By Frank Haynes, College Football Senior Editor

GAME NOTES: With their national championship hopes severely damaged following last week's home loss to Notre Dame, the 14th-ranked Michigan Wolverines will try to get back in the win column in their final non-conference bout of the regular season when they play host to the Eagles of Eastern Michigan this Saturday at the 'Big House' in Ann Arbor. Jeff Genyk's Eagles are fresh off their first victory of the year, a 31-10 rout of visiting UL-Lafayette last weekend. It was solid win for EMU, which had dropped its season opener at Cincinnati nine days earlier, 28-26. Eastern Michigan has never beaten Michigan, or any Big Ten team for that matter, going 0-18 all-time against the conference. The Eagles are 0-6 versus the Wolverines. Speaking of Lloyd Carr's Michigan squad, the 17-10 home loss to the Fighting Irish last week served as both a major disappointment and a wake-up call as the team will have some work to do if it's to make a serious run at the Big Ten crown, and now plenty will need to go right for the Wolverines to have any shot at a Rose Bowl berth. The loss also snapped UM's 16-game home winning streak. Carr's next home win will be his 60th in Ann Arbor and he is just four victories shy of 100 total for his career. Michigan is a perfect 19-0 against teams currently calling the Mid-American Conference home, and has won all nine meetings versus MAC teams under Carr, including a 33-17 triumph over Northern Illinois to start this season. During the current nine-game run, the Maize and Blue have outscored their MAC counterparts by a 364-126 margin. And in fact, in all 19 games the Wolverines have outscored their MAC foes by a staggering 652-145 margin.

Senior QB Matt Bohnet accounted for four TDs (two passing, two rushing) in leading Eastern Michigan to its relatively easy win over UL-Lafayette last week. Bohnet's two rushing scores were the first of his career, and he finished 26-of-36 passing for 263 yards while amassing 85 yards rushing. Junior Eric Deslauriers and senior A.J. Bennett were Bohnet's favorite targets, combining for 17 grabs, 188 yards and two TDs. In all, the EMU offense churned out 424 total yards and will need to be every bit as potent taking on a Michigan defense that simply doesn't allow much in the way of either yardage or points. Through the first two games, Bohnet is the Eagles' leading ground gainer with 150 yards, while both Deslauriers and Bennett have logged 14 catches apiece with a combined three TDs.

When the EMU defense allowed the Ragin' Cajuns just 10 points last week, it marked the first time since 1998 that the Eagles had held an opponent to 10 points or less. ULL wound up with 410 yards of total offense (182 rushing, 228 passing), but had the ball for just over 26 minutes and lost four fumbles. The Cajuns converted just 5-of-12 third-down tries and scored on only two of their four trips to the red zone. EMU's Michael Richardson led all defenders in the game with 14 tackles, while Rontrell Woodruff and Daniel Holtzclaw finished with 12 and 11 stops, respectively. Blake Smith didn't record a tackle in the game, but found himself at the right spot at the right time, pouncing on a pair of Cajun fumbles. Richardson also had 14 tackles in the opener against Cincinnati, giving him a team-leading 28 stops for the year. Getting penetration into the opposition's backfield is paramount to establishing a certain level of dominance on defense, and so far the Eagles have just five TFLs and two sacks in the first two games.

Despite outgaining Notre Dame, 337-244, the Michigan offense just didn't make many big plays and found the end zone only once, and that wasn't until the 3:47 mark of the fourth quarter. The talented young duo or QB Chad Henne and RB Mike Hart were relegated to almost near ineffectiveness, as Henne, who has reached 3,000 passing yards faster than any QB in Michigan history, completed just 43.2 percent of his throws (19-of-44) for 223 yards with one TD and one INT. He was sacked twice and harassed on several other occasions. Hart ran the ball just three times for four yards. He is dealing with the effects of a hamstring injury that will likely have him on the sidelines for this game. Both Tyler Ecker and Jason Avant had a solid day, combining for 12 catches and 164 yards, while freshman Kevin Grady led the UM ground attack with 79 yards on 18 carries (4.4 ypc). He had 121 yards and his only career TD in the season opener against Northern Illinois. While the Wolverines shouldn't need much in the way of points to win this game, it's imperative that Henne get into a groove early and get the offense moving. There is little reason to expect that won't happen.

The Michigan defense stood its ground for much of last week's game against Notre Dame, limiting the Irish to just 104 rushing yards and only a field goal in the second half. UND converted just 4-of-15 third-down opportunities and punted nine times. Grant Mason led all defenders in the game with a career- high 16 tackles, 13 of which were solo efforts, while Leon Hall made the most of his four tackles, posting a pair of sacks. Mason now has a team-leading 24 stops through the first two games and the UM defense is giving up an average of just 17.0 ppg and 170.0 passing ypg. Chris Graham is currently second on the team with 19 stops. The Wolverines have been much stingier following the intermission, giving up 12 ppg in the first half, but making the necessary adjustments to yield just 5.0 ppg over the final two periods.

Eastern Michigan has very little chance to keep this game competitive for long. Expect the Michigan offense to find its rhythm early and for the defense to push the Eagles back at every turn. This one will be over before halftime.

Predicted Outcome

Michigan 49, Eastern Michigan 7