Football Renews Rivalry with Central Michigan Wednesday

Football at Central Michigan
Date	Wednesday, Nov. 8 \| 8 p.m.
Venue	Mount Pleasant, Mich. \| Kelly/Shorts Stadium (30,255)
Preview Info	EMU Notes \| Press Conference Video. \| Teleconference Audio.
Live Stats	Fan Stats
Watch	ESPNU
Listen	WEMU (89.1 WEMU-FM) \| TuneIn Radio
Twitter	@EMUFB \| @EMUAthletics

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Fresh off a record-setting night against Ball State University, the Eastern Michigan University football team looks to continue the momentum in a midweek road clash against in-state rival Central Michigan University. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, inside Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
The two sides enter the #MACtion contest riding emotional highs following decisive victories in Week 10 to inch closer to bowl consideration. EMU (3-6, 1-4 MAC) cruised a 56-14 home victory over BSU, Nov. 2. Meanwhile, the Chippewas (5-4, 3-2 MAC) overcame a two-TD deficit with three fourth-quarter scores to top WMU, 35-28, Nov. 1.
The contest will be nationally televised by ESPNU with Mike Corey providing play-by-play and Tom Luginbill serving as the analyst. WEMU (89.1 FM) will provide audio coverage of the game with Matt Shepard, Rob Rubick, and Chad Bush calling the action on the field.

MILESTONE WATCH: Senior quarterback Brogan Roback has a chance to make school history this Wednesday, as he is just two touchdown passes away from breaking the school record set by Charlie Batch (53). In addition, he is 291 yards away from breaking the all-time total offense record that was set by Walter Church (8,628). The veteran is also second in all-time passing yards (8,105) and completions (702), trailing Church by 1,037 and 105 in those categories, respectively.

GOALS STILL REMAIN: With three games left, EMU's season goals still remain squarely intact – to go to back-to-back bowl games for the first time in school history and then win it. The Eagles will need to win out to do so versus competition that has a .370 winning percentage (10-17).

LARGE IN THE MARGIN: With a 56-14 win over Ball State, Nov. 2, the Eagles had their largest margin of victory in a conference game since joining the Mid-American Conference in 1976. EMU's previous high-water mark was a 41-point defeat of Kent State University during the 1996 campaign. Additionally, the 56 points were the most points scored against a conference opponent since tallying 56 against Central Michigan in 2008.

NO SOUP FOR YOU!: Defensive Coordinator Neal Neathery's crew has proven to be very stingy in the fourth quarter, allowing just 3.4 points per game over the course of the final 15 minutes. Even better at home, the Eagles have not given up a fourth quarter point inside "The Factory".
Nationally, EMU ranks fifth in the fewest points given up in the fourth with Wisconsin leading the way at 2.3 ppg.

SUFFOCATING DEFENSE: Eastern Michigan's defense has not only been one of the best units in the conference, but also the country in almost every facet of the game. Heading into week 10, the Eagles rank in the top-50 nationally in nine major defensive categories:

MR. 8,000: With his 263 yards passing in the 56-14 win over Ball State, Nov. 2, Brogan Roback surpassed 8,000 career passing yards. He is just the second QB in program history to reach that milestone, joining the all-time leading passer, Walter Church, who finished with 9,142. Roback's 8,105 career passing yards are 12th amongst active QBs in the FBS, just 86 yards behind 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson (8,191)

GETTING VANN BACK ON THE ROAD: After battling through injuries the past two seasons, running back Shaq Vann looked like his old self against Ball State, Nov. 2. The junior finished with 55 yards on just seven carries with a pair of 21-yard touchdown runs. It was the first touchdown scored for Vann since the opening game of the 2016 campaign vs. Mississippi Valley State. With the 55 yards, Vann also went over 1,000 yards for his Eagle career with 1,031.

100x100: The leading rusher and receiver this season for the Eagles both had highly productive games against Ball State, Nov. 2. Junior running back Ian Eriksen and senior wide receiver Sergio Bailey II both had 100+ yard games, as Eriksen tallied 114 yards on the ground, and Bailey II added 110 yards through the air, including a career-long 74-yard touchdown catch. They were their second 100-yard games on the season, and the fourth of their respective careers.

