The Ohio Bobcats (4-3, 2-1 MAC) head into this one as 12.5-point favorites and holding a better record than the Eastern Michigan Eagles (2-6, 1-3 MAC).
That being said, it may not mean a lot to the outcome.
Year in and year out, MAC football teaches us that anything can happen in this league in any given conference game.
For instance, take a match up from last week: winless UMass had one of the MAC’s top teams, the Buffalo Bulls, on the ropes in the waning seconds. Just one first down away from clinching
the win 21-20, the Minutemen could not close out the deal and Buffalo escaped with the win on a touchdown and two-point conversion with 19 seconds remaining.
Some teams weren’t as lucky as Buffalo. An upstart under first-year head coach Matt Drinkall, Central Michigan was riding high entering its contest with a struggling Akron team. Not only did the Zips come into the contest with only one win, but were also completely dismantled the week before in a 45-3 loss to Toledo. Yet, as things can unfold in the MAC, Akron rose up that day, defeating the Chips 28-22 in a game not as close as the score would suggest.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what we know about both these teams, which hope to take a win for different reasons.
Game notes
- Time and date: Saturday October 25, 2025, at noon ET
- Location: Crosby Field at Rynearson Stadium (“The Factory”) in Ypsilanti, Michigan
- TV network options: CBS Sports Network (a valid subscription is required).
- Radio options: Marty Bannister (play-by-play) and Rob Cornelius (color analyst) will provide the Ohio call for WXTQ-FM 105.5, while Tom Helmer (play-by-play) and Rob Rubick (color analyst) will provide the Eastern Michigan call for WEMU 89.1.
- Gambling considerations: Ohio is a 12.5-point favorite, with an over/under of 60.5 points, per FanDuel.
- All-Time Series: Ohio holds a 21-12-1 record all-time against Eastern Michigan. Last time out, Ohio beat EMU 35-10 on Nov. 13, 2024. The Bobbies are winners of the last two games.
- Special Event: Made in Michigan/Band Day. The EMU Marching Band joins forces with high school bands to put on a halftime performance for the home crowd.
About the Eastern Michigan Eagles
The Eagles head into this one looking to bounce back from a 44-30 road loss to the Miami RedHawks. Eastern Michigan showed some fireworks against the MAC title contenders, but a slow start offensively was exasperated by costly turnovers and a punishing RedHawk ground game.
The loss was indicative of some of the major aspects of the Eastern Michigan experience in 2025, starting with a talented offense that’s slow to get going.
The offense is led by one of the MAC’s more productive QBs in veteran Noah Kim, who is athletic enough to be a run threat while logging league-leading passing yard numbers (1,792 yards) and a respectable 62 percent completion rate and a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 12:6.
Kim has been missing a key target since late September in Terry Lockett Jr., who was in line to lead EMU in 2025. Last week, the Eagles unleashed a new weapon in true freshman wideout Harold Mack, who in his first action of the season, devastated the RedHawk defense with six catches for 179 yards and two scores.
In addition to Mack, the Eagles feature a number of talent options at wideout and tight end, including wideout Nick Deveraux, who logged a few fourth-quarter scores of his own last week to make the score respectable.
The main cog in EMU’s attack is running back Dontae McMillian, who leads the squad with 678 rushing yards and is tied for third with 19 receptions. McMillian gives the Eagles an experienced and productive option, as the EMU back enters the contest in his sixth collegiate season with a career just shy of 2,500 rushing yards while adding 18 rushing touchdowns. The talented back provides an explosive element to the offense, ranking joint-third in the conference in yards per carry (5.8) this season.
A big feather in the Eagles’ cap this week would be getting all this talent off to a fast start. Last week, EMU punted on its first three series after a total of 10 plays. Looking at opening drives on the season, Eastern Michigan scored a field goal in its opening drive in the season opener against Texas State. In the last seven games, EMU’s opening drives resulted in a field goal, multiple three-and-out punts and an interception.
Defensively, the test for the Eagles this week is one they have faced many weeks: slowing down the run.
Overall, it’s fair to say that the team has improved in this area since week one but it is still a significant concern as a talented Miami rushing attack dropped 295 yards rushing last week, while three of four MAC teams have rushed for 238 or more yards on the Eagles.
The issue is particularly relevant this week, as the Eagles face another running attack featuring an electric dual-threat runner at quarterback in Parker Navarro.
EMU certainly kept it close against Miami until later in the game and maybe an earlier start offensively will help the defense keep pace against the run owing to complementary football.
A noteworthy defender for EMU this year has been defensive back Bryce Llewellyn. The newly-minted Eagle starter for 2025 leads the club with 68 tackles, adding two INTs and PBUs. Ohio fans may remember linebacker Andrew Marshall, who was with the Bobcats his freshman year. Marshall has been more active recently, logging 28 tackles in the last three weeks.
About the Ohio Bobcats
Ohio has played three MAC games so far: a 35-20 win over BGSU, a 20-14 loss to Ball State and a 48-21 beatdown win over Northern Illinois.
The take away to this point is when the ‘Cats execute the majority of the time and play with fierce physicality, they can compete with— or dominate— any MAC team.
Ohio’s offense executed regularly last week, dismantling a highly-regarded NIU defense in the process, rolling up 41 points, 538 total yards, and 333 yards rushing.
Bobcat head coach Brian Smith has emphasized that his squad primarily takes what the defense gives, but they do also like to run when the option is availbale and have had a lot of ability in that area this year, as the NIU game last week showed.
In fact, heading into this week’s contest, the Bobcats feature three runners in the top 10 in the conference in yards per rush. Quarterback Parker Navarro is ranked second in the league with 6.0 yards per carry, while running backs Sieh Bangura and Duncan Brune are tied for eighth at 5.2 yards.
When the Bobcats go to the air, EMU’s coaching staff is well aware of the threat the visitors pose in the passing game. For instance, Eagles head coach Chris Creighton called Bobcat wideout Chase Hendricks “the most complete receiver we face this year” during weekly availability.
More than just individual standouts, the Bobcats have shown they can punish teams through the passing game or run-pass options when the defense gets too keen on stopping the run.
Defensively, Ohio has shown the ability to dominate opponents in stretches like the first half of the Ball State and NIU games and the second half of the BGSU game.
Overall, Ohio is doing enough defensively during MAC play to give its squad a chance to win, allowing just 20 points a contest so far. On the season, the team has stood tall in the red zone, ranking 35th nationally while generating a solid number of turnovers (nine).
The team returns some players from injury for the second half of the season. Defensive tackle Pius Odjugo played last week for the first time since week three. Odjugo’s return adds another quality player to the defensive line alongside consistent players like JACK linebacker Jay Crable and defensive end Anas Luqman.
Anchoring the middle and back ends of the defense respectively are linebacker Michael Molnar, with a team-leading 58 tackles, and safety Adonis Williams Jr., second with 52.
Final Thoughts
Each team has a good coaching staff who will have its team prepared to put the best foot forward from an X’s-and-O’s standpoint.
While both teams have a path to victory, that path will be a steep, uphill climb for EMU should the visitors show the same level of intensity and execution we witnessed last week against NIU.
The key for the home team will be to get off to a fast start to keep the game close heading into the fourth quarter with something to work for. It could be a long day for the Eagles if they fall behind early and try to play catch up in the second half.
