College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Eastern Michigan Eagles season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Eastern Michigan Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 6-7 overall, 3-5 in MAC
Head Coach: Chris Creighton, 7th year, 28-47
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 111
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 80
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 110
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Eastern Michigan Eagles Offense 3 Things To Know
– The EMU offense was able to throw the ball – it led the MAC with 283 yards per game – but it struggled to consistently move the ball, the running game wasn’t great, and there weren’t a whole lot of long marches. Now the program needs to come up with a quarterback.
Mike Glass turned into a MAC star, rolling up over 3,000 yards with 24 touchdowns, but he’s done. Preston Hutchinson is a veteran backup who hit 75% of his throws for 462 yards and three scores in his limited work, but on the way is Southern Utah transfer Chris Helbig, a 6-4 bomber who could step in on Day One.
CFN in 60 Video: Kentucky Preview
Eastern Michigan at Kentucky, Sept. 5
– The receiving corps will be missing Arthur Jackson and Mathew Sexton, but leading target Quian Williams is back after catching 52 passes for 661 yards and a team-high six scores. Junior Dylan Drummond led the team with 55 catches as a short-range target, and senior TE Bryson Cannon is coming off a good first season – catching 20 passes with two scores – coming from the JUCO ranks.
– There aren’t a slew of stars on the line, but there’s a whole lot of experience with four starters expected to return – all of them underclassmen last season. The pass protection was strong, but the line didn’t do a ton for the running game. There’s good depth to work into the mix, too. Now the team needs to find someone to run the ball.
Leading rusher Shaq Vann is done after running for 715 yards. Senior Willie Parker is a smallish speedster who got in a little work, but he only ran for 142 yards and two scores. After Parker the Eagles will rely on the recruiting class to find more help.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Eastern Michigan Eagles Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Eastern Michigan Eagles Defense 3 Things To Know
– The defense that was 99th in the nation – allowing 430.5 yards and 31 points per game – has some work to do with four of the top six tacklers gone. Stopping the run is the biggest early key, but the secondary suffers the biggest losses with three of the five parts gone.
Blake Bogan is a good veteran who worked at the free safety spot – making 54 tackles with a pick – and 5-8 senior Freddie McGee is a battler at one corner.
– Can the defensive front come up with more pressure? The Eagles were 98th in the nation in sacks and 121st in tackles for loss, but three of the four parts are back on the line.
The tackle combination of Woo Scott and Mikey Haney are back along with their main backups. Top pass rusher Turan Rush – he made five sacks with 39 tackles – is back at one end.
– Leading tackler Kobie Beltram is gone from the linebacking corps, but 223-pound senior Terry Myrick is back on the outside coming off an 89-tackle season. The middle would’ve been there for Brandon Burks to take over, but he’s in the transfer portal, putting the pressure on junior Desean Boyd to become a factor.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Eastern Michigan Eagles Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Eastern Michigan Eagles Players
Best Eastern Michigan Eagles Offensive Player
WR Dylan Drummond. Jr.
Quian Williams is the more explosive playmaker for the receiving corp. The junior averaged 13 yards per catch with six scores, but the 6-0, 181-pound Drummond is the one who keeps things moving.
Quick enough to be used as a return man – and potentially more as a runner – he came up with a team-high 55 tackles. He only scored three times – two of them in the opener against Coastal Carolina – and he didn’t get more than 72 yards in any game, but he’s good for at least four grabs every time out.
2. WR Quian Williams, Jr.
3. QB Chris Helbig, Sr.
4. RB Jairus Grissom, Jr.
5. C Mike Van Hoeven, Sr.
Best Eastern Michigan Eagles Defensive Player
DE Turan Rush, Sr.
The defense doesn’t have a whole slew of sure-thing All-MAC stars, but it also doesn’t have a whole slew of sure-thing pass rushers, either.
