2011 Opponents: Eastern Michigan
This is a personnel-oriented look at the season's opponents. The game-week previews will be more matchup based. Last year's stats are presented with projected starters in bold and departed players in italics.
The Offense
Eastern Michigan Offense 2010 | ||
---|---|---|
Category | Raw | Rank |
Yards Per Game | 333.42 | 91 |
Points Per Game | 19.00 | 108 |
Yards Per Play | 5.05 | 89 |
Yards Per Pass | 6.81 | 76 |
Pass Efficiency | 116.88 | 96 |
Yards Per Rush | 4.07 | 72 |
Playcall Distribution | 1.81 Rush:Pass |
Per expectations, Eastern was really bad on offense. Despite being below-average on a yards-per-rush basis, they pounded into the line almost twice as frequently as they passed (adjusted for sacks, they still ran 1.61 times for each pass attempt).
Where they were truly terrible, however, was the passing game. Their yards per pass attempt was slightly boosted by the rarity with which they actually threw it, but the efficiency number was amongst the worst in the nation.
Long story short, Eastern is bad at football (just you wait until we get to the defense).
Quarterback
Alex Gillett started every game for Eastern last year, but that's not to say he saw a whole lot of success: his completion percentage, yards per attempt, and interception percentage all range from mediocre to horrible. The one area that he did see success? The running game, where he led the Eagles on the ground.
Last year's backup, Devontae Payne, is no longer with the team, meaning that Gillett's backup will be a guy who has yet to play college football.
Eastern Michigan QBs 2010 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Comp | Att | % | Yds | Yds/Att | TD | Int |
Alex Gillett | 127 | 229 | 55.46 | 1633 | 7.13 | 13 | 13 |
Devontae Payne | 22 | 52 | 42.31 | 217 | 4.17 | 0 | 1 |
Eastern Michigan QBs Rushing 2010 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Att | Yds | Yds/Att | TD |
Alex Gillett | 179 | 766 | 4.28 | 5 |
Devontae Payne | 2 | -7 | -3.50 | 0 |
Grade: 2/5. Gillett was bad last year (except on the ground), and now there is nobody else on the roster who has seen any playing time in college football. Gillett's legs are actually pretty impressive - if you remove sacks, he was near 6 yards/carry - so I gave him a slight bump. Still, as a pure passer, he has a long way to go.
Running Back
The primary reason Dwayne Priest didn't lead the Eagles in rushing as a senior was an injury absence of three games. That did, however, give a few returning players a chance to step up. Official White Guy Corey Welch got the most carries, but he was outshined by freshman Javonti Greene on a down-to-down basis. Expect Welch to get some carries, but Greene should be the featured back. Dominique Sherrer and Joe Fleming should also get a few carries, and Sherrer chould even see a large role if he stays healthy. Despite all that, Phil Steele projects true freshman Ryan Brumfield to start, but color me a skeptic on that take.
Eastern Michigan RBs 2010 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Att | Yds | Yds/Att | TD |
Dwayne Priest | 168 | 716 | 4.26 | 8 |
Javonti Greene | 50 | 277 | 5.54 | 2 |
Corey Welch | 58 | 195 | 3.36 | 2 |
Chaz Mitchell | 21 | 61 | 2.90 | 0 |
Dominique Sherrer | 20 | 47 | 2.35 | 0 |
Joe Fleming | 1 | 2 | 2.00 | 0 |
Eastern Michigan RBs Receiving 2009 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Rec | Yds | Yds/Rec | TD |
Corey Welch | 8 | 60 | 7.50 | 0 |
Javonti Greene | 9 | 52 | 5.78 | 0 |
Chaz Mitchell | 3 | 29 | 9.67 | 1 |
Dwayne Priest | 4 | 21 | 5.25 | 0 |
Dominique Sherrer | 1 | 6 | 6.00 | 0 |
Grade: 2/5. There's a bit of potential here, with the general EMU-ness of things dragging down expectations a bit. Javonti Greene has shown that he's ready to perform if given the opportunity, and Sherrer has shown off a bit of speed on kickoff returns. Still, this is a results-based grading service, and the Eagles haven't managed to get it done on the ground yet.
