Football Opens 2017 Campaign Friday Versus Charlotte

Football vs. Charlotte
Date	Friday, Sept. 1 \| 6:30 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Rynearson Stadium (30,200)
Preview Info	EMU Notes \| Press Conference Video. \| Teleconference Audio.
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN3
Listen	WEMU (89.1 WEMU-FM) \| TuneIn Radio
Twitter	@EMUFB \| @EMUAthletics
Tickets	Order Tickets Online or call 734.487.3669 \| Bag Policy

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University football team opens the 2017 season at home inside "The Factory" when it hosts the University of North Carolina Charlotte Friday, Sept. 1. The 126th season of EMU football will commence with a 6:30 p.m. kick under the new lights at Rynearson Stadium.
   The contest will be broadcast on ESPN3. with Dan Gutkowski on the play-by-play and Mark Herrmann providing the analysis. The game will also be aired on WEMU (89.1 FM) with veteran broadcasters Matt Shepard and Rob Rubick calling the action on the field. WEMU's pregame show from the stadium begins at 6:20 p.m.

ALL TIME VS CHARLOTTE: The Eagles and 49ers met for the first time in their respective histories last season when EMU made the trip down to Jerry Richardson Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 17, 2016. The Green and White came away victorious, 37-19, to get the series against the other Green and White off to a great start.

KICKING OFF THE SEASON AT HOME: EMU is 74-45-5 (.616) all-time in its home opener. Furthermore, the Eagles are 41-17-1 (.703) when opening the season at home. Friday's game marks the 10th time in the last 14 years that the Eagles have opened the season at home in Rynearson Stadium.

126 YEARS OF FOOTBALL: This is the 126th year for the EMU football team. The first year of intercollegiate football in Ypsilanti was 1891, when the team, then known as the Michigan Normal College Normalites, posted an 0-2 record. EMU has fielded a team every year since 1891 with one exception, when the 1944 season was canceled because of World War II.

2017 CAPTAINS: Eastern Michigan University's football team announced its team captains for the 2017 campaign, April 24. Providing leadership for the squad will be seniors Jason Beck and Brogan Roback, as well as redshirt juniors Jeremiah Harris and Shaq Vann.
   Beck, Roback, and Harris earn the honor for the first time, while Vann received the distinction for the second consecutive season.

LOOKING FOR 150: The first victory of the season for Head Coach Chris Creighton will give the 21-year coaching veteran the 150th of his career. Creighton racked up 32 at Ottawa (Kansas), 63 at Wabash, 44 at Drake, and currently has 10 at EMU in his three seasons.

EMU AGAINST CONFERENCE USA: The Eagles are 4-12 all-time against the current Conference USA institutions, having only played against five of them. EMU is 1-3 against Marshall University, a former Mid-American Conference foe. The Green and White has faced Louisiana Tech six times (1-5), while splitting the series with one win apiece against Western Kentucky. Last season, EMU won the inaugural meeting with Charlotte, while they dropped a 24-20 game to Old Dominion in the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl to fall to 0-3 in that series.

TACKLES ON TOP OF TACKLES: With eight defensive starters and 24 lettermen returning on the defensive side of the ball in 2017, EMU also returns 86 percent of its total tackles from a season ago. According to Phil Steele, this is the fourth-most returning tackles by any team in the country.

YARDS ON TOP OF YARDS: EMU also returns almost all of its skill position players, including the QB, five of its six top rushers, and eight of its top nine receivers. As a result of this, the Eagles have 81.4 percent of its yards back from a season ago, which ranks 26th best in the country according to Phil Steele.

ROBACK RISING: Redshirt senior Brogan Roback has put up gaudy numbers in his four seasons in the Green and White, placing him near the top of the EMU record books for numerous categories. For his career, he has 5,463 yards and 36 passing touchdowns, which ranks fourth and third all-time in program history, respectively, while his 474 completions rank fourth as well. Overall, his 6,033 total yards are fifth in the EMU annals.

RETOOLED OFFENSIVE LINE: After having one of the most experienced offensive lines in the country in 2016, with five fifth-year seniors seeing time, it was well known the Eagles would have to do some retooling in 2017. Coming into the year, Eastern returns 27 total starts, including two primary starters from a season ago in juniors Jimmy Leatiota and Ka'John Armstrong, who have 13 and 11 starts, respectively, in their careers.

SHAQ VANN BACK IN COMMISSION: A welcome re-addition to the offense this season will be redshirt junior running back Shaq Vann, who missed almost all of last season with an injury. In 2015, Vann was EMU's Offensive Newcomer of the Year after totaling 850 yards and six scores as a redshirt freshman. In 2016, Vann was expected to be Eastern's primary back, but a shoulder injury in game two of the season derailed that plan. Now in 2017, Vann, a two-time captain and two-time Doak Walker Award preseason candidate, will lead a deep stable of backs, who return four 100-yard rushers from a season ago.

