KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUGameDay.com) -- Coming off its second bye week of the season, the Eastern Michigan University football team returns to the gridiron, battling the rival Broncos of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich., Nov. 15, at 2 p.m. The Eagles are 2-7 (1-4 MAC) on the 2014 campaign following a 38-7 setback to Central Michigan, Nov. 1. Meanwhile, the Broncos improved to 6-3 (4-1 MAC) with a 41-10 road victory over Miami University, Nov. 1, for their fourth straight win.
    The contest will be televised by ESPN3 with Dan Gutowsky providing the play-by-play and Pat Hill serving as the analyst. WEMU (89.1 FM) will provide audio coverage of the game with Chad Bush and Rob Rubick calling the action on the field.

RIVALRY HISTORY: Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan will be meeting for the 50th time in school history. The Broncos hold a 29-18-2 edge in the series which began in 1906 when EMU recorded a 14-5 victory in Kalamazoo, Nov. 17. The EMU football team has posted victories over the Broncos in the last three meetings between the two foes. The wins were not easy for the Eagles as all three contests were decided by six points or less. The Green and White clinched the Michigan MAC Trophy with a 14-10 victory over WMU at Rynearson Stadium, Oct. 22, 2011. One year later, Eastern retained the trophy by taming the Broncos, 29-23, in Kalamazoo, Nov. 17, 2012. Then last year, EMU completed the trifecta with a thrilling 35-32 win against Western, Nov. 9, 2013, coming back to tie the game late in the fourth quarter before scoring a touchdown in overtime to secure the victory.
    Just once has Eastern Michigan posted wins in back-to-back trips to Waldo Stadium. The then-Hurons notched a 23-17 victory en route to the 1987 Mid-American Conference championship, Oct. 24, 1987, and followed it up with a 21-20 thriller, Sept. 30, 1989.

BLOCK PARTY: Eastern Michigan's special teams have been putting up big numbers when it comes to blocking kicks. During the 2014 campaign, the Eagles have blocked six kicks in nine contests, which are the most since the 2009 season when the Green and White rejected six kicks as well. Mike Steals leads the way with two blocked field goals, while Gary White Jr. and Willie Creear each rejected one field goal attempt apiece.  The fifth blocked kick goes to Nathan Adams, who blocked a punt in the season opening victory against Morgan State, Aug. 30, Amos Houston also added a punt block versus Central Michigan, Nov. 1.
    Nationally, EMU has the most blocked kicks this season.

RED ZONE DEFENSE: When opposing teams have entered the red zone, the EMU defense has buckled down to become one of the best inside the 20-yard line. The Eagles hold a red zone defense percentage of .702, allowing just 33 scores in 47 attempts. That mark ranks at the top of the MAC as well as 10th in the nation. Out of 47 opportunities, opponents have been limited to field goals 10 times, while leaving the area without any points on 14 occasions.

CAPTAIN COTTON: Senior team co-captain Pudge Cotton had a standout game for the Eagles with an interception, while adding a fumble recovery and tacked on eight tackles, including 0.5 for loss, against Central Michigan, Nov. 1. The Maywood, Ill. native picked off CMU's Cooper Rush at the 34-yard line to give the Green and White possession with 7:05 left in the second quarter. Later, Cotton came up big for the Eagles for the second time in the contest when he picked up the rock on the 31-yard line and ran for 15-yards following a fumble forced by Great Ibe with 8:07 left in the fourth quarter. The interception marked the third of Cotton's career and first of the 2014 season, while the fumble recovery marked the fourth of the senior's career and second of the season.

GREAT TACKLING GREAT IBE: Right in the middle of the Eastern defense, redshirt-junior Great Ibe has shown his versatility between rushing the quarterback and dropping back into coverage. Finding the ball carrier from all over the field, Ibe's 104 tackles lead EMU by a substantial margin as the next closest Eagle has recorded 86 tackles this season. The 104 tackles by the Eastern linebacker is the second-most by an individual MAC defender as well as fifth in the nation.

ALLEN'S COUNTDOWN COMPLETE: Senior Tyler Allen's journey to the top of the EMU record book is complete, as the kickoff specialist returned a pair of kicks for 32 yards against Central Michigan, Nov. 1, breaking Trumaine Riley's all-time mark. In his career, Allen has run back 123 kickoffs for a total of 2,542 yards (20.7 avg/r.) while Riley brought back a Mid-American Conference record 130 kicks for a total of 2,541 yards (19.5 avg/r.) while playing for EMU from 2003-06.
    Earlier this season, the Lansing Mich. native passed current Pittsburgh Steeler and former Central Michigan receiver Antonio Brown for third place on the MAC's all-time return list.

