Week 6 Preview - Eastern Michigan at Western Michigan

This week the Eagles Eastern Michigan heads west on I-94 to meet the Broncos of Western Michigan. The Eagles are 2 and 3 with an 0 for 2 record in the MAC. The Broncos are 3 and 2 and have 1 win in the MAC. The Eagles are coming off a disappointing loss against the Huskies of Northern Illinois and the Broncos are coming off a win against the RedHawks of Miami.

Eastern Michigan is looking for a spark to ignite an offense that hasn’t been as prolific as it’s been in the past. Eastern Michigan’s leading passer is Tyler Wiegers who is 77 for 112 with 175 yards per game. He’s thrown for four touchdowns but has one pick. He is backed up by Mike Glass III who is a decent passer but better runner. The main target is Blake Banham with 77.4 yards per game. Overall, the Eastern Michigan rushing game has averaged 113.6 yards per game but only managed less that 70 last week. It led by Shaq Vann with 52.8 yards per game. The Eagles do manage to score 28.4 points per game though.

They are facing a defense that gives up 31.6 points per game. It led by Alex Grace with 7 tackles for loss. Also prominent is Ali Fayad with three sacks and 4 tackles for loss. It has been pretty stingy on both rushing and passing yards. If Eastern Michigan wants to have some success against this defense it will have to find a way to establish its running game.

The Bronco passing attack is led by John Wassink who is 105 for 167 with 284 yards per game. He has thrown three picks though. Their lead rusher is Levante Bellamy with 91 yards per game but they have other capable rushers. The team gets 204 yards per game on the ground. On average, they score 37 points per game.

Kenneth Bailey

The Eagles defense has only given up 24 points per game so far this season. It is led by Maxx Crosby with 3.5 sacks and 6 tackles for loss. Kyle Rachwal has also proven himself to be more than capable with 5.5 tackles for loss with two interceptions. They are a very aggressive defense though.

This is a matchup of a scoring machine against an aggressive but stingy defense. I think if the Broncos can catch the Eagles over pursuing, they will torch them. Western Michigan has only given up three sacks, so the Eagles might have a tough time getting to the quarterback. I have a feeling this is going to be a shoot out and if that happens, Western Michigan will win. However, in the past, things haven’t worked that way. If Eastern Michigan can slow down the Broncos offense, Eastern Michigan is going to have a chance. If I’m going to make a prediction, I will say Western Michigan is going to emerge victorious by a score of 28 to 21.