It was a tale of two halves for the Eastern Michigan University football team in their first-ever regular season game playing in the heat of San Marcos, Texas.
The Eagles were able to keep up with Texas State University's high-flying offense in the first half, entering the break only trailing by seven, but proceeded to give up 21 unanswered points between the third and early fourth quarter portions of the game before falling to the Bobcats, 52-27.
Eastern Michigan always knew they would be in for a track meet against opposing head coach GJ Kinne’s well-renowned high-octane offense, but the connection between new Bobcat starting quarterback Brad Hawkins and receiver Beau Sparks proved to be the green and white’s demise.
Four receiving touchdowns from Sparks, courtesy of Hawkins, headlined a 606-yard day of total offense for Texas State, 392 of those coming on the ground.
Comparatively, Eastern Michigan posted fewer total yards than Texas State’s rushing output (391), but the evening wasn’t all bad for the Eagles offense in Noah Kim’s debut.
The new starting quarterback finished the evening with 23 completions in 34 attempts for 248 yards passing and a lone passing touchdown before the end of the first half to Joshua Long.
Kim’s output through the air opened up holes on the ground for Dontae McMillian, the halfback posting nine carries for 78 yards, while Joey Mattord and Tavierre Dunlap each added rushing scores to the statsheet.
New “Deuce” Terry Lockett Jr. also firmly embraced his role as the team’s No. 1 wide receiver, receiving a team high of eight targets and hauling in five of them for 62 yards.
Defensively, Juan Salas led the way for the Eagles with seven tackles with linebacker Zach Mowchan not far behind with six, while Messiah Blair collected the only sack of the night for the road team.
With the win, Texas State begins their final season in the Sun Belt Conference holding a 1-0 record, while Eastern Michigan falls to 0-1.
Next week, the Eagles return to Ypsilanti for the home opener inside “The Factory” at Rynearson Stadium, facing off against the Long Island University Sharks. Viewers can catch all the action live on ESPN+, with kickoff slated to take place on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.
