Eastern Michigan 34, Akron 28
Associated Press
AKRON, Ohio - Austin Smith and Samson Evans each accounted for a pair of touchdowns and Eastern Michigan became bowl eligible with a 34-28 victory over Akron.
Eastern Michigan (6-4, 3-3 Mid-American Conference) secured its fifth bowl appearance in six seasons and the program's seventh overall.
Smith threw a touchdown pass in each half. Evans had a 9-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and broke loose for a 23-yard score early in the third to give the Eagles a 31-14 lead. Smith was 16-of-28 passing for 190 yards and Evans had 133 yards rushing on 24 carries. Dylan Drummond had five receptions for 90 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown catch.
Jesus Gomez's 43-yard field goal for the Eagles capped the scoring.
Cam Wiley got Akron close, running for 11- and 56-yard touchdowns early in the fourth quarter to pull to 31-28. Wiley finished with 18 carries for 144 yards. He also had a 1-yard score in the second quarter.
DJ Irons and Jeff Undercuffler were a combined 18-of-34 passing for 223 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions for the Zips (1-9, 0-6).
November 8, 2022
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
EastMi | Akron |
| EastMi |
FG |
7:54 |
Jesus Gomez 24 yard field goal |
3 |
0 |
| Akron |
TD |
4:30 |
Alex Adams 10 yard TD pass from DJ Irons (Cory Smigel Extra Point) |
3 |
7 |
| EastMi |
TD |
2:12 |
Dylan Drummond 40 yard TD pass from Austin Smith (Jesus Gomez Extra Point) |
10 |
7 |
| Second Quarter |
EastMi | Akron |
| EastMi |
TD |
14:21 |
Samson Evans 9 yard TD run (Jesus Gomez Extra Point) |
17 |
7 |
| Akron |
TD |
6:29 |
Cam Wiley 1 yard TD run (Cory Smigel Extra Point) |
17 |
14 |
| EastMi |
TD |
0:38 |
Tanner Knue 10 yard TD pass from Austin Smith (Jesus Gomez Extra Point) |
24 |
14 |
| Third Quarter |
EastMi | Akron |
| EastMi |
TD |
1:30 |
Samson Evans 23 yard TD run (Jesus Gomez Extra Point) |
31 |
14 |
| Fourth Quarter |
EastMi | Akron |
| Akron |
TD |
14:55 |
Cam Wiley 11 yard TD run (Cory Smigel Extra Point) |
31 |
21 |
| Akron |
TD |
12:55 |
Cam Wiley 55 yard TD run (Cory Smigel Extra Point) |
31 |
28 |
| EastMi |
FG |
8:02 |
Jesus Gomez 43 yard field goal |
34 |
28 |
| Team Stats |
| |
Eastern Michigan |
Akron |
| First downs |
20 |
26 |
| Rushing |
10 |
10 |
| Passing |
9 |
9 |
| Penalty |
1 |
7 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
7-14, 50% |
3-12, 25% |
| 4th down efficiency |
0-0, -% |
1-3, 33% |
| Rushes-Yards |
37-152 |
35-163 |
| Passing Yards |
193 |
223 |
| Return Yards |
105 |
141 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
17-29-1 |
18-35-3 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
2-17 |
2-19 |
| Punts |
4 |
2 |
| Fumbles Lost |
1-0 |
1-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
11-85 |
8-75 |
| Eastern Michigan Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| A. Smith |
17 |
29 |
193 |
2 |
1 |
| Akron Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| J. Undercuffler Jr. |
8 |
19 |
133 |
0 |
2 |
| D. Irons |
10 |
16 |
90 |
1 |
1 |
| Eastern Michigan Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| S. Evans |
24 |
137 |
5.7 |
2 |
| A. Smith |
7 |
15 |
2.1 |
0 |
| D. Boone Jr. |
2 |
5 |
2.5 |
0 |
| J. Jackson |
3 |
-1 |
-0.3 |
0 |
| H. Beydoun |
1 |
-4 |
-4.0 |
0 |
| Akron Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| C. Wiley |
18 |
144 |
8.0 |
3 |
| D. Irons |
9 |
32 |
3.6 |
0 |
| C. Price III |
4 |
2 |
0.5 |
0 |
| J. Undercuffler Jr. |
4 |
-15 |
-3.8 |
0 |
| Eastern Michigan Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| D. Drummond |
5 |
71 |
14.2 |
1 |
| D. Lassiter |
3 |
47 |
15.7 |
0 |
| T. Knue |
3 |
41 |
13.7 |
1 |
| H. Beydoun |
3 |
19 |
6.3 |
0 |
| J. Jackson |
1 |
7 |
7.0 |
0 |
| J. Getzinger |
1 |
5 |
5.0 |
0 |
| S. Evans |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
| Akron Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| A. Adams |
6 |
102 |
17.0 |
1 |
| D. George |
4 |
57 |
14.3 |
0 |
| C. Wiley |
4 |
34 |
8.5 |
0 |
| S. Jacques-Louis |
4 |
30 |
7.5 |
0 |
| Eastern Michigan Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| J. Sparacio |
1 |
13 |
| K. Shine |
1 |
5 |
| J. Scott |
1 |
0 |
| Akron Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| B. Arslanian |
1 |
5 |
| Eastern Michigan Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| M. Tomasek |
4 |
181 |
45.3 |
| Akron Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| N. Gettman |
2 |
86 |
43.0 |
| Eastern Michigan Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| Akron Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| T. Grimes Jr. |
4 |
24 |
6.0 |
| Eastern Michigan Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| J. Jackson |
4 |
75 |
18.8 |
| H. Beydoun |
1 |
12 |
12.0 |
| Akron Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| B. Hester |
5 |
112 |
22.4 |
| Eastern Michigan Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| Akron Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| C. Smigel |
44 |
