Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Michigan
Football Plays at Michigan Saturday
10/1/2007 7:40:00 PM | Football
Game time set for noon on the Big Ten Network
Complete Game Notes (PDF).
Click Here to Listen to the Game via WEMU.
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THIRD STRAIGHT NON-MAC TILT: EMU's game at Michigan will be the Eagles' third consecutive non-league contest. After posting a 21-19 comeback win against Mid-American Conference West Division foe Northern Illinois, Sept. 15, the Eagles have beaten Howard, 38-15, Sept. 22, lost at Vanderbilt, 30-7, Sept. 29, and now face the Wolverines. The next league game will be Saturday, Oct. 13, when the Eagles travel to Athens, Ohio for a MAC cross-divisional game against Ohio.
EIGHTH MEETING: EMU and Michigan will be meeting for the eighth time when the two teams square off Saturday, Oct. 6, at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Michigan has a 7-0 edge in the series. The last time the two teams played was Sept. 17, 2005, in Ann Arbor and the Wolverines posted a 55-0 shutout.
FORMER EMU ASSISTANT: Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr was an assistant coach at EMU for two seasons, 1976 and 1977. The EMU head coach at that time was Ed Chlebek.
BATTLE OF WASHTENAW COUNTY: EMU and the University of Michigan are both located in Washtenaw County and EMU's Rynearson Stadium is just seven miles from Michigan Stadium.
SATURDAY PREVIEW: EMU will be out of Mid-American Conference action for the third consecutive week when the Eagles travel seven miles west to take on the University of Michigan Saturday, Oct. 6, in the Big House in Ann Arbor. Game time is noon and is scheduled to be televised as part of the Big Ten Network. The last time EMU and Michigan met, the Wolverines recorded a 55-0 shutout, Sept. 17, 2005. The Eagles get back into Mid-American Conference play Saturday, Oct. 13, when they travel to Athens, Ohio for a MAC cross-divisional matchup with the Ohio University Bobcats.
MOVING UP NATIONALLY: Several EMU players, along with the team, have made a major impact on the latest national rankings (Oct. 1). Junior linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw (Enid, Okla.-Enid) moved all the way up from a tie for 23rd, Sept. 15, to currently ranked No. 3 in the nation with an average of 12.80 tackles per game. Senior defensive tackle Jason Jones (Southfield, Mich.-Lathrup) has moved into a tie for 13th in tackles-for-loss with 1.60 per game and redshirt freshman safety Ryan Downard (Lima, Ohio-Shawnee) is tied for 19th in interceptions with .60 per game. As a team, EMU is 11th in sacks allowed at .80 per game and the Eagles are fifth in net punting at 40.00.
MASTER THIEF: Redshirt freshman safety Ryan Downard (Lima, Ohio-Shawnee) has made the most of his chance to start, recording three interceptions in three games as a starter. Downard was called on to fill in for the injured Chris May (Jupiter, Fla.-Dwyer) after the Ball State game (Sept. 8) and he turned in his first interception in his second game as a starter, against Howard University (Sept. 22). He then came up with two picks in last weekend's 30-7 loss at Vanderbilt (Sept. 29).
MORE THAN A PUNTER: Redshirt sophomore Zach Johnson (Springboro, Ohio-Springboro) has been one of the top punters in the nation for the past two years. He was one of 10 finalists for the 2006 Ray Guy Award which goes to the nation's top punter. He is on the Ray Guy watch list again this season. He has not only been the starting punter all year but he has also been called on to handle the place-kicking duties for the first time in his short career in the past two games. Johnson has responded with an outstanding effort on all fronts in the last two outings. In those two games he punted 11 times for 448 yards and a 40.7-yard average and had five punts inside the 20-yard line. Johnson made a 22-yard field goal in his only attempt, against Howard University (Sept. 22) and booted all six PAT kicks and also handled the kickoff duties in both the Howard and Vanderbilt contests.
DOUBLE DIGITS FOR HOLTZCLAW: EMU junior middle linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw (Enid, Okla.-Enid) turned in the 13th double-digit tackle game last weekend at Vanderbilt (Sept. 29) when he recorded 13 stops. He had four double-figure tackle games as a freshman, five in 2006 and four this season.
FOURTH SCORE: EMU senior wide receiver Travis Lewis (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Loy Norrix) caught the fourth touchdown pass of his career with a 14-yard scoring grab last weekend, Sept. 29) at Vanderbilt. Lewis has two touchdown receptions his season and one each in 2005 and 2006.
