NCAAF 2023 - Week 1 || FCS - FBS Matchup || Howard Bison vs Eastern Michigan Eagles || 9/1/23

of Howard Jim Barbera and Ryan Kavanaugh Ryan loves to go out of the limb even early in the season he says there as much at stake for both teams why do you say that well for Howard they have an opportunity to make a big time statement nationally by knocking off an FBS school and for Eastern Michigan they've been on the cusp of making it to the MAC Championship winning the MAC Championship under the Chris kraton era and tonight they have an opportunity to take that first step towards achieving that goal and it certainly helps a running back s Evans is back a lot of NFL Scouts like this kid uh well I think he's the best running back in the Mac he's a true three down back he can pick up blitzes as well as catch the ball out of the back field but what the NFL Scouts like so much is his unique combination of size and speed and when Samson Evans gets running downhill it could potentially be a long evening for the Howard defense speaking of Howard how do you respond to one big back for Eastern Michigan well you roll out a bevy of them and we're going to see three different running backs Tote The Rock for the bison look at what I think is most impressive is the bottom there all three guys were second or third Team all League last year Ian wheeler will'll see him in the return game as well but all three of these guys are going to play and they bring a different versatile skill set to the running back room by the by the way for the head coach Larry Scott wheeler is the fastest player out there and Eastern Michigan already concerned about its return game and making sure as Chris kraton is emphas Siz that they don't bust the one early 10th season for Chris kraton 27th as a head coach coming off a spectacular year last year in which they were able to win a Bull game and get nine wins and a share of the M Conference Championship in the west raning Ryan Kingston will kick off andur to Dylan Gomez or check that rather to uh Jesus Gomez keeps in out of the game today so he not handle Pats that hurts the Eagles Gomez has been outstanding during his career and Kenyan Boer will be kicking field goals and extra points at least that's the design college football for both teams is out of the way and we're off into the End Zone by NCA rule to the 25 yd line we go get a chance to introduce the Bison to you first on offense led by veteran quarterback Quinton Williams and we're told about him Ryan that this kid he's got a little cerebral part of the game to him he thinks plays through he can throw deep but if you stack seven the defensive secondary he will run and run a lot they will run designed running plays for Quinton Williams and he can also break the pocket if you as you mentioned Jim if you want to back up and you want to play the pass he's not afraid to pull the ball down and make things happen with his feet by the way he is a graduate of Howard University number of grad students on both sides of the field tonight and already our first penalty and we haven't elapsed any time in doing so and that's odd a delay a game right off the start which is hardly what was practiced well they Howard took a long time getting out onto the field as we were talking about Quinton Williams they were still on the sidelines so I didn't you know they may have called to play from the sidelines but they didn't allow thems enough time to get on the field and snap the football on time our referee tonight is Matt patkowski all been American Conference officials they'll put it on the ground early and they'll make up five in fact close to seven as brillan Smith carries the football make that Eden James he is the son of Edan James they said he doesn't look a lot like Dad but he sure runs like him he does run like him and you see there one of the best attributes of Eden James is his patience and his vision that time changed the the running route based on what the offensive line was giv him got the start tonight in place of Ian Willer the pass to the near side of the field is incomplete that'll bring up a third down situation and six and early in the game what might we might what might we be looking for here well it looks like it's a passing down here Quint Williams I like the play call there he had nwn h Kaa in the flat rolling out he just under threw the football but I look for him to throw and drive the ball downfield Eastern Michigan plays a ton of manto Man line to gain is the 35 yd line Quinton Williams low snap Here Comes pressure gets rid of it catch made is it past the marker no out of bounds does doesn't matter on the receiving end Richie Alara who caught a pass in every game last year well he's a route Runner he's got excellent hands aazza ran the correct route just a little bit outside couldn't keep his feet in as he had to go to the ground to receive the football good job by the offensive line of Howard though Eastern Michigan brought a blitz from one of their strong safeties and it was picked up on the backside the right side of Quinton Williams so Howard will give the football away in the very first possession that's a low snap and a line drive kick that's going to bounce with the 40 to the 20 and here comes the return and already Easter will have the football in Midfield on a 30 yd return on ham Al zat well that is how you uh give your special teams coach gray hair uh this is a really delayed decision to pick up the football but far be it for me to question Al zat cuz he saw a crease he picked it up he got it up field and they now the Eagles start the 2023 season at the 50 yd line great field position Austin Smith battled injuries last year Ryan had a solid performance in the desert against Arizona State and an upset win that the nation looked to and actually led to the firing of a head coach of the sundevils he'll keep the football here and throw out at a flat and immediately a first down catch by Andre [Applause] py Eastern Michigan starts with jayen Jackson in the backfield not Samson Evans they run play action to elot and pasy POI just slips out beautiful play design and execution Andreas gets 19 on the play so after the low kick and return to Midfield in a 50 yd line by alot now you've got the D DC du of Evans and Jackson to run the football and you're almost into the Red Zone on the very first possession here's Austin and his numbers last year modest at best he was battling another and Taylor pow who actually led into a victory last year in the humanitarian Bowl well was the humanitarian bowl and now was the famous Idaho Potato Bowl second and seven quick toss outside nice safe pass to get Smith warmed up up a bit close enough to the first down Tanner canoe is wearing number two the deuce he's awarded this by his coaching staff typically he's 24 every week they pick a player on the offensive side of the ball who typifies what Eastern Michigan football means who's had a great week of practice doing everything right Tanner canoe is that guy this week just short of the first down marker third and one who are you going to call in this case well how about Evans to the end zone and just brought down inside the 5 yd line otherwise they have the first score so it doesn't take long for Samson Evans the grant student who started his college football career in Iowa to get going here that the credit that's a great run by Evans but I'm giving the credit to the offensive line that was big boy body onbody moving the white jerseys out of the way and Eastern Michigan knocking on the door trying to score on their first possession their first drive of the Season got rolinski kti Douglas Howie and douly all up front and they are big boys first and goal Under 12 first [Applause] quarter now second and goal Eastern Michigan last year had it beaten Toledo would have been playing for the MAC Championship see that right there 29 career rushing TDS he already holds the record at Eastern for most in school history credit Terence Holland for Howard coming up from the linebacker position to shut him down I think they're giving it to Evans again but you also have to be aware of Austin Smith pulling it and keeping it and there it is touchdown I like the way you went out on the limb there whatever that's it well you said I would do it uh yes the all ma fantasy football player Samson Evans gets the two-y touchdown plunge but what a job blocking again particularly the right side of the offensive line led by Brian douly who collapsed the Bison defense and that was set up by a 30 yd run special teams with ham Al zad who carried it from the 20 to Midfield backup kicker in the game here and the the extra point not a problem for 37 Kenyan bar the transfer out of Marshall University good looking scoring Drive in Eastern Michigan now for the seventh time this year has scored on its opening drive that drive was all about chunk plays elot 30 yards yet POA with a 20 yard 21 yd reception and Samson Evans set up his own touchdown with the 16 yd run inside the red zone everything worked on that drive two for two from your quarterback Austin Smith indeed Eastern Michigan Ian wheeler is the guy to look out for on punt returns and kick returns but special teams there gets a hold of Ian wheeler before he can get to the 20 yd line [Applause] wow that's elot doing it on uh both the return game as well as coming down on special teams look at H that elot what a play it's the kind of thing the pros look to do they not you got to be able to play special teams you got to be versatile you have to add value in a lot of different ways for any program especially if you're coming from the Macer and you want to get a shot in the league that's a major consideration off offensive coordinator is Lindsay Lamar for the Howard bison the head coach we've already told you about Larry Scott they got to get off to a better start year than he did on the previous possession when they opened the game with a 5yd delay of game penalty it's tough sledding so Howard wants to run the football and they want to do it behind a massive and there's coach Larry Scott a massive offensive line their left tackle Aman Dena is 6'8 362 lbs the right tackle Demetrius Witherspoon he's only 67335 that adds up to nearly 700 lb so going to run in a near side here and a lot of open space this could go for six Eden James runs like Dad and knows where the end Zone's at that's right and Carries all away take a look at the pulling guard here on the offensive line pulling to get around great job sealing the Edge by danu we just talked about him and Eden James Off to the Races finally hawked down but Howard's in business keep in self-destructing here with a bad snap and Williams able to get on it loss on the play of first down you want to want to kill any momentum after J James ran for 55 yards he already has 65 in the game three carries Ryan yeah and you see James right there coming off the field and I believe they're going to bring Ian wheeler in the game who we just saw return the kick along with some other extra wide receiver Personnel including Jamar EBR the true freshman wearing number 81 in the slot up top let's see if they test that secondary of the Eagles because of the speed that the Bison possess they are going to test it toward the end zone incomplete it was a flag down on the near sideline G again this is a Mid-American Conference officiating team led by Matt pakowski second down and 15 legal formation on the offense that penalty declined third down are you in four down territory early in the game when you don't need to pick up 15 on this play you know I they might be I would be more comfortable if you're about 10 yards further you're at the 30 cuz you know right here Mig has be second down oh they took the penalty yes yeah and that's you know right now is a tough spot cuz it's too far for a field goal so I I withdraw my question okay yeah it was overruled anyways my question or it'll be second down aot doesn't matter doesn't matter from the 38 yd line actually they need to get down to the 18 so they got to get 20 not all on this play though for Williams setting up a screen out of the back field and that's going to get a half of it back oo what a pop though by the 20 at the 28 yd line off the catch by Ian wheeler wheeler able to get to the 28 so they did get half of it back I think that was Cameron Smith that came up and smacked him but that was a beautiful play design Eastern Michigan didn't recognize the screen until it was too late and there's a big shot Ian wheeler is a big back he's also the fastest of the trio but he's 511 205 compact strong and can take a shot as we just witnessed Eastern Michigan is missing two linebackers and Chase kleene and their starback Joshua Scott both are injured and both will not play tonight Williams out of the back field kind of a check down immediately didn't get all of it got most of it and a catch by brillan Smith so now we have a fourth down situation unless you've got a kicker of some significance are you going to try a field goal or you going to go for the go for the first down they're going Tempo they're going to snap the ball right now or try to get him to jump off sides this is always good for a wildcat play trying to bounce to the outside and it's not going to [Applause] happen Ian wheeler had no chance on that play Cameron Smith imediate timeout with the tackle and Smith the 62 198 Jr will change the field possession for Eastern Michigan would give him the record School record for most touchdowns total land see and air and second most in career touchdowns overall here with the Eagles mhm Easter Michigan possession starting from its own 21 already leading seven nothing on a two-yard run by Samson Evans there's Jaylen Jackson Jackson with his first Carry pass the 25 for a pickup five yards it be second and five give the tackle to Christian white who plays the inside linebacker spot for the Bison beautiful job by white tracking him down Jackson he's got a little wiggle and a little burst he's different than Samson Evans in stature certainly but also in running style set a Man in Motion here and then run right tackle and close to the first down maybe short by a yard third and one as Jackson has had back to- back carries well Jim keep an eye on a play action here where they're going to go over the top cuz you the safey because Eastern Michigan's doing such a good job blocking at the point of attack the line of scrimmage the safeties are coming up and they're coming up because they have to in run support and the minute coach kraton coach Pike their offensive coordinators see they go right over top yep by the way that's a first down instead of third and one from its own 30 yd line eight minutes into the opening quarter on opening night for both teams Smith over the middle and in trouble and that nearly got picked off by white in fact white thought he should have had it right off the hands of white and then a couple other defensive backs including Xavier robu thought they might have a shot at it look at the pass protection and white just playing middle of the field reading Austin Smith's eyes and almost had a crucial takeaway LED this team in quarterback hurries last year and breakups as an architecture major and a graduate student as we mentioned many are on both sides second and and 10 I call with the coaches this week they said Christian white is a coach on the field yes fake the James quarterback keep bison W buying it that'll be a loss of one good defensive pressure up front well that's Reggie Reid number 15 he basically said there is no way you're handing that football off Reggie Reid almost took the hand off not a whole lot of time if that was a read by a Austin Smith not a whole lot of time and Reggie Reid made the read real simple you have to keep the