Rynearson Stadium -- Ypsilanti, Mich.
This marks the first time the Eagles and Hawks have met on the gridiron. Eastern will be looking for their first-ever win against a Big South Conference team, as EMU has only competed against one other Big South team, the Liberty Flames (L, 24-25, 10-14-1989), since the conference's creation in 1983. Monmouth is 0-2 all time against MAC opponents.
Monmouth won nine of its first 10 games, including seven straight before losing its final two outings of 2017.
Kennesaw State captured the Big South title with a 52-21 drubbing of the Hawks and Northern Iowa drilled Monmouth 46-7 in an FCS playoff tilt.
Nonetheless, 2017 was quite a step forward for MU, which had won 35 games over the previous four seasons.
>> The Hawks led their league with an average of 32.8 ppg.
>> At least offensively, there is reason to believe the Hawks can enjoy success.
>> Quarterback Kenji Bahar completed 61,9 percent of his passes and tossed 13 TDs last year. His top target is Reggie White Jr., who registered 74 catches, 874 yards and eight TDs as the league’s top receiver.
>> Sophomore running back Pete Guerriero tallied nine times while rushing for 1,061 yards. He became the first Monmouth back since 2013 to eclipse the 1,000 yard plateau in his breakout freshman year, one which saw him lead the Big South in all-purpose yards with 1,408.
Guerriero was named First Team All-Big South at both the kick returner and running back positions. He set the Monmouth mark for all-purpose yardage in a game with 263 against Lehigh while wrapping up his first year with Second Team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches' Association.
Defensive and associate head coach Andy Bobik, now in his 23rd season with the Hawks recently said of his unit, “Right now, we’ve got some guys in there that are playing pretty well and playing pretty physical. I think the front would be our forte right now. As we move backward, we’re not as deep.
Bobik is also looking for more speed. “We played pretty fast last year … but we’ve got to take another step if we want to compete at the next level -- do it faster all the time.”
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