2016 Week 4 Preview: Wyoming at Eastern Michigan

The Eastern Michigan Eagles face off against the Cowboys of Wyoming. This match up should sound familiar because it is a repeat of one of the match ups last year. If you will recall, the Eagles traveled to Laramie and defeated the Cowboys 48 to 29. Can the Eagles repeat this year as the Cowboys make the trek to Ypsilanti?

When the Cowboys Have the Ball:

The Cowboys passing attack has averaged 210 yards per game with Quarterback Josh Allen at the helm. His leading receives appear to be Tanner Gantry and Jake Maulhardt. They seem to feature a fairly balanced offense by averaging 216 yards per game. The main Cowboy rusher is Brian Hill who ran for 207 yards against UC-Davis last week. He only needs 156 yards to beat Wyoming’s all time rusher. Their secondary rusher is Shaun Wick who is no slouch either. They will be facing an Eagles defense that has forced 7 turnovers so far this season. Last week, the Eagles got their first interceptions of the season with Jaylen Pickett getting both of them and also running one in for a touchdown. Based on the Eagles defense so far, I would expect more of a passing attack from Wyoming this week. The Cowboys have averaged 34 points per game so far. While Eastern Michigan has only given up 31 points per game. So it seems like it should be a good match defensively for the Eagles.

When the Eagles Have the Ball:

Kenneth Bailey

It was announced this week that Todd Porter would get the nod at quarterback again. He has thrown for an average of 256 yards per game and thrown 6 touchdown passes. He has thrown four picks so far. I would like to see that improve. With Shaq Vann out for the rest of the season, it is time for Ian Eriksen to step up into the role of main running back. So far he has averaged almost 70 yards per game and I am hoping he can improve upon that in this game. However, it seems that Wyoming is pretty stingy against the run, only giving up 115 yards per game. I also hope Blake Banham can step up into the secondary back role.

What to Expect:

Given the averages, I expect a fairly high scoring game but I also expect another Eagles victory. If you need a number for this, I would say 38-31 with the Eagles coming up on top.

Kenneth Bailey