WEST POINT, N.Y. \u2014 For Army coach Jeff Monken and his Black Knights, there\u2019s no place like Michie Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A week after winning for the first time on the road, Army (4-2) returns to the banks of the Hudson River on Saturday to face Eastern Michigan (2-3). Army is unbeaten in three home games so far this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always good to be in front of our own crowd, our own stadium, be in front of our own fans, be in front of the corps (of cadets),\u201d Army center Bryce Holland said. \u201cIt\u2019s especially good to come home with some victories. It\u2019s just another one to get us closer to our goals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Eagles haven\u2019t been so fortunate. They\u2019re coming off a 20-15 loss at Toledo, their third straight setback, and all three were one-possession games. Last week was especially painful. The Eagles defense held Toledo to its fewest points in two years and 22 below its season average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had four games come down to basically the last play and would have liked to have won more than we have,\u201d EMU coach Chris Creighton said. \u201cBut I love our team. I think our best football is ahead of us, so what else can you do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Black Knights defeated Rice 49-12 last Saturday night, forcing six turnovers in a game that quickly got out of hand. Four of those turnovers came in a span of 67 seconds in just seven plays spanning the first and second quarters and helped stake Army to a 35-0 halftime lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Army entered the game without forcing a turnover in 13 straight quarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good to come back home here after getting a victory like that on the road,\u201d Monken said. \u201cWe hadn\u2019t gotten a win on the road all year, and it\u2019s really important to our team to accomplish that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other things to know when Army hosts Eastern Michigan on Saturday at Michie Stadium:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SPREAD IT AROUND<\/b>: In each of the first five games of the season, Eastern Michigan QB Brogan Roback has completed passes to at least eight different receivers \u2014 12 against Ohio, 10 against Charlotte, eight against Rutgers and Kentucky, and nine against Toledo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t completed 12 passes the whole season,\u201d Monken said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Army is 8 of 33 for 125 yards and one touchdown passing with four interceptions to rank 129th \u2014 or last \u2014 in FBS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BLACK KNIGHTS ROLLING<\/b>: Dating back to last season, Army has won seven of its last nine games. The last stretch with seven wins in nine games was in 1996, when Army won a school-record 10 times. Army has won four of its first six in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1988-89.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DEFENDING THE RUN<\/b>: The Eastern Michigan defense has been stout. The Eagles rank in the top 50 nationally in 10 major categories. They\u2019re 43rd defending the run, allowing just under 130 yards a game. Army\u2019s triple option ranks third in rushing with an average of 372.7 yards per game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve played everybody really tight and have played particularly well on defense,\u201d Monken said. \u201cThey just make a bunch of plays and are doing a good job stopping the run. That\u2019s going to be a big challenge for us. Obviously, that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to try to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CLOSE, BUT<\/b>: In Eastern Michigan\u2019s last 18 games, 12 have been decided by 7 points or fewer and EMU has split them. However, this season the Eagles are trending down. Four of their five games have been one-possession contests, and they\u2019ve won just one (16-13 at Rutgers).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly frustrating. We know we\u2019re capable,\u201d Creighton said. \u201cWe are right there, against really good football teams. We\u2019re going to be OK. I think we\u2019ve got a chance to have a really good football team, still.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PUNTING BY COMMITTEE<\/b>: Eastern Michigan has had four different players punt this season, the most of any team in the country. Ivan Oraha has 14 punts, Jake Julien 12, Paulie Fricano one, and Roback, the only quarterback in the nation to also lead his team in punting. Roback has nine punts for 422 yards, including a long of 66 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Army coach Jeff Monken and his Black Knights, there\u2019s no place like Michie Stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":52680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,76,25,13],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1663],"class_list":["post-24607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-military-sports","category-newsletters","category-off-duty"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"O2LXZXS6QRCY3JUAWVIXH3RZNE","arc_canonical_url":"\/2017\/10\/13\/army-hosts-eastern-michigan-riding-two-game-winning-streak\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n