page_title: Eastern Michigan Eagles
section_title: Football
hierarchical_section_title: Eastern Michigan Eagles / Varsity sports / Football
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of the 1916 Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University) football team. From http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DtudOrCDfaU/S8ZilhKGlBI/AAAAAAAADLA/SAitvK4xe6M/s1600/emu.football.1917.jpg
context_page_description: The Eastern Michigan Eagles, formerly known as the Normalites, are the athletic teams for Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. The Eagles compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I level as members of the Mid-American Conference. The only exception is the women's rowing program, which is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. Altogether, the Eagles have won three NCAA Division II national championships and 13 NAIA Division I national championships in five different sports; moreover, EMU has been NCAA Division I national runner-up twice. In 1940, the men's cross country team finished second to Indiana University at the national meet hosted by Michigan State University.
  The Eagles have also won the Reese Trophy, given to the best overall men's athletic program in the MAC, five times, most recently in 2018. EMU was a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1950 to 1961, and has been a member of the MAC since 1972.
context_section_description: The football team played one home game a year at Ford Field in downtown Detroit from 2004–07 in the "Collegiate Clash". They hosted Central Michigan University (2004), Western Michigan University (2005), the United States Naval Academy (2006), and Northwestern University (2007). After winning the first Ford Field game over CMU in triple overtime 61–58, they  lost three in a row.
  The greatest football victory in EMU history occurred in December 1987.  The MAC Champion Hurons defeated 17½ point favorite San Jose State in the California Bowl.  The victory culminated a 10–2 season and improbable rise from the depths of Division I-A college football. Only two years previous the team was in serious jeopardy of losing Division I-A status.  Head Coach Jim Harkema was instrumental in resurrecting the program. The two losses in 1987 were both on the road, and were by a total of 11 points.
  The 1988 and 1989 teams each finished in second place in the conference and ended the most successful stretch of football in school history with its fourth straight winning season.
  After a long series of losing records, and finishing the 2015 season with a 1–11 record, they have since appeared in bowl games in 2016 and 2018 under head coach Chris Creighton.
caption: the football team in 1917
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