Football Has a Homecoming Date with Buffalo

Live Stats - Fan. Media.

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUGameDay.com) -- After more than a month on the road, Eastern Michigan returns to "The Factory" for a homecoming contest Saturday, Oct. 11, against the University at Buffalo. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3.
   The Eagles are 1-4 (0-1 MAC) following a road setback against the University of Akron, Oct. 4. On the other side of the field, the Bulls (3-3, 1-1 MAC) suffered a 36-35 loss to defending Mid-American Conference champion Bowling Green State University, Oct. 4.
   The contest will be televised by ESPN3 with Dan Gutowsky providing the play-by-play and Mickey Matthews serving as the analyst. WEMU (89.1 FM) will provide audio coverage of the game with Matt Shepard and Rob Rubick calling the action on the field.

BATTLES WITH BUFFALO: The Green and White has had success against the Bulls in the past, winning the five of the previous six meetings between the two programs. Last year, Buffalo rolled to a 42-14 victory at UB Stadium, Oct. 5, 2013. Tyler Benz started out hot, completing his first four passes for 44 yards before ending the contest 12-of-19 for 157 yards. Ryan Brumfield led the ground attack with 79 yards on only two carries, including a 75-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
   Buffalo quarterback Joe Licata passed for a game-high 224 yards, going 15-of-22 through the air. Brandon Oliver rushed for 150 yards on 25 carries, finding the end zone on two separate occasions. Devin Campbell also recorded two touchdowns, including a 96-yard kickoff return. Alex Neutz caught four passes for 94 yards with a touchdown.

UNPACK YOUR BAGS: EMU finished a four-game road swing that covered 2,006 miles over a 42-day span.

HOMECOMING 2014: The EMU-UB game Saturday, Oct. 11, will be Homecoming 2014 for the Eagles. The game will be the 87th Homecoming game in school history. The tradition started in 1926 when then-Michigan Normal College downed Kalamazoo College, 19-0, on Nov. 29. The Green and White are 44-40-2 all-time in homecoming games.

POC-MAN: Much like Pac-Man in the 1980s arcade game that became a pop culture phenomenon, Pat O'Connor has been gobbling up the opposition behind the line of scrimmage this season. The team co-captain currently leads the Mid-American Conference in both sacks as well as tackles-for-loss. Pushing opponents back a combined 51 yards on seven tackles-for-loss, O'Connor's total ranks 26th nationally. The Windy City native is among the top-25 sack leaders throughout the country, as well as sitting at No. 21 with four sacks.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Senior Tyler Allen continues to climb up the EMU record book in terms of kickoff returns. Already the school's record holder with the most kickoff returns in one season, Allen is closing in on the career returns record of 130 held by Trumaine Riley. This season, Allen is in pursuit of the record as the 30th-best kick returner in the nation with 17 returns for 326 yards. The Lansing Mich. native now has 114 for his career following the game at Akron, Oct. 4, passing current Pittsburgh Steeler and former Central Michigan receiver Antonio Brown for third on the MAC's all-time list. Allen is also chasing Riley for the record of career return yards. The speedy EMU receiver has 2,376 return yards for his career, second in EMU laurels behind Riley's 2,541 mark and fourth in the MAC record book.

1 + 11 = 12: In his two starts this season, senior quarterback Rob Bolden (#1) seems to have found a favorite receiver in classmate Tyler Allen (#11). In the past two games, the duo has hooked up for a pair of touchdowns, totaling 12 points for the Green and White. Allen caught the first touchdown pass of his career in his homecoming at Michigan State, Sept. 20, as Bolden found him 43 yards down the seam. In the opening drive against Akron, Oct. 4, Bolden lofted a perfect 18-yard pass to Allen in the corner of the endzone to give the Eagles an early 6-0 advantage over the Zips.
   Aside from his kickoff return duty, Allen is becoming a primary receiver in the EMU offense. He is second on the team in receiving yards (122) as well as third in catches (10). Over the past two games in which Bolden was the Eagles' starting quarterback, the senior has hauled in seven catches for 105 yards.