Receivers
Kinsman Thomas was Eastern's most-used wideout last year, but still managed to gain a very-respectable 18 yards per reception. The second-most deployed wideout, Donald Scott, wasn't far behind. Unfortunately for the Eagles, those two combined for fewer than 40 receptions on the year.
With Gillett's favorite target, tight end Ben Thayer, graduating, the wideouts should see an increase in receptions, but will probably a regress to the mean in yards per catch. Garrett Hoskins (whose also-lofty YPC average is boosted by a 73-yard trick play reception) will step into the starting lineup, but it's tough to say whether a second tight end or a new wide receiver will step up to grab the last spot. Expect either Trey Hunter or Kevin Wheeler - who took an injury redshirt last year - to get the nod.
EMU Receivers 2010 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Rec | Yds | Yds/Rec | TD |
Kinsman Thomas | 26 | 473 | 18.19 | 4 |
Ben Thayer (TE) | 30 | 386 | 12.87 | 3 |
Garrett Hoskins (TE) | 8 | 217 | 27.125 | 2 |
Donald Scott | 12 | 199 | 16.58 | 2 |
Tyrone Burke | 19 | 182 | 9.58 | 1 |
Josh LeDuc (TE) | 17 | 155 | 9.12 | 1 |
Trey Hunter | 8 | 100 | 12.50 | 0 |
Kyle DeMaster (TE) | 3 | 19 | 6.33 | 0 |
Terrance Gourdine | 1 | 18 | 18.00 | 0 |
Corey Manns | 1 | 4 | 4.00 | 0 |
EMU WRs Rushing 2009 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Att | Yds | Yds/Att | TD |
Ben Thayer (TE) | 1 | 32 | 32.00 | 0 |
Donald Scott | 4 | 10 | 2.50 | 0 |
Tyrone Burke | 1 | 1 | 1.00 | 0 |
Grade: 2/5. The Eastern receiving corps has actually proven to be explosive, despite (or in part due to) their lack of opportunities. With three of the top 6 gone, however, those who remain are going to have to step up and maintain their past performance while getting more attention from the defense. I'll believe that can happen when I see it.
Offensive Line
Eastern returns three starters (at least part-time) from last year, but there will be some position shuffling going into this fall. Andrew Sorgatz, who has started at left guard for the past two years, switched to center this spring, and redshirt freshman Campbell Allison is expected to take over his old spot. Bridger Buche has started two years at tackle, and will likely reprise his role from last year. Redshirt junior Korey Neal was a part-time starter at right tackle last year, and is expected to start once more (replacing longtime starter Dan Demaster). There are a few options for right guard, with Josh Woods and Orlando McCord strong options.
Grade: 1/5. Though the Eagles didn't give up a lot of sacks last year, a big reason for that is their heavy, heavy slant toward the run over the pass. Seeing as how they were unable to move the ball on the ground despite that emphasis, I'd say this unit was very weak. Losing two starters isn't going to help much, and I think they'll have to pass more (meaning more sacks) and not see much improvement in the ground game.
The Defense
Notre Dame Defense 2009 | ||
---|---|---|
Category | Raw | Rank |
Yards Per Game | 454.08 | 113 |
Points Per Game | 43.92 | 118 |
Yards Per Play | 7.26 | 120 |
Pass Yards Per Game | 223.50 | 66 |
Pass Efficiency | 173.49 | 119 |
Yards Per Pass | 9.00 | 118 |
Sacks Per Game | 0.83 | 118 |
Rush Yards Per Game | 230.58 | 118 |
Yards Per Rush | 6.11 | 120 |
Ladies and gentlemen, defensive guru Ron English!
