Miami University
Eastern Michigan
RedHawks Top EMU 44-30 For Fourth-Straight Win
10/18/2025 3:35:00 PM | Football
OXFORD, Ohio— How do you score more points than the other team?
One good recipe: Don't let the other team have the ball.
Miami dominated the time-of-possession battle Saturday afternoon, holding the ball for more than 42 minutes and converting 11-of-15 third downs en route to a 44-30 victory over Eastern Michigan that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicates.
Dequan Finn threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more for the RedHawks (4-3, 3-0 MAC), who won their fourth-consecutive game and remained perfect in conference play. Jordan Brunson added a career-high 122 rushing yards and a touchdown to help Miami drop the visiting Eagles to 2-6, 1-3 MAC.
"Obviously positives offensively: We moved the ball consistently all game and we were great on third down," said head coach Chuck Martin, who won his 54th career conference game to move into a tie for fourth place in MAC history. "Really good first half; I loved the way we came out. We talked about starting fast –we haven't started very fast the last couple weeks— and we did."
The RedHawks, who never trailed, went up 7-0 on their second possession. Brunson started and ended the drive with key plays on the ground, ripping off a 16-yard carry on the first snap and eventually finding the end zone from a yard out. In between, Finn had a 22-yard run to move Miami into the red zone and later converted a crucial 3rd-and-6 with an eight-yard scramble to set up Brunson's score.
Miami made it 14-0 midway through the second quarter after a methodical 20-play drive that ate up more than 11 minutes on the clock. The home team converted a fourth down in its own territory and moved the chains on five different third-down plays before Finn capped the march with a three-yard scoring pass to Josh Ringer in the left flat.
EMU answered back with a 51-yard touchdown pass less than a minute later to cut the lead in half, but Miami only needed five plays to move the ball 75 yards and take another two-score lead. Three of the plays were Brian Shane catches, including a 20-yard reception with 4:17 remaining in the period. Shane finished with career highs in catches (four) and receiving yards (56) in addition to his scoring his first touchdown.
"Every time I saw the play call coming in, I knew I could get the ball [and I got excited]," said Shane. "They just kept cutting me loose for whatever reason.
"Getting the ball three or four plays in a row like that and then to end it off with a touchdown, that was an awesome feeling."
Martin admitted after the game that Shane had considered retiring this spring before the coaches talked him out of it. "Brian, you know I play guys I trust," Martin recounted of his offseason pitch to the redshirt senior, who became Miami's fifth different player to lead the team in receptions through seven games this season.
"Sure enough, he's playing a ton of snaps and does [a ton of things for us]…he has saved our tail. Saved our season, really."
Trailing by two scores on multiple occasions, EMU didn't go away, using a 12-yard touchdown pass with 26 seconds left before halftime to make it 21-14 at the break. However, Miami went on to score the first 16 points of the second half. An Eli Blakey interception —the RedHawks' second of the game after a Corban Hondru second-quarter pick— set up a drive that featured a 38-yard carry for Brunson and ended with a Finn one-yard run. The RedHawks' next possession began at the 45-yard line thanks to a 15-yard punt return by Lynel Billups-Williams, and Finn eventually punched it in nine plays later on a four-yard touchdown run.
"DQ probably played his best game: Just a lot of little things you don't see, [especially] his decision-making," Martin pointed out. "He made good decisions when he scrambled, he threw the ball away today, he found guys, and he ran it himself for third downs. Those are the plays that change the game that no one remembers…
"Very efficient day for him. A guy that's had as much success and accolades as him: You get him in the ring and he just wants to win. He doesn't care what it looks like…
"Kind of like our team, he does a little bit of everything."
Miami's lead grew to 37-14 with 14:07 left in the game, as a snap went over the EMU punter's head to give Miami two points on a safety. After Eastern cut it to 37-22 with 9:07 to play, the RedHawks used nine consecutive rushing plays to once again take a three-score lead.
D'Shawntae Jones carried it seven times on the drive, including a career-long 46-yard burst, and finished the possession with a two-yard score at the 3:52 mark as the RedHawks grabbed their sixth touchdown in seven trips to the red zone. The visitors then closed the scoring with a 21-yard touchdown pass in the final minute before Miami finished out a comfortable 14-point win with its highest point total since a 46-7 win over Central Michigan last October.
The RedHawks have held the ball for at least 9:26 of the fourth quarter in each of their four victories this season. "I'm not a big time-of-possession guy. I'm a big 'turnovers and chunk plays' guy…but when you have leads, then it does become an important stat," Martin explained. "Time-of-possession the last three weeks in the fourth quarter means a lot."
The RedHawks will look to make it five wins in a row next week in a home matchup against Western Michigan for Family Weekend. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m., and tickets are available here; both teams will enter the crucial game undefeated in conference play.
"These last couple weeks we've been going extremely hard in practice, and I think that's what's allowed us to propel forward," said Blakey.
BRUISING BRUNSON: Brunson's career-high 122 rushing yards came on a career-high 23 carries; his previous career high was 20 at Northern Illinois earlier this month.
"He had another good day: Had some hard runs, had some physical runs, had a couple longer runs," Martin said.
"I've been very impressed with Brunson. He went from no carries to a ton of carries. He's a big, strong kid that can handle that though. That's his wheelhouse. He should get stronger as the game goes on; he's a big back."
WHAT A RUSH: Miami finished with 295 yards on the ground, the most for the RedHawks since rolling up 466 on Sept. 23, 2023 against Delaware State. Today's ball-control offense for the Red and White recorded the most third-down conversions (11) and time of possession (42:09) in the Martin era, including a monster 20-play drive.
"I thought as an offense we did a really good job converting, even on some third-and-longs which are pretty low-percentage," Shane commented. "We protected well, we ran fast routes, and the quarterback threw the ball where it needed to go on the money pretty good."
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE: Malcolm McCain sacked EMU's Noah Kim for an eight-yard loss in the first quarter, as the redshirt sophomore linebacker earned his first career sack. McCain was the 10th different Miami player to record a sack this season, and Christian McKinney became the 11th (Miami's most since 2022) with a fourth-quarter takedown.
FINN TO WIN: Finn's four touchdowns on the day takes the seventh-year senior over 100 in his career (102 total). He is now tied for 82nd in FBS history in career scores with four other players, including current NFL signal-callers Geno Smith and Kenny Pickett.
FIRST TO RING IN: Ringer, a redshirt freshman, scored the first touchdown of his career, snaring a three-yard reception to cap a 20-play drive in the middle of the second quarter.
