Game Previews: CMU, Ohio, EMU, ECU, and Navy

12:00 PM Central Michigan at Iowa: This is a matchup between Central Michigan of the MAC and Iowa of the Big 10. Central Michigan enters this game at 1-1 with a hard fought win over FCS opponent Southeast Missouri State and a blowout loss to #11 Michigan State. The Chippewas get good production from the running game for nearly 200 yards per game but struggle with the passing game. The Chippewas are being outscored 34-22 per game on the season. Iowa enters this game at 2-1 despite one of the worst offenses in the nation (100th in passing, 88th in rushing). The Hawkeyes are outscoring opponents 17-14 on the year with a high of 27 points scored last Saturday versus Northern Iowa. This is the third meeting between the schools with both previous meetings being blowout wins by Iowa. Central Michigan just does not fit well versus the Hawkeyes and this should not be much of a game. The best hope for CMU is that Iowa struggles offensively to pull out an upset. Iowa 28-12.

2:00 PM Norfolk State at Ohio: After some tough games versus Marshall and Penn State early in the season, this is a nice break in competition for the Bobcats of Ohio. Ohio is 3-0 winning by an average of 34-20 and gaining national attention. Expect the Bobcats to cruise to an easy victory versus the overmatched squad of Norfolk State. Ohio 45-14.

3:30 PM Eastern Michigan at No. 21 Michigan State--Not too much to talk about here. Eastern Michigan has been overmatched in two of their three losses and were defeated by an FCS school in the other. #21 Michigan State is the best opponent for the Eagles on the season and should be able to name their score in similar fashion to Purdue the week before. Michigan State 38-3.                 

3:30 PM East Carolina at North Carolina: This is a matchup between East Carolina of Conference USA and North Carolina of the ACC. East Carolina enters this game at 2-1 with wins over App. State and Southern Miss. The Pirates are flying high off of the big conference win on the road and match up very well versus a down North Carolina squad. The North Carolina Tar Heels enter this game at 1-2 with a lone win over Elon on their slate with losses to Wake Forest and #19 Louisville following. The Tar Heels are a passing oriented team that throws for over 300 a game and scores 41 points per game. Some of those stats are slanted by a 62-0 win in the season opening win over Elon. This is the 15th overall meeting between the schools with UNC holding a 11-2-1 overall edge in the series. Expect East Carolina to come on strong to start the game maybe gaining an early double digit lead that will be surrendered in the second half with the Tar Heels pulling out a hard fought win.

3:30 PM Virginia Military Institute at Navy: With the Naval Academy struggling to start the season with losses to Notre Dame and Penn State, this is a very important game for the Midshipmen. The FCS' VMI Keydets do not have the ability of Navy and will struggle to stop the patented triple-option attack of Navy. With tough games versus San Jose State and Air Force upcoming, this may be the only Navy win till mid-October. Navy 41-7.