The only thing Eastern wasn't absolutely terrible at was... having other teams feel bad for them, I guess. They faced the third-fewest defensive plays in the nation (the country's best defense, TCU, saw the fewest, with Minnesota right on their heels), but each of those defensive plays was practically a guaranteed success for the opposing offense.
The pass yards per game look alright... until you realize that teams simply didn't have to pass the ball, because they could get more than six yards every time they handed it off. All told, Eastern was in the bottom three of every metric that matters.
Terrible, horrible defensive team as they have been every year under Ron English, and every year before that.
Defensive Line
As you might expect, the defensive line didn't exactly cover themselves in glory last year. At least three starters return alongin addition to a key backup. A pair of seniors "anchor" the middle in Brandon Slater and Jabar Westerman, with their classmate Javon Reese returning on one side. Junior Andy Mulumba will like come off the edge on the other end of the line, with Devon Davis and Brad Ohrman also in the defensive end rotation.
Undersized Kalonji Kashama (whose name you may recognize - he's the younger brother of former Wolverine Alain) can play either inside or outside, but since EMU needs more help on the interior, will probably do most of his damage there. Phil Steele is also high on incoming JuCo Devin Henderson, also an inside/outside guy.
EMU Defensive Line 2010 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Name | Tack | TFL | Sack |
Brandon Slater | 27 | 2.5 | 0 |
Javon Reese | 25 | 4.5 | 3.5 |
Jabar Westerman | 22 | 3 | 1.5 |
Ryan Leonard | 18 | 3.5 | 2 |
Andy Mulumba | 17 | 2 | 0 |
Devon Davis | 14 | 1 | 0 |
Kalonji Kashama | 14 | 3 | 2 |
Brad Ohrman | 13 | 1 | 0 |
Jasper Grimes | 5 | 0.5 | 0 |
Grade: 2/5. Nobody had more than 30 tackles for the Eagles last year (for comparison, Notre Dame's scheme - which only plays 3 linemen and doesn't expect them to make plays - had 4 guys over 30 tackles, and one over 60), and just about everyone struggled to get penetration. With another year of experience - and not that many key contributors from last year's roster departing - they should improve a bit, but to expect their progression to get anywhere better than "bad" is wishful thinking.
Linebacker
When your team was horrible at defending both the run and the pass last year and you lose your top two tacklers, both of whom were linebacker, you're in serious trouble. Marcus English, a multi-year contributor, seems like the only sure starter. So of course, Phil Steele predicts he'll be displaced by incoming JuCo Sean Kurtz. I think it's more likely that those two will combine at inside and strongside linebacker on the starting unit, leaving the weakside position to Steve Brown. Phil Steele also projects starting spots for a pair of JuCos (meaning his starting linebacker unit for Eastern is composed of 3 junior college players and no returners) Justin Cudworth and Blake Poole. If none of the JuCos can earn starting spots, it'll probably be Matt Boyd on the strongside as well.
EMU Linebackers 2010 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Tack | TFL | Sack | Int |
Neal Howey | 95 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Tim Fort | 68 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Marcus English | 37 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 |
Steve Brown | 31 | 10.5 | 1 | 0 |
Matt Boyd | 31 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 |
Darius Moffett | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Colin Weingrad | 10 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
Herb Watts | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Nate Paopao | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Garrett Gronowski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Grade: 1/5. Jeeeeeeeesus this has a great chance to be a terrible defense, unless Ron English is some miracle-worker who has been sandbagging for the past two years. The returning ilnebackers bring very little to the table, as the two best players are out the door (without so much as a sniff from the NFL). Barring unprecedented individual improvement, or the junior college players stepping in as uber-sleepers, this unit should not expect much success.
Defensive Backs
Like linebacker, a bad unit lost a couple of its best players. Corner Marcell Rose and safety Martavius Cardwell both return, but the Eagles will have to replace the other two members of their secondary. Willie Williams, a strong safety/LB type, is expected to start at SS, and UCLA transfer Marlon Pollard will probably lock down the other corner spot. There's experience mixed in among the backups, much moreso than at any other position, especially since a number of JuCo players will be added to the mix.
