Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Toledo
Football Travels to Toledo
10/29/2007 3:36:00 PM | Football
Saturday's game set for 7 p.m. in the Glass Bowl
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34th MEETING: Eastern Michigan and Toledo have met 33 times on the gridiron and Toledo has a 23-10 lead in the series. The Eagles came up with a 17-13 win in last year's game, Oct. 13, in Ypsilanti.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL DAY: Saturday, Nov. 3, is National College Football Day, celebrating the anniversary of the birth of an American institution. On the first Saturday in November of 1869, Rutgers and Princeton staged college football's first game. Since that beginning the sport has become ingrained in our culture. To honor the great spectacle that is college football, the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic created this annual holiday. As we celebrate the fourth annual National College Football Day, members of the American Football Coaches Association, the Football Writers Association of America and the National Association of Division I-A Football Officials are wearing commemorative lapel pins. This year, National College Football Day has taken on added significance, teaming with The V Foundation for Cancer Research to increase awareness and raise money in the fight against cancer. For more information of National College Football day, and to make a donation to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, go to nationalcollegefootballday.com.
SATURDAY PREVIEW: Eastern Michigan and Toledo will be meeting for the 34th time in history with Toledo holding a 23-10 advantage. EMU broke a six-game losing streak with a 17-13 win over the Rockets last year (Oct. 21) in the annual Homecoming game in Rynearson Stadium. EMU enters Saturday night's game (Nov. 3) with a 3-6 overall record, a 2-2 overall Mid-American Conference record plus, more importantly, a 2-1 West Division record. Toledo is currently 4-5 overall, 2-3 in the MAC and 1-2 in the MAC West. Division-only games are the first criteria for winning the division and CMU is 3-0, Ball State and EMU 2-1, Western Michigan 2-2, Toledo 1-2 and Northern Illinois 0-4.
EAGLES GET FIRST PART OF MICHIGAN MAC TROPHY: With the 19-2 win over Western Michigan last weekend (Oct. 27) the Eagles moved into the early lead for the Michigan Mid-American Conference Trophy sponsored by the state of Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. The trophy is awarded to the Michigan-MAC school that holds the season's advantage in football games played between Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan and Western Michigan. EMU won the battle of Michigan schools in 2004, the first year of the trophy, by winning both matchups with their Michigan counterparts. The 2005 trophy went to Western Michigan and the 2006 trophy was captured by CMU. CMU and WMU meet Tuesday, Nov. 6, and EMU closes its year at CMU (Nov. 16).
BEST SINCE 2005: Senior tailback Pierre Walker (Detroit, Mich.-Central) not only set a career-best with 151 yards gained on 33 rushes in last weekend's (Oct. 27) 19-2 win over Western Michigan, but he was also the first EMU tailback to turn in a 100-yard rushing game since Anthony Sherrell pulled off the feat, Oct. 22, 2005, with 107 yards against Miami. Quarterback Tyler Jones (Belleville, Mich.-Belleville) also rushed for 107 yards in that Miami game in 2005, marking just the third time in school history that EMU had two players rush for more than 100 yards in the same game. The last time that was accomplished before 2005 was 1975.
CAREER BEST: Redshirt sophomore Zach Johnson (Springboro, Ohio-Springboro) turned in outstanding efforts in both the punting and place-kicking games in last weekend's (Oct. 27) 19-2 win over a visiting Western Michigan team. Johnson booted a career-best 50-yard field goal and also had five punts for 198 yards, including four inside the 20-yard line. Johnson's 50 yarder ties for eighth longest field goal in EMU history.
THIRD STRAIGHT FOR HOMECOMING: EMU's 19-2 win over Western Michigan last weekend (Oct. 27) marks the third consecutive Homecoming win for the Eagles. Eastern won the 2006 Homecoming tilt, 17-13, (Oct. 21) against Toledo and the Eagles also captured the 2005 Homecoming game, 27-20, over Kent State (Oct. 1).
ROOKIE MOVES UP: Safety Ryan Downard (Lima, Ohio-Shawnee) is playing in his first season for the Eagles and has made a big mark nationally, with six interceptions this season to rank tied for third in the latest NCAA statistical report. His six picks is also the best for and EMU player since Terry Reed recorded six in 1997. Bob Navarro is the EMU single-season interception lead with 12 in 1989.
GAGE SETS MARK-MAC RECORD IN SIGHT: Redshirt sophomore wide receiver-kick return specialist Dontayo Gage (Pontiac, Mich.-Northern) broke the EMU single-season kickoff return yardage record when he had three returns for 105 yards against Northwestern University (Oct. 19). The 105 yards against the Wildcats give Gage 784 yards on 30 returns this season. Gage breaks the mark of 725 yards in returns by Trumaine Riley in 2003. Gage added one return for 19 yards last weekend (Oct. 27) against Western to give him 803. WMU's Rashad McDade has the MAC mark with 898 in 1999 but three current MAC returners, including Gage, have more than 800 this year.
JUST MISSING THE SHUTOUT: The EMU defense pitched a shutout last weekend (Oct. 27) against Western Michigan but the visiting Broncos managed two points, against EMU's offense, on a safety in the second quarter. The last time EMU had a shutout was the 1997 season when the Eagles won a 45-0 decision over Akron (Oct. 18).
STRONG IN RELIEF: True freshman quarterback Kyle McMahon (Rochester Hills, Mich.-Pontiac Notre Dame Prep) has been called on for extensive relief duty in the last two games and has responded with strong outings. With starting quarterback Andy Schmitt (St. Johns, Mich.-St. Johns) out of action against Northwestern (Oct. 19) with a shoulder sprain, the 6-foot-3, 206-pound McMahon came up with a strong effort, completing 28-of-48 passes for 282 yards and adding 44 yards on 13 carries on the ground. In addition, McMahon ran for touchdowns of five and 19 yards. He had three interceptions in the game. In last weekend's (Oct. 27) win over Western Michigan, Schmitt left the game midway through the second quarter with an injury and McMahon finished the game by completing 7-of-11 passes for 63 yards and helping the Eagles notch the win.
MID-SEASON ACCOLADES: Five EMU players have earned mention on Phil Steele's College Football Preview magazine mid-season All-American and All-Mid-American Conference rankings. Senior defensive tackle Jason Jones (Southfield, Mich.-Lathrup) was chosen fourth-team All-American on the mid-season list. In addition, Jones, Khalid Walton (Southfield, Mich.-Southfield) and Daniel Holtzclaw (Enid, Okla.-Enid) were all named mid-season first-team All-MAC while Andy Fretz (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Central) and Darran Matthews (Redford, Mich.-Thurston) were selected to the All-MAC second team.
NATIONALLY RANKED: EMU has several players and several areas on the team ranked near the top of the latest national and Mid-American Conference statistical reports. Redshirt freshman Ryan Downard (Lima, Ohio-Shawnee) is tied for third nationally, and first in the MAC, with six interceptions (.67 per game). Senior defensive tackle Jason Jones (Southfield, Mich.-Lathrup) is sixth in the nation and first in the Mid-American Conference in tackles-for-loss at 2.00 per game. Junior linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw (Enid, Okla.-Enid) is tied for 11th in the NCAA in tackles and second in the MAC with 11.1 tackles per game. EMU is third in the nation, and first in the MAC, in net punting at 39.68.
