The Eastern Michigan University football team comes into Saturday’s contest against the visiting Bulls of Buffalo after a heartbreaking, last-second defeat to the Ball State Cardinals in Rynearson Stadium last weekend, 33-31.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Rynearson Stadium. Eastern is a 3-point favorite.
The Eagles (5-4, 3-2 Mid-American Conference) look to end their home schedule with one final win and hope for a chance at a bowl game.
Buffalo (2-7, 1-4 MAC) has struggled. However, the Eagles will need to enter this game without looking past the Bulls based on their record because despite the record, Buffalo has played in a few tight contests this season.
The only two games the Bulls have managed to win were against FCS opponent Stoney Brook and a 38-37 victory against Ohio University.
Offensively, the Eagles will need to attack a poor Buffalo defense that is ranked 85th out of 120 teams in points allowed with 30.1 points per game.
The Eagles had success throwing last week against Ball State.
Quarterback Alex Gillett had a career day, completing 12-of-17 passes for 196 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. The passing game will need to be successful again in order to aid a scoring offense ranked 103rd in the country with 21.2 points per game.
Gillett completed a pass to six receivers Saturday and will need that efficiency to continue in order to have an effective passing attack.
The running game, which has been efficient, will also need to be a factor to gain balance in the offense and to work with the team’s strengths. The Eagles are ranked 15th overall with 234.9 rushing yards per game. So the running game will need to help set up a more of a passing offense which, until last week, has been inconsistent all season.
Defensively, the Eagles will need to prepare for the run and the pass. The Bulls will try to use both, though the passing game for Buffalo is much more consistent than the run.
Quarterback Chazz Anderson has had a mediocre season, completing 56 percent of his passes for 1,993 yards with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions. The pass rush will need to get to Anderson since the passing game is the more consistent aspect to the Bulls’ offense. Buffalo is ranked 64th with 227.8 pass yards per game and 80th with 136.2 rush yards per game.
Running back Brandon Oliver is Buffalo’s biggest rushing threat with 225 carries for 900 yards and eight touchdowns. Anderson is second behind him with 58 carries for 274 yards and five touchdowns.
The Eagles are looking to win their sixth game of the season, which would make this a winning season; a great step forward from the past few seasons. However, in order to get that sixth win and give the Eagles a chance at playing for a bowl game, they must defeat Buffalo, which is a team they should expect to beat.
