This Saturday, Eastern University Football will return to Madison, N.J. for the first time since the team's program-changing win over the FDU-Florham Devils in 2024. Since the Eagles rallied from a 33-14 halftime deficit to win that season-finale 37-33, the Eagles have gone 19-4 with two of those losses coming against nationally-ranked programs. The Devils beat Dickinson, 49-14,  the following week in a MAC-Centennial Bowl game but were unable to reload their roster and have won just once since. The game, which was originally scheduled for noon, will start at 12:30.

For the Eagles, the game at FDU is a Championship. A win locks up the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and at least a share of the league title. The Delaware Valley Aggies also have just one loss and are at Widener for their regular-season finale. If the two teams finish tied, the MAC will declare co-champions, but Eastern will get the bid. All the other teams in the MAC have at least three losses.

While the two teams are at opposite ends of the league standings, Coach Crocker and his staff take nothing for granted. While the Eagles have gotten healthier on the defensive side of the ball, the Eastern offense took some serious blows over the last couple weeks. Though he is still leading the league in rushing with 960 yards, Jeremiah Avrilien was very limited last week, and his primary back-up, Eric Smith, also went into the injury tent for a bit. Brett Nabb has been beyond durable over the past four seasons, but the reigning MAC Offensive Player of the Year had to miss several possessions against Stevenson with injury. In the course of a half hour, senior quarterback Aden Davenport took his first snap in varsity game, had his first completion, and threw his first touchdown pass – a 29-yarder to Chris Rivera – to put the Eagles up two scores.

On defense, Wayne Clark and Jason Bateman both missed time with injury over the year. While the defense played well without them and for the most part kept teams out of the red zone and the end zone, the unit had not put together a game with big takeaways and negative plays. With Bateman and Clark together on the field along with a unit that grew in depth and experience without them, the Eagles found those moments in the 21-0 shutout of Stevenson. In the first half, Bateman forced a fumble at the goal line for a redzone stop with the Eagles up 7-0.

After Davenport's touchdown pass, the Eagles then forced three Stevenson turnovers in the final eight minutes. Clark spent nearly the entire quarter in the Mustang backfield. He was in on four sacks, with one solo and three assists, forced a fumble in the redzone, and provided the pressure that led to an interception. The shutout was the third of the year for the Eagles.

With FDU running for 1.3 yards per carry, the Eastern pass rushers will look to attack an FDU offensive line that has given up 44 sacks in nine games. While the Devils have played three quarterbacks over the season, Julian Matera is listed as the starter. He has completed 60 percent of his passes. Jake Sconza has played in four games and has thrown for 449 yards. The Devils have 312 rushing yards for the year.

On offense, the Eagles will need to control the line of scrimmage to create running lanes and take care of the ball while taking advantage of any short fields the defense creates. With Nabb and Avrilien both limited in practice this week, the Eagles will likely see their depth tested again.

The Eagles have just four turnovers this year, and Chris Rivera has been deadly on punt returns. Last week, Stevenson's punter solved the issue with low liners that bounced and rolled, but Matera averages only 38 yards per punt.

Heading into the final weekend of the year, the Eagles sit at 38 on the NCAA Division III National Power Index (NPI). The NCAA Tournament field will include 28 conference champions with automatic bids. The rest of the field will be filled according to the final NPI rankings. Unlike other sports with massive upsets in conference tournaments creating chaos in the final weeks, there are 15 teams have already punched their tickets and several other teams that are pretty well locked in to at-large berths.

As a loss would drop the Eagles well outside the top 40, The Eagles do not have a second path to the NCAA Tournament. Without changes to the NPI, the first team left out of the Tournament field is the University of Wisconsin at River Falls- the defending National Champions will have to win out, and hope for an upset or that Mary Hardin Baylor loses its final game of the year at home to Hardin Simmons and drops out of the top 35. As it stands now, the league champions for the American Rivers Conference, the Liberty League, and the UMAC will all be teams outside the top 40.