEWIS SHINE
Lew Nichols rushed for a career-high 196 yards and scored two touchdowns on 29 carries, while Lewis added 106 on 18 as the Chippewas finished with a season-high 318 yards on the ground. Brock completed nine of his 15 pass attempts for 62 yards, and he added 18 rushing yards.
"I'm proud of the way they fought, there's no doubt about it," McElwain said. "I think at halftime it was a situation where guys had to look in the mirror a little bit and chose what we were going to do with that second half.
Three times in the first half the Chippewas drove inside the Eastern 10-yard line but had just two Meeder field goals to show for it. A costly holding penalty stalled one drive, and another ended with a Lewis fumble at the goal line.
HUTCHISON PUTS EAGLES IN FRONT
Meanwhile, Eastern quarterback Preston Hutchinson capped two long drives with TD runs and the Eagles added a field goal for a 17-6 halftime lead. Eastern extended its lead to 20-6 with a 32-yard field goal with 3:07 to play in the third quarter.
Two other Chippewa threats, both early in the third quarter, ended in frustrating fashion. The Chippewas fumbled it away at the Eastern 11-yard line, and then were stopped on fourth-and-goal from the Eagle one.
The fourth quarter, however, belonged to the CMU. Nichols scored from nine yards out less than a minute into the stanza and Brock threw to Drayton Law for the two-point conversion to cut Eastern's lead to 20-14.
After another Eastern field goal made is 23-14, Nichols scored his second touchdown to pull CMU to 23-21.