PAUL OF DUTY: With eight touchdowns scored in the 56-14 win over Ball State, Nov. 2, the opportunity arose for sophomore kicker Paulie Fricano to kick eight extra points. The second-year kicker was true on all eight of them, tying a school record for extra points in a game. It is the second time he has hit eight extra points in a game, having done so last season against in the season opener against Mississippi Valley State.

MY NAME IS JEFF: The big win over Ball State was capped off with a thrilling defensive play from 'true' freshman cornerback Jeff Hubbard, as the first-year player intercepted an errant BSU pass, and returned it 46 yards the other way for a pick six score. It was the first INT and TD in Hubbard's young career, as well as the second interception returned for a score this season for EMU.

WHO SAID TELEVISION DRAMA IS DEAD?: CBS Sports Network and ESPN can thank EMU for plenty of high drama during the 2017 football season. For seven consecutive games, the outcome of an EMU game was decided on final drive with four of them in doubt until the final play. In total, the Eagles are 23 points away from the possibility of still being undefeated.

• Sept. 9: 16-13 win at Rutgers — Eagles win, get sack on game's final play
• Sept. 23: 27-20 2OT loss to Ohio — Ohio scores on final play in double overtime
• Sept. 30: 24-20 loss at Kentucky — Eagles intercepted in end zone on final play
• Oct. 7: 20-15 loss at Toledo — Eagles intercepted on final drive
• Oct. 14: 28-27 loss at Army — Eagles fail to convert two-point conversion for win
• Oct. 21: 20-17 OT loss to Western Michigan — Eagles miss field goal in overtime
• Oct. 26: 30-27 OT loss at Northern Illinois — Eagles make field goal, but gives up TD in overtime

SACK LUNCH: With a strip sack against Ball State, Nov. 2, Jeremiah Harris tallied the 10th sack of his EMU career. He is just the seventh player to reach that milestone for EMU since 1998. This season, Harris leads EMU with 10 tackles for loss, while tying the team lead with five sacks.

LOCKED IN ON D: Through nine games, EMU opponents have combined to score a total of just 183 points, for an average of 20.3 points per contest. On that current pace, EMU would finish with 244 points yielded on the year. It would be the fewest points given up in a season since 1993, when it gave up 220 in 11 games. Should EMU's defense finish with less than 264 points on the season, it would be the fewest allowed by an Eagle defense since moving to a 12-game regular season schedule in 2002.

COMING DOWN TO THE WIRE: In 2017, seven of EMU's nine games have been within seven points or less, with EMU winning just one (16-13 over Rutgers), and losing the last six. The last six Eagle losses have come by a combined 23 points. Further complicating it, the last six opponents EMU lost to have either achieved bowl eligible status (six wins), or are just one win away from accomplishing that feat.
In EMU's last 22 games, dating back to the start of the 2016 season, 15 of them have come down to final scores of just seven points or less. Of the 15 games, EMU has a 6-9 record.

DEUCES WILD: In just his second season in the program senior wideout Sergio Bailey II sits seventh on the all-time receiving yardage list with 1,631, while he is also 11th on the all-time receptions list (106) and fifth on the career TD catches list (13).
Furthermore, Bailey is one of just 37 players in the FBS to have an active streak of 20-or more consecutive games with a reception. Bailey has caught at least one pass in all 22 games during his EMU career, while Iowa State's Allen Lazard holds the national standard at 43.

BECK ON THE STOP: Senior Jason Beck, who transitioned from safety to linebacker this season, has racked up 330 tackles in his career, making him just the 16th EMU player to reach the 300-tackle milestone, and placing him 10th all-time at EMU. In terms of the national scale, Beck's 330 stops is eighth amongst active FBS players.

PAULIE RACKING UP THE POINTS: In just his second season as the primary place kicker for EMU, Paulie Fricano has racked up 153 career points, which is good for 10th on the all-time EMU scoring list. Former Eagle kicker Andrew Wellock is the program leader with 299 career points.

CHIP DIP: EMU and CMU will meet on the gridiron for the 95th time in history between the two programs, with the Chippewas holding the series lead, 59-29-6. Last year, Eastern Michigan capped off a historic regular season with a late come-from-behind 26-21 victory over Central Michigan at Rynearson Stadium, Nov. 22, 2016.
The last time the Green and White were victorious in Mount Pleasant was Oct. 15, 2011. EMU invaded its rivals from the north and left with a 35-28 victory in the first leg of claiming the Michigan MAC Trophy.

