2007 Week 11

YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) - While the offense has struggled, Eastern Michigan fans have clamored all season to see multi-talented speedster Dontayo Gage play quarterback.

Gage is in the default NCAA '08 roster as a quarterback and is on Eastern Michigan's real-life roster as a receiver. He's played both positions for the poltically sanitized Eagles, but has only been a receiver for B-Dawg's Hurons.

The opportunity to put Gage under center finally arrived on Nov. 9, 2007, but B-Dawg would have preferred it hadn't.

Tyler Jones and Brian Ceckiewicz were so wretched and Eastern was losing so badly to Bowling Green that it didn't matter what Gage did.

Gage wasn't a whole lot more effective, though at least he didn't throw an interception, as the Hurons were blown out for the first time by a Mid-American Conference opponent, 31-7. All five of Eastern's previous MAC games were close battles that weren't settled until late in the fourth quarter or beyond.

"I never saw this one coming," B-Dawg said. "We were feeling good about ourselves after that win at Toledo. I guess we were exposed today. We'll take their number and get them back down the road."

Jones was yanked after throwing three interceptions in 19 passes. Ceckiewicz came in and threw one pick in four attempts.

Enter Mr. Gage, who has drawn comparisons to former Michigan quarterback-receiver Jermaine Gonzales from NCAA 2004 and 2005. Gage was 2-for-5 for 14 yards and ran twice for 10 yards and a touchdown. Gage's touchdown was a 1-yard keeper on the first play of the fourth quarter, allowing the Hurons to avert the shutout.

By then, it was too late to think about winning. Bowling Green was already ahead 31-0.

It was only a 3-0 game when Bowling Green broke it wide open with three touchdowns by three different means in a 3:37 span of the second quarter. Chris Bullock had a 1-yard run, Corey Partridge caught a 64-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Sheehan, and Kenny Lewis took an interception 40 yards to the house.

Partridge finished with four catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns, while Lewis had two interceptions.

The Falcons' only score of the second half came on a 9-yard pass from Sheehan to Partridge with 4:59 left in the third quarter.

Eastern Michigan's offense continued to struggle, gaining only 164 yards. The ground game was particularly brutal, with the taem's three halfbacks gaining only 25 yards on 13 carries.

Lost in the stench of this lost was a record-breaking day for cornerback Corey Everson. Everson grabbed his ninth interception of the season, breaking B-Dawg's single-season record by an NCAA player set by James Pressley of Vanderbilt in the 2012 season of NCAA 2007.

Everson appeared to have his fifth touchdown of the season in his grasp, but was caught before he could build up a head of steam. His nation-leading nine interceptions have produced four touchdowns and 405 total yards. Stanford's Clinton Snyder has also scored four defensive touchdowns this season.

The loss ended EMU's hopes for a bowl game, as the Hurons fell to 4-7. They will end B-Dawg's first season at the helm next Saturday at Central Michigan. Bowling Green improved to 4-6.