Eastern Football Downs Louisiana, 34-31, on Homecoming

Photo Gallery | Highlights | Press Conference

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Dontae McMillan posted his first 100-yard game for the Eagles and the fifth of his career, the defense recorded its first takeaways of the season, and Rudy Kessinger drilled a 42-yard, game-winning field goal with three seconds remaining to lift the Eastern Michigan University football team to a 34-31 Homecoming win over visiting University of Louisiana Saturday, Sept. 20, inside Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilanti. The Eagles (1-3), victorious for the first time in 2025, battled throughout and used big plays from Tavierre Dunlap and Joshua Long to hand the visiting Ragin' Cajuns (1-3) the loss.

How It Happened
Louisiana opened the scoring with a touchdown on its opening drive before the Eagles responded later in the first quarter to tie the game, 7-7. On the play, Noah Kim (Centreville, Va./Westfield/Michigan State/Coastal Carolina) led an 8-play, 54-yard drive that finished with him rushing the ball in from three yards out, marking his second career rushing touchdown and second in as many games. After the break, UL quickly retook the lead with a field goal four seconds into the second quarter before Dunlap (Del Valle, Texas/Del Valle/Michigan) cashed in from two-yards out to give the Eagles a 14-10 lead, their first in 23 quarters of play. The visitors added a touchdown to reclaim the lead, but Long (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola/El Camino CC) pulled in a 15-yard pass from Kim to stake the hosts to a 21-17 lead at halftime.

UL reclaimed the lead on a pick-six (24-21) midway through the third quarter before the Eagles responded with Dunlap plowing in from six yards out for his second of the day and putting the hosts back in front, 31-24 early in the fourth. The score marked the first time in Dunlap's career he rushed for multiple touchdowns in a single game. After a Kessinger (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) 49-yard field goal with 10:16 to play put the Eagles ahead, 31-24, the Ragin' Cajuns pushed for and scored the tying touchdown with 47 seconds remaining in regulation. But the Eagles stood tall and moved the ball 41 yards in seven plays with Kessinger making a 42-yard field goal with three ticks on the clock and a 34-31 win for the hosts.

Game Notes
» With 7:08 to play in the first quarter, Dontae McMillan (Seattle, Wash./Chief Sealth/Weber State) broke off a 21-yard run down the right side for a big gain that eventually set up a three-yard touchdown run by Noah Kim. Not only did his run help the Eagles tie the game, but it also helped McMillan surpass the 2,000-yard mark in his career, bringing his total to 2,012 yards. He finished the game with 126 yards on 19 carries to bring his career total to 2,115.
» Dontae McMillan finished the game with 126 yards rushing and 137 total yards as he added 11 receiving yards in the contest. The 100-yard rushing game is the first of his three seasons with the Eagles and surpassed his previous single-game best of 83 yards recorded one week earlier at Kentucky. Overall, he has now rushed for 100+ yards in five career games (four with Weber State).
» Tavierre Dunlap carried the ball 11 times for 45 yards while scoring two touchdowns. The two scores marked the first time in his career, which includes the previous four seasons with Michigan, where he tallied multiple touchdowns in the same game while he doubled his career output after entering the game with two touchdowns. Overall, his 11 carries tied a career high (11 vs. Long Island, Sept. 6) while his 45 yards were two better than his previous best recorded against Northern Illinois, Sept. 18, 2021, with U-M.
» Early in the second quarter, Noah Kim hit Nick Deveraux (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice/Davenport) for a 36-yard pass to the right side to set up Tavierre Dunlap, who punched it on the next play with a two-yard run and a 14-10 lead. The advantage marked the first time the Eagles led in a game in 23 quarters with the last coming when Eastern jumped out to a 7-0 lead at Ohio, Nov. 13, 2024. Additionally, the Eagles carried a 21-17 lead into halftime, marking their first lead at the break since No. 2, 2024, when they led Toledo, 10-7, inside Rynearson Stadium.
» Noah Kim had another efficient game as he was 21-of-31 passing for 226 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, while adding five carries for 12 yards and one score on the ground. His rushing score marked back-to-back games in which he has run for one touchdown after previously having only thrown for scores. Additionally, he has now made it two consecutive games with at least one passing and one running score in the same contest.
» Nick Devereaux had a career game as he caught four passes for 76 yards, including a 36-yard strike from Noah Kim down the sideline. Entering the game, Devereaux held single-game bests of three receptions and 31 yards, both at Kentucky (Sept. 13), and a long of 21 yards (vs. Long Island, Sept. 6).
» The defense got the takeaway monkey off its back and introduced the "Takeaway Maccoon" as Caleb Dobbs (Cocoa, Fla./Cocoa) and Bryce Llewellyn (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral/Charleston Southern) recorded interceptions in the fourth quarter as each recorded his first career pick as well. Dobbs was up first as he pulled a pass out of the air on EMU's 29-yard line to halt the UL advance with the hosts ahead, 31-24. Llewellyn followed suit in his pursuit to protect the lead as snagged a pass at the UL 41 with 3:38 to play.
» Bryce Llewellyn and Barry Manning (Stone Mountain, Ga./Tucker) tied for the team lead with 10 tackles with both surpassing their previous single-game highs of eight that were recorded at No. 17 UT Martin (Oct. 21, 2023) with Charleston Southern and home against Toledo (Nov. 2, 2024) with the Eagles, respectively. Manning led the way with three solo stops.
» Eastern remained perfect in the red zone as it went 4-of-4 against Louisiana with all four scores going as touchdowns. Entering the game, EMU was 1-of-27 teams in the FBS that was perfect in the red zone as the Eagles were 10-of-10 with five touchdowns and five field goals.
» Through four games, the Eagles have committed just two turnovers, which ties for the second-fewest since 1999. The fewest came last year with one while the previous two times the Eagles limited their miscues to just two came in both 2005 and 2007.

