(08-29-2016 03:28 PM)EAGLE KING Wrote:  

(08-29-2016 03:26 PM)EagleTough Wrote:  

(08-29-2016 02:52 PM)EAGLE KING Wrote:  A few quick observations looking at the depth chart, 2 freshmen starting at safety in Hoying and Calhoun. Freshmen Jalen Phelps backing up Pace at CB as well. Eriksen wins the backup RB spot, but I'm sure a those below him will see some action. Buschman over Browning at TE. JUCO's Bailey II and Niupalua aside Daughtery at WR, with a few Freshmen in Fuller and Sexton also cracking the depth chart at WR.

You guys like my crystal ball don't you? Come on, say it. Haha

I do, only thing better than hearing it from the horses mouth is hearing it from a Dad of a player lol. Thank you for your insight and dedication.

Our horses are a little slow around here.

(08-29-2016 02:25 PM)emu steve Wrote:  Boys and girls, I feel good about the defense not so about the offense.

The (starting) receivers have a TOTAL of 5 (!) starts among them.

http://emueagles.com.s3.amazonaws.com/do...df?id=4478

Talent means more then experience. They'll get experience over the next few weeks. Interesting that Davis and Stone did not make the 2-deep at WR. This tells me that the talent this year is better than 2015.

Interesting as we now have two new starter backup combos on the OL Armstrong/Hickey and Leatiota/Christie. Also surprising is Williams starting at DB and Calhoun a true frosh also starting in the DB.

(08-30-2016 12:48 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Interesting as we now have two new starter backup combos on the OL Armstrong/Hickey and Leatiota/Christie. Also surprising is Williams starting at DB and Calhoun a true frosh also starting in the DB.

I'm excited to see this young secondary. Lots of athleticism out of these guys. I'm a little concerned about their size but I think they will make up for it with their speed. I'm hoping they find ways to force turnovers. I think the ability to take the ball away and capitalize on mistakes is huge in the MAC. One thing we know about the offense the past couple of years is that they look good when things are going well. They struggle when they are in a pinch.

The biggest part of the defense I'm watching is the most experienced. I'm hoping that getting a couple big players in the mix, not having injuries and switching to the 4 man front will help that run D.

(08-29-2016 04:32 PM)TheWoodenNickle Wrote:  

(08-29-2016 02:25 PM)emu steve Wrote:  Boys and girls, I feel good about the defense not so about the offense.

The (starting) receivers have a TOTAL of 5 (!) starts among them.

http://emueagles.com.s3.amazonaws.com/do...df?id=4478

Talent means more then experience. They'll get experience over the next few weeks. Interesting that Davis and Stone did not make the 2-deep at WR. This tells me that the talent this year is better than 2015.

One of the great things about college FB is that the season is short (12 games), there are no pre-season games, the first game can be against a very weak opponent so that by time 'reality sets in' the season is well along.

2011 (?) we opened with two FCS opponents and the season was 1/6 over before we played a FBS opponent.

Compare that to the Minnesota Twins: Their 6 month baseball season was over, essentially, by April 15. Got to be hell on earth for Twin fans.

In our case, I have NO IDEA how good this team will be. How good the WRs will be. How good the OL will be. How good the quarterbacking will be Friday night. How good the defensive backfield will be. Etc. etc.

Might be surprisingly good or surprisingly...

The difference with MBB is that unless we have injuries, etc. we know what this team will look like. Folks here could write an entry for Eastern Michigan in a college basketball magazine... No surprises with MBB.

(08-30-2016 10:35 AM)Time2Fly Wrote:  

(08-30-2016 12:48 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Interesting as we now have two new starter backup combos on the OL Armstrong/Hickey and Leatiota/Christie. Also surprising is Williams starting at DB and Calhoun a true frosh also starting in the DB.

I'm excited to see this young secondary. Lots of athleticism out of these guys. I'm a little concerned about their size but I think they will make up for it with their speed. I'm hoping they find ways to force turnovers. I think the ability to take the ball away and capitalize on mistakes is huge in the MAC. One thing we know about the offense the past couple of years is that they look good when things are going well. They struggle when they are in a pinch.