QUEST THROUGH THE WEST: After playing three MAC East and four non-conference opponents in the first seven games of the season, the Eagles are currently finishing up the season with five-straight contests against teams from the MAC West. Following two games at The Factory against Northern Illinois and Central Michigan, the Green and White hit the road to battle two more teams in its division, before closing out the season at home. EMU faces rival Western Michigan, Nov. 15, in Kalamazoo, Mich., and concludes life on the road with a matchup against Ball State, Nov. 22. Eastern closes out the season by hosting divisional foe Toledo, Nov. 28, in the 2014 season finale.

DEFENSE MAKING PROGRESS: The statistics might not fully show the Eagles' defensive improvements from last season, but a closer look proves the Green and White has made strides. Already in just nine games, the defense has recorded more pass breakups (26), fumbles forced (8), fumbles recovered (6) and kicks blocked (6) than it did in all of 2013. EMU is also nearing last year's total in tackles-for-loss (53) as well as quarterback hurries (35).

ONE LAST ROAD TRIP: The Eagles will finish up their road portion of their schedule with their next MAC West matchup, facing the Ball State University Cardinals, Nov. 22. The battle of the birds will take place in Muncie, Ind. with kickoff set for 2 p.m. on ESPN3.

POC-MAN: Much like Pac-Man in the 1980s arcade game that became a pop culture phenomenon, Pat O'Connor has been gobbling up the opposition behind the line of scrimmage this season. The team co-captain currently ranks second in the Mid-American Conference in both sacks as well as tackles-for-loss. Pushing opponents back a combined 64 yards on 11.5 tackles-for-loss, O'Connor's total ranks 35th nationally. The Windy City native is among the top-35 sack leaders throughout the country, sitting at No. 33 with 6.5 sacks.

LAST YEAR'S OVERTIME THRILLER: Last season's matchup was one to remember as the EMU football team secured its second victory of the 2013 campaign in an overtime thriller against the Broncos, 35-32. One day after former EMU Head Football Coach Ron English was relieved of his duties, Interim Head Coach Stan Parrish led the Green and White to its first MAC win of this season.
    The victory was led by the ground attack, as the Eagles rushed an EMU record-breaking 44 carries for 264 yards, which ranks as the third-highest rushing yardage in Green and White laurels.  Two players surpassed the century mark, as running back Ryan Brumfield ran a career-high 148 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries to lead the Eagles. Fellow ball carrier Bronson Hill was the second player to run over 100 yards, as his 108 yards on 23 rushes also included a touchdown.
    The Broncos were led in scoring by kicker Andrew Haldeman, who was six-of-six on field goal attempts.  Zach Terrell was 24-of-39 for 348 yards, and Corey Davis and Kendrick Roberts each had over 100 yards in receiving.
    After winning the toss prior to overtime, the Eagles elected to play defense first. EMU held the Broncos to a Haldeman field goal before the Green and White took over on the offensive side of the ball.The Eagles started their offensive series in overtime with a pass from Brogan Roback to Tyreese Russell for a first-down off a 10-yard lob.  Brumfield carried the ball an additional 10 yards to nab a first-and-goal from the five yard line. Brumfield finished the game with a five yard jaunt into the endzone, putting the Green and White up for the win with a final tally of 35-32.

A GREAT TACKLING MACHINE: Redshirt-junior Great Ibe continues to be a major force for EMU defensive coordinator Brad McCaslin's linebacking corps. The Hanover, Md. product posted a career-best 21 tackles in the Oct. 18 contest at Gillette Stadium versus Massachusetts. The 21 stops are the most by an Eagle in recent memory and the second-best tally of any student-athlete in the nation this season.
    Ibe's total is the most by an Eagle since 2001 when Kenny Philpot hauled down 21 Cardinals in a contest against Ball State, Oct. 13. Eastern Michigan began tracking tackles in a game during the 1999 campaign, with Blake McCall holding the gold-standard with 29 against Ohio, Oct. 16, 1999.
    His 21 stops are also the most by a Mid-American Conference player in more than three seasons with Akron's Brian Wagner last topping the 20-tackle plateau with 22 takedowns against Florida International, Oct. 8, 2011.

DUBIEL NAMED TO RAY GUY AWARD WATCH LIST:  Senior Owen Dubiel  was named a candidate for the 2014 Ray Guy Award, which honors the nation's top collegiate punter. The 80 candidates were nominated for the award by their school's sports information department.
    The East Jackson, Mich. native has done a fantastic job when it comes to punting the football in 2014. Out of 30 Dubiel punts, 13 have been downed inside the 20-yard line, and only four have gone into the end zone for a touchback. Moreover, 11 punts inside the 20 have actually been placed inside the 12, including four inside the five-yard line.
    Dubiel was just one-of-five Mid-American Conference punters to make the list as Buffalo's Tyler Grassman, Central Michigan's Ron Coluzzi, Northern Illinois' Tyler Wedel, and Western Michigan's J. Schroeder were also named 2014 candidates for the honor.