PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico football is boarding a flight to "The Evergreen State" to face conference foe Central Washington Saturday night. Before the Hounds meetup with the Wildcats, please take a look at the 4th & 1:

First Down – Bounce Back Mindset: ENMU has dropped its last two contests by a combined 12 points. Both games saw the Greyhounds hold a lead at some point during the second half, however, the team found themselves fall short against Midwestern State and Angelo State. Against ASU, the Hounds limited the visitors to 321 total yards and just 23 points. The Rams went 9-for-14 on third down and the defense totaled four tackles for loss. Eastern struggled to score as they were shutout in the second half.

Second Down – Ground Game Game: It may not make sense when read, but tomorrow's matchup with be a true ground game game. Why so? ENMU calls a run play 83% of the time and CWU focuses on rushing 60% of the time. This year, the Wildcats are struggling through the air as they have leaned on two different quarterbacks. The primary weapon is JJ Lemming who is 47-for-112 (42%) through the air with two touchdowns and three interceptions. CWU does have three receivers with at least 100 yards – Darius Morrison, Marcus Cook, and Zach Matlock. The Wildcats go-to rusher early in the season is Tyler Flanagan who has seven total rushing TD's to lead the conference – just one ahead of sophomore quarterback Mario Sanchez.

Third Down – Give Me Five: Through the first five games of 2023, ENMU's top rusher via yardage has been different. Those players include Elijah Zeh, Jonathan Watson, Trevion Butler, Mario Sanchez, and Ja'Calvin Newsom. Zeh tends to be the primary attack point as he rushes the ball 40% of the time. The freshman from Burleson, Texas has posted 451 yards with four touchdowns. His 88 yards per game is the most for a Greyhound since 2019 when Paul Terry blasted past defenses for 157.3 yards per game.

Fourth Down – Conversion Battle, Turnover Battle: Two areas of focus in Eastern's matchup are the conversion opportunities and turnover competition. ENMU is second in the Lone Star Conference in third down conversion (44.8%) and fourth down conversion (71.4%). CWU is seventh in third down conversion (30.7%) and eighth in fourth down conversion (36.4%). Possessions will be ultra-important in the game as the Wildcats and Greyhounds average around 12 per game. The Wildcats have forced 13 turnovers this season, including a whopping nine interceptions. Tanner Volk is responsible for seven of those picks. CWU and ENMU both have seven turnovers by their offense.

&1 – Long Distance Travel: Based on driving distance, 1,555 miles separate Portales, New Mexico and Ellensburg, Washington. The town is home to 19,596 folks. Originally spelt Ellensburgh, the "h" was dropped from the town's name in 1894 after pressure from the United States Postal Service and Board of Geography Names. The town bid to become the state capital in 1889, but a major fire stalled the campaign and Olympia was chosen by voters instead. The consolation prize – the location for the Normal School a.k.a. "Central Washington University." Ellensburg hosts the state's largest rodeo over Labor Day weekend and is home to the Kittitas Valley where "timothy hay" grows to feed livestock. Former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna played at CWU.