football Austin Smith likes to go to Zone reads too and that one didn't sneak past the defense of the Bison Troy Douglas the defensive coach appalachin State graduate we'll get into that as we go along Tonight third and long Smith three-step drop over the middle little flare out not going to be enough but it's going to be close and a pickup of close to 10 on the play Daniel with a catch that's Blake Daniels the tight end coming across and in their own territory looks like they're going for it Jim there are less possessions in the college football game today and did they get it they did and the reason there are less possessions is that there's a running clock in the game now if you make a first down unlike years past the clock does not stop it's just like the NFL so the possessions for a week zero or week zero of last year with 12 and A2 for the first week down to 10 this year yep so that's and that's on each side of the ball so combined there's about five less possessions this year at least through one week of the Season than there were last year Samson Evans is you see his body language it's like he's out for a walk except he's just running people over some walk huh yeah just Sunday stroll from the 41 Danel another pass complete from Smith the Daniels this time up to 48 so the rules change brought about with the idea of speeding up the games and right now the average amount of time per game has been decreased by about 10 minutes clock does not stop at an offensive first down except with less than 2 minutes to go in the second and fourth quarter you cannot call consecutive timeouts in a single dead ball period I.E to freeze a kicker and if you have a penal at the end of the first or third quarters they're extended into the fourth hope you're taking notes on this there will be a quiz afterwards it'll be third and short coming up now from the 49 in a fast moving first quarter sure is well both of these teams want to establish the Run both teams have faith and confidence in their offensive lines and both coaches know if they can establish that run it's going to go a long way that's the center Demitri Douglas he was planning to split time with Brock Roman number 67 both of these are capable Center uh and you see Roman up on the sidelines already yeah Roman has had an ACL teror and that's been an issue we'll come back to address this situation in a moment with 424 remaining first quarter [Music] [Applause] [Music] still got [Applause] the Troy Douglas the Howard defensive coordinator a graduate of App State as we mentioned played wide receiver for four years this is the anniversary of app State's Monumental upset of Michigan back in the 2007 season 3532 at the big house in a game that most people will never ever forget you're barely allowed to talk about it in the state I'm going to add something to that in a moment uh in regards to Mr Douglas's Fame looking for the first down and not going to get it now it's fourth down and the decision for Eastern Michigan and the decision has been made to putt it away Douglas by the way in that 3432 win was coaching somewhere else and listening on radio and he said because he coached in a big 10 for a number of years everywhere he went particularly when he bumped in Ohio State fans they just love talking to him about that App State win over in Michigan he probably brought him a few free dinners while he was you know hanging out yeah that's cool yeah it is well it really I mean it's the biggest upset upset and I guess it' be the second biggest upset that we know college football Mitchell thomask with a punt to the 10 yd line good one too punt of 40 no return first Howard bison who last year shared the conference Championship with a 4-1 Mark in the Mak it's the first league title since 93 lone FBS loss 4220 South Florida and look at the offense which we're expecting to see some of nature tonight we would think absolutely they I mean they can score the football that's for sure they got a lot of those guys back as we know all three running backs they've got some wide receivers and of course Quinton Williams real veteran quarterback they're Haven until that last Drive the long run by Eden James are struggling to consistently move the football here this evening this is James with a football here and he's going nowhere he's not as secret anymore as if he was he wasn't supposed to start tonight Ian wheeler was to get at the start but James who already has a 55 yd run is tackled by Joey zinski who's wearing zero tonight and there's some significance in that well coach Crane's got a lot of things going on with the Hammers and the wrench number zero number two and I'll explain number zero after this play it keeps the sports information very busy here at Easter M again that's a good way to get a lot of people involved and buy into the program what's happening Williams on second 11 with man coverage nowhere near the intended receiver at the 35 yd line brings up a third and long intend fore number eight Wayne Dennis so Joy zinsky wearing number zero that number is awarded to the player who had the best defensive week of practice however what's really significant in week one is it's going through the whole summer wow it's really an award of what zalinski did and an acknowledgement of the work he put in not only during camp in the off season and in preparation for this game that terrific award third and long again for Howard Williams in trouble releasing on a screen penalty flag on the play James with a catch near the 20 yd line it's coming back a hold Cory hernandz 10 yd gain fourth down and so 10 yds goes away on the catch and run by Eden James offense number 52 happy the spot repeat third down fortunate that uh holding was not in the end zone as opposed to close to the end zone yeah they got Darius Fox the left guard and there you see it at the top that big lineman falling down for Eastern Joey zinski looked like he identified this as a screen and just couldn't get there time Eden James that's the second time uh Howard has had success running that screen play of course this one wiped away because of the hold pretty hold pretty hard to hold off Payton price of 62300 what his head coach tell us he's a beast yeah violent and physical yeah I think he one of the most violent defensive linemen he's had in the 10 years here yes third and 16 from the endzone Williams trying to get out of of trouble incomplete broken up at the 20 had the Dig route he was looking for one Williams and coming up was ke Kempton shine there he is number 29 coming up to break that play up nice Ball by Williams and nice route by one Williams Quinton Williams to one Williams but shine got in the way and broke it up Keon shine had a huge game in the desert last year and that went over the sundevils on which he forced a fumble and recovered a fumble great field position again for Eastern Michigan and that's going to result in a safety the it's hard enough for Howard to win this game without self-destructing I would think you know it's it's a couple steps forward and a few steps back yes and that's kind of what's been happening here you mentioned it self-inflicted wounds and it just it was a perfect snap it just went went right through the hands of Aaron bickerton the punter so that makes it nine to nothing and Eastern Michigan will get the ball back likely in good position too cuz it's it's a punt yes that will not be on the quiz no that was easy too EAS got to be tough for the punter to go back to um and he's a sophomore by the way back to the I don't try to explain what happened and sometimes it's pretty obvious so now he is going to get an opportunity to get a free kick here and Eastern Michigan is going to get an opportunity to return and get great field positioning once again number great crowd here student section shown up Eastern Michigan's made a point of emphasis to get the student body and the community involved today every home game has a theme today is Eastern Fest I like that El xad is deep along with 28 Jaylen Jackson beautiful Jackson will track it down yes at the 15 to the 25 30 35 Midfield Jackson still going got a chance to go all the way he will go all the way [Applause] touchdown eag Jim beautiful blocking by The Eagles Jaylen Jackson hits the scene and credit him with some fantastic one-on-one moves in open space but you saw all the eagles not only getting their man but the extra effort to pick up those remaining Defenders for Howard deep in their own territory Jaylen Jackson house call and it Eastern Michigan clicking on all cylinders right now another extra point try for the backup kicker in this game who nailed his first one and the second one from Kenya power just as good so nine points off of turnovers keyed by Jackson's terrific punt return which came from about the 15 there's little nuances watch this move right here boom watch him set it up and then cut back but there's nuances as you see with that punt he took about four steps to the right towards Howard put his foot in the ground and came back and all that's doing is influencing the rush team that way and allowing your blockers to set up the proper angle to create that seam that tunnel and Jaylen Jackson found it and he knew what to do as soon as he got into open space there you see Captain Brian dly the right tackle taking Jaylen Jackson to the second floor in celebration chance to Fly Like an Eagle there huh that's right he was moving 16 nothing in favor of the Eagles all three phases right now Eastern Michigan they came out ready to play well you mentioned what was at stake tonight an Eastern Michigan with its 132 standard its motto this year if you will it's Mantra which is to be the best football team in the history the 132e history of Eastern Michigan well last year's team could arguably be number two sure that would be behind I believe 198 87 uh that's the best football team that year they won the MAC uh won 10 games won a Bull game very similar last year's team except they didn't win the Mac they fell short against too in an opportunity to play and that's what I said you know before the game Jim you and I were talking off camera about what I asked you was coach kraton watching uh the game last night their future opponent for next week and you I think you said they're always watching film they're watching everybody and and the reason I bring that up is that everybody else in the Mac is going to be paying attention to what Eastern Michigan does here tonight and vice versa so they're making a statement so you're the Bison you got punched to the mouth how do you approach say 16-point def well you got to stay calm and you got to run your stuff but you got to run your stuff clean you have to limit the penalties the turnovers Eden James who wears five already has four carries for 65 yards they' been releasing him as a short yardage receiver and that's incomplete second down his dad started with the Indianapolis Colts and Payton Manning and Marvin Harrison whose son is starring for Ohio State back in the 2000 decade where they won a World Championship how good is a team when Edan James is like the third option yes the Hall of Fame running back is the third option I mean think about those Colts teams what a great option it was Bill buling with a lot to do with the drafting of the superstars Howard player on to the field a little late and now the bison are going to have to use a timeout timeout Howard Bill poan his uh one of his sons just took over as the sports information director of my alma moer John Carroll I love it yeah former head coach at Nevada spent some time with Brian Kelly at Notre Dame and then Al you and he came home and uh it's just interesting you bring up the name Bill Po and he's a Hall of Famer too yes could kick off tomorrow with maxtion noon on ESPN plus it's the Ohio Bobcats and quarterback oror facing Long Island looking to bounce back from a season opening loss at San Diego State followed by akan and Temple on ESPN plus you will see the Zips next week Under The Lights is that correct yeah I'll be in akan at the rubber bowl with the InfoCision Stadium rather the rubber BS yield Stadium Morgan State comes to visit coach Morehead looking to build on a pretty solid finish to the their regular season last year he's turning things around up in akan Wildcat second and 10 that's number three Casey Hawthorne carrying the football and so Casey gets close to the first down marker it's also on the kick return team as well they're going to go quickly try to pick up the four yards yeah wide receiver and to the left of him is Ian wheeler rothorn again and not going to be enough it'll be short by two yards and that's another big time play defensively by Cameron Smith in a short yardage situation you also see Jack uh M or Zach mouin number 36 who's starting in place of Chase Klein so the Bison looked as if they're going to punt then there was some delay and now they're set to go and punt it away and hopefully this one will go better than the last one did for Aaron bickerton who let one slip through his hands and resulted in a safety Z is back at his own 30 fair catch Easter bichig will start this possession with 51 ticks in the first quarter inside the 30 yd line always Pleasant to talk with Chris kraton as the week goes along he's won just about everywhere he's gone the only thing he hasn't done is won a MAC Championship but that is uh in his mind and he said if that happens man that'll mean a lot here yeah he's a winner and he's a proven coach and the job he's done here at Eastern Michigan to take them from you frankly the baseman of the Mac into a team that's appearing in bowls every year and winning and right now one of the favorites to win the Mac is it's incredible Chris kraton has he's a proven winner as you said Wabash division three and then Drake as well here's a graduate of Kenyon College and we're going to show you some of his uh exploits from many years ago he's in the Kenyon College Hall of Fame Bryson Moss with his first Carry of the game nice gain of seven yards on first down for Moss chance to see a lot of people tonight with a two touchdown lead possibly the final play of the first quarter there's movement on both sides and of course there's fingers being pointed on both sides as well Matt pakowski our referee will sort it out they're still pointing Defense number n off number 90 Melvin Swindell the second and will give excuse me for against Howard number 90 in Emerson Martin and that will give Eastern Michigan a first down and now possibly the final play of the first quarter Austin Smith the quarterback a lot of time to throw the ball first down pitch and catch pass Midfield Jamie Mitchell to third his first catch of the game end of the first quarter the senior wide receiver gets the first down ball marked that is the end of the first quarter and we will step aside it is all Eastern Michigan Samson Evans and the defense and The Return by Jaylen Jackson 16 zip bigles verbo a place that rewards your loyalty on every rental football away baby I like two [Music] dream [Music] [Music] fanty 180 hello Patrick Mahomes wait who do you even play for Teo and I'm here to protect you from wireless companies that Blitz you with phone deals that sack you with a threee device contract even I set not a T-Mobile they have plans that make upgrades work for you they even have a plan which makes you upgrade ready every year thanks Ben now can I do the thing do the thing excellent take charge of your upgrades with our best go 5G plans at T-Mobile let's have a huddle you don't know what huddle is do you no hello welcome to McDonald's may I take your order please quarter pounder with cheese Royal with jeese I haven't had a Big Mac in a long time how many fileo fishes did you eat that's over several months Ryan in