#86 Eastern Michigan
Updated: 2 days ago
Ypsilanti, MI
Rynearson Stadium
September 4, 2026
SJSU 27 - Eastern Michigan 21 (ESPN Recap)
Kicking off 2026 right with 3 new stadiums in a 24-hour period in Week 1. First trip to Detroit to cross off the last directional Michigan school and see the gray turf at Eastern. What was pretty high on my list for undesirable turned into a really fun night thanks to two longtime friends showing up and an exciting 50/50 raffle.
BK, who recently transitioned into a Michigan Man after 40 years as a New England man, made the drive over from Chelsea. We drank some beers like it was 2002 and found the student athlete party area which was really the only tailgating scene to speak of.
We played a money game of cornhole on maybe 20 ft distance boards where I got out to 16-0 lead and BK cut it to 17-7 before we got kicked off the boards by the women’s basketball team… called it a push.
Fletch then arrived and was our resident life-long Michigan man. We grabbed our hard hats and went to work at The Factory! The future probably isn’t that bright for EMU football if the activity around the recruitment tent is any indication.
On the walk in, we were presented with a 50/50 raffle with had non-linear probability of winning as you invested more money into the raffle. I love these situations and bought 300 tickets for $100. At the time of purchase, the pot was $800 and I was the first $100 purchaser. I told the guys I felt good about my chances tonight. Some people paid 10x the amount per chance that I did.
Randomly, there was a vintage car show inside the stadium fences maybe compensating for fear the on-field product wouldn’t be enough for kids having their 10 th birthday parties at the game…? IDK. Similarly, during a timeout Joey Chestnut (yes, the world’s best competitive eater) MC’d a doughnut eating contest on the field. My friends who follow the competitive eating world said they would have made the trip had they known that this programming was going to occur.
EMU went viral last week for having a Racoon Turnover chain. All I wanted was for them to get a takeaway. Well, EMU got two takeaways and celebrated with the chain, but forgot to attach the Racoon both times. Very disappointing for us.
BK asked me which players on either team are NFL prospects, to which I answered quickly "none!" Maxx Crosby did go to EMU, but that was pre NIL days. Nobody we saw play today is playing on Sundays.
The highlight of the game for sure was winning the 50/50 raffle. Just watch the below video of the three of us get excited when we realized we won!
Turning $100 into $659 that way felt like getting paid to watch CFB…if I ever get the money. I was told to claim the prize at the marketing tent but there is no marketing tent. Someone who seems to know what’s going on named Cliff took my information down and said I would get it next week. If I don’t, then EMU has laid the blueprint for the 100/0 raffle and all schools should emulate. [EDIT: I received claim instructions from EMU on 9/10/26 and filled out the paperwork]
There was also an all-time student field goal fail.
The game was close and there was a really nice scoop and score by EMU which you can see in one of those celebration videos above. The last play of the game for EMU was a 4th down trailing by 6 and was…not great. I don't recommend throwing into quadruple coverage over the middle.
The road team from San Jose pulled it out, which I am sure made SJSU alum Joey Chestnut very happy. I lost the O52.5 thanks to a 0-0 Q1, but won the live bet on the O39.5 to nearly break even (and finish ahead with the 50/50 winnings).
It was a “black out” but as Tony W astutely noticed while watching this video of a made doink FG, “I think they confused black out with invisible out”
I didn’t see this with my own eyes, but it’s possible that EMU used too much energy pre-game on this masonry work to have enough left in the tank for that 4 th down play.
Also, have you ever seen better fireworks in Ypsilanti Michigan before?
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