Week 3 Preview - Eastern Michigan at Buffalo

After defeating Purdue by a score of 20-19, Eastern Michigan travels to Buffalo where they will face the Bulls. The Bulls are coming off a 36-29 victory over the Temple Owls.

Eastern Michigan’s head coach is Chris Creighton who is in his 5th season with a record of 17 and 34. He faces off against Lance Leipold who is in his 4th season with a record of 15-23. These two teams met in October of 2014 which would have been Chris Creighton’s first season and prior to Coach Leipold taking the reins at Buffalo. That meeting was 37-27 defeat of the Bulls at the hands of the Eagles.

The Eastern Michigan passing game will likely be led by Tyler Wiegers who is passing an average of 275 yards per game. He is currently holding a 77% completion record. We may see Michael Glass take a few snaps. The main target is Blake Banham with 101 yards per game. On the ground, Eastern Michigan is led by Shaq Vann who averages 48 yards per game. In the two games played, Eastern Michigan has scored 35.5 points per game.

Kenneth Bailey

The Bulls passing game will likely be led by Tyree Jackson with 232 yards per game. His main target is Anthony Johnson with 66.5 receiving yards per game. The leading Bulls rusher is Kevin Marks with 79.5 yards per game. The Bulls on offense score 42 points per game on average.

On paper, this looks like a pretty even match. Both teams played an FCS And FBS opponent. Both teams are undefeated. Eastern Michigan averages 120 yards on the ground versus Buffalo’s 153 yards. In the air, Eastern Michigan averages 324 yards versus Buffalo’s 237 yards. On Defense, Eastern Michigan has given up 264 yards per game on the ground and 167 yards in the air. Versus 157 and 158 yards for Buffalo.

If Eastern Michigan is going to win this game, they are going to have to get their running game going. They also have to improve their defense against the run. Buffalo may have to improve their passing game but if trends continue, they may run roughshod over Eastern Michigan. Because the two teams seem to be evenly matched, I would say the advantage belong to the Bulls but a couple big plays on the part of Eastern Michigan could take the wind out of their sails.

Kenneth Bailey