Puerto Rico a m flurry it's called seor flurry two golden menus McDonald's McDonald's McDonald's they're McDonald's I'm mcdows are you going to order something on season 6 of fansville by Dr Pepper things are heating up Mom Dad I have a girlfriend and she likes college football the stars have arrived I've made my choice this season I will be drinking Dr Pepper strawberries and cream and everyone wants a taste of Fame welcome back to Chuck's take because every fan needs a podcast to get a thick color I use two coats of maroon don't forget to smash that subscribe button Dr Pepper the one fans deserve I love your nails thank you oh man the way Bryce is able to cover the whole field is incredible yeah he's really spreading it around you guys could help you know just doing our jobs Bryce just doing our jobs yeah we're working [Applause] [Music] [Music] too we are State Side fantastic Geo superb racing yes guys Ryan kavan on Jim Barber to the second quarter we go Eastern Michigan leading Howard 16 nothing and in Howard territory from the 46 Austin Smith the quarterback the offensive coordinator is Mike petkowski Smith three-step drop very comfortable today shooting one down the fields got a man who JB Mitchell it was in his hands he beat the defender goes as a long incomplete pass it came over this is a difficult catch one that JB Mitchell typically makes but the the way he was running the ball actually came over his head so he had to track it over his opposite shoulder watch it goes over his right shoulder and right there you lose vision of the ball because you have to it goes over your head and you're turning tough catch but good ball here's Evans picks up six on the play by the way that's a good defense of the receiver there you were quarterback and for you to you know say hey that's that's not on the receiver it's on the QB I know well I know another guy quarterback and it's Chris kraton right there 1991 Kenyan College number eight running to football threw for 50 662 yards and 48 touchdowns they won a championship their first ever there and by appearance he hasn't changed a bit no Smith with a load of time checks down gets the first down inside the 35 yd line Smith is so comfortable out there tonight he's getting great offensive support by the guys up front like Demitri Douglas and Alex Hy and Zack Connie and Brian dou here they go Tempo you know the there's different ways to use Tempo JY you can get on the ball and snap it or you just get on the ball and then you figure out what the play is but what it doesn't allow the defense to take a break or substitute oh that's a great play defensively Big Time play defensive end Ian white getting his hand up in the passing Lane it helps when you're 66 260 and there you go that's the rule if you're a defensive lineman a defensive end and you're not going to get home and be able to get to the quarterback you've got to get your hands up and get in the passing Lane and right there he separates from the The Tackle Mickey R rolinski gets his hand up knocks it down have an unusual practice and that is instead of lining up four in the line of scrimmage against the offense during practice the kids have their backs to the play and then have to turn around quickly in case the offense is going to go quickly Smith though has hardly been pressured it's just pitch and catch so far for him Ginger with his first catch they consider him to have the best hands on this team yeah certainly in the tight end room he's generally a blocking tight end last year only four catches for 52 yards but he's got the hands it's just hey when you're that good at blocking third down and one absolutely now it's third and one it's a wildcat with Samson Evans and he keeps it not a bad play needed to pick up one you know Evans played quarterback in high school he played a lot of different positions but quarterback was one of them so that's not a foreign play to him yeah Samson Evans a terrific high school player Prairie Ridge Illinois won a couple state championships there yep back to back States Champs is a junior and a senior he's a four-year starter and then he spent a couple years at Iowa before transferring to Eastern Michigan and to think he's got the career touchdown rushing record and started his collegiate career somewhere else yes Evans with 111 High School rushing touchdowns 111 total 155 fake to Evans Smith looking for a touchdown can he get it yes a strike to Tanner canoe wearing number two this is a beautiful route by canoe excellent pass protection and uh Austin Smith takes his time lets it develop and gets the ball to canoe for the touchdown Kenya Boer in a substitute role tonight on for his third extra point try media timeout Eagles 23 by and nothing Austin Smith has had plenty of protection tonight and throws a nice ball to Tanner canoe wearing two tonight as opposed to 24 what are Chris kraton's concerns at this point over confidence I mean right now they're I mean look Howard is a dangerous team he talked about their physicality their size and their speed however right now Chris Katon has this team prepared I mean they came out iring and it's been consistently excellent across the board in all three phases of the game setting up another return Howard is past the 5 yd line ooh the special teams have been so good tonight for Eastern Michigan this drive barely starts at the 21 yd line there are two offensive touchdowns in the game for Eastern Michigan plus a punt return you get Samson Evans musling his way in after getting the ball down there getting some tough yards and then here Austin Smith finds canoe in the end zone so you being a former quarterback thought Smith should have gotten rid of the ball quicker yeah it's it's hard to critique a touchdown pass but I saw canoe in the back of the end zone he created separation and instead of you saw he didn't lead him so it gave the the defensive back for Howard an opportunity to almost get to the football but if you throw it and let him just go run to it you know then then you're keeping that separation that canoe had already created on his route solid Point ball out 2 with the carry and Wheeler carrying there for a modest gain of maybe two yards two Gain on the play second down and it's David Carter Jr he's the backup free safety who made the tackle there for [Applause] Eastern calendar has flipped to September that means it's time for college football and a lot of it this month with five Fridays and Saturdays of action Williams again the short route not much time to deliver the ball and it's like a running play almost with a pick up to the 24 and it looks like they've got a lot of the second unit out there you've got Luke Cameron playing linebacker TJ Peavey is the Bandit back up you just mentioned David Carter that's kept in shine of course he's one of not only one of the starters one of the standouts but you can see he's rotating people in and I think for Coach kraton you need to to really get depth you have to put your second teamers and some of those backups in in real minutes not in you know when you're up by 50 but in real minutes when the game is not out of hand and that's what he's doing right now excellent experience Williams trying to get a first down did he get one it's awfully close depending on spot at the 30 yd line number that's one will and it is good enough for a first down on the catch by by one Williams it's Mr Williams first name one he is a red shirt freshman 6' 175 talented receiver yeah nice blocking on the left Edge there this game began with uh Eden James running the ball and running it well and then there were some plays that really bit the Bison but James was impressive what we saw early absolutely catching and running the football he had some really nice runs showed some patience and vision and then the burst up the sideline for the really long run but too much too often of after one of those big plays shooting yourself in the foot by Howard mistakes penalties of course the snap that resulted in a safety that's not helpful James is back in Man in Motion to the right side of the field for Quenton Williams Here Comes pressure they pick it up nicely and got a man and that is a touchdown 81 Jamar ion Ryan talked about his speed prior to this possession and because they picked up the blitz Williams threw a strike beautiful pass Pro as you said right up the seam Williams puts it on his receiver and the true freshman from Archbishop Carroll in Washington DC you see how williams looks off to the left to move the safety with his eyes hits Ebron and it's a foot race and I know who's going to win that one he wears no number 81 for Howard explosive Play From The Freshman Junior kicker Dylan West on for the extra point the point after o that hit somebody in the back of the KNE no good well Eastern Michigan blocked the kick last year ran it back for two in a bowl game and it turned the game right around against San Jose State I go back to your words earlier this team is explosive and some people a 23 nothing lead thought oh no come on oh yeah drive back to 2017 if you're thinking upset tonight Howard did just that to Vegas when the point spread was 45 meating Vegas considered to be the biggest upset at that time due to those numbers kayin Newton the younger brother of Cam Newton was the star of that game for the bison and by the way we talked to Larry Scott about coming in for an upset here he said we're not coming in here to uh Shock the World we're good enough to win well that touchdown certainly put some uh spice back in their game this return inside the five could go to the house will go to the house H El at touchdown on the kickoff return good football teams respond to adversity the same way and that's by going right at them and giving a big play back and that's what Eastern Michigan and hamy elat just did Long play long touchdown score for uh Howard and elot gets it back right away what an impressive kick return special teams for Eastern Michigan are showing up tonight he now has a 30 yd punt return and this kickoff return which bumps the lead to 29 to6 and sucks the momentum right out of Howard 30-6 Eagles still a lot of time remaining in the first half immedate timeout [Music] BK Royal crisy WS eat it with the meal or have it as a snack only 2.99 it's a hunger hack and it fits in one hand [Music] F have it your way a Dearborn Michigan native homegrown in the state of Michigan and a 96y yard touchdown return on top of his 30 yard punt return making him easily the Special Teams player of the game it's been three years by the way at forom before heading out over to Eastern Michigan and that kick return was the longest in stadium history third longest in program history there's not a whole lot of room to have a longer return no there only four yards you can't return it more than 100 in college right no sir only the pros although aubert people think the uh kick six was 108 to beat Alabama in the iron balll many years ago 30 to6 in favor of Eastern Michigan you know that that kick return in the Iron Bowl in 10 years from now it's going to be like 112 y yeah Special Teams very special tonight for Eastern Michigan taking advantage of a muffed punt which resulted in two points and then the return there by Jackson you see who got the block there I'm sorry elot with the block to Spring Jackson and then just moments ago the Dearborn native Off to the Races 96 yd touchdown return by the way is an international political economy major and broke some school records in high school part of the 4x100 relay team in Wayne County offense number 26 5y penalty remains first 5y penalty and Gavin Harris the backup running back Eden James got the start tonight he's number five for the Bison had a 55 yd run looked as if Howard was going to be quite competitive early then lots of problems on special teams and after a special team score of its own or rather touchdown pass of its own then the kickoff return of 96 yds by zat El Tristan Hines with his first catch has a touchdown return number Tack and check that Gavin Harris with a catch 13 yd gain second down and two got Gavin Harris leaked out of the back field nice Ball by Williams to get it to him Hunter on the carry Jared Hunter with his first First Carry we expected to see more of him but now we've got Gavin Harris and Jared hunteran that's the fourth bison to carry the football from the running back position the three running backs are all different Eden James Styles is one way Hunter's got the skill set and Wheeler's got the speed needing to pick up a yard and did so so they can move the chains past the 35 yd line with about eight and a half minutes to go in the opening half Eastern Michigan leading by three scores and a few two Point conversions talking to offensive coordinator Lindsay Lamar he said that Jared Hunter number two is the best leader on the offense he said he's a quiet player but when he speaks it means something he also spent some time talking about his presence and the energy he brings yes and when Jared Hunter is in the building you know it because of this positive energy that he brings love to hear that Robert Jones on the carry let's look ahead to week number two in the Mac ESPN plus New Hampshire against Central Michigan the chips trying to upset Michigan State tonight baling green will host Eastern Illinois I see northern and southern Texas southernland battle Toledo you will be an Acron for Morgan State and Ohio and it's outstanding quarterback at Florida Atlantic in the Heat next Saturday night Quinton Williams has a touchdown throw in this game and there there's nobody available on that play and I think Howard thought there was some defensive pass interference as larer was bumped going out yeah dayquon white the true freshman from Fairburn Georgia Creekside High School was covering aazza and they collided about 15 yards down field that's why Williams pass was so far off the mark and also why U was pleading his case to the officials asking him why the yellow flag is still in the pocket think there should have been a penalty I don't think so I mean just because you're running a route and you run into a Defender who's in a position it's kind of like you know I have a right to be here too you know like basketball incidental contact Williams keeps backpedaling penalty flag on the play usually that's holding and Williams was in trouble from the moment that ball was snapped yeah it was a real good pass rush off the edge personal foul hands to the face Defense number 47 15yd penalty from the previous spot inad automatic first down hands to the face will give the Bison 15 yards move the ball into Eastern territory and a first down yeah it's Justin Jefferson backup linebacker coming into rush and he got his hands into the face a Demetrius with Witherspoon not been a penalty free game but most of the penalties the set so far have gone against the Bison how about this receiver set here on first down everybody wide right and now they'll send one receiver in briland Smith to the left a four receiver set for Williams not much time to throw looking for Smith who pushes off down to the 15 yard line it was defended nicely down there it'll be second down yeah that was Joe spasio the linebacker number 19 who went out with brilin Smith and that's the mismatch if you're Howard that's exactly what you want you want to get a wide receiver while lined up as a running back you move him out to W to to the wide receiver position where he naturally is and they've got to take a linebacker so you mentioned the three to the top you go one-on-one wide receiver linebacker and you hope he wins that one-on-one matchup what's the best formation you liked as a quarterback I loved throwing at the tight ends really oh yeah well I mean it's the shortest pass it's the biggest