2007 Week 10

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - Don't look now, but B-Dawg's may have a championship football team on his hands.

His Eastern Michigan Hurons are right in the thick of the Mid-American West Division race after a 24-14 victory at first-place Toledo on Nov. 3, 2007.

Toledo fell to 4-2 in the MAC, leading a group of four schools with two losses. Eastern and Western Michigan are 3-2, while Central Michigan is 2-2.

"This is a huge win for us," EMU coach B-Dawg said. "It looks like this thing could come down to tie-breakers. It'll get really interesting then. We lost to Western, but beat Toledo. We still have Central left in two weeks. I guess a lot can happen in the next two weeks, but at least we have something to play for."

Eastern is only 4-6 overall, going 0-4 in nonconference games against Division I-A programs. The Hurons snapped a five-game losing streak.

"It's nice to be in the MAC," B-Dawg said. "It's a powerful deodorant to cover up the stench of your program."

Another monster performance by sophomore cornerback Corey Everson provided the spark for the Hurons' upset.

Toledo was driving for the first score of the game when, on first-and-goal from the 7-yard line, Everson stepped in front of receiver David Washington to pick off a pass at the goal line. Everson then won a race down the right sideline for a 100-yard interception return with 3:52 left in the first quarter. It was Everson's eighth interception and fourth for a touchdown this season. He tied B-Dawg's single-season record for interceptions, set by Vanderbilt's James Pressley in the 2012 season of NCAA 2007. In only 10 games, he also tied B-Dawg's record for career defensive touchdowns, set by Jason Lewis of Vanderbilt from 2010-2013 in NCAA 2007. No B-Dawg player ever had more than two defensive touchdowns in a season until Everson came along.

"The kid started the year at 79 OVR and is 80 OVR right now," B-Dawg said. "So, I don't know how much credit goes to him and how much goes to the way this year's game is programmed. I guess if it was so easy to pick off eight pass and take four to the house, more guys on my team would be doing it. He does have 90 SPD, which makes him our fastest player."

Everson also showed he's more than a pretty boy, forcing Washington to fumble the ball with 2:11 left in the game. EMU's Jacob Wyatt recovered the ball, setting up a game-clinching 17-yard field goal by Sean Dutcher with 31 seconds to go.

Toledo bounced back from the early interception return, tying the game 7-7 and 14-14. EMU took the lead for good when fullback Brandon Downs scored on his second 1-yard touchdown run of the game with 2:03 remaining in the third quarter.

Toledo quarterback Clint Cochran has put up big numbers on the regular this season and had to be licking his chops, given the fact EMU hadn't picked off a pass in the last two games. However, he served up three picks to effectively neuter Toledo's offensive attack.

The Rockets would have been better served just pounding the rock with DaJuane Collins, who ran 21 times for 128 yards and a touchdown.

The game was played in 19 degrees and snow, but Washington's late bobble was the only fumble of the game.

Toledo was in the red zone three times and didn't score either time, despite outgaining Eastern 426-252.