Football Makes the Short Trip to No. 11 Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. (EMUGameDay.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University football team makes the short 70 mile trip to East Lansing, Mich. Saturday, Sept. 20, for a non-conference affair against No. 11/11 Michigan State University. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:01 p.m. at Spartan Stadium.
   The Eagles are 1-2 following a 17-3 setback on the road to Old Dominion University, Sept. 13. Meanwhile, the nationally-ranked Spartans (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten Conference) enjoyed a bye week and are looking to rebound following a 46-27 setback on the road at No. 3 Oregon.
   The contest will be televised by the Big Ten Network with Eric Collins providing the play-by-play, Jim Miller serving as the analyst and Rebecca Haarlow roaming the sidelines. WEMU (89.1 FM) will provide audio coverage of the game with Matt Shepard and Rob Rubick calling the action on the field.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE SPARTANS: Michigan State and Eastern Michigan will be meeting for the 10th time in the series which started in 1898 with the Spartans recording an 11-6 victory in Ypsilanti.
   The last time the two teams met was Sept. 22, 2012, when MSU posted a 23-7 win at Spartan Stadium. For more than three quarters, EMU was in perfect position to stun MSU and pull off the upset. The Eagles held a 7-3 advantage heading into the locker room at the half against the No. 20/21 ranked Spartans, but in the end it was MSU pushing in a pair of late scores to seal the 23-7 decision. Getting his first career start, quarterback Tyler Benz led the Eagles offensively, going 13-for-26 for 137 yards and a score via the air. Defensively, Donald Coleman led EMU with 19 stops.

CELEBRATE THE STATE SERIES: In August 2009, the Athletics Directors at Eastern Michigan, Michigan State, Central Michigan and Western Michigan outlined plans for a "Celebrate the State" football series. The package features 12 games over 10 seasons (2011-2020) against EMU, CMU and WMU that includes the Spartans making one road trip each to Mount Pleasant, Ypsilanti and Kalamazoo. Michigan State will play four games each against the Chippewas, Eagles and Broncos during the 10-year period.
   Eastern Michigan is scheduled to host Michigan State on Sept. 12, 2020, at Rynearson Stadium.

NO STRANGER TO SPARTAN STADIUM: A familiar face returns to Spartan Stadium; however, Herb Haygood will be wearing a different shade of green and on the EMU sidelines. An outstanding receiver at Michigan State, Haygood won four varsity letters for the Spartans from 1997-2001 and was elected team captain his senior year. He also was an All-American kick returner for the Spartans. In his four seasons, he caught 115 passes for 1,640 yards and seven touchdowns.
   A native of Sarasota, Fla., Haygood is in his first season as the wide receivers coach at EMU following a stint as the associate director of player personnel at Indiana University.

RETURNING HOME: Saturday's contest will be a homecoming for a pair of EMU student-athletes, as senior Tyler Allen (Lansing, Mich.-Eastern) and Jaleel Canty (Lansing, Mich.-Everett) return home. Allen prepped at Eastern High School in Lansing where he earned Class A All-Area as a senior when he ran for 572 yards and eight touchdowns, Meanwhile, Canty was a standout at Everett High School and was ranked as the No. 21 overall recruit in the state of Michigan according to The Detroit News.

NIGHT OF FIRSTS: Several Eagles recorded the first statistics of their collegiate careers during EMU's game against Old Dominion. On offense, David Gibson made his first career catch a memorable one, diving to make the grab while dragging his toe in-bounds. The 31-yard reception from quarterback Brogan Roback was the longest play of the season for the Green and White. Fellow wide receiver Kris Strange also produced a big play, dashing 17 yards on a jet sweep for the first carry of his career.
   On the defensive side of the ball, Kevin Johnson picked off ODU's Taylor Heinicke on the first drive of the game. The interception was the first in the senior safety's career. Speaking of safeties, freshman Jason Beck returned his first ever punt against ODU, while former quarterback-turned-safety Brandon Bossard made his EMU debut. Finally, in the other turnover caused by the EMU defense, Amos Houston forced the first fumble of his Eastern career. Anthony Zappone jumped on the football for his first career fumble recovery having already forced a pair of fumbles as an Eagle.

