An observation, actually EMU played better as an overall team in the Rutgers/Penn State games. We were all waiting for the MAC season to begin and well its been tougher than we thought.

I think of some of the bright spots:

The offense appears to be rolling along with Benz and Hill. Benz has improved as QB from last year but he is still learning. I think Russell has filled the shoes of Hoskins fairly well and Creel is developing nicely at WR. I don't know if it was because of injuries but the shift of the linemen on the OL has made the running game more productive the past two games.

Barnes as a true freshman has done a fairly solid job at P. As I'm trying to be positive I will refrain on comments on the defense except to say the areas that were problems last year on defense were NOT adequately addressed in the off season resulting in little or no improvement in the defense.

Dear Friends,
Here's something to think about. Eastern scored first against Ball State, Army, and Ohio, and of course, ended losing to all. Scoring first usually gets a team fired up and play better, but it doesn't seem to work this year. Seems to have fired up the opposition.

Dear emu79,
I would disagree somewhat with your observation with Benz. Lately he seems to lock on to one particular receiver and doesn't see more open receivers running patterns. The best example of this is when Eastern was going for the go ahead touchdown against Ohio and he threw into coverage, rather then the receiver wide open in the corner of the end zone. If I were English, I would start Roback in the next game.

Ken,

Benz had that same problem last year by forcing his passes, he seem to improve that early this season but as I pointed out he is still a work in progress. There's potential there.

I'm going to have to agree with Ken and say that Benz has been a disappointment. I was a fan of his last year, and early on this year, but he has played poorly since the Rutgers game. The worst part of him locking onto the primary option is that if it isn't there, he tucks the ball in and takes a sack (or tries to run), even when the protection is fine. It's so frustrating to watch. He's a 4th year junior, so I'm approaching "what you see is what you get" territory with him. I doubt he gets much better. Roback should he starting, but won't.

My bright spots have been Hill (obviously), Tyreese Russell, Barnes (as you mentioned, 79), our interior O-line play the last couple of weeks, and Dustin Creel. Russell is still a big mismatch, Creel has grown into a pretty reliable receiver who makes some tough grabs, and our interior O-line has paved the way for some nice holes in the running game.

Hill deserves his own paragraph. Other teams know how good he is, and he sees 8-man fronts quite a bit. That still hasnt stopped him from being one of the best all-around backs in the conference. Big plays, tough yards, good pass protection...he's done very well. I wish we had competent play calling and better QB play. That would only make Bronson better.

I think the radio announcers said that in their mind the best EMU QB was Andy Schmitt for pure arm strength and running ability. We haven't talked about Brossard or Bell Jr. and how they are looking in practice.

I don't see Roback being a dual threat but more of a drop back QB.

At this point in the season and considering where we aren't I would start Roback the rest of the way. I think we all can see what Benz can do.

(10-21-2013 10:36 AM)emu79 Wrote:  I think the radio announcers said that in their mind the best EMU QB was Andy Schmitt for pure arm strength and running ability. We haven't talked about Brossard or Bell Jr. and how they are looking in practice.

I don't see Roback being a dual threat but more of a drop back QB.

At this point in the season and considering where we aren't I would start Roback the rest of the way. I think we all can see what Benz can do.

It is my understanding that Brossard is definitely a redshirt QB (i.e., not ready to play this year) and that Bell Jr. is not a MAC QB.

Steve, I was referring to how they look in practice I wasn't advocating them playing right now. A year of redshirting and learning the system can only be helpful. I'm not sure if Bell Jr is not a MAC QB why isn't he being switched to a different position and getting practice time there?

On defense I'm not sure if its the defensive system we are using or we just don't have the talent. I don't see much improvement on the defense from last years unit to this year's unit.

(10-21-2013 10:57 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Steve, I was referring to how they look in practice I wasn't advocating them playing right now. A year of redshirting and learning the system can only be helpful. I'm not sure if Bell Jr is not a MAC QB why isn't he being switched to a different position and getting practice time there?

