After their offense hit a speed bump at Bowling Green State University, the Eastern Michigan University Eagles football team (1-7 overall, 0-4 Mid-American Conference) has a Thursday, Nov. 1
game in Athens, Ohio against the Ohio Bobcats (7-1 overall, 3-1 MAC).
This is the 29th meeting between the two schools. Ohio holds a slight 16-11-1 lead over EMU and has won the last four meetings since 2002.
Ohio is coming off of their first loss off the season when they lost to Miami (23-20), dropping them out of the Associated Press and the Bowl Championship Series Top 25 polls.
The Eagles will have a tough offense to try and get past. Ohio is ranked second in the MAC for points per game with 34.4, where EMU is averaging 21.9 per game. The Bobcats’ offense is also averaging 450.1 yards per game and their 210.4 rushing yards per game ranks them 24th in the nation.
Key players on the Bobcats’ roster are quarterback Tyler Tettleton, running back Beau Blankenship and linebacker Keith Moore.
Tettleton has completed 131 out of 217 passes for 1,645 yards with 12 touchdowns and one interception and has run for 175 yards and one touchdown. Blankenship leads the team in rushing with 1,025 yards off of 214 carries with seven touchdowns. Moore leads the team with 68 tackles,
while also accumulating an interception and a fumble recovery this season.
The Eagles are still looking to get their first in-conference win of the season. To do so, the offense will have to kick it back into gear after last week’s 178-yard performance without a touchdown. In their three previous games against Kent State, Toledo and Army, the Eagles totaled 1,600 yards and 109 points.
Senior tight end Garrett Hoskins still leads the MAC in receiving yards with 472 among all other tight ends. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Tyler Benz will make his sixth start of the season, having thrown a touchdown pass in all but one game.
In the Bobcats’ lone loss last week against the Miami Redhawks, quarterback Zac Dysert threw for 311 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Redhawks receiver Nick Harwell had eight catches for 138 yards and a touchdown. These are stats that Benz and Hoskins have both done together.
Senior punter Jay Karutz is averaging the most yards per punt in EMU history with 43.4. This season he has 50 punts for 2,169 yards with a long of 64.
The Eagles need a win if they want to come home next week with some momentum, where they play
in-state rival Central Michigan University Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. The game will be shown on ESPNU.