Army Comes to Town for Band Day Saturday, Oct. 20

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University football team closes out a three-game home stand Saturday, Oct. 20, as the United States Military Academy (Army) comes to Rynearson Stadium for a non-conference affair. Kick off is scheduled for 1:04 p.m. Saturday's contest is Band Day, with 12 high school bands performing as one during a special halftime concert.
The Eagles enter the contest with an 0-6 (0-3 Mid-American Conference) record following a 52-47 setback to the MAC West Division leading Rockets from the University of Toledo, Oct. 13. Meanwhile, the Black Knights are 1-5 after dropping a 31-17 decision to Kent State University in West Point, N.Y., Oct. 13.
The contest will be televised by ESPN3 with Dan Gutowsky providing the play-by-play and Warrick Dunn serving as the analyst. WEMU (89.1 FM) will provide audio coverage of the game with Matt Shepard and Herman Moore calling the action on the field.

ELITE COMPANY: Sophomore Bronson Hill turned in the best single-game rushing performance in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) this year with 283 yards gained on 28 rushes to go along with an EMU record-tying four touchdown runs against Toledo, Oct. 13. His rushing effort is the second best in school history, trailing only Larry Radcliff's 291 rushing yards, Oct. 16, 1971, at home against Eastern Kentucky.

2012 NCAA FBS Single-Game Rushing Highs
Net Yards   Carries   Name, School   Opponent
283   28   Bronson Hill, EMU   vs. Toledo
269   43   Beau Blankenship, Ohio   UMass
262   23   Giovani Bernard, UNC   Virginia Tech
253   36   Le'Veon Bell, Michigan St.   EMU
247   27   Stefphon Jefferson, Nevada   NWSU

Most Yards Rushing in Eastern Michigan History
Yards   Name       Date   Opponent
291   Larry Ratcliff   Oct. 16, 1971   vs. Eastern Kentucky
283   Bronson Hill   Oct. 13, 2012   vs. Toledo
251   Larry Ratcliff   Oct. 2, 1971   at Idaho State
251   Ime Akpan   Sept. 28, 2002   vs. Southern Illinois

THROWING FOR 300: Redshirt sophomore quarterback Tyler Benz became the first Eagle in 42 games to throw for 300-or-more yards in a single-game, when he tossed for 301-yards against the University of Toledo, Oct. 13. He is the first to eclipse the 300-yard mark since Andy Schmitt hurled for 516 yards against Central Michigan University, Nov. 28, 2008.

ALL-TIME AGAINST ARMY: Army and Eastern Michigan are meeting for the fifth time in the series which started in 1992. The Black Knights hold a 4-0 lead in the matchup, including a 31-27 win, Sept. 4, 2010, in the last meeting at Rynearson Stadium. The series will shift venues beginning next season, as EMU will travel to West Point, N.Y. in 2013 and again in 2015.

THE 600-YARD CLUB: Eastern Michigan's 624-yard outburst against Toledo, Oct. 13, was good for the third-best total offensive effort by an EMU team in program history and second best against an FBS opponent. The Green and White piled up 637 yards against FCS foe Indiana State, Aug. 28, 2008, and 632 yards against Mid-American Conference foe Akron, Oct. 18, 1997.
Not only did the Eagles post a 600-plus yard showing against the Sycamores in 2008, they also did it against Central Michigan University, Nov. 28, with a 616-yard performance. EMU has only put together a game with more than 600 yards four times in its history.

BEST OFFENSIVE SHOWING: The Eagles' 624 yards of total offense against Toledo, Oct. 13, were the most in four seasons under Head Coach Ron English. The previous high was 501 yards (305 rush, 196 pass) versus Ball State, Nov. 5, 2011.

HILL BLASTS OFF AGAINST TOLEDO: In his first career start sophomore Bronson Hill rushed for the second most yards in EMU history against Toledo, Oct. 13. Hill carried the ball 28 times for 283 yards and four touchdowns. Three of his touchdowns came during the chaotic third quarter, as Hill busted off big runs of 47 yards, 58 yards, and 70 yards for touchdowns; within three minutes of one another.
For his efforts, he was selected the National Running Back of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards and the MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week.

SCORING A PLENTY IN THE THIRD VERSUS UT: After going five contests without a score in the third quarter, Eastern Michigan scored 27 points in the third frame for most points in a quarter since the 2008 campaign. Most recently, EMU tallied 28 points in the fourth quarter at Temple, Nov. 22, 2008, and again a week later in the second quarter against Central Michigan, Nov. 28, 2008.