LANSING RETURNERS: A pair of Lansing, Mich. natives has been covering kick and punt returns for EMU in 2014. Veteran returner Tyler Allen has taken nearly every Eastern kick return, 17-of-19 to be exact, ranking 30th in the country in kick return yards as he chases Trumaine Riley for the school's career return record. Another Lansing native, sophomore Jaleel Canty, has emerged as the primary punt returner for the Green and White. Against Akron, Oct. 4, Canty broke free for a career-long 50-yard punt return down the sideline. The speedy dash was the longest punt return for EMU by a large margin as the previous long was a mere two yards.

GREAT TACKLING GREAT IBE: Right in the middle of the Eastern defense, redshirt-junior Great Ibe has shown his versatility between rushing the quarterback and dropping back into coverage. Finding the ball carrier from all over the field, Ibe's 51 tackles lead EMU by a substantial margin as the next closest Eagle has recorded 35 tackles this season. The 51 tackles by the Eastern linebacker is the fourth-highest by an individual MAC defender as well as 22nd in the nation.

CAREER CATCHES: Saturday's game against Akron featured multiple Eagles eclipse their personal bests when it comes to catching the football. Tyler Allen led the EMU receiving corps with a personal-best five catches for 52 yards that included the 18-yard touchdown reception, the second of his career. Out of the backfield, Darius Jackson caught a pair of passes for 39 yards, including a 32-yarder, for a new career high. Kris Strange chipped in with a 25-yard catch, the longest of his career. The career days continued for the Eastern receivers as Kray'shawn Brewer made the first three receptions of his career for 10 yards.

SHARING THE ROAD: The EMU football team was not the only one facing off against the Zips in Akron over the weekend, Oct. 4, as the Eastern Michigan soccer team was also in town for a Friday night match, Oct. 3. The two Eagles programs played on the road against the same team on the same weekend for the first time since Sept. 5-6, 2008, when both teams traveled to East Lansing, Mich. to battle the Spartans of Michigan State.

HANSEN RETURNS TO THE GRIDIRON: After missing the first game of his collegiate career due to injury at MSU, senior offensive lineman Lincoln Hansen returned to his usual starting position at right tackle. The Omaha, Neb. native has now started 16 of the last 17 contests dating back to the start of the 2013 campaign.

EMU DEBUTS NEW HELMET AT AKRON: EMU unveiled new helmets during the Akron game, Oct. 4. The shells helmets are a custom flat forest green metallic color, featuring a chrome diamond plate Block E logo on the side. The helmets also feature diamond plate accents.

MR. COFFIN CORNER: When it comes to punting, Eastern Michigan has used two punters for different scenarios. When the Eagles need to pin their opponent deep its own territory, senior Owen Dubiel is called upon to do the job. More times than not, the East Jackson, Mich. native has been able to do just that. Out of 18 Dubiel punts, 10 have been downed inside the 20-yard line, and only two have gone into the end zone for a touchback. Moreover, nine punts inside the 20 have actually been placed inside the 12, including three inside the five-yard line. Against Old Dominion, Dubiel and the Eagles' special teams coverage downed the ball at the two-yard line as well as the one-yard line.

ON THE HORIZON: Up next, the Green and White return to the road with a 3 p.m. matchup against the University of Massachusetts, Oct. 18.Eastern Michigan has never faced UMass previously on the football field. The Mid-American Conference contest will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Home to the NFL's New England Patriots, the stadium is approximately 90 miles from the school's Amherst campus.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tyler Allen

Tyler Benz

Rob Bolden

Kray’shawn Brewer

Ryan Brumfield

Jaleel Canty

Owen Dubiel

Lincoln Hansen

Great Ibe

Darius Jackson

Pat O'Connor

Kris Strange

Eastern Michigan Athletics