EMU Football Gears Up For Wyoming Saturday, Sept. 12

LARAMIE, Wyo. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University football team hits the road for the first time this season with a trip to Laramie, Wyo., Saturday, Sept. 12, for a non-conference tilt versus the Cowboys of the University of Wyoming. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. MT (4 p.m. in Ypsilanti) at War Memorial Stadium.
   The contest will be shown on the ROOT Sports Network with Marc Stout providing play-by-play, Sed Bonner serving as the analyst and Tori Holt reporting from the sideline. 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 COWBOYS: This will be the first meeting between Eastern Michigan and Wyoming. It will be the farthest road trip west for EMU since traveling to Las Vegas in 1994 to face UNLV.

EAGLES VERSUS THE MOUNTAIN WEST: EMU is 1-1-1 all-time against the Mountain West Conference. The lone win came against San Jose State in the 1987 California Bowl, when the Eagles prevailed 30-17.

HIGHER GROUND: War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyo. is at an elevation of 7,220 feet, which is the highest in all of NCAA Division I football.

ROAD TRIP: The 2,480-mile round trip to Laramie is more than EMU will travel during the entirety of its Mid-American Conference slate. The four MAC road trips this season result in just 1,478 miles, or more than 1,000 miles less than this weekend's venture.

RETURN HOME TO THE COWBOY STATE: Saturday's contest will mark a homecoming for a trio of Eagles who return to the state of Wyoming. EMU assistant coaches Brad McCaslin and Aaron Keen each graduated from Cheyenne's East High School while freshman Pete Bergman earned his diploma from Natrona County in Casper.

MULDER FROM DOWNTOWN: Senior kicker Dylan Mulder tied the longest field goal in program and Rynearson Stadium history when he connected on a 52-yarder in the second half against Old Dominion, Sept. 5. Mulder's previous long was just 43 set on two other occasions in 2012 and 2014. In total, there are five other 52-yard field goals in EMU history with the last have come in 2005 off the leg of Andrew Wellock against Buffalo, Nov. 19. The only other 52-yarder at home also was by Wellock against Idaho, Oct. 2, 2004.

ACTION JACKSON: Senior running back Darius Jackson had a big game against Old Dominion, Sept., 5. He finished the contest with 19 carries for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Jackson, who only scored two touchdowns all of last season, turned in a pair in the first quarter of the game. He also led the team in receiving with 67 yards through the air. The 117 yards on the ground were career high for Jackson, and was the first 100-yard rushing game of his career. He also picked up a career-best 38-yard reception and a 36-yard scamper.

TOPS IN THE MAC: After just one week, Eastern Michigan leads the Mid-American Conference in rushing offense (252 yds/g).

FANTASTIC FRESHMEN: Four "true" freshmen and eight redshirt freshmen made their Eagles home debuts against Old Dominion, Sept. 5. They included some notable performances, as freshman Kwanii Figueroa made his first career start on the defensive line, recording two tackles, including 1.5 for loss. Fellow freshman Devon Russell finished with 121 kickoff return yards. Blake Banham, Jaylen Pickett, Ian Eriksen, Shaq Vann, Tyler Onda, Kyle Rachwal, Ka'John Armstrong, Jeremy Hickey, Izaiah Fuller, and Eddie Daugherty also made their Eagles debut.

IMPACT TRANSFERS: A handful of transfer players also made their debut in the Green and White against Old Dominion. Luke Maclean (Pittsburgh), Kevin Davis (Indiana), Juan Giraldo (Mesa CC), Sam Browning (Palomar CC), Aaron Abbott (Mount Saint Joseph), Anthony Brown (Iowa Western CC) and Cody Tuttle (Moorpark/Nevada) all saw their first action against ODU, Sept. 5. Maclean, Giraldo, Tuttle, Davis and Brown all started for the Eagles.

THIRD QUARTER PRODUCTION: The Eagles' offense totalled 14 points in the third quarter in the season-opener against Old Dominion, Sept. 5, with a pair of touchdown receptions by Dustin Creel from Reginald Bell. Last season, the Eastern Michigan offense did not tally its 14th point in that period until the fourth game of the 2014 campaign.

FOUR QUARTER SCORING: Eastern Michigan posted points in each of the four quarters against Old Dominion, Sept. 5, for just the second time in Head Coach Chris Creighton's tenure. Coincidently, the 2014 opener against Morgan State was the other time the Eagles have accomplished the feat.

(C)REELING IT IN: Senior wide receiver Dustin Creel turned in the first multiple touchdown day of his career with a pair of scoring strikes from Reginald Bell in the third quarter against Old Dominion, Sept. 5. In his last three games with Bell under center, Creel has hauled in 18 receptions for a total of 177 yards.

HEAD WEST!: Eastern Michigan has traditionally kept to playing east of the Mississippi River for its football games, however, that tradition will slowly be changing. Saturday's contest at Wyoming will mark the first time since the 2009 campaign that EMU will have played west of the "Mighty Mississippi." In upcoming years, Eastern Michigan will be trekking west again to Missouri (2016 and 2020) as well as San Diego State (2018).

OFFENSE SHOWS IMPROVEMENT: After averaging just 15.2 points a game a season ago, the offense notched 34 points in the season opening setback to Old Dominion, Sept. 5. The 34 points were the most against a non-conference Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent since Oct. 20, 2012, when EMU cruised to a 48-38 win over Army, Oct. 20.

CARDINALS AWAIT: Following the road trip, the Eagles will play host to the first Mid-American Conference game of the season as they welcome the Ball State University Cardinals into "The Factory." The two conference foes squared off in an offensive shootout last season, with BSU prevailing 45-30.

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.

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 Wyoming match-up, they will combine to have just 19 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.

A TRIBUTE TO A LEGACY: More than 260 alumni, family and friends of EMU track & field/cross country were in attendance at the game Sept. 5, 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 served 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.

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.

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Players Mentioned

Aaron Abbott

Ka’John Armstrong

Blake Banham

Reginald Bell

Pete Bergman

Anthony Brown

Sam Browning

Dustin Creel

Eddie Daugherty IV

Kevin Davis

Ian Eriksen

Kwanii Figueroa

Izaiah Fuller

Juan Giraldo

Jeremy Hickey

Darius Jackson

Luke Maclean

Dylan Mulder

Tyler Onda

Jaylen Pickett

Kyle Rachwal

Devon Russell

Cody Tuttle

Shaq Vann

Eastern Michigan Athletics