EMU Defensive Backs 2010 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Name | Tack | TFL | Int |
Ryan Downard | 60 | 2 | 0 |
Marcell Rose (CB) | 56 | 1 | 1 |
Arrington Hicks | 46 | 1 | 0 |
Martavius Cardwell (FS) | 46 | 4 | 0 |
Willie Williams (SS) | 35 | 4 | 0 |
Alex Bellfy | 23 | 0.5 | 0 |
Kelip Goodwin | 22 | 0 | 0 |
Latarrius Thomas | 18 | 0.5 | 0 |
Ja'Ron Gillespie | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Brandon Pratt | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Antwan Reed | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Nate Wilson | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Grade: 1/5. Eastern Michigan's pass defense, despite losses, has to be better than last year's, if only because there's nowhere to go but up (the whole team had 2 picks last year!). Adding a player who was good enough to sign with UCLA out of high school should be a boost to a team starved for talent, but there's a long way to go to reach "bad," much less "mediocre."
Special Teams
Both EMU specialists from last year return. Jay Karutz will handle the punting (rugby-style, yo), and Sean Graham will reprise his role as the Eagles' field goal kicker.
Eastern Michigan Kicking 2010 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | FGM | FGA | % | Long | XPM | XPA | % |
Sean Graham | 5 | 8 | 62.50 | 42 | 23 | 25 | 92.00 |
Kody Fulkerson | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | - | 4 | 4 | 100 |
EMU Punting 2010 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Name | Att | Yds | Yds/Att |
Jay Karutz | 68 | 2632 | 38.70 |
Grade: 3/5. Neither Eastern Michigan specialist was particularly good last year, but at the same time, neither was a serious liability (and that's a big deal for a team where seemingly everyone else was a liability). With a year of game experience under each of their belts, it's reasonable to expect a bit of improvement.
In a world where middle- and lower-tier DI schools didn't feel the need to play the NCAA lottery, EMU would be a I-AA school, and would probably be somewhat competitive there.
In this one, they're waiting to be shut down. Eastern finished with 5 Directors' Cup points this year, tied for 279th in the country. (They were 179th in 2009-10 and 265th the year before that.) They're playing a game they'll never be able to win.
if they want to stay in the MAC. Considering that EMU is competitive in almost every other sport. it is a worthy sacrifice from an athletics perspective.(3rd most MAC titles)They have the ability to compete in MBB, but have spent the past decade floundering in a sea of mediocrity because of horrendous selections at the HC spot.
The truth is that NONE of the lower tier schools can compete at this level. I don't care what CMU OR WMU fans say, but they'll never compete with an UM or MSU on anywhere near a equal basis.
God.....how the hell does EMU have fans?!!! Football season must feel like winter to them, at first it's nice and pretty but then after a while they can't wait for it to end.
Most are UM, MSU, and OSU. EMU's campus has quite a few Bucknuts because they accept so many people from that state down south.
My sentiments exactly, considering the farce that is gameday at EMU. For monetary considerations I must pay attention to EMU football and its a bit embarrassing to learn of the universal disdain visiting fans have for the the crapulence at Rynearson.
wow, I wonder what Michigan's defensive rankings were? At least they were terrible with EMU level talent. We were terrible with Michigan level talent.
That hurt a little, you didn't need to go there.
Sorry. I'm just sayin...
not really sure that I would call last years bunch "Michigan level talent". Granted there is potential in a lot of these guys but I don't think that we have ever fielded that many frosh at one time.
I think "talent at Michigan" would be more accurate than "Michigan-level talent," regarding our defense last year.
But it will be nice to see some up and coming backups get into the action. I'm especially looking forward to seeing what Devin Gardner can do in what will basically be a scout-team kind of second half.