The biggest part of the defense I'm watching is the most experienced. I'm hoping that getting a couple big players in the mix, not having injuries and switching to the 4 man front will help that run D.

The spring game was interesting for the guys like Porter who played. Despite all the talk about recruiting rankings, it will be interesting to see how it all develops on the field. Having POC and Harris hopefully pressuring the opponents QB will be a big help to the secondary. I hope the new starters on the OL will help to make it better than last year.

it's really hard to find any meaningful information about this opponent. They don't have any game release information on their website and appear to have even less media coverage than us, if that's possible.

I browsed their roster and only noticed that they appear to be very young and lack depth at some positions. Looks like their offensive line roster is 2 juniors, a few sophomores, and a bunch of freshmen. Expect to see a few sacks on friday.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320AZ using CSNbbs mobile app

(08-30-2016 11:01 AM)emu79 Wrote:  

(08-30-2016 10:35 AM)Time2Fly Wrote:  

(08-30-2016 12:48 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Interesting as we now have two new starter backup combos on the OL Armstrong/Hickey and Leatiota/Christie. Also surprising is Williams starting at DB and Calhoun a true frosh also starting in the DB.

I'm excited to see this young secondary. Lots of athleticism out of these guys. I'm a little concerned about their size but I think they will make up for it with their speed. I'm hoping they find ways to force turnovers. I think the ability to take the ball away and capitalize on mistakes is huge in the MAC. One thing we know about the offense the past couple of years is that they look good when things are going well. They struggle when they are in a pinch.

The biggest part of the defense I'm watching is the most experienced. I'm hoping that getting a couple big players in the mix, not having injuries and switching to the 4 man front will help that run D.

The spring game was interesting for the guys like Porter who played. Despite all the talk about recruiting rankings, it will be interesting to see how it all develops on the field. Having POC and Harris hopefully pressuring the opponents QB will be a big help to the secondary. I hope the new starters on the OL will help to make it better than last year.

My bold, not so bold, prediction is that our defense will care the day.

With a new QB, new WRs, somewhat new OL, etc the offense isn't expected to hit on all cylinders Friday night.

People can happy talk all they want, if I were in Vegas and looking at a game and one of the teams had that description, I would not bet on them.

We could win 45 - 7 Friday night and I'll be happy, very happy but stunned that such a team can put up 45 points against anybody...

I'm predicting a steady dose of Vann and Eriksen. Most of our yardage and scoring will probably come from the rush. With a moderately improved OL, and a poor defense front on the other side, why can't we get 4 or 5 rushing scores?

If Shaq Vann gets in the open field, does any one believe MVSU has someone on their roster who can catch him? Remember that Porter is highly mobile as well.

Terrell was about 320 the starting O line may a bit smaller but probably quicker, Armstrong is about 295, Thorton 300, Wylie 310, Gardner 295 and Leatiota is about 300 so its decent sized.

How dynamic is Porter compared to Bell from last year? I've always felt a dual threat QB in this system would be much more beneficial for our offense because it gives the defense another detail to account for.

(08-30-2016 12:16 PM)FrankAnderson Wrote:  I'm predicting a steady dose of Vann and Eriksen. Most of our yardage and scoring will probably come from the rush. With a moderately improved OL, and a poor defense front on the other side, why can't we get 4 or 5 rushing scores?

If Shaq Vann gets in the open field, does any one believe MVSU has someone on their roster who can catch him? Remember that Porter is highly mobile as well.

Agree. Shaq is our hope that he can rack up some big yards + a maybe some effective dual threat QB from Porter + a stout DL could equal victory.

Then we'll see vs. Missouri.

(08-30-2016 01:34 PM)TheCrumbIsHere Wrote:  How dynamic is Porter compared to Bell from last year? I've always felt a dual threat QB in this system would be much more beneficial for our offense because it gives the defense another detail to account for.

My impression based on his highlight video is that he's a better passer than Bell but not as fast. He seems to have enough running ability to keep the defense honest. Not sure about his ability to make deep throws.