That impression of Bell is not mine. It is someone much, much closer to the program than me. Enough said.

Well I hope someone close to the program can answer the question that if Bell is a QB why isn't he being switched to another position?

(10-21-2013 11:58 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Well I hope someone close to the program can answer the question that if Bell is a QB why isn't he being switched to another position?

I don't know know where he spends his practice time, i.e., at which position(s).

Dear Friends,
Other bright spots on the defensive line (that I noted on the Ohio game thread) were Pipkins, O'Connor, and Steals. O'Connor especially has been playing well in the last few games.

Guys the overall bright spot of the team is good the weakness is the DB area..

EmuSteve and a few others said the d-line would be okay and they were correct the problems are the DB, and safeties positions we are always getting beat with no help over top and RB's are running right pass our safeties.. I like safeties who are like LB'ers and lay the wood on them.. Our DB's do not turn around on the ball or challenge for the knockdown on passes.. I went and watched highlight tapes of most of our DB's when they were in HS or JC and they played the ball and turned to locate the ball when it was in the air.. For whatever the reason when they come here they change their style of play and the only person who they will listen to and would do this is (drumroll please) the DC aka English..

I'm puzzled about the comments about the DL, last year we gave up huge amounts of rushing yardage and sacks and pressure on QBs was a concern.

I don't see much improvement in either of those departments this year. We are still giving up huge amounts of rushing yards and we are still having problems putting pressure on the QB.

If you want a single game comparison look at our win versus Army in 2012 and our loss at Army this year.

Any DB will get burned if you give the QB all day to throw.

(10-21-2013 12:37 PM)NUPudge Wrote:  Guys the overall bright spot of the team is good the weakness is the DB area..

EmuSteve and a few others said the d-line would be okay and they were correct the problems are the DB, and safeties positions we are always getting beat with no help over top and RB's are running right pass our safeties.. I like safeties who are like LB'ers and lay the wood on them.. Our DB's do not turn around on the ball or challenge for the knockdown on passes.. I went and watched highlight tapes of most of our DB's when they were in HS or JC and they played the ball and turned to locate the ball when it was in the air.. For whatever the reason when they come here they change their style of play and the only person who they will listen to and would do this is (drumroll please) the DC aka English..

It would be helpful to hire an assistant coach who actually had coached DBs rather than hire an assistant coach who's only experience was on offense and switch over to a DB coach.

(10-21-2013 12:37 PM)NUPudge Wrote:  Guys the overall bright spot of the team is good the weakness is the DB area..

EmuSteve and a few others said the d-line would be okay and they were correct the problems are the DB, and safeties positions we are always getting beat with no help over top and RB's are running right pass our safeties.. I like safeties who are like LB'ers and lay the wood on them.. Our DB's do not turn around on the ball or challenge for the knockdown on passes.. I went and watched highlight tapes of most of our DB's when they were in HS or JC and they played the ball and turned to locate the ball when it was in the air.. For whatever the reason when they come here they change their style of play and the only person who they will listen to and would do this is (drumroll please) the DC aka English..

I'm not sure I said that.

I thought we had good DBs but questionable DL.

Then I drank the 'kool-aid' that the DL was much better than we expected 3 months ago (we were getting sacks vs. good teams) but the DL has regressed badly and no indications that it is injuries.

I'm not sure what's wrong with the defense... but right now no unit seems to be playing well.

(10-21-2013 12:45 PM)emu79 Wrote:  I'm puzzled about the comments about the DL, last year we gave up huge amounts of rushing yardage and sacks and pressure on QBs was a concern.

I don't see much improvement in either of those departments this year. We are still giving up huge amounts of rushing yards and we are still having problems putting pressure on the QB.

If you want a single game comparison look at our win versus Army in 2012 and our loss at Army this year.

Any DB will get burned if you give the QB all day to throw.

Agreed. I thought our d-line performed well at the beginning of the year (when they had like 10 sacks in 3 games, or something), but they haven't done as well lately. The whole defense has been a train wreck since Rutgers.