DEFENSE BOUNCES BACK: After surrendering 65 points the week prior to Florida, the EMU defense was determined to make a statement. Defensive Coordinator Brad McCaslin's group did just that, holding the ODU offense to just 10 points with the other touchdown coming from the Monarchs' special teams. The Eagles' defense went through a stretch where it held Old Dominion off the scoreboard for seven possessions, forcing five punts, a fumble and a turnover-on-downs at the goal line. The 10 points given up is the fewest allowed by an EMU defense since Oct. 22, 2011, when the Eagles defeated Western Michigan University, 14-10. The 17 points allowed overall on the night was the fewest surrendered by Eastern Michigan since a 30-17 victory over the University at Buffalo, Nov. 12, 2011.

BOLDEN BRINGS A SPARK: With the offense kept off the scoreboard, EMU Head Coach Chris Creighton elected to make a change at quarterback, inserting senior transfer Rob Bolden at the end of the third quarter. The move paid off as Bolden led the Eagles on a 15-play 49-yard drive that ended in Dylan Mulder's 43-yard field goal, the first scoring drive of Bolden's short EMU career. Bolden kept the ball throughout the drive, rushing eight times for 28 yards while also going 2-for-2 through the air for 12 yards. The drive snapped a scoreless streak of seven quarters for EMU, and with 9:13 to go in the ballgame, the Eagles found themselves back within one possession.

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. Seven of Dubiel's 11 punts this season have been downed inside the 20-yard line, and only two have gone into the end zone for a touchback. Moreover, all seven 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.

GOLDEN BOOT: He wears yellow sneakers, and although he has not had many opportunities this season, junior Dylan Mulder showed off his golden boot Saturday night, Sept. 13 against Old Dominion. The heavy rain did not affect the EMU kicker as he belted a 43-yard field goal for Eastern's lone score of the contest. The field goal tied a career long for the Saline, Mich. native as he nailed a 43-yarder as a freshman, Nov. 17, 2012, in the Eagles' victory at Western Michigan.

1-2 PUNCH: A pair of Eagles in the first two waves of Eastern's 3-4 defense have been proven leaders through the first three games of the season. Linebacker Great Ibe paces Eastern with 32 tackles, a mark that ranks 26th in all of FBS football. Behind him in tackles is defensive lineman Pat O'Connor with 21, and the co-captain leads the team with six tackles behind the line of scrimmage, including 3.5 sacks. O Connor's number of sacks have found national ranking as well, sitting at 20th individually throughout the country.
   Against ODU, Ibe posted a team-high 11 tackles, while O'Connor recorded nine, including three for a loss. Two of the three tackles behind the line of scrimmage for O'Connor were sacks. Ibe also added two tackles-for-loss. Leading the front seven, the EMU defense went through a stretch where it held Old Dominion off the scoreboard for seven possessions, forcing five punts, a fumble and a turnover-on-downs at the goal line.

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. After returning six kicks against Florida, Sept. 6, the Lansing Mich. native passed the century mark and now has 106 for his career following the game at Old Dominion, Sept. 13. Allen is also chasing Riley for the record of career return yards. The speedy EMU receiver has 2,245 return yards for his career, second in EMU laurels behind Riley's 2,541 mark.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan will enjoy a bye week before traveling to Akron, Ohio, to open up the Mid-American Conference portion of the schedule against the University of Akron. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at InfoCision Stadium-Summa Field.
   The two teams will be meeting on the gridiron for the 30th time with the Zips holding a 17-12 edge in the all-time series. The last time EMU and Akron hooked up was Oct. 1, 2011, with the Zips escaping Rynearson Stadium with a 31-23 victory.
   The game will also mark just the second time the Eagles have visited InfoCision Stadium since it opened in 2009.

PACK YOUR BAGS: EMU continues a four-game road swing that will cover 2,006 miles over a 42-day span.

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Players Mentioned

Tyler Allen

Jason Beck

Tyler Benz

Rob Bolden

Brandon Bossard

Jaleel Canty

Donald Coleman

Owen Dubiel

David Gibson

Amos Houston

Great Ibe

Kevin Johnson

Dylan Mulder

Pat O'Connor

Brogan Roback

Kris Strange

Anthony Zappone

Eastern Michigan Athletics