Eagletough, your thoughts?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320AZ using CSNbbs mobile app

Season statistics for MVSU: http://www.swac.org/ViewContent.dbml?CON...0#team.ind

A lot to shake your head at there...

Their top two RBs rushed for only 654 yards combined. The lesser of the two they lost to graduation. They didn't seem to commit to a QB all season, but rather used 4 throughout the course of the year. None of which had a positive TD-INT ratio (wow). Brooke Chambers seems to be their only consistent offensive producer, who will play in the backfield or in the slot.

Outside of Marquis Green, no standouts on defense either. Green had 7 interceptions on the season. They lose 2 of their 3 leading tacklers from last season. Gave up 199 yards per game in the air, and 244 per game on the ground. Also gave up 43 sacks on the season (let's see if we can get that in one game).

(08-30-2016 01:34 PM)TheCrumbIsHere Wrote:  How dynamic is Porter compared to Bell from last year? I've always felt a dual threat QB in this system would be much more beneficial for our offense because it gives the defense another detail to account for.

Hope he's not anywhere near as dynamically bad!

(08-30-2016 01:39 PM)TheWoodenNickle Wrote:  

(08-30-2016 01:34 PM)TheCrumbIsHere Wrote:  How dynamic is Porter compared to Bell from last year? I've always felt a dual threat QB in this system would be much more beneficial for our offense because it gives the defense another detail to account for.

My impression based on his highlight video is that he's a better passer than Bell but not as fast. He seems to have enough running ability to keep the defense honest. Not sure about his ability to make deep throws.

Eagletough, your thoughts?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320AZ using CSNbbs mobile app

No idea, until halftime! This is a whole different level, and he has very limited experience. Luckily he gets to start against MVSU, so he shouldn't be overwhelmed, and can hopefully gain some confidence and play a turnover free game.

Seems to have an average arm, and better than average athletic ability. From what I hear, he is a good leader, and as I mentioned before, the team has full confidence they can win with him at QB. Now if he goes out there and throws 2 picks in the first quarter, that could obviously change quickly!

Lots of new guys will be playing extended minutes for the first time, so it will be a feeling out process for everyone. Really just need to play a clean game and we should win by a comfortable margin. Execute without a lot of missed assignments, and play turnover free football.

My gut tells me we'll be pleasantly surprised. Especially by the defense.

(08-30-2016 10:35 AM)Time2Fly Wrote:  

(08-30-2016 12:48 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Interesting as we now have two new starter backup combos on the OL Armstrong/Hickey and Leatiota/Christie. Also surprising is Williams starting at DB and Calhoun a true frosh also starting in the DB.

I'm excited to see this young secondary. Lots of athleticism out of these guys. I'm a little concerned about their size but I think they will make up for it with their speed. I'm hoping they find ways to force turnovers. I think the ability to take the ball away and capitalize on mistakes is huge in the MAC. One thing we know about the offense the past couple of years is that they look good when things are going well. They struggle when they are in a pinch.

The biggest part of the defense I'm watching is the most experienced. I'm hoping that getting a couple big players in the mix, not having injuries and switching to the 4 man front will help that run D.

Yep, some of these young guys stepping up, both on offense and defense, is a good sign.

Neathery wants an aggressive D, that stops the run first, and flies around and creates turnovers. Just the difference in the scheme and attitude from last year is night and day. Add in more size, depth, and speed, and we should be Ok this year.

It may take the first 4 games for everyone to get comfortable, especially the young guys, but I suspect we will have a legit MAC defense by the time conference play starts.

Last year was painful to watch. Excited to see the difference a year makes.

Here is a Steiner Tweet on the clear plastic bags...

https://twitter.com/GregSteinerEMU/statu...1438034944

Some info on EMU's promotions, pre-game, "Touchdown Terrace", etc. for the season:

http://emueagles.com/news/2016/8/30/gene...edays.aspx

Sounds good!!

Weather supposed to be absolutely perfect the next 4 days as well. 77 and sunny on game day.

Get there folks!