Week 7 Preview - Eastern Michigan at Army

The Eastern Michigan Eagles continue their adventures on the road as they head to West Point where they will face the Army Black Knights. This will be the 8th meeting between the two teams with Army holding a commanding 6-1 lead in the series. Currently Army has a Four and Two Record and Eastern is Two and Three with a three game losing streak.

When Army Has the Ball

Expect to see Army run the ball. They average about 372 rushing yards per game with very little passing. Army will run the triple option and they run it fairly effectively. Their offense is led by quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw who averages 107 yards per game on the ground. He hasn’t been sacked yet this year but I suspect that that is a function of the offense that is run. He only averages 20 yards per game in the air.

The Eastern Michigan defense has certainly shown improvement this year but if they are going to defeat the Army offense, they are going to have to remain disciplined. They may have to dial back their aggressiveness a bit or they might get torched by the option. Fortunately, they have been pretty good against the run by only allowing 129 yards per game so far this year.

Kenneth Bailey

When Eastern Michigan Has the Ball

I still think that Eastern Michigan is going to have to establish their run game. So far that run game has only averaged 74 yards per game and is led by Shaq Vann who is only running for 52 yards per game. Because of that Eastern Michigan has had to rely on Brogan Roback’s arm. Fortunately he has been averaging 276 yards per game but he’s had 6 picks so far.

Eastern Michigan is facing a defense that has allowed 19 points per game this year. And that happens to be the average that Eastern Michigan has scored per game this year. That defense has only gotten two picks so far and allows an average of 185 yards per game. I suspect that Eastern Michigan may be able to do well in the air against that defense.

What to Expect

If Eastern Michigan can contain the Army option attack, they will have a pretty game. If Army passing defense proves to be vulnerable, Brogan Roback may be able to pick it apart and win the game in the air. I don’t expect to see Eastern’s ground woes to end in this game though. I think that Eastern Michigan will be able to break their three game losing streak though.

Kenneth Bailey