Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Vanderbilt
Football Travels to the Music City
9/24/2007 1:01:00 PM | Football
Game time set for 6 p.m. CST in Nashville, Tenn.
Complete Game Notes (PDF).
Listen to the Game via WEMU.
Live Statistics.
FIRST MEETING: Saturday's (Sept. 29) game between Eastern Michigan University and Vanderbilt University will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
FORMER COMMODORE LEADS EMU ATHLETICS: EMU athletics director Dr. Derrick Gragg is a Vanderbilt alumnus, graduating in the class of 1992. He was a wide receiver on the Vanderbilt football team and earned four letters from 1988-91. He was an Academic All-Southeastern Conference selection in 1991.
THIRD IN THE SEC: Vanderbilt will be the third Southeastern Conference team that the Eastern Michigan University football team has faced. The Eagles made their first trip into SEC country, Sept. 16, 2000, when Eastern lost a 41-6 decision at South Carolina. The second pairing came, Sept. 11, 2004, when the Eagles traveled to Gainesville, Fla. and dropped a 49-10 decision to the No. 10 ranked Florida Gators.
SATURDAY PREVIEW: EMU will be out of Mid-American Conference action for the second week in a row when the Eagles travel to Nashville, Tenn. Saturday, Sept. 29, to square off against Vanderbilt University. The game will be the first ever between the two schools and the third game in EMU school history against a Southeastern Conference team. The Eagles lost a 41-6 decision at South Carolina, Sept. 16, 2000, and then dropped a 49-10 contest in Gainesville, Fla., Sept. 11, 2004, against the No. 10 ranked Florida Gators. Eastern hosted Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference foe Howard University last weekend, Sept. 22, and won the non-league tilt, 38-15.
BIG STOPPER: EMU junior linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw (Enid, Ok.-Enid) came up with his single-game best for tackles with a whopping 19 stops last weekend, Sept. 22, against Howard University. The 19 tackles were not only a career best for Holtzclaw but also marked the 12th double-digit tackle effort in his three-year career.
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 was not only the starting punter last weekend, Sept. 22, against Howard University, but he was also called on to handle the place-kicking duties for the first time in his short career. Johnson responded with an outstanding effort on all fronts in that game. He punted six times for 251 yards and a 41.8 yard average, had four punts inside the 20-yard line, and had just two returned for two yards. Johnson made a 22-yard field goal in his only attempt, booted all five PAT kicks and also handled the kickoff duties, one of which led to an EMU recovery followed by a touchdown two plays later.
FOUR FOR SCORES: EMU redshirt sophomore quarterback Andy Schmitt (St. John's, Mich.-St. John's) turned in a complete game Saturday, Sept. 22, against Howard. He completed 14-of-21 passes for 214 yards and threw for four touchdown passes. That four-touchdown pass performance tied for second-best in school history, a feat that has been accomplished 12 times. Kainoa Akina holds the EMU single-game record with six touchdown tosses, Nov. 24, 2001, at Akron.
FIRST PICK: Redshirt freshman safety Ryan Downard (Lima, Ohio-Shawnee) came up with the first interception of his career when he halted a Howard University scoring attempt with a pick in the end zone last weekend, Sept. 22. Downard has earned a starting role at free safety in the last two games in place of the injured Chris May (Jupiter, Fla.-Dwyer).
TWO STRAIGHT: EMU's 38-15 win over Howard University last weekend, Sept. 22, marked the first time the Eagles have won two consecutive games since the 2005 squad posted back-to-back wins over Central Michigan, 23-20, in overtime, Sept. 24, and Kent State, 27-20, Oct. 1.
SPREADING THE WEALTH: When EMU redshirt sophomore quarterback Andy Schmitt (St. John's, Mich.-St. John's) threw for four touchdown passes last weekend, Sept. 22, against Howard, he called upon four different receivers for scores. Schmitt hooked up with freshman tailback Dwayne Priest (Roanoke, Va.-William Fleming-Fork Union Academy) on a 24-yard touchdown strike followed by a four-yard touchdown pass to senior Ken Bohnet (Grand Ledge, Mich.-Grand Ledge), a 35-yard TD strike to redshirt freshman Tyrone Burke (Syracuse, NY-Corcoran) and a 10-yard scoring strike to senior Travis Lewis (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Loy Norrix).
MOVING UP NATIONALLY: Several EMU players made a big jump in the national rankings from Sept. 15 to Sept. 22. Junior linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw (Enid, Ok.-Enid) moved all the way up from a tie for 23rd, Sept. 15, to currently rank No. 4 in the nation with an average of 12.75 tackles per game. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Andy Schmitt (St. John's, Mich.-St. John's) was 77th in passing efficiency two weeks ago and moved up to 41st this week at 137.79. As a team, EMU moved all the way up to third nationally, from sixth previously, in sacks allowed at .50 per game.
BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK RUSHING EFFORTS: Senior tailback Pierre Walker (Detroit, Mich.-Central) turned in the three best back-to-back-to-back rushing efforts of his career the last three weeks. Walker turned in the second-best effort in his career when he gained 66 yards on 25 carries at Northern Illinois, Sept. 15. The previous week, Sept. 8 against Ball State, Walker gained 65 yards on 15 rushes. He then ran 16 times for 52 yards and a touchdown in last weekend's, Sept. 22, win over Howard University. Walker's previous best was 70 yards on 14 rushes versus Toledo, Oct. 21, 2006.
HOLTZCLAW MAKES IT SIX: Junior linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw (Enid, Ok.-Enid) turned in the sixth interception of his career when he picked off a pass at Northern Illinois, Sept. 15. Holtzclaw's pick led to EMU's winning touchdown in the 21-19 victory. The 6-foot-1 junior had five interceptions as a freshman.
BIG PLAY MAN: Sophomore DeAnthony White (Kennesaw, GA-Kell) has turned into one of the big-play men on the EMU offense. He turned in the longest reception of his short career when he raced 65 yards with an Andy Schmitt (St. Johns, Mich.-St. John's) pass for a touchdown in the Ball State game (Sept. 8). It was the first touchdown of White's career. He came right back at NIU (Sept. 15) with a 68-yard touchdown run.
BALANCED ATTACK: Most football coaches want a balanced offensive attack and EMU head coach Jeff Genyk had exactly that in the thrilling 21-19 Mid-American Conference West Division win at Northern Illinois (Sept. 15). The Eagles had 189 yards rushing and 189 yards passing for 378 total offensive yards.