RECAPPING LAST YEAR'S MEETING: Brogan Roback found Sergio Bailey II with a 24-yard touchdown with 21 seconds left and Eastern Michigan won its seventh game of the season for the first time in 27 years, knocking off Central Michigan 26-21 in the regular season finale, Nov. 22, 2016.
The Eagles led 20-7 after three quarters, but the Chippewas rallied behind a pair of Devon Spalding touchdown runs, including a 41-yard dash that put them up 21-20 with 2:34 left.
Roback, who finished 26-of-38 for 355 yards, engineered a 72-yard drive in eight plays for the winning score, his second TD pass of the game.

EMU'S LAST WIN IN MOUNT PLEASANT: A dramatic 30-yard touchdown run by quarterback Alex Gillett with just 37 seconds left in the game broke a 28-28 tie to give Eastern Michigan a 35-28 win over Central Michigan inside Kelly/Shorts Stadium, Oct. 15, 2011.
Then-Head Coach Ron English's Eagles held what looked like a safe 28-13 lead with 5:39 left in the game, but Central came back to score 15 unanswered points to tie the game at 28-all with 1:09 left.
Facing what looked like a certain overtime finish, the Eagles then took the ensuing kickoff and marched all the way to the CMU 30-yard line setting up the exciting run by Gillett. Kody Fulkerson added the PAT kick for the 35-28 EMU lead with 37 seconds left.
Central would not go quietly, however, advancing all the way to the EMU 28-yard line before cornerback Marcell Rose picked off a Ryan Radcliff pass on the last play of the game at the EMU four-yard-line and returned it to the eight before sliding down to end the contest.

SPREADING THE LOVE: Senior quarterback Brogan Roback has spread the ball around to a multitude of targets, having completed passes to at least eight different in seven of the first nine games. The veteran found 10 different receivers against Charlotte, eight different receivers against Rutgers, 12 different targets against Ohio, eight against Kentucky, nine against Toledo, 10 against Western Michigan, and then 12 against Northern Illinois. The two games in which Roback did not connect with at least eight wideouts was against Army and Ball State.
With the average of 9.2 different receivers per game, EMU ranks fifth in the country in different wideouts with a catch per game.

ROBACK RISING: Now more than midway through his final season in the Green and White senior quarterback Brogan Roback has etched himself into the upper echelon of four major statistical categories in EMU history. For his career, he ranks second in completions (702), passing touchdowns (52), passing yards (8,105), and total offense (8,338). Beyond just EMU, Roback is among the FBS leaders in active total offense and passing yards, ranking 12th among current players in passing yards, and 12th in total offense.

INSIDE ROBACK'S TD TOSSES: During his time donning the Green and White, Brogan Roback has thrown 52 touchdown passes, the second-most in program history. For his career, Roback has tossed TD passes to 18 different receivers. Current teammate Sergio Bailey II has been his favorite target, hauling in 12 touchdown catches, while Antoine Porter has made seven TD catches.

DYNAMIC DUO: The defensive end duo of Jeremiah Harris and Maxx Crosby have been the leaders of the high sack and tackle for loss movement thus far for the Eagles in 2017. On the season, Crosby is EMU's sack leader with 5.0 sacks to go along with 8.5 tackles for loss. Meanwhile, Harris is the TFL leader with 10.0, and has chipped in 5.0 sacks as well. Crosby and Harris rank fourth in the conference and 84th in the NCAA in sacks

BEHIND ENEMY LINES: The Green and White have made a living feasting on the opposition behind the line of scrimmage this season. Through nine games, the Eagles have registered 54 tackles for loss and 20 sacks. In 2016, the Eagles totaled 60.0 tackles for loss and 21.0 sacks in 13 games. On its current pace of about six tackles for loss per game, EMU is set to rack up the most TFL's since 2001. Additionally, if Eastern is able to maintain its average of about 2.5 sacks per contest it would be the third-most in program history and most since 1999.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern completes its road slate with a Wednesday evening contest in Oxford, Ohio against Miami University, Nov. 15. Kickoff against the RedHawks is set for either 7 or 8 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Sergio Bailey II

Jason Beck

Maxx Crosby

Ian Eriksen

Paulie Fricano

Jeremiah Harris

Jeff Hubbard

Antoine Porter

Brogan Roback

Shaq Vann

Eastern Michigan Athletics