Kessinger Calls Game

Eastern Michigan earned its first win of the season in dramatic fashion, taking down Louisiana 34–31 at Rynearson Stadium thanks to a walk-off 42-yard field goal from Rudy Kessinger with three seconds remaining.

Both teams traded momentum all night. Louisiana struck first with a 23-yard touchdown run from Zylan Perry, but EMU answered quickly behind quarterback Noah Kim, who capped the opening-quarter response with a 3-yard keeper to tie it 7–7.

The second quarter turned into a shootout. EMU regained the lead on a short Tavierre Dunlap run, only for Louisiana to answer twice — a 38-yard field goal and a 45-yard breakaway run from Bill Davis. With under two minutes before halftime, Kim connected with Joshua Long on a 15-yard strike to send the Eagles into the break leading 21–17.

Louisiana’s defense briefly flipped the script in the third, taking a 24–21 lead on a 35-yard pick-six from Courtline Flowers. But the Eagles counterpunched in the fourth, leaning on Dunlap again for a 6-yard touchdown before Kessinger added a 49-yard field goal to extend the lead to 31–24.

Louisiana refused to go away, tying the game at 31–31 on a late 10-yard run by Perry with under a minute left. But EMU had just enough time. Kim led a composed, 41-yard march in 41 seconds, setting up Kessinger, who drilled the 42-yard winner as the clock hit :03.