The Eagles only came up with 22 sacks last season, but the 6-2, 246-pound Rush led the way with five of them, to go along with six tackles for loss and 39 sacks. He also did a decent job of generating pressure on the quarterback, and now it’s up to him to do even more.
2. LB Terry Myrick, Sr.
3. CB Freddie McGee III, Sr.
4. DT Woo Scott, Sr.
5. S Blake Bogan, Jr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Eastern Michigan Eagles Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Eastern Michigan Eagles Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Eastern Michigan Eagles Offense
Find more from the running backs. The MAC’s best passing game worked well, but the most effective runner at times was former QB Mike Glass. The backs are going to need to do more, and there’s not a whole lot of sure-thing talent to rely on.
The running game failed to hit the 2,000-yard mark for the third year in a row, which isn’t a big deal as long as it’s effective when it does give it a go. The Eagles were 3-1 when banging out over 150 yards, but more importantly was how they won both games when they averaged over five yards per carry.
The program has won its last six games – going back three years – when it hits the five-yard-per-carry mark.
Biggest Key To The Eastern Michigan Eagles Defense
Get into the backfield more. Sacks are splashy, but it’s more than that. EMU hasn’t been amazing at generating quarterback hits over the last several years, but it’s been okay. Where it really has to rise up and rock is at generating tackles for loss – that’s part of the reason why the third down stops weren’t there last season.
The 2018 defense came up with 76 tackles for loss and was more disruptive. Last year’s D came up with just 57 in 13 games – the fewest since 2013. EMU had three or fewer in six games.
Key Eastern Michigan Eagles Player To A Successful Season
QB Chris Helbig, Sr.
Or junior Preston Hutchinson. Someone has to rise up and be the new Mike Glass for the offense.
The passing game will still be the main mode of transportation – the running back corps is very, very thin – and Helbig is just the type of passer who can come in and take over the attack. He’s a 6-4, 225-pound bomber who can run, and threw for close to 4,000 yards at Southern Utah before transferring over.
Key Game To The Eastern Michigan Eagles Season
Central Michigan, Oct. 3
The Eagles start out the MAC season with Northern Illinois at home, and follow it up a few weeks later against the defending MAC West champs. With three of the final four games on the road, EMU has to take advantage of the home dates – it has to get by CMU after getting whacked 42-16 last year.
– Eastern Michigan Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Eastern Michigan Fun Stats
– Penalties: Opponents 77 for 760 yards – EMU 59 for 531 yards
– Fumbles: Opponents 21 (lost 10) – EMU 16 (lost 5)
– 4th Down Conversions: Opponents 15-of-20 (75%) – EMU 12-of-25 (48%)
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Eastern Michigan Eagles Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Eastern Michigan Eagles Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
Yeah, yeah, yeah, there are more bowl games now and the bar has been lowered to get into one, but Eastern Michigan has gone to three of them under head coach Chris Creighton.
The program had gone to two before his arrival.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, EMU didn’t win any of those three bowls, and yeah, yeah, yeah, the program has yet to win more than seven games in any of his six seasons and haven’t played for a MAC title.
However, EMU has won six games or more in three of the last four seasons. Before this run, the program had three seasons with six wins or more from 1989 until 2015.
Eastern Michigan football was the free space date on the schedule for a long, long time, but those days are gone. Now it’s okay to set the expectations a bit higher, but it’s still going to be a fight – and a big deal – to get to six wins again and go bowling.
Set The Eastern Michigan Eagles Regular Season Win Total At … 5.5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 4
The running game has to be better, the pass rush has to be better, the offense has to be better, the defense has to be better, and …
The team should still be good enough to get to six wins.
It has to take down Coastal Carolina, Northern Illinois and Bowling Green at home. Start with those three games, demand road victories over Ball State or Ohio, and then hope to sneak in another win before the regular season finale at Miami University.
Get to six wins for a fourth time in five years, and it’ll be the best run for Eastern Michigan football since coming up with four straight winning seasons from 1986 to 1989.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