target it it hid some of my inaccuracies when it came to throwing the football oof like that pass underneath it to help your percentages dear Ebron with a catch and Ebron gets the first down he already has a touchdown reception in this game and here come the Bison right back Ebron you see him here look at the burst and he just takes it straight looks like he's running at a different speed than everybody else lowers his shoulder at the end Ebron Ebron picked Howard Over Buffalo Bowling Green and Boston College really what a g yet for Howard University no kidding Quinton Williams now 7even of 14 in this game double move double coverage too that's a tough pass to throw intended for nashan ezekia and it goes as an incompleted pass ezekia is another one of those outstanding freshman on this Howard team ran like a hitch a little lay and then took off what I would like watch if he sells it a little bit more if we see the wide receiver's route here see you see the pump fake the shoulder fake but what Williams isn't looking at is the safety coming off the edge that's quintavius scandrett wearing number three you've got to keep your eye on that guy because that's nearly an interception with him coming off that hash yeah solid Point second and 10 from the 34 of Eastern Michigan that's a quarterback keep by Williams coming up at halftime we'll take a look at Georgia Bulldogs shooting for for a three Pat I remember when Pat Riley the Lakers was trying to uh put that into a a paid admission if you refer to three p he got a percentage of it well the the Bulldogs are knocking on a door to try to get three in a row and are the favorites by the way to do that as we start the new season yeah he tried to trademark it yeah like no this is mine I made this word up I don't know how far it got but uh it's a good try also difficult to collect on that yes third and eight clock moving under six first half you might have got a cease and assist letter for even mentioning it on the Jim Willams to the near side I'll let my wife handle a mail then intended for Wayne Dennis high will be fourth down and certainly it's a go forward territory unless they want to attempt a field goal which would be lengthy close to 50 yards here and Larry Scott says they've got a good kick on Dylan West his range is close to 50 but when you're down as far as you're down here attempting to get six makes a whole lot more sense well you got to take some chances sure and it's all dependent on the game need to get to the 24 Williams flushed out and has to throw in a run and they will not make it go verasio with a tackle the grad student tack who started his career as a walk- on here at Eastern Michigan time step away with five and a half to go in the first half talked a lot about special teams in the offense of Eastern but how about his defense tonight lights out this go took over our office and he's using it to send out medical bills good hands hospital bill for Prime yeah did you just say Gap he's talking about expenses health insurance doesn't cover good thing coach Prime knows about say it one time Al because alac gets you money to help close that Gap now how do we get this goat out of here Al meet one of my new homies get help with expenses health insurance doesn't cover is an official sponsor of ESPN college game day elephant would have been scarier 180 180 hello Patrick Mahomes who do you even play for team mobile T-Mobile has plans that make upgrades work for you they even have a plan which makes you upgrade ready every year that's good play Callin cheers take charge of your upgrades with our best go 5G plans at T-Mobile rois it asack only 299 it's a hunger hack and it fits in one hand [Music] F have it your way on season 6 of fansville it's the last year of college football as we know it what's going on the road to the playoff is expanding to 12 Lanes rivalries are crumbling why are you leaving TV Revenue wouldn't understand so we're just not Rivals anymore tensions are rising where's the flag these refs should be criminally investigated do something cuz this season things are heating up what's happening Sheriff it's a transfer portal it's out of control Dr Pepper the one fans deserve become an auntie book a flight stay four nights meet the baby make the baby cry give the baby back fly home Siler in a single trip Join one key and move up tears fast when you drive a ram summer is more than a season it's an opportunity to get more in before the sun goes down make this the summer you drive America's best light duty pickup hero come with me to a seance detective you are here here to discredit me but I can talk to the dead mom what is happening someone has been M on a ghost killed her one of you is the killer no one shall leave until I find her if the living have been killed by the dead you were saying a haunting in Venice PG13 only in theater September 15th oh to be a kid again huh back at rers Stadium hian Michigan Michigan State has been limited to two yards minus passing and has been shut out by Central Michigan in the first half and in the battle of the miamis Tyler van djk has thrown a touchdown pass for the U they lead 10- nothing but both coaches Jim M for Central Michigan and Chuck Barton for Miami always do a solid job against FBS opponent I don't think those scores are stunning at all no not at all Central Michigan's you know them holding Michigan State to two first downs like you said NE only 42 total yards of offense in the first quarter came to play we'll update those scores as we go along we have five minutes to go here in the first half Eastern Michigan leading 30-6 Smith pass is batted around hit a receiver then hit a Defender and it falls to the turf and that went right through the hands of Max Reese I think that's Clayton perin number two who had hits him in the helmet let's see there's a little hot sauce on this ball yeah yep right off the head of pin and then almost intercepted by another one of the Bison Defenders by the way we're playing on the gray Turf tonight just one of three FBS stadiums that has a colored Turf Boise Idaho has the that I think everybody is quite familiar with probably the one that comes to mind immediately in the blue field Austin Smith short of the first down I believe or did he get it h Blake Daniels is going to be a little short where they're Mar marking him in one and they're I I imagine they're going to keep the offense on the field with Samson Evans well with a new change in time where they don't stop the clock after a first down why not make the most out of every possession even if you're in your own territory bringing linebacker Luke Cameron I believe off the left Edge on offense excuse me three seconds to step and they get the first down with the don't you think the new clock rule has uh made analytics uh gurus happy it's a chess game between the the analytics people and and the NCAA and the rules because as soon as they feel like they the analytics guys have the game figured out they switch a rule and they're like now you can start all over again it you know it really does bring a different level of strategy to the game when you know you're going to have less possessions like you said go for it here because at this point they're running the four-minute offense they could almost exhaust short of a big touchdown play they could exhaust the rest of this quarter and hold on to the football we got a four-core lead and once again Smith finding hosi his second catch of the game good enough for the first down Austin's done a lot of checking down in this game and of course when he start to bring people up then he throws the Home Run ball so he's had his way another man wide open oh picked off oh it's picked off Ray Williams how about that interception looked like he had a receiver open in hams Al Zat and Williams just made a terrific interception well he was short underneath the route I don't believe will uh Austin Smith saw him and he dropped and basically put a big hand out and brought it in but you're going to see Austin Smith's Vision here he's watching the wide out and you see him coming underneath so Ray Williams had the swing receiver in the flat Austin Smith expects him to take him he reads the quarterback's eyes bailes into the passing Lane and intercepts it beautiful play first pick thrown by Austin Smith still time remaining in the first half 3 minutes and 8 seconds for the Bison to counter started this game with Eden James carrying the football and he had the 55 yd aforementioned run and James so far in this game has become the principal Ball Carrier down and timeout situation two remaining for the Bison we see how patient they can be sticking to their stuff they want to keep it on the ground they don't want to get too pass happy here but the clock again running as it is Will dictate that Williams flushed out and throwing first down to Midfield I don't want to oversell this game because it's 30 to6 Ryan but a touchdown into two brings you within two scores and that's hardly insurmountable in college football oh not at all and we've seen the explosive big play a nice pass on the Run getting it to one Williams and the're moving again but we've seen what Howard is capable of this time Richie aasa continues his reception from last year a pass caught in every game excuse me offense coordinator Lamar Lindsay was really spoke highly of os's hands his route running sh it off here today Williams again to throw he got a man wide open that one nearly picked off Ken Gully almost had it you know Eastern Michigan they play almost all manto man they play more manto man than anybody in the mac and almost anybody in the country when you do that you see them rotating in new guys and keeping fresh bodies cuz it's not easy to cover manto man a whole game design run now Easter Michigan changed his defense last year did it not they did yeah after like week four or five and the Howard coaches spoke to that the offensive side they're saying well look you watch tape depending on when you're watching you're seeing something totally different quarterback sneak and they're going right behind Seth Hawkins up front the center Darius Fox the left guard and Tim Artis Jr helping out so we're under two minutes in the first half the clock will stop as opposed to anything beyond two minutes when a first down is made and now it's running they get the change set they wind it same with us at half time highlights scores and a visit to the Georgia Bulldogs Dynasty Williams out to the flat ball caught good enough for the first down that will stop the clock again or was it pass intended for Williams incomplete well the calling they're acting as if it's caught ring of the previous play is an incomplete pass okay you know it's interesting when you see the guys down on the field the reaction from the defender immediately says it's no catch and then he said he pushed off so would you challenge that well here comes the ball coming out one the previous play as an incomplete pass plays underw yeah I would why not you know if I'm coach Scott why not let's challenge it it's a big it's it's a big play because what happens is he catches it I believe and he rolls over and then the ball comes out but when is he when does he have the catch and when is he down cuz right now he's done both that would make it a catch right I think it's a catch right like that's a catch as of right now and it's a down receiver and then the ball comes out now I don't know if there's another camera angle that's going to show us whether that ball was moving and he caught it clean but from what I see there and the replay officials likely have other angles they could see but from what I see that's a catch you get one challenge in the game if you're successful you keep that challenge if you're unsuccessful you're done and you lose a timeout yes and then the ball comes out after the receiver is down yeah I don't know what to how long you have to be down on the ground before you know the ball comes free and it's it's just a catch or if it's an incomplete pass but to me that looked like a clean catch he was down and then the ball came out and because the Eagles deferred to start the game they're going to get the ball to start the second half this becomes a pretty important drive for Howard again a touchdown could bring them within two scores before the [Music] break well for the game Larry Scott's team has 220 total yards that's a impressive the Ring of the field of inly pass is reverse ball was caught at the 27 yd line Howard so since you were correct Ryan you get to keep your um your judgments and you still have another judgment remaining thank you or two or three maybe well right now I'm one and one one and0 on the season if we can get a graphic on that yeah could we we just keep it going I um I I would like to credit my offseason film work Williams in trouble and wisely got rid of it the last minute otherwise that would have been maybe a 10 or 15 yard sack and more importantly probably Howard has to use a timeout there yes but that's what you get with a veteran poised quarterback good point like Quinton Williams thanks his mom for his determination by the way credits her with uh his Drive in the game of college football that's good stuff a minute to go Williams looking for the End Zone incomplete that's going to be pass interference coming up against Eastern two flags on the play they were looking for brillan Smith up the seam and Cory Hernandez starting in place of Joshua Scott pass interference Defense number five half a distance to goal from the EXC me 15yd penalty first out we mentioned Joshua Scott is out with injury and Chase Klein one of the other key linebackers out with injury as well and remember we talked earlier about being able to I'm I'm allowed to be in this spot also if you run into me well this is a little bit different cuz it looked like Cory Hernandez lost his footing and his balance and he had to use brillan Smith to stay upright but now that that affects brilin Smith's ability to get the football and that's a that's a flag design run again to Williams another quarterback draw to the 10 and now the Bison will use it's second of three timeouts in the first half 50 seconds to go Howard they second we have some great games coming up this weekend on the ESPN family networks you probably know them by heart Virginia Tennessee UT and rockytop at home Battle of the Carolinas which is the way the season typically begins with those two playing each other best match up of the week's got to be LSU and Florida State at LSU Ryan's got a lot of injuries so that's going to be a tough game in Orlando to win and Clemson a Duke in an ACC game while the ACC is still intact at the moment I saw a uh someone sent me an image and it said uh the Big 10 it had every college team and then it said independent it was Notre Dame everybody else in our conference and if you want entertainment if you're traveling to college football on the weekend just listen to ESPN radio and all the conversation on uh what free agency has done to conferences across the country it is uh very enticing to uh keep the dial there for a number of hours and try to weigh in you know a sports fan from a college football fan from 15 years ago doesn't recognize what's going on today leave the planet and come back it's got to be for second and nine one timeout remain for the Bison well you can't have that you had a penalty to start the game and now you got a penalty after a Time start offense number 50 5yd penalty remains second down so two dead ball penalties the first one I think hurt Larry Scott's momentum to start the game and now this it looks like they got Jamal Hines second down and 14 after the penalty football back now at the 16 can get a first down down to the two pressure on Williams