There’s some partying going on in Ypsilanti, and for good reason. And, no, it has absolutely nothing to do with the historical results of the presidential election.
Down 21-0 in the first quarter, Eastern Michigan outscored Ball State 48-20 the rest of the way to lock down its sixth win of the season versus four losses. The 21-point comeback tied the largest deficit overcome by an Eagles team in program history..@EMUFB sings the fight song after its historic come-from-behind victory to get bowl eligible for the 1st time since ’95! #EMUEagles pic.twitter.com/2XvUJQzW89
— EMU Athletics (@EMUAthletics) November 9, 2016
Brogan Roback threw for a career-high 468 yards in the win, the fourth straight game in which he’s thrown for 300-plus yards. The junior had entered the 2016 season with just one such game in his career.
Roback, who also contributed four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing), was part of an offense that stuffed a season-high 622 yards into the box score. That offensive explosion helped propel the Eagles to a historic night.
With six wins, EMU is now bowl-eligible for the first time since the 1995 season. The Eagles didn’t go bowling that season, leaving 1987 and the California Bowl as the football program’s lone bowl game prior to this year. It’s all but guaranteed that the Eagles will go to a bowl game in 2016 -- but not fully guaranteed, as EMU’s head coach made sure to note in the postgame.
“I know we are bowl-eligible, but that does not mean we are bowl-guaranteed,” Chris Creighton said in quotes distributed by the school. “We still have lots of work to do and much to improve on. Our goal has always been to be bowl-eligible, so we are moving closer to that each game.
“I know this isn’t the best step or the guaranteed step into this goal, but it was a monster step forward for us tonight. Winning away from home, and winning a conference game, I am very proud of what we accomplished tonight.”
New Mexico State still holds the ignominious honor of the longest bowl drought in the FBS at 55 straight seasons heading into 2016. The Aggies’ last postseason appearance came in the 1960 Sun Bowl. At 2-6 this season, NMSU would need to win its final four games to snap that streak.