Football travels to Eastern Michigan to take on an Eagles squad that is undefeated at home under first-year head coach Chris Creighton.

The Huskies (5-2, 2-1 MAC) will take on the Eastern Michigan Eagles (2-5, 1-2 MAC) noon Saturday at Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilanti, Mich. Both of the Eagles’ wins this season have come at home, while the Huskies’ have only lost one game on the road: Sept. 20 against Arkansas.

“It’s another MAC team that I have great respect for,” said head coach Rod Carey. “We see them every year. They are playing extremely hard. They have new schemes on offense and defense … . They are very well coached.”

Despite losing to the Florida Gators 65-0 and the Michigan State Spartans 73-14, the Eagles’ defense has improved under Creighton since last year. In seven games this season the defense has already made more pass breakups (23) and forced fumbles (seven) than it made all of last year.

In its front seven, Eastern Michigan plays a mix of 3-4 and 4-3 formations.

“They’re multiple, like I think everybody is now, where they have an even front structure and an odd front structure,” Carey said. “A lot of it is by calls, some of it is by down and distance [and] some of it is by personnel. They change it up, and they do a nice job.”

On the other side of the ball, the Eagles’ offense is being run by redshirt freshman quarterback Reginald Bell Jr. With Bell in control, the Eagles scored on more than half their drives to give them their first conference win Oct. 11 against the Buffalo Bulls.

“Watching him on film, he seems like a pretty good quarterback,” said sophomore defensive tackle Corey Thomas. “He will run with the ball. He is pretty athletic. So, as far as our defense goes, we need to really pay attention to our technique and make sure we don’t let him slip [through] because he’s going to run for yards.”