Football Opens 2015 Campaign Saturday Versus Old Dominion

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University football team kicks off its 124th season on the gridiron Saturday, Sept. 5, against Old Dominion University inside Rynearson Stadium. Kickoff at The Factory is slated for 3:35 p.m. The game is EMU's "Tribute to a Legacy" game honoring Hall of Fame cross country and track and field coach Bob Parks. The contest will be shown on ESPN3 with Dave Armstrong providing play-by-play and Richard Baldinger serving as the analyst. WEMU (89.1 FM) will provide audio coverage of the game with Matt Shepard and Rob Rubick calling action on the field.

TIME CHANGE: Kickoff for this weekend's Eastern Michigan-Old Dominion football game has been moved to 3:30 p.m. The game, which was originally scheduled to start Saturday, Sept. 5, at 3 p.m., was moved to accommodate television. The Mid-American Conference's television partners have requested this change to provide national distribution on ESPN3 and over-the-air syndicated television throughout the Midwest, including WXYZ's Bounce TV affiliate in Detroit (Comcast 296, Charter 437, Brighthouse 127 and WOW! 101). This move assures that Eastern Michigan football will be available on both over-the-air and cable stations throughout the MAC footprint as well as the national ESPN3 platform. With the time change, Turn it Up, Turn it Green will now take place beginning at 1 p.m. inside the Convocation Center. Fans are invited to attend to catch the band, spirit squads and the football team prior to heading to the game.

KICKING OFF THE SEASON AT HOME: EMU is 73-44-5 (.624) all-time in its home opener. Furthermore they are 40-16-1 (.714) when opening the season at home. The Old Dominion game, Sept. 5, will mark the eighth time in the last 12 years that the Eagles will open the season at home in Rynearson Stadium.

CLOCKING IN AT THE FACTORY: The 2015 campaign is the first since 2000 to boast that all six home games are against Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents, and it is just the fourth occurrence overall at EMU. Eastern Michigan will play six home contests at Rynearson Stadium for just the 13th time since the building opened in 1969.
   The three home dates in September are a first for EMU since 2004 and follows on the heels of a season in which EMU did not play a home contest during the month.

MADE IN MICHIGAN: A total of 37 players on the 2015 roster hail from the state of Michigan.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE MONARCHS: EMU faced off against Old Dominion University for the first time in program history last season when the Monarchs prevailed 17-3. In 2015, ODU will be in its second full season at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. They were previously a member of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

EAGLES VERSUS CONFERENCE USA: The Eagles have a 2-9 all-time record against teams currently in Conference USA. They claimed victories over Marshall University in 1983 and Louisiana Tech University in 1973.

LAST YEAR VERSUS ODU: On a rainy night at S.B. Ballard Stadium in Norfolk, Va., the Eastern Michigan University football team fell to the Old Dominion University Monarchs 17-3, Sept. 13, 2014. The EMU defense allowed just 10 points as ODU scored on special teams with a 46-yard punt return in the fourth quarter. 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.
    Great Ibe and Pat O'Connor led the Eagles on the defensive side of the ball. 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. 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.

YOUTH MOVEMENT: To begin the 2015 season, EMU will have the seventh fewest graduating seniors in the nation on its roster with just 11. When EMU and ODU match-up, they will combine to have just 22 total seniors on the field.

YOUTH MOVEMENT CONTINUED: When the team opened up camp in 2015, the roster included 73 underclassmen on the 105 man roster. EMU had a total of 17 sophomore and 56 freshmen for a total of 69 percent of the team.

KICKING OFF THE SEASON: EMU is 56-59-8 (.487) all-time on opening day. Last year, the Eagles began the season with a 31-28 home victory against Morgan State University.

A TRIBUTE TO A LEGACY: More than 260 alumni, family and friends of EMU track & field/cross country are scheduled to be in attendance at the game representing decades of competitors to celebrate the collective achievements of the past and present. Among these individuals are Olympians, National Champions, All-Americans, MAC Champions, Division II Champions, NAIA Champions, all contributors to the legendary program that help put Eastern Michigan on the map.
   In addition, the event will serve the official dedication of adding Hall of Fame Head Coach Bob Parks' name to the Olds-Marshall Track to become known as the Olds-Marshall-Parks Track.
   Parks was a collegiate runner at Eastern Michigan from 1950 to 1952. A three-time letterwinner who won the 1952 IIAC 800m run and member of the mile relay team that held the school record for 14 years. Parks became the EMU head men's track & field/cross country coach in 1967 and enjoyed a legendary 34 years at the helm, retiring in 2001. Under his guidance, EMU won a total of 31 Mid-American Conference titles and he was named MAC Coach of the Year 22-times. His teams won six NAIA and NCAA team titles, and he was named NCAA National Coach of the Year once and regional Coach of the Year nine times. Throughout his career, Parks coached eight athletes who compete in 13 Olympic games. In fact, he coached an athlete is every Olympic games from 1960 to 2004. These athletes include Gold Medal winners, Hasley Crawford and Clement Chukwu and Bronze Medal winner, Earle Jones.

EAGLES BRING BACK PLENTY OF TALENT: The 2015 Eagles return 23 letterwinners from last season to go along with 11 starters. The defense will feature six starters from last season, while the offense returns just five.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GRAY: During the 2014 season, the gray turf at "The Factory" was voted the second-best field in college football according to USA TODAY Sports' College Football Fan Index, which ranked fan bases based on social media metrics and the weekly surveys.

SPECIAL LOOK TO HONOR BOB PARKS: As part of the 'Tribute To a Legacy' celebration scheduled to take place when EMU hosts Old Dominion, Sept. 5, the Eagles will debut their first of three new uniform styles. Made to honor the legacy of Hall of Fame cross country and track and field coach Bob Parks, the EMU football squad will sport green and gold uniforms symbolizing the cross country and track & field programs at Eastern. A green jersey with yellow down the sides and white piping running from the shoulder to the neck is paired with gold pants. In addition to being displayed on the front and back of the jersey, the jersey number is also on either shoulder. Keeping with the tribute to the track team, the numbers are written in a stopwatch-style script. Eastern is written across the chest above the number on the front, while Michigan is written below the number. The yellow pants, made to resemble the shorts worn by track & field athletes, showcase the jersey number on the left thigh. Complementing the tributary jersey is a green helmet denoting the jersey number on the left side and block 'E' with wings on the right.

2015 SEASON: The 2015 season is the 124th for the Eastern Michigan University football team. The first year of intercollegiate football in Ypsilanti was 1891, when the team posted an 0-2 record. EMU has fielded a team every year since 1891 with one exception, when the 1944 season was canceled because of World War II.

40th FOR THE MAC: The 2015 season marks the 40th year that the Eagles have been a part of the Mid-American Conference football championship race. EMU was admitted into the league in 1971, but a complete league schedule was not available until the 1976 season.

BELL WILL BE RINGING: EMU returns redshirt-sophomore quarterback Reggie Bell in 2015. He was one of only seven quarterbacks to lead his team in both passing and rushing in the FBS in 2014. His 1,859 yards of total offense was the 19th most in a single season in EMU history. He is 28th on the all-time total offense list.

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Players Mentioned

Great Ibe

Pat O'Connor

Eastern Michigan Athletics