in trouble and down he been pressured a lot but finally brought down on a sack and the Bison now will use their last timeout makes the tackle Grant Randall down at the ground grabbing of Quinton Williams and bringing him to the ground this is aggressive physical pass rush and you see all it takes when you're Tim Grant 511 275 is to get one of those big paws on the lower body of Williams and he's able to pull him to the ground knock him off balance third down so let's look ahead as we like to do and let's suppose you don't make the 19 yds up here you still you have a fourth and long you've got a good field goal kicker three is not going to win the game for you but it Narrows the margin of three scores what would you do I from this I'm going to take the points I mean it's three scores it's makes it 21 you know like I said before you do have to gamble especially when you're the underdog coming in but I'm not sure I'm gambling on Third and 15 you know you could throw it up to the end zone but I would take the points and make it a three-score game the range for ER Dylan West if it gets to this point is between 47 and 49 yds according to the head coach Larry Scott right now it is third down and 19 and no timeouts left got Jared Hunter to the left of Quinton Williams and a three receiver set to his left as well fourman rush for Williams he's in trouble again throwing off the back foot to the Ed Zone incomplete somehow however Quinton Williams kept that Play Alive threw off his back foot and nearly fourth down f hezekia for a touchdown look at Williams this is so difficult when you're being pressured and you're running to the boundary to keep your eyes down field and he did the best he could which is give Hezekiah a chance and now we're going to see bickerton come into attempt what are we looking at here J 38 yeah Aaron bickerton actually will be the kicker here instead of West but this is a makeable one from 38 yards right hash kick to bring to margin within 21 certainly has distance kick is good well for the Bison they get points and confidence going into the halftime assuming 32 seconds goes the way the Bison want I think it's important you know now coach he's got something to talk to the guys that got about there Scott can you know hey look we're right here we're right in it we're playing football math which is count by sevens we're down by three of those and Aaron bickerton who had that rough moment where he muffed the punt earlier that resulted in a safety and he kicked it away in a touchdown for Easter that's a good feel there sure I mean I I believe he's probably the long field goal kicker that's what we're looking at you saw the leg um other kicker Dylan West from akan Ohio he might be more consistent from short range but you know when you bring in your long distance kicker you're asking a lot because you know he's got he's got to hit it and he's got to hit it accurately and Aaron bickerton in a way made up for that earlier missc on the punt from the back of the end zone and speaking of Dylan West he will kick off now Eastern has all three timeouts remaining and a half minute to go and does start the second half with the ball I'm not sure I'm kicking it deep no I think I just squib it and there it is good point it's a ground ball to a short stop at the 15 so you're the Eagles you have 28 seconds you're playing with house money right now with a 21-point lead going to toss it long and go for it I'm going to try and hit a deep comeback let's let's try and pick up about 15 yards where's the ball spotted so I would go to the boundary which is the near side here they're marked on the right hash let's try and hit a deep comeback and get a bunch of yards you still have all three timeouts you can use the middle of the field but let's get a big chunk play here to begin that's what I'm thinking if I'm coach Pike and uh the offense for Eastern Michigan Tanner canoe is winding up on the far left side as the lone receiver there you got oneon-one at the bottom of the screen here instead Samson Evans will carry the football to the 34 Evans on the carry there's also that option run it and take it into the locker room which coach kraton looks content to do right now we well question yeah just curious though if he might uh might take a stab but uh that doesn't count though for my for my referee calls I'm still one to know Jim so noted good first half of the Eagles though on opening night in the factory the first half and Ryerson stadium in epan Michigan your Eagles Howard they have dominated from the start and we'll get the ball to start the second half with a three touchdown lead of 30 to9 Jackson has been key in this one he's gotten plenty of help nighttime football on a Friday Night Under The Lights here in ipsilat Michigan at Ryerson Stadium nicknamed The Factory qu Williams and Howard set to go to work in the second half with a three touchdown deficit in this game Game and his team will be on defense first to start the second half little pooch kick again not wanting to kick it deep to one of the up receivers and so they'll start this possession in in a pretty good spot near the 35 yd line got a surprise brewing for everybody in East Lancing right now where central Michigan and Jim M lead Michigan State 73 remember this name Bert Emanuel Jr who ran into snow last year during maxtion in November he's got the touchdown reception and Central Michigan has the lead he's a real talent he's a Swiss army knife type of guy who can play a lot of different positions one of the most versatile players in the mac and now the Spartans are finding out why got to remind you a little hesitation here with the ball you take it no you take it yeah and the Bison nearly had a chance to take take it from Jackson and actually get the ball in their possession see what happened here between Smith and Jackson Jim I'm surprised on Zone Reed that doesn't happen more often because a running back is just taught keep your eyes downfield clamp down on the football well when does he know whether he's taken it or it's going to be a late pull from Quinton Williams yeah sometimes he doesn't second and 11 three-step drop Smith to the sidelines Tanner canoe first down near Midfield that that'll be good for a first down at 18 yards in the pickup Eastern's receivers are doing a nice job finding spots in the zone he hits canoe here on a comeback to the outside and he also had hamzad El zat on a post where he had come clean in between the safety and the corner this was the safer option and a good completion on second down Tanner already has a touchdown reception in this game and now the football at the 50 where Eastern had the ball in the first quarter after a punt return and then punched it home [Applause] quickly good job defensively by the Howard front including Jamal Stewart Number [Applause] 96 jein Jackson in there as well jein Jackson defensive tackle preseason First Team all MEC which makes sense cuz he was first team all MC last year wearing number 10 they're going up against an experienced veteran offensive line from Eastern Michigan and this this front four of Howard is playing very well well consider again that this defense is limited Eastern Michigan to under 200 yards in the first half and you say well you're down three touchdowns yes but the fact of the matter is it's got very little to do with the action in the trenches it's been special teams that have worked nicely for Eastern well you know at the at the half you showed us the stats and Howard's out gaining Eastern Michigan but of course we're not counting the returns no yardage and the return touchdowns so when you look at those stats if you take you know it looks like it's an even game on the scoreboard because the stats are even however 14 points 16 points really on on special teams absolutely you're you're looking at a five-point game if you take those away but you know you can't take them away they happened a rushing six and Blitz Eastern Michigan picks it up incomplete though and so on Downs to start the second half the Eagles gave up the football in less than three minutes that was excellent timing by Robert Jones I thiri watch The Break by number one and as soon as the ball gets there so does Jones beautiful defensive back play pass intended for JB Mitchell II so to start the second half and a credit to the Bison they hold serve and Jamar Ebron who already has a touchdown reception back to the 15 to receive a punt P to punt I don't think Troy Douglas the coordinator defensive coordinator for the Bison should be too disappointed with what's happened in this game no I think they're they're playing well falar offense number 44 fourth down third penalty of the game against Eastern Michigan for 34 yards Ryan mentioned the first half and six Howard penalties that two with really zero time off the clock and both would delay a game penalties so you can return this ball five yards a little little closer here and a return B who's got pretty good speed in Ebron but this is a gorgeous Punt and he's not going to have a chance right at the pylon which is going to make it a touch back but it came awfully close to landing at the one and out of bounds media timeout heck of a kick 50 yards no return 30 yards on the net go this goat and took over off and he's using it to send out medical bills good hands hospital bill for PR G did you just say Gap he's talking about expenses health insurance doesn't cover good thing coach Prime knows about say it one time because appac gets you money to help close that Gap now how do we get this goat out of here meet one of my new homies get help with expenses health insurance doesn't cover is an official sponsor of ESPN college game day elephant would have been scarier businesses need 5G Solutions today that's why they choose T-Mobile for business MLB partners with T-Mobile to not only enhance The Fan Experience but to advance how the game is played AAA relies on T-Mobile's Network to stay connected Nationwide so they can help get their members back on the road and we're helping Pano AI innovate to stop the spread of wildfires Now's the Time to see what America's largest 5G Network can do for your business popey's new sweet and spicy wings are perfectly sweet and wonderfully spicy just like my nana these are delicious mhm that's why I know you didn't make them we don't make sense we make [Music] chicken at doth an ordinary pretzel just isn't enough so they add savory seasoning and tempting buttery flavor into every delicious twist now that's enough to make you order a special delivery that seems like a lot they're really good dots sensationally seasoned brets the US Open continues through September 10th on [Applause] ESPN Larry Scott the head coach of the Howard bison this is his resume which includes South Florida Miami Tennessee and Florida and by the way it's the interim coach with the U he won four out of six games they were just going for a much bigger name to become the head coach during all their turmoil there yeah he's had the opportunity to coach with and be around some of the best coaches in the game and this week he talked about some of those influences and everybody had a little bit different style that he picked up and he's been able to carry that into Howard where last year they shared a Mak Championship on first down this is Williams he's got a first down and then some check that Casey Hawthorne with the carries Hawthorne carries all the way close to Midfield it's the second time they snuck Hawthorne in as the Wildcat and it just brings a little bit different level of explosiveness on that zone read although that actually looks like a design play cuz in his Zone read you typically don't go off tackle the other way from where the running back is after the 27 yd game cam Smith was one to bring him down now back his quarterback is Quinton Williams running back Ian wheeler to his left Bison on the Move still very much in the game and we say that as wheeler knocks off three yards on this carry because of the fact that they have outgained the Eagles tonight by close to 60 yards and a touchdown here makes this game a little more entertaining than a lot of people thought it would be well the eagle is entertained he's enjoying what he's seeing here yes it's too long special teams returns resulted in touchdowns as we have an injured Eagle at Midfield of Curtis roor who injured himself in the recent game against San Diego State Tim Alvin the head coach said he could have gone back and played in that game so we're hoping he'll be available on tomorrow against Lou while akan will play temple at 2:00 the game's on ESPN plus maxtion and week number one officially week last week is week zero if you're scoring at home in the meantime Zack moin was able to get off on his own power he's substituting for the injured Chase Klein at one of the linebacker spots with r kavanau Jim Barber pleasure to have you with us tonight temperatures now dipping into the 70s as darkness is hit and it is a terrific late summer night in iil play resumes it's second and seven at Midfield for Howard o last minute handoff good enough first down that's wheeler carrying the football Ian wheeler has been a handful and suddenly with the barking up front the the blocking up front of guys like number with tack Dan and Hawkins and Artis the bison are starting to carve some holes football to a 29 touchdown here makes it a two-score game didn't start off like this Easter Michigan let 16 nothing at the end of the first quarter and now a big hole wheeler still going with a football still with a ball and near the end zone down at a two Ian wheeler wow what a run 27 yards take a look at the block by Jamal Hines number 50 and look at the extra effort by Ian wheeler work and pushes it down to the two Howard in business Howard how many guys did wheeler take with him people were falling off of him yeah and other people were getting on first and goal for the Bison wheeler in the back field give to Wheeler again straight ahead and this time he's met by a wall 27 on the carry that's wheeler 11 Coleman was up there but he had some help Cameron on the tackle yeah I was going to say after that last run he might be asking a little much to keep feeding the number 27 a blow right now yeah he's coming out I mean that was a dynamic energetic run down to the two yd line down and and you see Casey ran the uh the Wildcat last time Hawthorne and now we got movement this is where Howard has had some problems tonight false start well by myc that's three false starts or delay a game penalties in this game you know I often say that there's penalties and then there's penalties and that sounds silly but when you're on the three yd line and you have to back up to the eight penalties underline yeah those are like in bold or italis size like they matter more you're on the three and now the The Playbook could change Hawthorne's still in it as the Wildcat so we'll see he's going to run the football to the five and he gets back to the three which was the original line of scrimmage bring up third and goal he wants to go quickly before Easter Michigan can get set he wants to get in the end zone he's going to follow Eden James again I imagine Hawthorne's going to keep it big play right here especially for the Bison snap to Hawthorne he will keep touchdown hawthor on the once trailing 30 to6 now down 30- 15 he foued behind the big left tackle aan Dena and Aiden James the running back with a beautiful kick out pushing his man up the field h Thorn slips behind and into the end zone should mention it again the Dana 6-9 367 that is uh it's it's easy for a guy like Hawthorne 511 a buck 95 to just get low hide behind him and it's tough for the defense to even find the runner when you have a man the size of Dana in front of