Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
2-5 , 1-2
Northern Illinois
1-5 , 0-2
Stout Defense Pushes EMU to Home Win Over NIU, 16-10
10/11/2025 4:14:00 PM | Football
Llewellyn recorded his second interception of the year while McMillan ran for 104
Postgame Press Conference | Photo Gallery | Highlights | Box score (PDF)
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team bounced back from a tough road loss one week earlier with stout defense and another strong running performance from Dontae McMillan to secure a hard-fought 16-10 home win over visiting Northern Illinois University Saturday, Oct. 11, inside 'The Factory' at Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilanti. The Eagles (2-5, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) picked up their first conference victory of the year while the Huskies (1-5, 0-2 MAC) fell in their final visit to Ypsilanti as a member of the MAC.
How It Happened
The Eagles held a 3-0 lead after the first quarter as Rudy Kessinger (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) was good from 35-yards out while the defense limited the Huskies to just 52 total yards of offense. In the second, NIU responded with a field goal of its own two minutes into the stanza before Kessinger was true from 49 yards with 1:42 to play for a 6-3 at the break.
After a back-and-forth battle for field position in the third quarter, the Huskies took the lead for the first time with an 80-yard touchdown to make it 10-6 in favor of the visitors. In the fourth quarter, the Eagles regained the lead, this time for good, as Joshua Long (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola/El Camino) pulled in a 6-yard pass from Noah Kim (Centreville, Va./Westfield/Michigan State/Coastal Carolina) to stake Eastern to a 13-10 advantage.
On the next drive, the Huskies tried to respond, but Bryce Llewellyn (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral/Charleston Southern) secured his second interception of the season to set up the Eagles for another field goal as Kessinger, this time from 28-yards, connected on his third of the day to put the Eagles ahead, 16-10.
The EMU defense stood tall the rest of the way as NIU went 1-of-3 on fourth-down chances, including a pass into the end zone with under one minute to play, to secure the win.
Game Notes
» Dontae McMillan (Seattle, Wash./Chief Sealth/Weber State) was strong on the ground once again as he posted his third 100+ yard game of the season and second consecutive after finishing with 104 yards on 23 carries. The 100-yard game is the seventh of his career and marked a single-season high after previously recording two, 100-yard games for Weber State in 2022 with one each in 2020 and 2021. Additionally, McMillan posted a career-high four receptions for 11 yards to give him 115 all-purpose yards, just three off his MAC-leading season average.
» Joshua Long tallied career-highs in receptions and yards with five and 52, respectively, while also securing his team-leading third touchdown reception of the year. Long, who ranks second on the team with 255 yards on a team-best 23 receptions,
» Noah Kim finished with 147 yards on 19-of-32 passing with one touchdown and one interception. Although he did not rush for a score to end his four-game streak, he did record one passing touchdown to give him at least one in six-of-seven games played this year as well as each of the past two games. With his yardage, he is now over 3,000 yards for his career, sitting at 3,080 yards and 21 touchdowns.
» Rudy Kessinger tied a career-high with three field goals as he was a perfect 3-of-3 on the day. Kessinger also added one extra point to give him 10 points in the game.
» The Eagles maintained their perfect record when entering the red zone as they went 3-of-3 against the Huskies with one touchdown and two field goals. For the season, EMU, who entered the game as 1-of-9 teams in the FBS with a perfect red zone percentage, is 23-of-23 inside its opponent 20-yard line with 13 touchdowns and 10 field goals.
» Andrew Marshall (Carroll, Ohio/Bloom Carroll/Ohio/Lackawana) led the team with 10 tackles, including four solo stops. The 10 stops improved upon his previous best of seven he recorded one week ago at Buffalo.
» Bryce Llewellyn posted a season-high 1.5 tackles-for-loss and added his second career interception while also making nine tackles, including five solo tackles. The pick marked his second of the season after he grabbed a Louisiana pass (Sept. 20). His 1.5 TFLs marked the third consecutive game and fourth of the season that an Eagle recorded 1.5 TFLs with Sterling Miles (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield/Cincinnati) doing so against Long Island and Carter Evans (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) recording the total in the previous two games (at Central Michigan and at Buffalo).
» Solomon Bell (Pontiac, Mich./Southfield A&T/Highland CC) recorded his first career TFL while also recording a career-high two tackles. His previous best was one tackle in four different games. With his TFL, he was one of six Eagles in the category against NIU.
» The defense held NIU to 3-of-15 on third-down attempts, the fewest conversions allowed this season. The previous low was Central Michigan, who EMU limited to 4-of-13.
» Joey Mattord (Hartland, Mich./Hartland) earned his first career start when he lined up in the backfield on the first offensive play of the game. He finished one carry for 10 yards.
Historical Notes
» With the win, the Eagles improved to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in MAC play while the Huskies fell to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in league play.
» Eastern moved to 17-36-2 all-time against Northern Illinois and snapped the Huskies' three-game winning streak in the series. The Eagles defeated NIU for the first time since a 41-33 decision in Ypsilanti, Dec. 12, 2020.
» The Eagles are now 2-3 all-time when playing their final conference game against a team departing from the conference and snapped a two-game slide in such games after falling to UMass, 28-17 (Nov. 14, 2015) and 24-12 to Temple (Oct. 3, 2009). The previous win in such games came against UCF, 19-13 (Nov. 8, 2003).
» Eastern improved to 180-177 all-time in one-score games and 2-2 in such games this season.
Up Next
The Eagles return to the road next week when they head to Oxford, Ohio, to take on Miami University. The game, which will kick off at 12 p.m., will stream live on ESPN+. Tom Helmer (play-by-play), Rob Rubick (analyst), Elena Davis (sideline), and Greg Steiner (halftime) will have the call on WEMU (89.1 FM), The Varsity Network app, and SiriusXM.
Team Stats
NIU 0, EMU 3
EMU - Kessinger,Rudy 35 yd field goal 14 plays, 63 yards, TOP 04:37
NIU 3, EMU 3
NIU - Glass,Andrew 30 yd field goal 15 plays, 62 yards, TOP 08:36
NIU 3, EMU 6
EMU - Kessinger,Rudy 49 yd field goal 11 plays, 47 yards, TOP 03:39
NIU 10, EMU 6
NIU - Johnson Jr.,Telly 80 yd run (Glass,Andrew kick), 1 plays, 80 yards, TOP 00:14
NIU 10, EMU 13
EMU - Long,Joshua 6 yd pass from Kim,Noah (Kessinger,Rudy kick) 9 plays, 64 yards, TOP 04:15
NIU 10, EMU 16
EMU - Kessinger,Rudy 28 yd field goal 4 plays, 5 yards, TOP 02:08