BECK ON THE STOP: A name Eagle fans have become accustomed to hearing in on tackles over the last three years is senior Jason Beck. The three-year starter, who is transitioning from safety to linebacker this season, has racked up 270 so far for his career, placing him 26th all-time at EMU. Should Beck replicate his 104-tackle output from a season ago, he will finish in the top-five in program history.

WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE: Eastern returns a wealth of experience in 2017, as 17 starters return overall, including eight on both the offense and defense, and one specialist. Overall, EMU has 52 lettermen returning from a season ago.

#2 BACK ON THE FIELD: For EMU football one number has been held out of circulation since October 2013 – the No. 2. Wide receiver Demarius Reed, who passed away on Oct. 18, 2013, was the last Eagle to be issued the number.
    Now nearly five years later with the blessing of Reed's family and former teammates, his number will once again grace the field at Rynearson Stadium. Moving forward, Eastern Michigan will issue the No. 2 to the squad's best/senior wide receiver as a way of remembering and honoring Reed.
   Players will not get the opportunity to choose No. 2 by picking it out in the equipment room. They will earn it through their actions both on and off the field. This player will possess the integrity, character, and selflessness all of EMU's football players and representatives strive to build within themselves. This season senior wide receiver Sergio Bailey II earned the honor to don the No. 2 jersey as part of the new tradition.

42nd FOR THE MAC: The 2017 season marks the 42nd year that the Eagles have been a part of the Mid-American Conference football championship race. EMU was admitted into the league in 1971, but a complete league schedule was not available until the 1976 season.

PEARL ANNIVERSARY: The 2017 season marks 30 years since the historic 1987 season for EMU football. That season, the then-Hurons went 10-2, including 7-1 in MAC play, to capture the lone conference title in program history. With their efforts, EMU was invited to the California Bowl, just the second bowl appearance in program history, coming away victorious over San Jose State, 30-27, for the only bowl win to date for the program.

NEW FACES ON THE COACHING STAFF: In Head Coach Chris Creighton's fourth season at the helm, he was been able to keep his staff mostly intact form last season, with just a couple of exceptions. Stepping into the Offensive Coordinator/QB coach role is former Special Teams/TE coach, Aaron Keen. In his fourth season on staff, Keen will begin his first running the offense for Eastern. Taking his place at special teams is Jay Nunez. Nunez comes to Ypsilanti from Southern Illinois, where he spent the last season running the Salukis' highly successful special teams unit. The other fresh face is Offensive Line coach Luke Meadows. The 18-year coaching vet will bring 16-seasons of o-line coaching experience to the Eagles this fall.

MADE IN MICHIGAN: The 2017 EMU squad boasts 36 players that hail from the Great Lakes State, 22 more than the next closest state.

A CHANGE IN THE GUARD: College athletics has long been a male dominated world, but times are changing with Eastern Michigan standing at the forefront of it. Jennifer Brown, EMU's Associate Athletics Director for Sports Medicine, is just one of nine female athletic trainers to oversee an FBS football team. In addition, she is one of just five females who is a head of a sport medicine department in the FBS. She arrived in Ypsilanti in 2015 following an 11-year tenure in the Northwestern University Athletics Department where she served as the Associate Athletics Trainer. At NU, Brown worked directly with the Wildcats' football team.

EAGLES PICKED FOURTH IN MAC WEST: The Eagles were picked to finish fourth in the Mid-American Conference West Division, July 26, in the league's preseason poll. The poll was announced at the league's annual MAC Football Media Day at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton and was determined by members of the league's media members.
    The Eagles received 74 points, finishing ahead of Central Michigan (62) and Ball State (30). Toledo was selected to win the West Division with 142 total points, followed by defending MAC Champion Western Michigan (107), Northern Illinois (89) and then EMU.
    In the East Division, defending East Division Champion Ohio was selected first with 131 total points, only two points greater that second-place selection Miami RedHawks with 129 total points. Bowling Green finished third with 88 points, followed by Akron with 79 points, then Buffalo (41) and Kent State (36).
    Four teams received votes to win the annual Marathon MAC Football Championship Game between the winners of the West and East Divisions. The Rockets garnered 21 votes, while WMU, BGSU, and Miami each received one.

ON THE HORIZON: EMU will hit the road for its second non-conference contest of the season when it heads to Piscataway, N.J. for a battle with Big Ten foe Rutgers University Saturday, Sept. 9. The contest, which will air on the Big Ten Network, is set for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff. Eastern's next home contest will be two Saturday's from then, Sept. 23, after a bye week. EMU will open MAC play when it hosts defending East Division Champion Ohio University.

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Players Mentioned

Ka’John Armstrong

Sergio Bailey II

Jason Beck

Jeremiah Harris

Jimmy Leatiota

Brogan Roback

Shaq Vann

Eastern Michigan Athletics