Ohio (6-3, 4-1 Mid-American Conference) has found itself right in the thick of the race to earn a spot in the MAC title game, sitting tied for first with three other teams: Miami, Bowling Green and Western Michigan.
Ohio will return home for another Wednesday night MACtion game to play Eastern Michigan (5-4 overall, 3-2 MAC), which will be the latest challenge for Ohio coach Tim Albin and his team. The Eagles are also a contender to make the MAC title if things go well, having a solid record and having beaten teams like UMass and Jacksonville State.
Here is everything to know for Wednesday night.
Head coach
Chris Creighton is one of the longest-tenured head coaches in the MAC and is in his eleventh year at the helm of the Eagles’ football team. Creighton has done a great job in Ypsilanti, becoming the first Eastern Michigan coach to lead the team to multiple bowl appearances.
Before landing with Eastern Michigan, Creighton was a head coach for many years at Drake and Wabash College. In those positions, he excelled, earning his job at Eastern Michigan.
Quarterback
Under center for the Eagles this season is Cole Snyder, who is in his third school.
Before Eastern Michigan, Snyder was a quarterback for a fellow MAC school in Buffalo where he played in a total of 25 games, throwing for over 5,000 yards and 31 touchdowns. Despite his current success with the Bulls, Rutgers was his first collegiate stop; however, he didn't see much playing time and transferred to Buffalo.
In his time with Eastern Michigan this year, he has thrown for 2,087 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions with the Eagles while running for 274 more yards and four more touchdowns.
Running backs
Delbert Mimms is the bell cow back for Creighton’s running game, and he has had a great year so far in his senior season.
“The running back, Mimms, he’s big, I mean he’s 220 (pounds),” Ohio head coach Tim Albin said in his weekly press conference. “He reminds me of (Anthony Tyus III) as far as size and running style.”
He has run for 558 yards and seven touchdowns so far this season.
Wide receivers
Snyder has done a good job of spreading the love to multiple receivers this year, as Eastern Michigan has four pass catchers with over 200 receiving yards.
First among them is junior receiver Oran Singleton, who leads the team with 557 yards and two touchdowns. Not far behind him is senior Terry Lockett Jr., who has 526 yards and three touchdowns this year. The third option in the offense is junior Markus Allen, who has 377 yards and two touchdowns.
Defense
The Eagles’ defense is relatively middle of the pack this season in the MAC, ranking sixth out of 12 teams in both scoring defense allowing 26.3 points per game, and total defense allowing 380.9 yards per game.
The linebacker duo of Luke Murphy and James Djonkam lead the way for this defense, combining for 109 total tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and two sacks on the season.
Defensive lineman Peyton Price is the biggest pass-rushing threat as the junior currently has seven tackles for loss and four and a half sacks on the season.
