Eastern Michigan defense hangs on for 16-10 win vs. Northern Illinois, 1st MAC victory

Ypsilanti — The echoes of last Saturday were hard to miss as Eastern Michigan’s defense worked to weather out the final few minutes of a potential win, clinging to a one score lead.

The offense didn’t get what would’ve been a game-sealing 1st down. The opposing offense took over with about a minute to play. And Eastern Michigan just needed to get a stop, still, to win the game. But unlike a week ago in Buffalo, the Eagles defense came up with the handful of plays needed to pull through and survive Northern Illinois and its last-ditch efforts to score a touchdown in a six-point game, forcing four straight incompletions to close out the game. 

And as the last-gasp pass for the Huskies landed harmlessly in the endzone, the Eagles defense could at last exhale.

“When that ball dropped, hit the floor. I was like, 'Whew.' Because at this moment I'm tired as heck,” defensive back Bryce Llewellyn said about the end game situation.

Eastern Michigan (2-5, 1-2 MAC) got its first conference win of the season Saturday, retaking the lead in the fourth quarter and surviving a late push from the Huskies to come away with a 16-10 win. And on an afternoon when the Eagles’ offense didn’t dazzle, the defense managed to step up throughout the game and in critical moments to polish off a much-needed win. 

“Our defense had to go back out there and play and they got it done,” Head coach Chris Creighton said postgame.

Against a Northern Illinois team that features a one-dimensional offense, capable of running the ball and struggling to throw with consistency, the Eagles had a distinct challenge, as the run defense hadn’t been great so far. 

And on Saturday, the defense sold out against the run, opting to leave defensive backs on islands and daring the Huskies to throw. And for much of the day, the Eastern Michigan defense did admirably at stymying the Northern Illinois backs and quarterbacks on the ground. 

One lapse in the third quarter nearly saw the game slip away, though. 

Telly Johnson Jr. took a carry from the NIU 20 to the right side and burst through the hole outside the hash. He cut up field and raced past the two Eagles defenders who had a chance to tackle him and outraced the rest for an 80-yard score. 

It put the Huskies up, 10-6, the first lead of the game for the visitors.

Outside of that 80-yarder, though, the Eagles gave up 118 yards on 33 carries, or about 3.58 per carry. 

There were some missed tackles that Creighton wants cleaned up in the future, but playing against a stable of big, physical runners, he finished the afternoon pleased with the defensive performance.

“We'll take 3.5 against a team that's just committed to running the football,” Creighton said. “We'll take 3.5 yards a carry. But, we can't have that explosive.” 

It began in the first half, which turned into a defensive churn, as neither offense managed much sustained success and neither team found the endzone while combining for 16 first downs, eight apiece. 

After trading punts to start, the Eagles cobbled together the first scoring drive of the day, relying on the legs of Dontae McMillan and quarterback Noah Kim to inch into field goal range. The drive stalled, but Rudy Kessinger made it count with a made field goal for a 3-0 lead. 

The Eagles failed to build on it, and eventually Northern Illinois ran its way into field goal range, converting a pair of 4th and 1 tries on that drive, eventually tying the game.

A second NIU field goal attempt in the first half, which would’ve resulted in a 6-3 lead, missed wide right. 

Seizing on the opportunity, and with just more than five minutes until halftime, Eastern Michigan worked into Huskies territory and eventually lined up Kessinger for a 49-yard field goal that he drilled for a 6-3 lead that held into halftime. 

The Eagles had 72 rushing yards and 67 more through the air in the first half, but the defense and special teams carried the load to keep the Huskies behind. 

And when the offense had to play its part in the second half, Kim and tight end Joshua Long came through, before handing things back to the defense to seal the deal. 

First, facing a second and long just across midfield, Kim stood in the pocket and calmly waited for Long to fake outside before coming back inside the numbers, wide open for a chunk gain and the first down. 

Then, on a goal-to-go play, Kim broke out of the pocket to the left and the duo worked within the Eagles’ scramble rules for passing, Creighton said postgame, and connected for a touchdown as Kim flipped a jump ball that Long went up and rebounded over a defender. 

“They probably did lock eyes,” Creighton said of the scramble drill. “I'll have to see the film. And he put it right where he needed to and Josh is tough to defend.”

But leading 13-10 with 8:31 to play, Eastern Michigan hadn’t gotten out of the woods. Llewellyn helped get them on the path, though. 

NIU QB Brady Davidson dropped back to pass and never took his eyes off his receiver down the right sideline. The Huskies were in a look that allowed Lewellyn, who plays the “bandit” position, to cheat to the strong side of the formation. And a hit put on Davidson meant the throw floated some. 

And Llewellyn had an easy time undercutting it, and returning it all the way to the NIU 15. 

The Eagles didn’t score a touchdown on the ensuing possession — Llewellyn certainly wanted one on the return — but tacked on a third Rudy Kessinger field goal to make it 16-10. 

“I just kind of trusted my instincts and broke that way and as I was breaking I looked back up, there's the ball, I gotta go get it,” Llewellyn said. “Went and got it. I tried to score. I needed a few more blocks, but those fat people came and jumped on me, dog. My back is hurting, I'm going to go to the ice tub right after this.” 

And with a 16-10 lead, the defense, which had been maligned for much of the season so far, stepped up again and won Eastern Michigan the game. 

“Coach Creighton loves to call the knee the prettiest play in football,” Llewellyn said. “Once we saw that on the billboard, we were all joy and laughter.”