[dropcap]E[/dropcap]astern Michigan coach Chris Creighton would be the first to admit that in order to get better, the process will take time and the proper steps must be taken.
And after gaining a double-digit lead during the second half against Old Dominion, he would also admit that his team was thinking too far ahead in that process.
“More experienced you are, you have a better chance of handling that,” he said. “Success is just as difficult as defeat. You want the momentum and energy from positive things. But to some degree there has to be a bar inside of you and when it’s sort of getting to be too much, you have to shut it down. “
Even with the Eagles took a 14-point lead during the third quarter, Old Dominion grinded its way back to upset the Eagles, 38-34, to spoil their 2015 home opener at Rynearson Stadium.
Ray Lawry led the charge for the Monarchs with 28 carries for 225 yards and four touchdowns. Lawry set a career high in carries and finished seven yards shy of a school record, held by Thomas DeMarco and he tied DeMarco for touchdowns in a single game.
Tailback Darius Jackson led the way for the Eagles with 19 carries for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Jackson also led all receivers with 5 catches for 67 yards.
After trading blows in the second half, Lawry delivered the knockout punch after breaking a thru the EMU defense for a 45-yard run for the go ahead touchdown with 1:57 remaining in the game.
“Our emphasis was to stop the run,” Creighton said. “He’s a really good player and he made some guys miss. He made some really good decisions taking his time and deciding on where to run.”
Just as patient as Lawry was running the ball; Old Dominion continued to exercise the same demeanor as the game went on.
Pace and tempo were big for both teams throughout the game, as Eastern started off fast and Old Dominion finished in the same fashion.
After getting the wind knocked out of him to begin the third quarter, Reggie Bell returned to cap off at 10 play, 66 yard drive with a 10 yard strike to Dustin Creel that put the Eagles up 24-10 with 11:27 left in the 3rd quarter.
“I thought we kept a pretty good tempo,” Jackson said. “It wasn’t that big of a deal, their defense looked tired and that’s what we worked on all summer.”
Backup Brogan Roback finished the game for EMU going 10 of 17 for 71 yards and an interception.
Facing its biggest deficit of the game, Old Dominion responded with back-to-back scores by Lawry to tie the game 24-24 with 8:51 remaining in the third.
Eastern Michigan responded with an 11-play, 47-yard drive capped off by an 8-yard strike to Creel from Bell to put the Eagles back up 31-24 with 4:22 left in the third period.
The Monarchs didn’t budge though, as they road their golden goose to the end zone once again.
After a facemask penalty by the Eagles put ODU in the red zone, Lawry punched it in on a 5-yard run, tying the game, 31-31 with 40 seconds left in the third quarter.
Bell officially left the game at the end of the third after suffering an injury to his jaw according to Creighton. He will be re-evaluated to determine status for next game.
“Obviously losing Reggie in the third quarter was a big loss for us,” Jackson said. “Brogan was going to pick it up just like we do in practice.”
Bell proved to be a weapon during his time on the field, leading the way for a up-tempo offense that seemed more in rhythm moving at a fast pace. He finished 12 of 18 for 121 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Bell also carried the ball 11 times for 65 yards.
The Eagles gave itself several opportunities on the next drive to get seven.
Receiver Kevin Davis would miss an open receiver on a flea flicker from the 40-yard line. Five plays later, Davis dropped an open touchdown pass after splitting two defenders.
“Our guys are trying to make plays,” Creighton said. “We dropped a diving catch in the end zone there, he wants to catch that ball and we practice that. We talk about it a lot and we drill it and I believe that it will come to fruition.”
On the next play though, kicker Dylan Mulder would set a school record and career record with a 52-yard FG that put the Eagles back in control, 34-31, with 8:46 left to play.
“Our special teams coordinator and Coach Creighton give me a lot of opportunities in practice to kick the long field goals,” Mulder said. “Luckily we practice live situations a lot and I always try to put myself in live situations. It just helped me to be prepared more for it in the game.”
The Eagles led in almost every statistical category except for the one that matters most, turnovers. Creighton immediately emphasized the importance on the issue, feeling that that could have been key in letting the game slip away.
“In the end outside of the statistics, you just got to make the critical plays,” he said. “We were unable to do that today and they were and I feel we got a little too excited with us down on the turnover ratio at the time.”
EMU finished with three turnovers total and were unable to take advantage of the potential turnovers they could have created, including one that could have sealed the deal on a dropped interception
“We talk all the time about winning the turnover ratio,” Creighton said. “Obviously we lost that and that will always be very difficult to overcome.”
EMU also had several opportunities to create turnovers for their defense as well, unable to seal the deal down the stretch, including on a dropped interception near the two-minute mark.
“No body in that stadium that knows that they wanted to catch that ball more than Jason Beck,” Creighton said. “Just our response to not getting the ball I think was one of our lulls.”
These lulls were perhaps what could have caused the mental mistakes for Eastern Michigan and Creighton was avid in stressing that his team learns to close games when faced with the situation again.
“To some degree that’s part of the problem,” Creighton said. “Sometimes I tell the guys you have to fake being excited. You so quickly have to flush it and I think that was one of our lulls. I thought over the course of the game, I thought it was going to come to the final seconds.”
Once crucial decision that could have affected the outcome was on the 19-yard field goal by Mulder to put the Eagles up 17-7 with 4:38 left in the second quarter.
With Creighton opting to go for the field goal attempt instead of handing it off on a run for the touchdown, the decision to cap a 17-play, 92-yard drive with a field goal did raise some eyebrows. It was a choice he didn’t second-guess.
“That thought never crossed my mind,” Creighton said. “I’ve got the same emotions as everybody else, but I’d rather go up two scores at point.”
EMU was able to dictate the pass with its fast tempo approach on offense in the first half. The game plan helped the Eagles jump out to an early lead and advantage in yardage.
“We just came out with a certain attitude on offensive,” Jackson said. “The offensive line set the tone with their intensity and we just followed them.”
Although the loss was a heartbreaking way to begin the season, Coach Creighton does see some improvement in his team from last season.
“Our greatest improvement was from our last scrimmage to the first game,” Creighton said. “When we get together, I’m curious to see how our guys are going to be. I’m pretty confident that it’s going to be somewhat quiet still, but at the same time, there is no way a heart breaking loss is going to break us.”
“As hard as it is when you only get 12 and to lose 1, especially one that you could have had, I’m still encouraged.” He said. “No matter what happened today, we are going to continue to get better and we’re going to be obsessed with that.”
Creighton does admit thought that his team needs to slow down a bit and allow the process of progress to run its course.
“We’re trying to skip steps in the evolution,” he said. “But just because we are hoping and wanting to doesn’t mean that we will be able to. We didn’t want to be in a close game and come up short, we wanted to finish it off and I believe we can.”
Eastern Michigan will now travel to Wyoming next Saturday to face the Broncos in the highest stadium in country. The playing field sits at a lofty elevation of 7,215 feet (2,199 m) above sea level at War Memorial Stadium.
It’s something Creighton feels shouldn’t be a factor on game day and expects his team to adjust to the unusual conditions.
“Every school in America that goes to the Rockies has to deal with that,” Creighton said. “We’ll get there as early as we can on Friday and make sure we’re hydrated and what not.
EMU was without defensive leader and All-MAC lineman Pat O’Conner, who was out with an injury. Anthon Zappone led the way for the Eagles defense with 11 tackles, while fellow standout line IBE Great recorded nine tackles.