you Dylan West to ad the point after here's Dylan West for the 16th point of the game we have a lot of whistles here though p is good and the Pat is good so at 820 to go in the third quarter there is a flag down back in the three yd line Mar after the kick and the referee Matt pakowski will huddle with the rest of his team which includes Brett Denker William McCoy John Schwartz Nate Robinson Jeff pel Devin Aller Kyle Harbor up in the booth Keith zerbone Alex Bara what might this be about uh I don't know if it was going over the top of the center which you cannot do by the way mhm that's why it would be a penalty yeah potentially that happens a lot in football doesn't that yeah too much dir dur the play personal foul on the defense 46 for leaping will be en forced on the kickoff got media timeout [Applause] this game appeared to be a blowout of 30 to6 now it's a game and Hawthorne and the Wildcat and quarterback spot has made it that 316 their quarter cannot go over the top to try to block a kick that's a 15yd penalty on the defense which means now the Howard bison after scoring a touchdown and cutting the margin to 14 can kick off from Midfield and wear here for an onsite kick or short Pooch I mean because if you don't get it they're not kicking it deep anyway so last one they took over at the 30 with a little Pooch so I expect him maybe to pop it up or try and get after an onsite kick here sure West a kick just like that to the end zone he goes good for 60 yards and put ball out to the 25 well I think you laid out all the options on that play So yeah I covered all of them covered your your bases how about this football game what what's turned it around for the Howard bison well their defense first of all their defense did their job coming out got the football back for their offense and then they just decided to man up and get physical up front I really like the wrinkle too of bringing Casey Hawthorne in as uh the Wildcat because what that does is gives you an extra blocker yes Hawthorne's done a very solid job and helping lead his comeback canoe in motion on the left side of the field [Applause] and Smith throwing on first down there's nothing available there that was tremendous awareness def robt Jones the third with great Pursuit on the outside and canoe had nowhere to go Jimmy read it right away and took the right angle so when canoe caught it Robert Jones was draped on his back threw him down for a for a uh no game Eagles were concerned about the speed of Howard and now that Howard's playing with the some Moxy here we're starting to see some of it yeah sometimes you can't let it let guys or a team hang around there's canoe off the handoff on the end of round Cuts up field gets a solid gain which will leave us with a third and manageable and the Bison now in a position with a stop here to get the ball back now those are the quarterback's favorite passes sure it's a forward pass you just flip it to the guy running by makes her completion rate look good yardage look at Howard here trying to rally the troops and defensive backfield Kenny Gallop Jr number zero the leading tackler for two years getting the sideline into it top here screen players jumping around stop will be big here for the Bison halfway through quarter three Long Count by Austin Smith trying to draw everybody off sides hasn't worked yet play clock at three Smith throwing downfield in coverage incomplete there was contact but certainly not enough to bring this play back as Kenny Gallup Jr what can you say about him as a strong safety yeah they were trying to get it to the big tight end Blake Daniels and Kenny Gallop inside track perfect position and Howard's going to get the football back this defense has stepped up look at the sidelines there and the the feeling of the bison and how this has dramatically changed for a 16 nothing deficit into the first quarter it's interesting Jim when you look at the sidelines you can tell exactly what's going on good point in the game because Eastern Michigan right now they don't have any of that going on they're just kind of walking around that punt is going to land out of bounds around the 40 first and 10 now for Howard Howard bison have two touchdowns in this game and both have been significant one on a 69 9 yard pass from Quinton Williams to Jamar ibran which I think gave him some life here in the first half and then in the second half after a defensive stop to start the third quarter Hawthorne runs one in coming in in the Wildcat position and quarterback spot congratulated by Eden James and it is a 14-point deficit and the Bison have the ball well the offensive Line's playing very well right now for Howard we'll see if they keep it on the ground get Deshawn Ingram playing in Center in that last series The laid handoff looks like it's James trying to carry the ball here past the 40 and he's able to pick up four again if you're just joining us Eden James is the son of the great Edan James who started with the Indianapolis Colts and led them to a Super Bowl championship in Miami as we have an injured bison and this is the first bison to our knowledge to actually go down in quite some time well it's Dan so this would be huge loss yeah preseason All-American who's played guard and [Applause] Tackle as they address his injury next week in the Mac lots of good football coming up on ESPN plus Central Michigan which now Trails Michigan State at the break just 10 to 7 will play home most to New Hampshire Bowling Green what a year last year that coach lefford had with bgu Southern and Northern illo north of Chicago will battle there Texas Southern against Toledo Toledo always having a great Mac run forom against Buffalo the Bison Under The Lights by partner will have Morgan State and akan and Ohio if Ro is able to go against Florida Atlantic next week Dana apparently off on his own power which is a good sign but it's going to be hard to replace him too well I I'm expecting Cameron May to come in he's kind of the Swing tackle and you look at those thre headed monster running the football of course we were expecting Jared Hunter but it's been Casey Hawthorne out of the Wildcat that has given them a shot of adrenaline in the running game here's James good Pursuit by Eastern Michigan and a good cut by James to take from A Loss into a gain and present them now with a short yardage situation on third down I think he looks like his father when he's running the football really and what what makes you say that it's the low Center gravity that right there nothing there a quick burst and he's got kind of the side to side of Edan James you know he just and physically like he looks a little bit like Edge Edge was a fun guy to have around Indianapolis too and now they're moving around I think that's Hawthorne again no it's not need to pick up a yard they're going to get the yard a bran Smith yes sir Smith right now the Bison under leadership of their offensive coordinator Lindsay Lamar throwing a lot of things at Eastern Michigan and they're working yeah well right now the wild cats working again because you've got someone like Eden James who's not afraid to put his head in there and block and you have now outflanked and outnumbered the defense because again if you have a a quarterback or you put a wide receiver there it gives you an extra blocker Quinton Williams back in at quarterback and it is Cameron May number 56 who has replaced Dana on the left side of that line watch out for Jamar Ebron one of his favorite receivers Williams throwing the Home Run ball here in man coverage incomplete we mentioned the offensive coordinator in Lindsley Lamar so with them going quickly is this what he calls the one minute offense yeah that's what he yeah there's no two-minute offense one minute offense how quick can we get down there and score yes but it's a it's like a 10-second offense if you throw it to Ebron like that because he catches it he's gone and you predicted it partner and he took a shot deep to Ebron and they love that match up to start the game anyway and if they're able to draw more defenders in that secondary look for Williams to do a little bit more running he's got three receivers though to the right trips send up put on the field to James and Edge James gets the first down should say Eden James that just the dad and he picks up 12 p uh spasio on the helmet there saying hey big guy I know you're they stopped me but look at this right what a spin I can't remember this week if it was the offense coordinator Lindsay Lamar or head coach Larry Scott but they said we asked him about Eden James here with another good run and he said you know we had to explain who Edan James was these guys didn't know he said maybe just a half a dozen people actually knew who James was and who he played for yeah oh Eden's fun to watch isn't he he Starter by the way to begin this game tonight well you know he runs with more power than he looks like he should have he's very difficult to bring down you see him bouncing off tacklers he's got great balance and he's got a tremendous will to continue driving his feet and get the extra yard he's done that consistently tonight and Howard's running downhill right now they are they are imposing their will with the big guys up front got eight yards on that first down carry the football out the 27 almost like a free play here brings up third down not much loss though because you're still going to have two chances to get the first down it'll be third and two some miscommunication there between receiver and quarterback [Music] students trying to get this Eastern Michigan defense fired up Suddenly It's a football game from 30-6 to 30- 16 bison on the move and get the first down inside the 25 yd line Jared Hunter the kid with the best skill set according to the coaching staff picks up the first down there is an injured Eagle back at the 35 they've had a few guys have hit the turf [Applause] tonight well the momentum is swung in this game I think that's obvious if you've been with us tonight it's been a tale of two halves frankly yes sir every because even when Howard had big moments in the first half Eastern Mion Michigan would respond and from an energy standpoint and a momentum stand point they completely took it back well right now Howard came out this in the second half with the momentum they scored they got the defensive stop and they haven't given it up when you think about the longest kickoff return in stadium history of 96 yards by Elie Zat and when he did that that came after Howard had its first touchdown so after getting punched in the mouth they punched back and you thought well I wonder what Howard has left at this point and I guess the answer to that is a lot because that return turn of 96 yards by LZ yacht was uh could have been a back breaker yeah well you know again we we spoke about this in the first half a lot I mean it's easy to be a front runner but when you get punched in the mouth how are you going to respond and when when when things are tough you know really good programs with good coaches they're going to keep their guys heads in the game and keep them focused and you realize this is not a 15minute game it's four quarters and I believe that's what coach Larry Scott who we're looking at right now did with his team I kind of wish I was in the locker room because they came out with a different fire and energy and right now they're the aggressor with first and 10 inside the 25 315 remaining clock running third quarter Williams might be changing the play from the shotgun to the end zone touchdown Casey Hawthorne who's done it from the shotgun and from the Wildcat now as a receiver and it's 30- 22 Quinton Williams took three or four deep shots on this drive alone and he finally connected with Casey Hawthorne when it mattered the most corner of the end zone and Howard is within one score of Eastern [Music] Michigan and for the moment looks like the better team team third quarter tells you that the stats would tell you that big time throw from that man Quinton Williams timeout Howard Howard's going to use the timeout here that's 16 straight bison points and another look at Quint Williams and his second touchdown throw of this evening and again looks left comes back and this is a dime right between the numbers Casey Hawthorne it's not terrible coverage it's just a terrific throw and catch I think you thought in the first half he wasn't throwing as well as he should how about the second half now well that play was good but the consistency you know some of these other deep passes now it might have been miscommunication with your receiver you know some overthrows but right now he seemed to settle in and one more important thing that was that was linebacker Joe spasio in coverage so Howard has done a good job of scheming in game planning getting a wide receiver lined up man-to-man with a linebacker in space and that has resulted in a comeback maybe not for the ages but certainly of this young season the extra point brings them within seven so if I told you late first quarter we'd have a one-score game late third your reaction would have been you can fill in the blanks here uh surprise yeah you just based on watching a game you know that's why you play four quarters because what I saw in that first half was an Eastern Michigan team that could do no wrong and they were physically I don't want to say dominating Howard but they were they were winning a lot of the battles right now it's Howard who has decided hey we're going to give it to this guy we're going to get let Eden James run the ball we're going to get the ball to Casey Hawthorne but this Eden James this what I'm talking about this special kind of running and a refusal to go down on First Contact and he's done it time and time again look at the number of people that have to hit him before Eden James goes down but that offensive line Jim they're big they're strong and they appear to be getting stronger as this game goes on James now nine carries Ryan for 96 yards that's 10 yards a carry and he's the leading rusher by far of anybody here in this game as a person you know we were talking to the sports information Department prior to the game and they said it does doesn't matter what the situation is Eden James has a positive outlook on it yes so that's what you really need from a leader from the guy you're going to put the ball in the hands of you know when you're down it's okay we just stay stay the course and keep in the fight and this is dangerous they're kicking off yes oh boy fortunately for the Bison they were able to send this to the far side of the field before this turned into a disaster and now we've got contact on both sides sideline judge referee in there umpire as well and both sides with uh some mediators there fortunately are sending everybody back and say let's keep playing F it's pretty good game I don't know if they were all mediators that's true I mean it looked to me like I know mediator and instigator are pretty close but you must be a lawyer in real life uh the prior three me meetings was 386 Edge it's a 3023 game right now and Eastern's got to show something on offense well Samson Evans is back in we haven't seen him in for a while Blitz by white yeah he picked it up too and a huge loss on the play and the sidelines explodes for Howard at the top of your screen and you see the get back coaches tell it almost looked like Christian white number 25 knew the snap count he got in on Samson Evans as soon he took the hand off got an injured bison as times going be called with two and a half to go in the third but white is a man he has been fun to watch Deion Harry in there as well white was third Team all M last year played in all 11 games this year preseason second Team all meak he's playing like a