The Western Michigan Broncos and the Eastern Michigan Eagles meet Saturday in college football action from Rynearson Stadium. Western Michigan played Ohio in their last outing. In that one the Broncos dropped to 2-6 on the season following a tough three-point loss. As for Eastern Michigan, they’re coming off a game versus Northern Illinois. The Eagles ended up losing by a touchdown and fell to 4-4 overall. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Western Michigan Broncos
The Broncos opened up their season on a sketchy 2-5 run over the first seven games. The only wins in that time came versus St. Francis PA 35-17 in the opener and Ball State 42-24 on September 30. Otherwise it was all losses to Syracuse 48-7, Iowa 41-10, Toledo 49-31, Mississippi State 41-28 and Miami-OH 34-21.
Back on Saturday versus Ohio, Western Michigan came back from a 6-0 first-half deficit with 10 third-quarter points. The rally fell short in a 20-17 loss, though. QB Hayden Wolf finished with 290 yards, one score and one interception. CJ Hester led the rush with 26 yards and Kenneth Womack caught 14 balls for 90 yards and a TD.
Western Michigan Broncos Team Facts
- The favorite has won each of Western Michigan’s last eight games.
- Western Michigan has covered the spread in each of its last seven road games against conference opponents.
- Western Michigan has won the first half in each of its last five games against conference opponents at Rynearson Stadium.
- Five of Western Michigan’s last six games have gone OVER the total points line.
Eastern Michigan Eagles
Over on the Eagles’ side, they got off to a better start this year at 4-3 through seven games. Eastern Michigan lost to Minnesota 25-6, Jacksonville State 21-0 and Central Michigan 26-23. The wins came versus Howard 33-23, UMass 19-17, Ball State 24-10 and Kent State 28-14 during that stretch.
Matched up against Northern Illinois over the weekend, Eastern Michigan had a 13-10 edge going into the final quarter but couldn’t hold on in a 20-13 defeat. Austin Smith managed just 151 yards and two interceptions in the loss, and Samson Evans paced the rush with 68 yards and a score. Hamze Elzayat added six catches for 74 yards as well.
Eastern Michigan Eagles Team Facts
- The home team has won each of Eastern Michigan’s last eight games.
- Eastern Michigan has covered the spread in each of its last six games against conference opponents.
- Eastern Michigan has won the first quarter in three of its last four home games against conference opponents.
- Eastern Michigan has won the first half in each of its last four home games against conference opponents.
- Five of Eastern Michigan’s last six October games against non-AP-ranked teams have gone UNDER the total points line.
Matchup/League Facts
- Eastern Michigan are one of only six FBS teams undefeated in home games this season ([z-0]).
- Eastern Michigan rank 32nd among FBS teams for points allowed per game this season (19.5).
- Western Michigan has suffered the equal-most road losses by a margin of 30+ points of any FBS team this season (2).
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stick with Eastern Michigan at home in this one. You could argue it either way, however. The Eagles played a very ho-hum offensive game against NIU over the weekend with 257 total yards (151 passing), 15 first downs, seven penalties and the two interceptions. Eastern Michigan had been on a good scoring run prior to that however, posting 23 or more points in three straight games.
As for Western Michigan, they weren’t great on third downs (3-of-11) and committed 10 penalties in a sloppy loss to Ohio in their last matchup. The Broncos had a run of four straight games with 21 or more points prior to that however, so this one could end up being a fairly high total. This is of course a coin flip cover/win-wise, but I think Eastern Michigan can get it done.