FAST AND FURIOUS THIRD: Over a span of 3:27 in the third quarter Eastern Michigan and Toledo combined for 41 points, Oct. 13. After entering the third quarter with a combined 31 points, the offenses exploded over the final 10:18 of the third as the teams combined for 55 points. The span saw Eastern Michigan's Bronson Hill and Toledo's Bernard Reedy finding the end zone three times each and the offenses racking up a combined 558 total yards.

RUNNING DOWN HILL: Sophomore Bronson Hill's 283-yard rushing effort against Toledo, Oct. 13, was the first 200 yard rushing game by an Eagles player since 2003 when Anthony Sherrell ran for 230 yards against Ball State, Nov. 15. Not only was Sherrell the last to run for 200 yards, but he is the last EMU running back to find the end zone four times in a game as well. Sherrell scored four TDs against non-conference rival Idaho, Oct. 4, 2004.

LONG TD MARK: Sophomore running back Bronson Hill turned in a record-setting performance against Toledo, Oct. 13. Hill rushed for 283 yards on 28 carries with touchdown runs of 70, 58 and 47 yards. He joins teammate Javonti Greene as the only the EMU runners in school history to record two 50-yard plus runs for scores in a single game. Greene rushed for 155 yards and touchdowns of 55 yards and 53 yards at Virginia, Oct. 23, 2010.

BY THE NUMBERS: The Eagles rank seventh in the nation in net punting at 41.1 yards per play ... EMU has been strong inside the redzone, scoring on 90 percent of trips inside the 20 ... Eastern has scored touchdowns 70 percent of the time when inside their opponents' 20.

FIVE EAGLES NAMED TO PHIL STEELE'S 2012 MIDSEASON ALL-MAC TEAM: The Eastern Michigan football squad had five of its student-athletes named to Phil Steele's 2012 Midseason All-MAC Teams. EMU punter Jay Karutz was the lone Eagle named to the first team. Earning second-team honors were tight end Garrett Hoskins and linebacker Bryan Pali. Being named to the third team were both center Andrew Sorgatz and safety Donald Coleman.

POWER OF SEVEN: A total of 14 of EMU's 42 games under Head Coach Ron English have been decided by seven points-or-less. The Eagles are 5-9 in those contests.

STREETS TO HIT THE ROAD: EMU Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations Jim Streeter will call it a career on Friday, Oct. 19, following his retirement announcement made Sept. 24. An icon of the media relations world, Streeter is the longest tenured Division I sports information director in the state and the dean of Mid-American Conference SIDs. A native of Albion, Mich., Streeter is currently in his 39th year with the EMU Athletic Media Relations Office, with 37 of them as the director.
The campus community is invited to give their best wishes at a retirement reception Thursday, Oct. 18, from 1:30-3:30 p.m. inside Room 300 of the EMU Student Center. There will be a short presentation starting at 2 p.m.

ON THE HORIZON: Following the Army game, Eastern Michigan returns to the road for a pair of games beginning with a Saturday, Oct. 27, contest at Bowling Green State University. Game time is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Doyt Perry Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio.
The Eagles and Falcons will be renewing a rivalry that has been dormant since the 2008 campaign. BGSU leads the series, 23-11-1. EMU and BGSU first met during the 1919 season, when EMU captured a 10-0 victory in Bowling Green, Ohio.
The last time the teams met was Oct. 4, 2008, with the Eagles needed some last-second heroics to record a 24-21 win. Trailing by a 21-17 margin, the Eagles moved 77 yards in six plays and scored the winning points on a 16-yard scoring pass from quarterback Andy Schmitt to wide receiver Tyler Jones with just 36 seconds left in the game. Place-kicker Joe Carithers added the PAT kick for the 24-21 EMU advantage. The winning touchdown was set up by a big EMU defensive stand as the Eagles forced a Bowling Green punt, getting the offense the ball back with 1:21 left on the clock.
The home team still had a chance to tie the game after that late EMU score, but a 52-yard field goal attempt by Sinisa Vrvilo was short and to the left as time expired.

KARUTZ CONTINUES TO BOOT: Senior punter Jay Karutz averaging 44.6 yards per kick, which is tops amongst all Mid-American Conference punters. In total, he has 17 kicks that have been downed inside the 20-yard line and eight that have traveled more than 50 yards.

YOUTH MOVEMENT: Eastern Michigan has played 11 “true” freshman during the 2012 campaign. That amount is tied for 15th most nationally and third most in the Mid-American Conference. LSU, Ohio State and TCU lead the way with 15 first-year players having seen game action. Meanwhile, Akron is tops in the MAC with 13 freshmen and Miami is next with 12.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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