Football Treks to West Lafayette, Ind. to Battle Purdue

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University football team hits the road this weekend for the first of back-to-back non-conference contests against Big Ten Conference opponents. The Eagles' first stop is in West Lafayette, Ind. to take on the Boilermakers of Purdue University Saturday, Sept. 15. Kickoff is scheduled for noon at Ross-Ade Stadium.
The Eagles are 0-2 (0-1 Mid-American Conference) following a 31-14 setback at home to Illinois State University, Sept. 8. Meanwhile, the Boilermakers (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten Conference) are also looking to regroup following a 20-17 loss at the University of Notre Dame in the battle for the Shillelagh Trophy.
The contest will be televised by the Big Ten Network with Kevin Kugler providing the play-by-play, Chris Martin serving as the analyst and Rebecca Haarlow roaming the sidelines. WEMU (89.1 FM) will provide audio coverage of the game with Chad Bush and Herman Moore calling the action on the field.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE BOILERMAKERS: Purdue and Eastern Michigan have met just once before, a 49-3 Boilermaker win at Ross-Ade Stadium, Sept. 7, 1991. In that contest, the Eagles fell behind 21-0 before Jim Langeloh kicked a 43-yard field goal to get the Green and White on the scoreboard. EMU turned the ball over five times on the day and managed just 206 yards of offense (80 rushing, 126 passing). Meanwhile, PU notched 289 yards on the ground and 78 via the air without a turnover.

FIRST OF TWO STRAIGHT BIG TEN CONTESTS: EMU begins a two-game stretch against Big Ten Conference opponents when the Eagles travel to West Lafayette, Ind. Saturday, Sept. 15, for a noon game against Purdue University. On Sept. 22, the Eagles head to East Lansing, Mich. to take on Michigan State University at Spartan Stadium.

DOUG DOWNING RETURNS TO ROSS-ADE STADIUM: A native of Lafayette, Ind., EMU Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Doug Downing was the top ranked quarterback in the nation by Parade Magazine as a high school senior at Jefferson High School.
He stayed in the Lafayette community to become the quarterback for the Boilermakers where he started at quarterback for two seasons. After graduating from Purdue in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in communications, Downing stayed for a two-year stint as a football graduate assistant coach, from 1988-89.

NO STRANGER TO WEST LAFAYETTE: While it is just his first trip into Ross-Ade Stadium as a head coach, EMU's Ron English has made the 306 mile trip before. English was a perfect 3-0 against Purdue while an assistant coach at Michigan (2003-07). During that span, the Wolverines posted a 31-3 victory in 2005 at Michigan Stadium, a 16-14 win in 2004 inside Rose-Ade Stadium and a 48-21 triumph in 2007 back at the “Big House.”

RETURN TO THE HOOSIER STATE: The EMU roster features three players from the state of Indiana. Redshirt junior wide receiver Nick Olds is from Columbus, Ind., freshman linebacker Ike Spearman hales from Saint John, Ind. and freshman defensive lineman Tony Thomas comes from South Bend, Ind.

BIG SECOND QUARTERS: Eastern Michigan has out-scored its opposition 27-3 in the second quarter, but has yet to score in either the first or third quarters in either of its first two games.

MULUMBA SETS A CAREER-BEST: Senior defensive lineman Andy Mulumba turned in a career-high nine tackles in the 31-14 loss to Illinois State, Sept. 8. The Montreal, Quebec native's previous best was seven stops.

STRONG DEFENSIVE EFFORTS AGAINST ISU: Getting his first dose of prolonged playing time, sophomore Pudge Cotton collected the first nine tackles of his young career during the non-conference affair.

HOLDING ONTO THE ROCK: Turnovers, penalties and dropped passes were all factors in the Eagles' 31-14 loss to Illinois State, Sept. 8. The Green and White had five turnovers on the day to go along with nine penalties for 69 yards and a blocked field goal.
Three first half turnovers nearly spelled disaster for the Eagles who twice coughed up the ball in their own territory. The EMU defense, however, was able to limit ISU to just three points off turnovers in the half.

GILLETT CONTINUES TO MAKE A MOVE UPWARDS: Senior quarterback Alex Gillett has played in 35 games for the Eagles, earning 29 starts, and has made significant advancement in several EMU career categories. Gillett has rushed 467 times for 2,116 yards and 12 touchdowns and has completed 330-of-623 passes for 4,236 yards and 34 touchdowns in those 35 games. He has recorded 1,090 total offensive plays (rush and pass) for 6,352 total offensive yards.
He is currently ranked fourth all-time in total offensive yards and is just the sixth player in school history to reach 4,000 total offensive yard. His 330 career completions are good for the seventh spot while his 4,236 career passing yards is eighth in EMU history. Additionally, his 34 career touchdown passes is just one shy of Matt Bohnet for third in EMU history.

ON THE HORIZON: Following the PU game, Eastern Michigan travels to Michigan State University, Sept. 22, for a non-conference game. Game time is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich.
Michigan State and Eastern Michigan will be meeting for the ninth time in the series which started in 1898 with the Spartans recording a 24-6 victory in that opener. The last time the two teams met was Sept. 6, 2008, when MSU recorded a 42-10 win at Spartan Stadium. In that game, quarterback Andy Schmitt led the Eagles offensively, going 11-for-23 for 111 yards via the air and tailback Terrence Blevins led the Eagles' rushing attack with nine carries for 54 yards.

PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE UNDER CENTER: Senior Alex Gillett headlines an experienced group of EMU offensive returners, but the Green Springs, Ohio native also ranks as one of the most veteran signal callers in the Mid-American Conference.

NEARING THE EMU RECORD FOR STARTS IN A CAREER: Senior Andrew Sorgatz is on pace to equal the Eastern Michigan record for most starts in a career. The Wheaton, Ill. native has started 37 of his 38 career games played at EMU. If he starts all 12 regular season contests this season, he will tie Daniel Holtzclaw's mark of 47 starts between 2005-08.

EXTENDED ROAD TRIP: Eastern Michigan University football fans will have to wait four weeks before watching the Eagles play another home game. EMU plays at Purdue, Sept. 15, and will be at Michigan State, Sept. 22, followed with a bye week, Sept. 29,, before returning home, Oct. 6, for a Mid-American Conference cross-divisional matchup with Kent State. The Eagles' annual homecoming game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. in Rynearson Stadium.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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