The Eastern Michigan football program has struggled for many years. Their last, and only, bowl game was the 1987 California Bowl, which they won 30-27 over San Jose State. As Phil Steele pointed out in his College Football Preview Magazine, "Eastern Michigan has not had a winning record since 1995, when they went 6-5. Also, in the last 18 years since 1995, the Eagles have only topped 4 wins in a season once (2011)." Ron English became head coach of Eastern Michigan before the 2009 season after stops at Michigan and Louisville as the defensive coordinator. His first two years were bad with a total record of 2-22. However, 2011 proved to be a successful year going 6-6, but the Eagles did not receive a bowl invitation. The team went right back down in 2012 with a record of 2012. 2013 would provide more of the same.
2013 Eastern Michigan Eagles Season
Expectations were not high heading into the 2013 season for Eastern Michigan. The Eagles were bringing back eight offensive starters as well as bringing in highly touted quarterback Brogan Roback (4 star recruit). However, the defense was only bringing back five starters from a unit that gave up an average of 37.6 points and 479 yards per game in 2012. The season did not start well as Eastern Michigan trailed FCS team Howard by 11 at one point. They did manage to win 34-24, but had to face Penn State and Rutgers on the road in the next two games. They lost both of those contests before starting MAC play against Ball State. The Eagles lost their next six games, with each loss by at least 25 points. Wide receiver Demarius Reed was killed on the morning of October 18, just over 24 hours before facing Ohio. After the 55-19 shellacking at the hands of Toledo, Ron English was relieved of his coaching duties. Stan Parrish took over and led the Eagles to a victory over rival Western Michigan to get their 2nd win of the season. The entire 2013 schedule is below.
Offense
First year coach Chris Creighton will have a lot to work with in 2014. He will have 9 starters returning from 2014, which averaged 18.8 points and 336 yards per game. The quarterback position was unsettled in 2013 with Tyler Benz playing the majority of the first seven games and Brogan Roback getting the start in four of the last five. Benz threw for 1,497 yards (59.4%), 10 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. Roback finished with 640 yards (42.2%), 4 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. The team only averaged 178 yards passing per game in 2013, which makes one believe the numbers should improve this season.
Helping out the quarterback in 2014 will be senior running back Bronson Hill. Hill became the first 1,000 yard rusher for Eastern Michigan since 2003, when Anthony Sherrell achieved that feat as well. Hill finished with 1,101 yards and five touchdowns with an average of 5.6 yards per rush. Hill also garnered selection to the All-MAC 3rd team last year. He will be accompanied by Ryan Brumfield (509 yards and 5 touchdowns) and Darius Jackson (201 yards and 2 touchdowns). This is the star group on offense for the Eagles.
The receiving group should help out Brogan Roback immensely. Eight of the top ten receivers from 2013 return including the top receivers. Tight end Tyreese Russell had 44 receptions for 594 yards and 3 touchdowns. Receiver Dustin Creel had very similar stats with 46 catches for 593 yards and 5 touchdowns. Incoming freshman Kenny Jones will also seen plenty of action this season. This group will be better in 2014.
The offensive line returns four starters from 2013 and the new starter, Robert McFadden, will be a senior this season. The left side of the line saw two true freshmen start a majority of the games in Darien Terrell (left guard) and Andrew Wylie (left tackle). Wylie impressed his teammates to the point that he received the Eagles' Offensive Newcomer Award in 2013. Campbell Allison is projected to be the center, but he has shown versatility throughout his career. He has made starts at each position on the offensive line over the previous three years. This unit should be solid for the entire season.
Defense
The defense is going to take at least two full seasons to fix for head coach Chris Creighton. In 2012, the Eagles had four returning starters and gave up an average of 37.6 points and 479 yards per game. Those are not good numbers, but they somehow got worse under the defensive minded Ron English. Eastern Michigan finished 2013 giving up an average of 45.2 points and 511 yards per game! This year six starters return from last year's team.
The defensive line will return two starters and look to improve on their 2013 season, in which they gave up an average of 258 yards rushing per game. Pat O'Connor will lead the way on the line after being voted as defensive MVP in 2013. O'Connor finished with 44 tackles and 4 sacks. Mike Steals will be at defensive tackle again after recording 25 tackles, 1 sack, and 3 tackles-for-loss. This line cannot get much worse than last year.
The linebackers for Eastern Michigan will have a different look. Ike Spearman returns, which is a good thing for the Eagles. Spearman was the leading tackler last season with 82 stops. He also recorded half a sack, 3 tackles-for-loss, and 2 interceptions as well. Great Ibe will battle with Amos Houston at the other outside linebacker position. Ibe finished with 62 tackles last season. Hunter Matt is expected to take one of the inside linebacker spots after seeing his playing time increase in 2013. He started three games in each of his first two season, recording 28 tackles in 2012 and then 55 tackles last year. As with the defensive line, this unit cannot get much worse than least, which means they should improve in 2014.
The strength of the defense may come on the outside at cornerback position. Both starters return in Darius Scott and Willie Creear. Scott started the last five games and recorded 30 tackles. Creear started 11 games and played in 12 games while recording 56 tackles and one interception. Strong safety is expected to go to senior Pudge Cotton, who has a total of 102 tackles over the past two seasons. Kevin Johnson, also a senior, will probably be at costless safety. He was injured in 2012, but came back in 2013 to record 11 tackles in 10 games. In 2013, the Eagles gave up an average of 253 passing yards per game. They should be able to lower that number in 2013.
Special Teams
Despite the return of both specialists, there are concerns for Eastern Michigan. Kicker Dylan Mulder had a fantastic freshman year when he hit 10 of 11 field goals with a long of 43 yards. However, in 2013, he 6 for 11 with a long of 41 yards. He needs to be far more consistent this year, just as he showed in his freshman year. At punter is Austin Barnes, who had a respectable freshman year. He had 50 punts for an average of 39.7 yards and a net of 32.9 yards. Tyler Allen will be back to return kickoffs after a stellar year in 2013. He had 51 returns for 1,014 yards (19.9 average) and one touchdown. Creighton's teams usually have solid special teams so there should be some improvement shown here.
2014 Season Outlook
2014 will be a rebuilding year for head coach Chris Creighton. The offense does return 9 starters and should be able to easily put up at least 21 points a game in 2014. The defense, however, needs to make a vast improvement before the team can hope to get back to a bowl game. Honestly, if the team went back to the 2012 numbers (37.6 points and 479 yards a game), it would be wonderful. Of course, they are hoping to do even better, but the talent may not be there yet. The schedule, which is below, does not do the Eagles any favors.
Eastern Michigan should have little problem with Morgan State in the opener, but games on the road against Florida, Old Dominion, and Michigan State will probably leave the Eagles at 1-3 entering MAC play. The games against Massachusetts and Western Michigan appear to be winnable on paper, but they are both on the road. Avoiding another double digit loss season would be a step in the right direction for Eastern Michigan in 2014.