Eastern Michigan football topples Illinois, makes another Big Ten statement

For the third straight year, Eastern Michigan football took down a Big Ten opponent on their home field. This time it was Illinois.

Coming into their 2019 showdown against Illinois at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Eastern Michigan had knocked off a Big Ten team each of the past two seasons. The Eagles toppled Rutgers 16-13 in Piscataway in 2017, then turned around and upset Purdue in West Lafayette last season on a last-second field goal. So there was plenty of past history to portend what transpired on Saturday afternoon in Illinois.

Eastern Michigan came out and popped the Fighting Illini in a 34-31 upset. Entering the game the Eagles were a seven-point underdog, but precedent weighed heavily on the home team. That precedent proved too much to handle, and now the Eagles can claim three straight wins over the Big Ten. (Their last loss against a Big Ten team? The 2013 Eagles fell 45-7 against Penn State in State College.)

The two teams traded scores in the first quarter, as the two teams scored on five of the eight possessions in the opening frame. Illinois held the lead early on a 57-yard James McCourt field goal. Eastern Michigan promptly responded with a five-play drive resulting in a 26-yard touchdown pass from Mike Glass III to Arthur Jackson III. Trading touchdowns from there, Illinois found themselves up 17-14 as the second quarter commenced.

From there everything went downhill for the Fighting Illini. Eastern Michigan rang in the next three scores, heading into the locker room with a 23-17 advantage and then extending the lead to 31-17 early in the fourth quarter. Illinois responded with a touchdown on the ensuing drive, and then drove down on their next possession to get deep in Eagles territory with two minutes remaining. They scored with 1:44 remaining, leaving Eastern Michigan time with three timeouts remaining.

After stalling on their previous two drives, Glass and company finally found their stride again. Getting the ball on their own 25, Eastern Michigan worked quickly down the field with utmost purpose. Four straight receptions put the Eagles inside the red zone, and they punched down inside the Illinois 5-yard line with 14 seconds left on the clock. Unable to punch it in on first and goal, Eastern Michigan centered the ball for a field goal try on second down.

With three seconds remaining, the Eagles lined up for a game-winning field goal from 25 yards out. The moment evoked last season’s Purdue victory, as Chad Ryland lined up for the kick once again. Square with the goalposts, Ryland lined up and was promptly iced twice by Illinois coach Lovie Smith. But all the gamesmanship proved worthless in the end, as Ryland pushed the ball through the uprights as time ran out on the clock.

The upset gives Eastern Michigan a statement win in their second chance this season, after falling to Kentucky in Week 2. Ryland came out the hero for the second straight season, but Glass came up big throughout the game. Finishing with 316 yards and three touchdowns through the air on 23-of-36 passing, he added 37 rushing yards on 10 carries to dominate the Illini offense.

The quarterback’s strong performance against a Big Ten foe should put the MAC West on alert heading into the heart of the conference schedule, beginning with Central Michigan on Oct. 5. Illinois will try to regroup against Nebraska on Sept. 21 as they start Big Ten play on a down note.