Entering week two, the Eastern Michigan University football team comes off of, not the most impressive, but a substantial win last week against Howard University as the Eagles downed the Bison, 33-23. On the other hand, the Minnesota Gophers are riding high after a comeback win against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 13-10.
In EMU’s last five matchups against power five schools, they’ve come away victorious in four of those matchups, with three of those opponents being Big Ten teams. Meanwhile, the Gophers had troubles against a Mid-American Conference (MAC) school in Bowling Green State University two years ago, as the Falcons downed Minnesota, 14-10, on Sept. 25, 2021.
Here is your full game preview, as well as how to watch and what to watch for:
How to watch
When: Sat., Sept. 9
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV: Big Ten Network
Stream: FoxSports.com
EMU vs. Minnesota odds
Line: Minnesota -20.5
Total: 48.5 points
Moneyline: Minnesota -1800
ESPN Analytics: Minnesota 94.0% chance to win
What to watch for and keys for success
EMU: A huge key for the Eagles on Saturday will be establishing their dominant run game against a pretty tough Minnesota defense who are led by All-Big Ten safety, Tyler Nubin. Head coach, Chris Creighton, in a press conference held by EMUAthletics, talked about preparing that run game for the Gophers and stressed the importance of being effective on the inside and outside. Minnesota gave up 180 rushing yards just a week ago against Nebraska. If the Eagles get that part of their arsenal going on Saturday, it can be a long night for the Gophers.
Another big key for EMU in this matchup is shutting down their run game as well as getting pressure on Minnesota's quarterback, Athan Kaliakmanis. Minnesota didn’t get their run game going against Nebraska, rushing for a total of 55 yards, which caused the Gophers offense to struggle big time. Although Minnesota hasn’t been a juggernaut team in the Big Ten in recent years, when they’ve found success it’s been through their run game. If you shut that down and force an inexperienced quarterback in Kaliakmanis to throw the ball a lot, you can walk away victorious.
Minnesota: For Minnesota to find success, they first have to find a balance in their offensive game plan. Rushing for the very low amount of yards that they did against Nebraska, while having your sophomore quarterback throw the ball 44 times for 196 yards, isn’t ideal against a very experienced Eagles defense, especially in the secondary. If they can find success within the run game, and take some stress off of Kaliakmanis’ back, they can win this game.
Forcing turnovers is another big key for Minnesota on Saturday to not repeat what happened two years ago against BGSU, and I’ll say, they are damn good at it. The Gopher defense forced four total turnovers a week ago against Nebraska, with two of them being the driving factor to their comeback win in the second half. If Minnesota can force the Eagles offense to struggle and turn the ball over, they could win this game by a large margin, but only if the Gopher offense can return the favor.
