VanDelaySports.com > MAC Football > 2009 MAC Football Pigskin Preview > Eastern Michigan Eagles

2009 MAC Football Preview:
Akron preview | BGSU preview | UB preview | Kent preview | Miami preview | OU preview | Temple preview
Ball St. preview | CMU preview | EMU preview | NIU preview | Toledo preview | WMU preview

2009 Eastern Michigan Football Preview

EMU Offense:

QB Andy Schmitt may be the best kept secret in college football. All he did last year was to complete 62.6 percent of his passes for 2,644 yards and 15 touchdowns. When EMU finally committed to the spread offense during the final two weeks of the season, he threw for a 1,000 yards and eight TDs. It will be interested to see what the new coaching staff does with this talented 6-4 240-pounder during his senior year. The running game will feature who averaged 4.3 yards per carry last year and scored 12 TDs. While Blevins offers the “thunder” at 6-1 235 pounds, speedy Dwayne Priest provides the “lightening.” The Eagles return all but one of their top receivers from 2008 led by Jacory Stone who caught 88 passes for 943 yards and three touchdowns. Josh LeDuc may be the league’s most complete TE. The features four returning starters and only gave up 19 sacks last year on an offense that threw the ball more than 300 times.

Eastern Michigan Defense:

The first thing new coach Ron English needs to do is shore up a defense that gave up 408 yards per game last year and nearly 36-points per contest. EMU cannot continue to be in 55-52 and 56-52 shootouts, the scores of their final two games in 2008. EMU gave up an average of 5.2 yards per carry last season so the D-line needs a complete overhaul. The LB corps will miss Daniel Holtzclaw, the heart and soul of the entire defense, but Andre Hatchett could quickly become that cornerstone player. Opposing QBs threw 27 TDs against the Eagles last year so any improvement in the defensive backfield would be welcome news to the new coaching staff.

2009 EMU Intangibles:

EMU is the only team in the MAC to have beaten Central Michigan two straight years. The Eagles bring both of their kicking specialists back in 2009 in PK Joe Carithers and P Zach Johnson. This is Ron English’s first head coaching position. He previously was an assistant at Louisville and was a long-time assistant coach at nearby Michigan. Eastern got off to shocking slow starts in 2008 as they only scored 35 points in 1 st quarters all season.

Outlook for EMU in 2009:

The previous coaching staff did recruit some players Jeff Genyk just could never get this program over the hump. If EMU played their entire season with the same effort and desire like they have against Central Michigan the past two years, Genyk would still be in Ypsilanti and the Eagles would be a MAC force. The new coaching staff inherits a very good offense and a tremendous senior QB but for Eastern to make any noise the defense needs major improvement. Consider this, here are EMU’s total defensive stats over the past seven seasons; 409 in 2008; 424 in 2007; 388 in 2006; 409 in 2005; 470 in 2004; 393 in 2003 and 520 in 2002. Until the defense does something, this is a team that will only win three or four games per year. That’s the tough task ahead for Ron English and his staff. Playing Northwestern, Michigan, Arkansas, Central and Western Michigan will not help.

The Big Game for Eastern Michigan:

September 5 hosting Army; nothing gets the juices running like winning the first game. Army beat EMU at West Point in 2008 17-13 and both programs have new coaching staffs this fall.

Team Article by Evan Meyer of Sports Vault - Especially for VanDelaySports.com
Predictions, Stats, Key Game & Outlook by Nick Gerogosian of VanDelaySports.com

> Back to the 2009 MAC football preview