Eastern Michigan Beats Sacramento State 28-17
Take away Xavier Williams's 29-yard fumble return and Eastern Michigan wins 28-10. That return was Sacramento State's only touchdown in the first three quarters, and it came with 54 seconds left in the first half.
It was a game decided in a nine-minute burst. Nobody scored in the first quarter, then Noah Kim ran in a 5-yarder with 14:20 left in the second. Grant Meadors kicked a 40-yard field goal for Sacramento State, and Kim then threw 40 yards to Santonyo Isaac and Braydon Bennett ran in a 7-yard score, which made it 21-3 with 5:07 left in the half. The fumble return trimmed that to 21-10 at the break.
The third quarter had no scoring at all. Kim threw 31 yards to Nick Devereaux with 13:31 left in the fourth, and Isaiah Ene scored from a yard out with 8:23 left to make it 28-17. Eastern Michigan never trailed and the game was never tied.
Eastern Michigan outgained Sacramento State 356 yards to 272, throwing for 279 and rushing for 77. Sacramento State ran only 16 times for 50 yards, and it had an interception and a lost fumble. Both teams sacked the other twice. The Eastern Michigan receivers spread it around: Ben Prosper had seven catches for 81 yards and Joshua Long six for 44. Isaac's one catch, the 40-yard touchdown, was worth 11 points on its own.
Eastern Michigan is 1-0 and Sacramento State 0-1. Kim went for 27.9 fantasy points despite minus-13 rushing yards, Devereaux had 19.3, and Onterrio Smith Jr. caught nine passes for 17.6 on the losing side.