EMU recruited A LOT of JUCO's in the 11' class. Expect at least two of the starting LB's to be JUCO's. Also, look out for the CB Marlon Pollard, a UCLA transfer, who was also a 4 star coming out of high school.
Bring back the Hurons!
.
All Native American nicknames are now the property of well the Native Americans. Only those that can get a majority of said tribe can use the names. Question: Can the "Vikings" be used without having to pay people in Norway and Denmark?
But it's not always that simple. There are often multiple tribes with the same name, and their approval processes can differ. In the case of EMU, I don't think the school even bothered to ask if the name offended anyone.
August 2nd, 2011 at 10:03 PM ^
I was going for a bit of sarcasm, but it didn't come through the text. It was meant to be funny.
August 2nd, 2011 at 10:40 PM ^
Is the lake suddenly under the jurisdiction of the NCAA?
Is the lake suddenly under the jurisdiction of the NCAA?
Offends me.
Eagles. If they were the EMU Emu, no one would be complaining.
I always felt that there was a tremendous missed opportunity there.
amen brother!
They have a better field goal kicking % than us, fwiw.
so did my sons 10 year old football team.
that nets UM and Brandon negative dollars for UM athletics.
And of course EMU (and Ron English) would much prefer an away game against Indiana State or UW-Whitewater perhaps.
But no, we're apparently out of genuinely interesting, entertaining and historic college football matchup ideas. You'll just have to accept the raw sewage served up in this game!
The Hurons are going to get pulverized by Michigan on national television and nobody is going to give a damn except for maybe statisticians.
And even they know that none of it really counts.
What an utter waste of time.
I think EMU would much prefer a cross-town beatdown for a million bucks than to travel on the (actual) road and lose not only football games but also money.
While I don't exactly love these matchups, I don't think we can really bitch when we are playing ND (a likely top 25 team) and SDSU (a likely bowl team, if not top 25) out of conference this season. You need a couple of gimmes to get the young guys playing time, and it may as well come against a local school that needs the money.
to play in the California Bowl?
I had an old, hand-me-down EMU California Bowl hoodie in middle school. It was awesome.
I really thought that RE would have more success than he has. I hope he can get it out of the ditch before it's too late for him.
I was crushed when he left. I feel much better now. They really hyped him up for a year or two.
I hereby declare a moratorium on all snarky comments about other teams' Charmin-soft OC schedules.
Yea verily, shall it be done.
The one chart says "Notre Dame Defense 2009"
Man just had a flashback of looking up in my high school English class from a mid class snooze session during one of the Greek tradegies and looking at Coach Carr and English standing at the front of my classroom. I nearly fell out of my desk, and of course the girl next to me whispered "Are we getting searched for drugs?" That's what I get growing up for growing up in North Carolina, anyways I still have that piece of drool stained notebook paper Coach English and Coach Carr signed for me, it was worth the trip for them too, they ended up sealing the commitment of a safety by the name of Jamar Adams. Still a top 3 life highlight for me. Sure wish we had English still roaming the sidelines though.
I'm fine with English 'roaming' the sidelines provided he leaves the coaching to Mattison.
English will give Hoke the same cold, diss shake he's giving in that picture. I'm sure of it.
Class act.
August 3rd, 2011 at 11:44 AM ^
I just feel bad for English, when he is let go in a few years he should come back and coach the secondary for UM again...
August 4th, 2011 at 10:40 AM ^
I am not so sure he is the defensive guru some people in this thread seem to thikn he is...Just sayin', perhaps we should keep what we have and leave RE alone.
August 10th, 2011 at 3:47 PM ^
Latarrius Thomas started the first two games of 2010 before suffering a season-ending injury. He almost certainly would have been one of the top defenders had he been able to play more. The NCAA granted his medical hardship waiver, so he'll be back this fall for his sixth year (he transferred from Louisville to follow English, and sat out 2009).
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