Historical Notes
» With the win, the Eagles improved to 1-3 in 2025 while the Ragin' Cajuns fell to 1-3. Overall, the win tied the all-time series at 2-2 with the Eagles snapping the Ragin' Cajuns' two-game winning streak.
» Eastern snapped an 8-game losing streak with the win with its last victory coming Oct. 19, 2024, in an 18-point comeback on Homecoming against Central Michigan, 38-34.
» The Eagles won their fifth-consecutive Homecoming game and improved to 50-45-2 all-time in the specialty contest. Eastern, which played in its earliest Homecoming game in program history, also improved to 6-1 when its Homecoming opponent is a non-conference team (since 1976) and has now won two consecutive such games.
» Eastern is now 6-5 on Homecoming under Chris Creighton (there was no Homecoming game in 2020 because of COVID) and have won five consecutive Homecoming games under Creighton.
» The Eagles recorded their 57th non-conference victory since 1976 (The 'MAC Era') and their 43rd at home. The last time the Eagles won a home non-conference game was Sept. 21, 2024, in a 36-0 defeat of St. Francis.
» Dating back to the 2016 season, the Eagles are now 29-30 after playing in their 59th one-score game, the second-most in the nation behind only Northern Illinois, who has played in 63. All-time, Eastern is now 179-176 in single-score games while also moving to 70-70 all-time in games decided by three-or-fewer points.

Up Next
With the non-conference schedule complete, Eastern Michigan will turn its focus to the Mid-American Conference as the Eagles will travel north to Mount Pleasant, Mich., Saturday, Sept. 27, to face rival Central Michigan University inside Kelly Shorts Stadium. The game will air on ESPN+ with kick-off set for 1 p.m. Tom Helmer (play-by-play), Rob Rubick (analyst), Elena Davis (sideline), and Greg Steiner (halftime show) will have the call on WEMU (89.1 FM), The Varsity Network app, and SiriusXM.

Next Event

Team Stats

Noah Kim

Players Mentioned

Nick Devereaux

Caleb Dobbs

Tavierre Dunlap

Rudy Kessinger

Noah Kim

Bryce Llewellyn

Joshua Long

Barry Manning

Dontae McMillan

Players Mentioned

Nick Devereaux

Caleb Dobbs

Tavierre Dunlap

Rudy Kessinger

Noah Kim

Bryce Llewellyn

Joshua Long

Barry Manning

Dontae McMillan

Eastern Michigan Athletics