first teamer though he is little a lot of spirit and fire in the sidelines and look he's he's 5112 200 he doesn't he's not one of these big linebackers like again Terence Holly next to him is 61 220 so but you can see the timing and the intelligence again the coach on the defensive field is that man Christian white defensive line coach for this team is Vernon Hargraves the linebacker coach Warren Bellon Kon Jared is the defensive back coach and the coordinator is Troy Douglas and right now the Bison have swung the pendulum of the in this game and Austin Smith and his offense have got to come up with a score but a little distance between themselves and the hard charging bison I wanted to use hard charging and bison before the night was over so there's my one reference here you go second and 14 after the loss of four everybody's got a bucket list yeah just check that off Smith pressure over the middle not much available though he got back to the original line of scage we had get rid of the ball quickly hit Ginger but there he is Christian white right on the back of G Ginger and they're still third and 11 third and 10 can make a stop here they get a chance to get the ball back and tie the game oh and that's what you can't afford to do if your Howard just gave a free five yards Ian white jumping off sides [Applause] [Applause] offside defense so from third and 10 it becomes third and five in other words to manageable Yeah Austin Smith with the hard count and then watch Brian Dy the Right Guard jumps also because once he moves and Ian Smith is still oh they did it again no flag thrown though well because he got back and yeah and that's what I was saying about Brian douly with the heads up veteran move to to jump off himself because he was drawn off by the defense High snap to Smith in trouble and he blitzed and he got smoked back at the 25 yd line wow hope he's okay he never saw that coming no he did not that's Dion Harry take a look at number 19 Big Move dip and rip gets in on Austin Smith wow Howard that was a big time move from Deion Harry guty call by Troy Douglas The Blitz on a third and Five results in an incompleted pass more importantly bison to get the ball back and a chance to tie the game well Larry Scott told us during the week we didn't come here to shock the world we did come in to win and we thought we could win absolutely headed toward Ebron and it'll die inside the 20 127 to go in the third quarter if here we with us at the start went away for a while and came back stick around got some Dramatics happening in this game thanks to the credit of Larry Scott's team and Chris kraton probably has gone from being a bit relaxed being quite concerned now as the two touchdowns in the third quarter have brought the Bison from DC back you said before it's all about Casey Hawthorne on the ground excellent blocking I mean you've got Jamal Hines number 50 looking for someone to block and then here's Quinton Williams once again moving the defense with his eyes and then throwing a strike hitting number three right on the number Casey Hawthorne one on the ground one through the air number three is in the back field as a quarterback right now and he will keep the ball I don't know you call that a quarterback run or a wildcat run but either way not of available for Hawthorne on first down good play by Peavey but a good sign for Howard a men Dana the big uh left tackle weing number 77 back in the game there's your line score in the game all Eastern Michigan for a half Howard has flipped the switch in the second half got only one on that play as we are under one minute to go quarter three Quinton Williams three-step dropping in trouble and now just get rid of it no he did not feel anybody was open there is a penalty flag on the play but also as this is a penalty coming up against Howard and likely will be declined Smith had to get rid of it or rather Williams had to get rid of it [Applause] quickly legal form8 offense five in the back that penalty's declined third down you know they were trying to set up the middle screen for Eden James and when Quinton Williams had to scramble it was a good decision to just throw it down because throwing it down field likely there's a lineman downfield because they don't know that Williams and the timing of the play was thrown off if you're Ben need on the defensive coordin EAS are you blitzing here that's a good that's a good question they don't Blitz a whole lot you know they play pretty true on the manto man I'd be morec conc certain about uh just covering our guys and no Blitz they Rush four made to pick up nine and ball is caught enough for the first down Ezekiel with a catch huge play by Williams with the heat coming on and the Bison move the change and keep the ball as we're wrapping up the third quarter that time it was a rifle shot from Williams getting it to his receiver Hezekiah before the safety can come off the edge that's what you call a whole talent to get it there Quinton Williams did just that number 10 is Nan hezekia who Target and big play potential and is a freshman two tight ends Williams over the middle got a man whoa there was one of the tight ends and Bren and Brown and Brown would had a lot of space if that play have been completed third quarter is over the third quarter fourth quarter coming [Applause] up pulled up a chair it's getting exciting 3023 Eastern [Applause] Michigan earlier a tale of two halves these are the third quarter numbers Howard on the left Eastern Michigan on the right 159 to 29 in total yards and a third down a perfect four of four versus Easter it's 0 of three thus a dramatic turnaround in the game I think the most interesting stat was eight first downs for Eastern I mean for Howard only one for easn I'll tell you what the game day experience here in Ryerson stadium is one of the best in the Mac yes they they they do a really nice job here you saw the Eastern Michigan marching band in the background one of the best in the midwest Williams over the middle close to the first down marker they'll spot it a yard shorted tow make that Casey hawthor on the catch it is now third and one number Tack pick up of nine and Hawthorne you mentioned the Swiss army knife the Randall L remember him from the days of Indiana and the Pittsburgh Steelers Antoine randel l yeah need to pick up a yard they've got the yard and then some three-headed monster that was highlighted at the beginning of the game Jared Hunter carrying the football that's the 40 yd line bison who have doubled up the yardage for Eastern Michigan for the game are on the move again and this is this is the end of the third quarter that's Eden James heading into the locker room wow not a good sign for the Howard faithful and we are likely going to see a lot more of Jared Hunter oh we got a flag yep Williams to throw it's going to be incomplete let's see what the flag is all about pass intended for Harris incomplete in the Mac Tonight Michigan State leading Central Michigan 10-7 into third Miami of Ohio trailing Miami of Florida 243 in the third lots of action tomorrow legal form on the offense number 57 lined up in the back field 5 remains first down it's Cameron May the red shirt freshman was backing up Dana earlier you know this is the third penalty for an illegal for formation for Howard in this game check that Demetrius Witherspoon excuse me he is also a freshman 67 and 330 the penalties have really added up they say he's line in the back field I mean he's has he has to be in the back field he 67 330 or do you want him to line up he's he's on the line and in the back field delayed handoff and pass the original line of scrimmage on First and 15 three timeouts remain for Eastern Michigan two for Howard there you see Demetrius Witherspoon he is a high expectations he's a high ceiling type guy I think Hunter might have lost his mouthpiece he certainly was acting that way yeah second down he remains in the game however little fake by Williams toss to the sidelines and a penalty flag on the play now the question is who's it against as both Defender and receiver were battling each other yeah there was some Jersey grabbed and it might have been both ways it's kayin Gully on the coverage pass interference Defense number 14 15yd penalty automatic first down another 15yd penalty against Eastern Michigan and another bison first down that intended for ezekiah going to play some great football here at Howard yeah it was back shoulder fade that's where you run up the sidelines and the ball's in the air and when that happens Hezekiah just puts on the breaks and the ball's waiting for him and a lot of times when the defensive back knows it he just grabs it's it's instinctual grabbing for anything first down Hawthorne was able to beat that pressure from the inside and able to make a loss into roughly a three- yard gain can't say enough for the play tonight of Casey Hawthorne what he has meant to this team not only as a quarterback and a wild cat but also as a receiver yeah he's been tremendous good play by spasio and one of the Eastern Michigan defensive lineman end up with the football but they're ruling him down so Joe's the kind of guy that'll be studying late at night at the complex well others have gone home film junkie yeah and that matters matters for a lot of reasons but you can pick up Tendencies now they bring a blitz Williams trying to pick up the Blitz and trouble and just threw it away the whole idea for Williams is get out of that tackle box and get rid of the ball there was contact down the field at the 15 yd line did you see what it was about you know what I think it's extracurricular after the play The Whistle was well blown before the flag but it looks like one of the uh can't tell who the defensive back is oh sure that's uh the true freshman decoin white and one of the receivers for Howard getting into it downfield but I didn't see who the offending party was although that probably wouldn't help me I'd have to see who the second party was cuz the first guy never gets the flag it's always the guy who hits back Matt pakowski has been very busy as the official especially in this second half of the opening game this is a m crew by the way in case you're not aware they're on Howard excuse me got intentional grounding number one of the quarterback he did not get [Applause] B be a loss of down after the play personal foul offense oh man number 81 this is going to oh my gosh third down Howard loses his football game be pretty obvious one why because now we're all the way back at the 34 yd line which means they need to R make a roughly 34 yards to get a first down second at 35 well Ebron was the offending party for the late for the uh unsportsmanlike after so now it's you're looking at a massive that's an extra 15 yards but I bring that up to say he might be the guy to get it back because of his speed and big playability you know you don't like you don't really work to get third and 35 you just take a shot deep and hope hope a guy makes a play yeah and the problem with this is that you had the football in eastern territory but a chance to tie the game and now you are all the way back with a third of the field needing to make up on third down a killer we'll see what you know I'm looking at uh three verticals here and you put somebody down the middle the field and you try to make the put the the one of the safeties on the hash in a box to the side and then you it frees up one-on-one three receivers in the bottom of the screen let's see what Quinton Williams can do on third down instead they'll give the ball to Ian wheeler wheeler breaks one tackle and still is going but it's brought down well well short of the first down and so now the Bison have to give up the ball just think about the penalties from the the beginning of the game now here to the fourth quarter that probably kept the Bison from winning this game I don't think it's unfair to say that well that was that was a back breaker right there now good news for for the Bison is there's still 12 minutes left in this football game and down seven yeah right they just and their defense is playing great good punt as well beautiful one back to the six El a yat with a turn of about 15 yards so they'll start around their own 20 return 11 and a half to go still anybody's game Easter Michigan leading Howard in the battle of the mac and the Mak I'm like you Ryan I love this crowd here tonight Labor Day weekend for the students here in IPS salani Michigan Chris kraton has told us about how in the past he likes to climb mountains with his team he means literally how about Pike's Peak this Ottawa team there and mount reneer and even a chance with Drake one of the colleges he coached to climb Mount kilamanjaro also went to Mount McKinley formerly Mount McKinley took his team from W bash to one of the spots as well and I think if he gets the chance he's going to do the same here with Eastern Michigan but right now the mountain it's probably that big defensive line of the Bison who have put a stop along with the secondary on Eastern's offense in the second half well you mentioned Troy Douglas the defensive coordinator for Howard and we spoke to him this week about the physical offensive line of Eastern he said we've been going up against a big physical offensive line for the last month they're are guys so we're prepared and whatever they throw at us however physical they're going to be our guys have seen it and it's showing right now deep in the fourth quarter they just stuffed Samson Evans for a no- yard uh gain second and 10 Austin Smith a lot of time in trouble but a lot of room to run I mean a whole lot of room first down Austin Smith pass the for a huge play by the quarterback just a sophomore who took off and did exactly what Howard was afraid of you got to have contained and Christian white here gets sealed inside he doesn't keep his outside arm free and that allows quarterback Austin Smith to hit the edge and turn on the Jets big play from your veteran quarterback good for 22 yards moves the chains little more than 10 minutes to go in the game Eagles holding on to a seven-point lead and Howard has been playing a lot of two deep safeties far off look how close everybody is the line of scrimmage now and they're going to go for it why not home run ball incomplete in double coverage down to the 30 yard line trying to get canoe but you know all game Jim their safeties have been too high at about 10 12 15 yards now everybody's within seven yards and if you're Eastern Michigan you got to take you have to attack them you got to take that [Applause] shot so you're protecting his seven-point lean how pivotal is a score here of any type oh man well the and the clock would be on your side at that point you know you gives you some breathing room room it also uh makes Howard have to get out of what they want to do which is run the football elot carrying the football to the near side of the [Applause] field we've seen some wide receivers do some pretty versatile things in this game for both teams yeah this kid's a lot of fun to watch though yeah he's he can play he plays with great passion and fire you know he's energetic guy third last year college football for him he's a graduate let's see what Mike diakowski draws up on third down as the OC for Eastern Michigan Smith what a cat first down catch and a beauty elatt again to the 40 on a dime to him and it moves the chains with the clock continuing to move under new college rules down to 910 watch number two Clayton per and almost got the interception that is terrific terrific catch now back to Samson Evans and be nice for them to do a little ground and pound here eat up the clock and at least get three out of the drive to make it a two score separation the you got quarterback Austin