Week 7: Eastern Michigan at Army

Two teams that have seen their previously bleak looking fortunes making a surprising turn for the better will meet at West Point.

Eastern Michigan kept things simple as it earned a win for the first time since opening the season against hapless Indiana State. By sticking to the basics and cutting back on the mistakes that had been so detrimental to its efforts over the past month, the Eagles orchestrated an upset victory at Bowling Green against a Falcons team that was one of the MAC’s defending champs in the East Division. The Eagles had not won at Bowling Green in 20 years.

With that robust shot of confidence, Eastern Michigan travels to face an Army team that is feeling good about itself for the first time in quite a while. The Black Knights broke a 10-game losing streak with a 44-13 win over Tulane last week.

The rushing game is shifting into a higher gear for Army, and that makes things work. In the past two weeks the Black Knights have just shy of 600 yards running the football.

That reliability up front enabled Army, a team that had scored just 37 points through its first four games, to explode for 44 against Tulane. Eastern Michigan will mix it up more, using the arm of quarterback Andy Schmitt, but the level of success Army can enjoy running the ball will say a lot about who wins this game.

Notes:

In the stunning upset win at Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan needed only 45 seconds to run a six-play, 77-yard drive for the winning touchdown, which came with just 36 seconds to play.

Army sophomore Stephen Anderson returned a fumble 81 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter against Tulane, marking he first time the Black Knights had cashed a fumble return since the 2002 season.

Eastern Michigan linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw, a senior from Oklahoma, has 386 career tackles after his 10-tackle performance at Bowling Green, making him the national leader among active players.

Army’s red zone defense is one of the best in the nation. The Black Knights are one of 33 teams in the country that have allowed a touchdown on less than 50 percent of their opponents’ trips inside the 20-yard line.

Following the upset win at Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan’s players lit a Bowling Green jersey on fire. It belonged to their coach, Jeff Genyk, a 1982 Bowling Green grad.

Key Player (Eagles) — Tyler Jones, WR

The versatile native Michigander caught a 16-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute to play to lift the Eagles over Bowling Green, and in the win, he had four catches for 61 yards, and took 13 direct shotgun snaps while rushing for 60 yards.

Key Player (Black Knights) — Collin Mooney, FB

It was Mooney who led the Black Knights to a 44-13 win at Tulane last week with a career-high 187 rushing yards and four touchdowns. It was Army’s best individual rushing performance since the 2005 season.

Army by 3