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FACTS & STATS: Site: Kelly/Shorts Stadium (30,255) -- Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Television: None. Home Record: EMU 3-0, CMU 2-0. Away Record: EMU 0-3, CMU 0-4. Neutral Record: EMU 0-0, CMU 0-0. Conference Record: EMU 1-1, CMU 1-1. Series Record: Central Michigan leads, 55-27-6.

GAME NOTES: Slowly but surely the Eastern Michigan Eagles have made positive strides for coach Ron English, and now the third-year head man will try to get his team to focus more on the road when Eastern Michigan takes on the Central Michigan Chippewas at Kelly/Shorts Stadium in Mid-American Conference action.

The Eagles opened the year with two straight wins, but those decisions came against Howard and Alabama State, two schools that are not part of the FBS. Those wins were followed by three losses in the team's last four games, including a 54-16 setback to Toledo this past weekend. The loss to the Rockets was the third road setback on the year for EMU, so clearly this team needs to improve outside of Ypsilanti.

It has been a rough year for the Chippewas, who have lost four of their first six games. The team dropped its fourth game this past weekend, as the Chippewas were defeated by NC State, 38-24. Central Michigan has found much more success at home, winning both of its matchups at Kelly/Shorts Stadium, including an impressive 48-41 victory over Northern Illinois.

The Eagles might have won four of their last seven matchups against Central Michigan, but one of those three losses came this past season, as the Chippewas clobbered EMU, 52-14. With that win, the Chippewas extended their lead to 55-27-6 in the all-time series.

The Eagles have found the majority of their success offensively on the ground, as the team comes into this weekend averaging 209.0 yards per matchup. There is more than one go-to guy in the backfield for the Eagles, which is why the team has been so dangerous in this area.

As of now Javonti Greene is leading the team with 380 rushing yards, while Dominique White is pacing the squad with four rushing touchdowns. Even quarterback Alex Gillett has played a vital role, rumbling for 316 yards and two scores.

Unfortunately Gillett has fallen short with his arm, throwing for only 623 yards and four touchdowns, while also tossing five interceptions. Since the passing attack has been weak, this offense suffers severely when the ground game finds no room to run, like in the team's loss to Toledo.

In the setback to the Rockets the Eagles finished with just 89 rushing yards on only 2.8 yards per attempt. Since the ground game was stymied the pressure fell on the arm of Gillett and he failed to deliver, completing just 12-of-23 passes for only 122 yards. Gillett did toss a touchdown, but he was also intercepted twice.

The Eagles were simply overmatched by the Rockets this past weekend, so even if the offense was at its best the Eagles would still have fallen to Toledo, because the Rockets were too strong offensively.

Stopping the pass has been the main problem for coach English's defense and the Rockets took full advantage. Eastern Michigan was torched for 302 yards and four touchdowns in the loss, but that was only half of the story. The Eagles also allowed 240 rushing yards in the loss, and it was a colossal failure on every level for the defense.

Willie Williams, who is second on the team with 42 tackles, racked up 11 stops in the loss and was clearly busy throughout the matchup.

Coming off his best game of the season, Ryan Radcliff reverted back to his old ways, inconsistent play and too many mistakes. Against NIU two weeks ago the quarterback threw for nearly 400 yards and four scores, but against NC State, Radcliff was intercepted four times and finished with only 245 yards and two touchdowns.

Through six games the signal caller has completed just 53.3 percent of his throws and has 10 touchdowns against 10 interceptions. It doesn't help matters for the offense when the rushing attack is lacking any type of punch.

Central Michigan is producing a mediocre 117.0 ypg on the ground and the best player has been Paris Cotton, who has racked up 294 yards and two scores. Surprisingly though, the Chippewas were able to find success on the ground against NC State, as the team finished with 182 yards on just 25 carries. More than half of Cotton's yards on the year came in this loss, as the tailback rumbled for 158 yards and one score.

The offense has had its moments, but the defense for Central Michigan has not been able to produce much. In fact, this defensive unit has been pulverized for the majority of the season.

The Chippewas have been abused by the run and pass this season, and the unit comes into this weekend allowing 158.7 rushing ypg and another 240.8 ypg through the air.

In the team's recent loss to NC State the Chippewas were torched by the Wolfpack, allowing 244 yards and four touchdowns through the air. Justin Cherocci led the way with 11 tackles in the loss, while the team's leader in that category, Jahleel Addae (56) added seven stops.

Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan are both trying to find some type of positive success defensively, but so far both teams have struggled, and because of that, this may be a high-scoring affair. If Eastern Michigan can control the clock then the team should have a shot in this contest.However, the Eagles have been dreadful on the road and will likely remain winless as the visitor.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Central Michigan 41, Eastern Michigan 35