YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University football team remains on the road Saturday, Nov. 2, with its shortest Mid-American Conference road trip of the season to face off against the University of Toledo. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Glass Bowl in Toledo, Ohio.
The Eagles enter the Mid-American Conference West Division contest with a 1-7 (0-4 MAC) record following a 59-20 road setback to No. 18 ranked Northern Illinois University, Oct. 26. Meanwhile, the Rockets are 5-3 (3-1 MAC) after rallying past rival Bowling Green State University, 28-25, in the 78th edition of the I-75 Rivalry, Oct. 26.
The contest will be locally televised by Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN) with Mason Lowry providing the play-by-play, John Ross serving as the analyst and Kate Longenecker with the sideline reports. WEMU (89.1 FM) will provide audio coverage of the game with Matt Shepard and Rob Rubick calling the action on the field.

RETURNING HOME TO OHIO: The Eagles will cross the border to play in Ohio for the only time this season. A total of 14 Eagles hail from the Buckeye State, including six with freshman eligibility. True freshman Brogan Roback, a native of Maumee, Ohio located just outside of Toledo, attended high school in the Glass City at Toledo St. John's Jesuit. The 14 football players on the EMU roster include: Mike Brown, Jordan Erbes, Kody Fulkerson, David Gibson, Tom Glick, Alex Jones, Quincy Jones, Jacob King, Arron Pipkins, Roback, Lavonte Robinson, Kris Strange, Darien Terrell and Anthony Zappone.

MOVING UP THE CHARTS: The offensive tandem of Tyler Benz and Bronson Hill continue to etch their names securely in the EMU record books. Since the start of the 2012 campaign, the duo has combined for 4,827 yards of total offense and 35 touchdowns.
Benz needs just six more passing yards to become the 12th EMU player to toss for 3,000 yards in a career. The Park Ridge, Ill. native is already tied for eighth place all-time with 24 touchdown passes while ranking 11th with 242 career pass completions.
Meanwhile, Hill needs 278 yards rushing to become the 11th EMU player to run for 2,000 yards in a career. The Grand Rapids, Mich. product also needs just 183 yards on the ground to reach 1,000 yards in a season. Anthony Sherrell was the last EMU running back to reach the grand total, when he rumbled for an EMU single-season record of 1,531 yards in 2003.

RUSSELL MARCHING TOWARDS HISTORY: Tight end Tyreese Russell  continues to rack up the  receiving yardage with 456 yards on 35 catches. The total is 26th most in EMU single-season history and the most by an Eagle since the 2008 campaign when Jacory Stone and Tyler Jones tallied 943 and 760 yards, respectively, through the air. 

ALL-TIME AGAINST TOLEDO: Separated by just 50 miles, Toledo and Eastern Michigan will be meeting for the 41st time in school history. The Rockets hold a 29-11 edge in the series, including winning 12 of the last 13 meetings dating back to the 2000 campaign.
The Eagles' last victory over the Rockets occurred Oct. 21, 2006, when EMU escaped with a 17-13 victory. With EMU clinging to a 9-7 lead late in the fourth quarter, Toledo missed a field goal that would have put them ahead by one but a personal foul penalty for roughing the center by the Eagles gave the Rockets a second chance that they would take advantage of with a score. UT quarterback Clint Cochran connected with tight end Josh Powell on a four-yard touchdown strike to give Toledo a 13-9 lead with just 3:11 left in the game. On the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, EMU defensive end Kevin Howe forced a fumble by Cochran which was picked up and returned by linebacker Darran Matthews for two points to cut the Rocket lead to 13-11.
Trumaine Riley then returned the ensuing kickoff 45 yards to the EMU 46-yard line. The Eagles put on a game-winning march, going 54 yards in five plays capped off by an 18-yard touchdown run by Pierre Walker with 36 seconds remaining to give the Eagles the come-from-behind victory.

EMU LOOKING TO END THE STREAK IN THE GLASS CITY: The Green and White's last victory at the Glass Bowl came Oct. 23, 1999, when Walter Church guided EMU to a 20-13 upset of UT. In that contest, Church threw for 210 yards on 20-of-29 passing, while Lincoln Dupree recorded a 58-yard interception return for a touchdown just before halftime that proved to be the difference in the seven-point decision.

GREENE TAKES ADVANTAGE OF PLAYING TIME: Senior tailback Javonti Greene stepped up to lead the EMU rushing attack in its loss at Northern Illinois, Oct. 26. After rushing for minus-five yards on just six carries throughout 2013, the West Palm, Fla. native ran with speed and authority against the Huskies, rushing 17 times for a team-high 66 yards.

TWO-HEADED QUARTERBACK: After redshirt junior quarterback Tyler Benz started the first seven games of the season, Head Coach Ron English mixed things up by starting "true" freshman Brogan Roback against NIU, Oct. 26. However, both quarterbacks played a significant amount of minutes, splitting time throughout the game. Roback played the entire first quarter while Benz appeared in the second. The freshman started the second half before Benz came on in relief for a pair of drives. Overall, Roback led the Eagles on five drives while Benz orchestrated the EMU offense on six drives.

BARNES LISTED ON THE RAY GUY AWARD LIST: "True" freshman punter Austin Barnes was  named a candidate for the 2013 Ray Guy Award, which honors the nation's top collegiate punter, the Augusta Sports Council announced Friday, Oct. 25.   Barnes is one of just four "true" freshman to make the list; the other first-year players include Idaho's Austin Rehkow, Louisiana Tech's Logan McPherson and Ohio State's Cameron Johnston.
Barnes currently boasts a per punt average of 39.5 yards, an average that if the season ended today would be the 12th best in EMU history for a season. The Fairview Heights, Ill. native currently has 10 punts that have landed inside the 20-yard line and five punts of 50 yards or better including a career long 57-yard punt against Ohio University, Oct. 19.

ALLEN RETURNING TO THE TOP OF EMU HISTORY: After setting an EMU single season record in kickoff returns a year ago, junior Tyler Allen continues to move up the EMU career return charts. With 28 returns already this season, Allen now sits in third among the all-time great EMU returners with 77 total kickoff returns. Against Northern Illinois, the Lansing, Mich. native passed Dontayo Gage for third on the all-time list.
Allen has returned kicks for a total of 1,717 yards, which ranks third all-time at EMU, passing Corey Welch on the all-time list against the Huskies. Clay (2008-12) is next on the list with 1,772 career kickoff yards, while Trumaine Riley (2003-06) holds the EMU standard with 2,541 career return yards.

MULDER FINDING HIS GROOVE: Following a rough start of the season where he only converted one-of-five field goal attempts, sophomore Dylan Mulder seems to have found a groove. The EMU kicker has made his last three field goal tries, including two against Northern Illinois, Oct. 26.

MICHIGAN MAC PLAY BEGINS: After back-to-back road games, EMU returns to the friendly confines of Rynearson Stadium to face in-state rival Western Michigan University, Nov. 9. The contest is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. as the Eagles look to retain the Michigan MAC Trophy, the annual award given to the best MAC team in the state of Michigan. With EMU, CMU and WMU all going 1-1 against each other last season, Eastern was able to retain the trophy after claiming the honor during the 2011 season.