PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico football is playing in Monmouth, Ore. for the third time in program history. Before ENMU faces Western Oregon for a conference battle, please take a look at the 4^th & 1 Preview:

First Down – Six Inches Better: The message from Kelley Lee after Eastern New Mexico's 44-28 loss to No. 11 Central Washington alerted the team to be "six inches better" on every play. ENMU scored first and took a 7-0 lead after a quarter of play against the Wildcats. However, 21 second quarter points gave CWU a 21-14 edge going into halftime. Central Washington owned time of possession against Eastern New Mexico throughout the contest, but the opening drive of the second half proved to be the most extended drive for CWU. They conducted a nine minute touchdown scoring drive to begin the third quarter and set the stage for the final 21 minutes of the game to challenge ENMU to score quicker. The Wildcats control of the time was just too much for the Hounds and the visitors proved to be the team that was six inches better last time out.

Second Down – O-Line Doing Work: Eastern New Mexico's offensive line is guiding the team to some impressive numbers. ENMU leads the nation giving up only one sack and eight total tackles for loss. Offensively, the team has proven to be efficient with 361.2 yards per contest and 441.6 total yards per game. Another moment where the lineman have given a boost to the program is in conversion opportunities. Eastern is converting third downs 45.1% of the time and fourth downs 69.2% of the time. Christian Griego, Kason Horn, David Ma'ake, Nathan Jim, and Bailey Adair are expected to start on the offensive line for ENMU versus WOU.

Third Down – Open Attack: For those who follow Eastern New Mexico football closely, they will remember Dominique Loggins from Western Oregon after his 2023 outing in Portales. The redshirt senior leads WOU with 81 carries and 415 rushing yards through five games this season. Loggins has hit the century mark twice in 2024, including a 24-carry, 130-yard outing last week versus Western New Mexico. Last season, he ran for 706 yards and six touchdowns. His best career collegiate game came against Eastern New Mexico in the 2023 contest. In the matchup, he ran 19 times for 209 yards. His longest rush in that game was a 79-yard sprint.

Fourth Down – Stopping the Rush: Western Oregon has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 2024. The last player to run for 100+ yards on the Wolves was Eastern New Mexico's Trevion Butler who did so on just five carries in the Hounds comeback win in 2023. WOU owns the second-best rush defense in the Lone Star Conference allowing just 91.6 yards per contest. Sul Ross State's 129 rush yards are the most given up by WOU this season. The Wolves have given up just four rushing touchdowns this season. No team has scored multiple rush touchdowns in a singular game versus Western Oregon.

&1 – Memorable Moments: One of the most remarkable games of the 2023 season for Eastern New Mexico came in their 30-29 win over Western Oregon. ENMU started out the game on a strong note going 64 yards on a three-minute drive for a score. Seven minutes later, ENMU only needed one play to score on an 85-yard sprint from Trevion Butler. His score aided the program to a 14-0 lead. WOU answered with a touchdown in the closing seconds of the first quarter and converted on the two-point attempt. Eastern added a short field goal in the middle of the second to extend their lead, but the latter half of the second quarter went severely in favor to the visitors. The Wolves scored three touchdowns over the next five minutes of game play to take a 29-17 advantage. ENMU scored late in the third quarter to bring the game within five points and earned a shot to win the game with 1:56 remaining. It only took six plays on five completions from Mario Sanchez to earn the game-winning touchdown. On WOU's chance to score, they went three-and-out and ENMU earned their third-straight victory to begin the 2023 season. Overall, ENMU holds a 3-1 series advantage, including a 1-1 nod in games played in Monmouth, Ore.