Smith lost to shoe the he's probably played this game before that one I'm sure plenty of time flushed out for the moment and throwing on the run and ball is caught 27 yd line great catch by Tanner canoe I wasn't sure at first if he got it but he did well you said look at this offensive line protection he can make a sandwich and eat it he has that much time and canoe uses that extra time to break his route off get to an open spot and make a wonderful catch helping out his quarterback if you're Eastern do you slow down the pace of this game right now and use clock yeah I mean you don't have to use his tempo and that's what they're doing it's a great call by you Jim play clock is under 10 now under [Music] five and I think Eastern called a timeout just so they would avoid the penalty so they ate up a lot of time and almost too much time Eastern Michigan that's their but the timeout saves them with 7 and 1 half to go 748 to go here in in the game has his way to school for 4 years Brian comes into my office and he said coach that guy has earned it I am willing to give up my scholarship yeah [Applause] see special one Brian Dy scholarship given up to walk- on offensive lineman Zack Connie all 85 scholarships have been given out and Dy gives up his Smith on the quarterback keep to the nearest side of the field on first down a couple important points on that story Jim coach kraton this week said this wasn't a charity case no Zack kti had been working with the ones and competing for a starting spot for three or four years years and Brian douy came in to his office when there were no cameras and told him what he wanted to do and he knew that kti was thinking about not playing football because he was working three jobs as a walk-on and helping his sick mom and all these things he had on his plate and dly said I want him to have it it will help him more than it helps me and it's the friendship and the bond between kti and duly that allows someone to do that and the last thing Chris kraton said is Brian douy is exactly what U football is all about terrific story canoe with a catch first down move the chains again and more importantly now for Eastern Michigan in field goal range in which they could make this a two-score game as a look at kti number 54 6635 a senior 8 yain first and 16 this is what we saw in the first half from Eastern Michigan [Applause] and as you pointed out Jim they're going to let this play clock go you know if they had their choice they would just run out the clock sure but scoring with five minutes to go and putting that added pressure on Howard that's a lot better than scoring right now so they're going to keep working inside the Red Zone Austin Smith with a football sliding down to the 10 now it's where the slide starts is where they mark it so officially at the 11 or maybe closer to the 12 depending on where the spot's going to be but next play won't be snapped until under six you know we talk about the two-minute offense and Coach Lindsay from Howard calls it the one minute offense but there's something called the four-minute offense and that is when you get the football with four minutes can you run out the rest of the clock sure and right now it's not a four minute they start with about eight but Eastern Michigan is doing an excellent job of that here com comes a blitz High snap Smith picks it up ball caught and because the receiver was down unable to get into the end zone that's Max Reese with a catch everybody here got excited well you couldn't hear the whistle and if this was the NFL and he hadn't been touched he could have gone in but it's not third and two third down but you know these two numbers down here the time and the play clock are so important I said 5 minutes you know they're going to snap this with about 445 left and if they get a first down can eat up two more minutes that's right or so back to the Run game but I think they're short sure are they Samson Evans stopped at the line of scrimmage it is fourth and one so what do you do now if you're Eastern Michigan field goal seems to be a chip shot but at the same time you need a half a yard that's not too difficult either is it no and you got Samson Evans it's offensive line they've went for it on Fourth at least once maybe twice and got it every time so far but when you see when you see coach kraton standing that close to the official that means you're getting a timeout we we give them some more time to deliberate as to what they want to do yeah this going to be about four minutes to go a field goal would all but put this one away for Eastern Michigan but if you can pick up the first down Eastern Michigan Howard has two timeouts you can't kneel it out but you're going to need up a little bit more time we're going to take a break what would you do I'd kick it how about you one they are going to go for the field goal from 25 yds [Applause] out and they're doing this with Kenyan Boer the backup kicker it's a tough angle from that hash yep the hash in the distance trying to stretch the lead to 10 big [Applause] moment got it 25 y all right so you were right in my head I thought you said kick it also our Producer Mike Bachman said we got to go for it but timeout four minutes to go now Howard's got a bigger mountain to climb turning by 10 and Howard in this football game working with two timeouts this short field goal moments ago by the backup kicker number 37 Kenyon Boyer has made a difference in this game but Howard's not out of it but they'll have to go quickly yeah they've got to have some things break their way and they've got to make some plays and they've been successful at doing that including the big play on a couple of occasions tonight expect Ben needam the defensive coordinator go to more of a Zone look as opposed to man coverage I would think so I think you're going to oo Touchback that was very close touch back so this becomes a key Drive of the game moments moments ago Ryan started by Austin Smith who is the second leading rusher by the way for the Eagles tonight yeah great job to improvise and realize nothing's open and then go and same thing here T Tanner canoe helps him out with a nice catch and it's capped off by this Kenyan Boer field goal in the clutch the backup kicker filling in for Jesus Gomez who was hoping to play tonight but not available due to injury Tanner canoe by the way the top receiver in the game for Eastern Michigan not a good start to this drive for the Bison Jared Hunter just stretched out and again one of the stories as you look back at this game is going to be Eden James and how terrific he was and then being unable to go in the fourth quarter y not to say that Hunter and Wheeler are not capable backs you throw Gavin Harrison there but Eden James was having a night Williams another short pass ball caught but the clock continues to move as Casey Hawthorne makes yet another reception in this game shine with a tackle Hawthorne has eight catches for 60 yds brings up a third down and four oh four down territory I would imagine you want to win the game it's four down everything yeah and they got to work a little quicker whims in trouble throwing and in complete and a penalty flag on the play and another pass interference call coming up against Eastern Michigan that's big that's a second one on Kaylin Gully ined for one Williams number 19 fully can't believe it Defense number 14 it's a big play down first down instead of forcing the Bison into a most depw fourth down situation fresh set of downs Quinn Williams doing a good job of extending the play giving his team and his receiver a chance Ken just got on the back back and was a little bit too early now for the 41 with twin receivers to either side Williams little hitch and now in trouble going to be sacked spot him back at the 36 yard by michah Coleman got a hold of [Applause] himan take a look at this effort from Coleman right your screen he just goes through the right tackle that's Witherspoon that's a big man and Micah Coleman set him up to the outside and then bull rushed B are going to use a timeout here which leaves them with one so Larry Scott's team with lindsy Lamar as the offensive coordinator they've got to come up with some big plays now it's only second down but you're down to 251 left and that third sack results in another P courtesy of take a look at one of the stars of the game Casey Hawthorne explosive big time Target pretty good runner too oh he's so quick getting through the hole and look at he doesn't the mouthpiece is just hanging out there he he doesn't even wear it and this was a nice touchdown catch he's after all is a receiver although he's played so much at Wildcat quarterback you might be confused as whether he's a quarterback or a running back but Hawthorne having a night this game approaching three and a half hours and both sides are going to be worn out when it's over second 15 Williams over the middle a little too high had a receiver down at the 45 yd line couldn't get it to him yeah looks like Richie aaza third so two downs to make up 15 yards third quite assuming that they will take a chance on fourth down if it gets the fourth down W with a long look to the sidelines and still looking over there L clock at 10 it's a big play here it sure is I mean all but the game on the line here you know they don't have to get all of it but they got to put himself in good position and they got to pass protect sets up a screen that's going to be called back and that's too bad well didn't matter because on the catch Jared Hunter Dro for a loss yeah they're going to they're going to decline this but Dana with a hold couldn't see who who was working on him but it was pretty clear you see some frustration there the T [Applause] good show of sportsmanship there with Hunter and [Applause] spasio Matt pakowski looking for the sign of the decline from Chris kraton and the sidelines of Eastern Michigan offense number7 fourth [Applause] down yeah you going to see 77 left tackle and you see the speed rush and then gets around him and anytime you get one hand in the back and one in the front and turn the shoulder pads of the rusher you're going to get flagged for that now let's see how Eastern defends this if they Rush three drop eight I guess three are on the line of scrimmage as we speak possibly a fourth but they're sending at least a couple Defenders back near the first down marker got to get it to the 49 of Eastern Michigan in well this could be ball [Applause] game and the Eastern fans are getting behind their defense they feel it Quinton Williams steps up Quinton Williams goes [Applause] down and in on that was number zero Joey zalinski coach zero for a reason tonight too C kraton said I would be at 11:30 I I'd be at the field and here he is working on the dummy working on his pass rushing moves last year when they beat Central Michigan to win the all Michigan Mac the the Mac winner of Michigan there's a trophy and they were taking team photos and the defensive line coach when it was the defensive Line's turn they couldn't find Joey zalinski he wasn't there and he wasn't in the picture when they got to the locker room he was already watching film figuring out how he could have played better that's a level of effort and determination the young man has and it's in big moments like this when that sort of effort and extra work pays off well done young man well said too by the way two minutes to go one timeout remains for Howard no secret right now what to do with the ball little step arm there on the run that draws a reaction from the crowd as a who else with Samson Evans delivers the blow here well we talked about his size and his speed you're going to see some of the power here he just he just threw the defender off of him he's 6 foot 220 257 yards in the desert last year against Arizona State started his career in Iowa we documented this earlier for you at two high school state championships and scored a total of 155 touchdowns at Prairie Ridge in Illinois all right now kill the clock Evans again [Applause] the Howard will use his last timeout some Smiles finally for Eastern Michigan as this one got a little tighter than expected yeah well you know they've helped out coach kraton and the rest of his staff because they now have something to talk to them about and it's that coming out of the third quarter not being flat and not taking a quarter off which is you know not intentionally just appeared to be that way because Howard dominated the third but like all good teams and championship teams do they responded they kept their head in the game and when they need to make plays in this fourth quarter they've done that think back to Howard's effort and how it doubled at times the total yardage of Eastern Michigan clean up the penalties and you're going to be a force in the [Music] Mak there were some significant penalties in this game particularly latter part of this second [Music] half here you see Justin Jefferson one of the linebackers over on the sideline firing up the team it's good to get pushed sometimes early in the season for both of these teams yes and next week Eastern Michigan Under The Lights in Minnesota against the Gophers Evans for the first down and it'll do it officially time to take a knee got to love the low pad level that Samson Evans runs with 5yd gain on the play credit this offensive line revolinski kti Douglas and Roman at Center Alex Howie and of course number 77 the staple at right tackle and the senior Captain Brian douly they've done a nice job leading the way and and really what I what impressed me the most was the pass protection yes Austin Smith had all day all night think about that not sure he was sacked no I don't even know I guess pressured he rolled out once and threw the ball to canoe but other than that almost like a seven on seven he had so much time back there great effort though by Howard to oh tremendous I'm looking forward to seeing what they're doing this season remember co- conference Champs in the makc 4- one in the conference last year and coach Larry Scott's got these guys believing and doing because this is not an easy place to come win at and again FCS against FBS Howard's got a bright future lot of good sportsmanship out there yeah well those two guys played and they met several times Christian white Samson Evans and of coach of course a lot of respect between these two head coaches well the difference in this game we've mentioned penalties but really it was the return game of Eastern Michigan that resulted in two touchdowns that were back Breakers early in this football game starting with Jackson here to the house beautiful return by Jaylen Jackson then El zot he to that 96 yards on a kickoff return after Howard had scored its first touchdown yeah he's like running at one and a half time speed of everybody else yes he's so fast and that was a big one because it was response to the first touchdown from Howard and without those two you without those two special teams touchdowns you you'd think this was an even game in fact Howard with4 yds more of total offense and five more first downs not to build down for with its home opener next week we mentioned the Gophers who defeated Nebraska last night will take on Eastern Michigan Under The Lights next week in Minnesota on Saturday it's been a pleasure Ryan I enjoyed myself very much I hope we get to do this again down the road this year well enjoy akan we'll talk to you also from Northern Illinois next week so for Ryan kavanau Jim Barber so long from Eastern Michigan the final score tonight in a game a lot closer than most people had anti anticipated Easter Michigan 33 and Howard 23 all games er got the ESPN networks are streaming live and archived on the ESPN app this has been a presentation of ESPN e football [Music]