Saturday, Sept. 25 - 2 p.m. ET
Rynearson Stadium -- Ypsilanti, MI
ESPN+
After putting up a season-high 42 points in a (42-28) win over UMass last week, Eastern Michigan looks for a third non-conference victory this week when it hosts Texas State.
The Bobcats are 1-2, with the lone win being a 23-17 overtime victory over Florida International in Week Two. Baylor downed TSU 29-20 Sept. 4 and Incarnate Word posted a 42-34 win over the Bobcats last Saturday.
Here's more on the two teams . . .
TEXAS STATE BOBCATS (1-2, 0-0 Sunbelt West)
>> Against Incarnate Word, TSU grabbed a 31-28 lead at 11:17 of the fourh quarter. Howver, the Cardinals scored two tuchdowns in less than five minutes to take a 42-31 lead. Texas State cashed in a field gola with 48 seconds left but could not get the ball back.
>> Saturday’s football game will be the first-ever meeting between the two football programs. Texas State has a 1-0 record against football teams from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) with the lone win coming over Ohio, 56-54, in triple overtime on Sept. 3, 2016.
>> Texas State’s 23-17 victory at FIU was its first non-conference road win and first overtime victory on the road since September 3, 2016 when the Bobcats defeated the Ohio Bobcats, 56-54, in three overtimes.
>> Brady McBride enters the EMU game having thrown a touchdown pass in 12 straight games. McBride became the first Texas State quarterback to start in two consecutive season openers since 2016 when he made his ninth career start against Baylor to open the 20201 season. He enters the EMU game having completed 63-of-112 passes for 599 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions this season.
>> Against Incarnate Word, McBride completed 25-of-41 passes for 278 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He completed 18-of-31 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown at FIU after connecting on 20-of-40 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions against Baylor.
McBride began the 2020 season making his first collegiate start against SMU after sitting out the 2019 campaign because of NCAA transfer regulations. He played in nine games last year and completed 173-of-282 passes for 1,925 yards and 17 touchdowns with seven interceptions in 2020.
>> Texas State junior running back Brock Sturges is on the 2021 Doak Walker Award watch list after rushing for 532 yards and five touchdowns on 111 carries and hauling in 11 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown
en route to being named an Honorable Mention All-Sun Belt Conference selection in 2020.
>> Sturgis had 10 carries for 40 yards against IWU. Calvin Hill led the ground game with 16 trips for 78 yards, while Jahmyl Jeter scored on two of his six carries for 46 yards.
>> TSU kicker Seth Keller has yet to miss a field goal (5/5) or extra point (8/8). His longest field goal this year is 48 yrds.
EASTERN MICHIGAN EAGLES (2-1)
>> The Eagles got back in the winning column last week with a 42-28 win at UMass. Eastern Michigan asserted itself early, bolting out to a 21-0 lead with 11:59 left in the second period. Each Minutemen touchdown after that was answered in kind by EMU until the hosts added a final tally with 53 seconds remaining.
>> Both offenses exceede 500 yards, with UMass holding a slight edge (519-507). Eastern Michigan had four less first downs and one less turnover.
>> Senior Ben Bryant completed 14-of-21 for 291 yards and one TD, while junior Preston Hutchinson hit 2-of-2 tosses for 25 yards.
>> Hassan Beydoun paced receivers with six grabs for 101 yards. Zach Westmoreland scored the final Eagles touchdown on a 54-yard pass play from Bryant.
>> EMU’s score with 4:07 left in the fourth quarter at UMass was its first of the season through the air. The team entered the game as one of only 11 Football Bowl Subdivision schools (130 total) that were yet to throw for a touchdown in 2021.
>> Eastern Michigan totaled 184 rushing yards, and five of its six TDs came via the ground game. Jawon Hamilton carried 16 times for 122 stripes and a TD. Darius Boone jr. had two scores among his 27 yards on 11 rushes.
>> Eastern Michigan has placed an emphasis on running the rock early in the 2021 season. Through three games, 42 percent of the team’s total yardage has come via the turf, but a whopping 91 percent of the team’s offensive touchdowns have been via the rush
>> Freshman David Carter Jr. picked off one UMass pass, raising his total for the year to two. He also had a pick against Wisconsin in Week Two.
>> Through three games, EMU opponents are just 3-of-8 (38%) on fourth down conversions (UMass held to 1-of-3, Sept. 18). That number is significantly better than last season, when EMU opponents converted 87 percent of fourth down tries (13-of-15).
>> Saturday’s game will serve as EMU’s final non-conference tune up
of the 2021 campaign before it begins Mid-American Conference play at Northern Illinois, Oct. 2. Eastern will try to improve upon its recent struggles in non-conference finishers, where it has just a 2-4 record since the start of the 2014 campaign