Here is an article that is a little off topic, but interesting because it discusses stepping up to play a 1-A FBS school like Eastern Michigan can prove costly from a physical standpoint for a smaller school:

In re: Alabama State:

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/arti...-Challenge

“We played a I-A team (Eastern Michigan) last year, and that was a good experience, but you have to be smart about who you play and when you play them. You want to have an opportunity to win them all, and you’re overmatched when you play a I-A school.”

Last year’s game against Eastern Michigan proved costly for the Hornets. Quarterback Greg Jenkins was injured and never returned to 100 percent, leaving the Magic City Classic after only a handful of plays in a game that ultimately decided the SWAC East Division championship.

“He never got right,” Barlow said. “When we talked about playing Oklahoma State, that was on the table. I want to have a chance to win a SWAC championship, and if Greg Jenkins isn’t there or (tackle) Terren Jones or some of those other guys, it’s going to be hard for us to do that.”

BTW - The EMU spring game is Sunday, April 15th!

EMU Athletics posted today an official article on the upcoming April 15th spring game. Here is the link:

http://emueagles.com/news/2012/3/22/FB_0322120827.aspx

"YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The annual spring game for the Eastern Michigan University football team is scheduled for Sunday, April 15, at 2 p.m. inside Rynearson Stadium. The traditional Green and White teams will face off against each other in the final scrimmage of the spring season.

Admission is free as gates open at noon. This will be fans first chance to get a peek at the Eagles under the direction of fourth-year Head Coach Ron English. Immediately following the final whistle, players and coaches will be available on the field for media interviews, fan autographs and photographs.

Additionally, fans who want to "wear what the Eagles wear" will get their opportunity at the Athletics Equipment Garage Sale. The sale will begin at noon and be held in conjunction with the spring game. From football jerseys to cleats, memorabilia collectors and the most ardent EMU supporters will be able to select from a variety of new or game-used Eagle gear.

Those in attendance can also enter for a chance for a free, one-year lease from University Green Apartments. Entry is free but the winner must meet certain qualifications set by UGA.

Fans who cannot make it out to the stadium can still catch the spring game on their computers through a video stream exclusively on Eagle All-Access. Subscription packages for the stream start at just $5.95.

For more information, contact the EMU Marketing Office at 734.487.5642."

BTW - If you are coming to the game, please indicate such intention on the "Event" page for the game!

https://www.facebook.com/events/249976985090956/ :dirtyvegas:

After that game baseball starts at 1pm.

(03-22-2012 06:47 PM)emussuperfan Wrote:  After that game baseball starts at 1pm.

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Sunday, April 15th:
EMU Athletics "Garage Sale" at Noon
EMU Football warm-ups and drills at 1:00
EMU v CMU in Baseball at 1:00
EMU Football 2012 Spring Game at 2:00

https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23EMUFB

Seems folks, including incoming recruits, are showing for a spring practice session but no one from this board????

(03-25-2012 07:24 AM)emu steve Wrote:  https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23EMUFB

Seems folks, including incoming recruits, are showing for a spring practice session but no one from this board????

----------------------

If you are referring to the tweet from Jay Sofen it should not come as a surprise since he is the team equipment manager.

It would be great to hear more of how practices are going. Too bad that even the Eastern Echo does not cover the team sufficiently.

Hi everyone, my bad, I was down there yesterday. I was much more impressed with the Offense then with the defense.. The offense is much father ahead of the defense. The defense seems to be inexperienced and not reading their keys and making plays. The defensive coaches were working with the Db's on keeping their eyes down and coming up on the play..

The OL looked good and my guy Gillett looked very good and the other QB's are throwing the ball much better... The RB position will be solid for us barring injuries.. I saw a few new kids at the WR position.. TE's looks very good. I think Russell should move to WR.. He caught a few TD passes that was very nice.

I didn't realize how big our DT guys are, I walked pass them and they are huge.. D. Henderson is huge and strong.. Omar will see the field this season alot.. We should be okay at the DE position and Culworth was all over the field.. I could not believe how the DL was being pushed all over the field during the pratice.. The DB's missed lots of tackles. I was thinking oh sh*t here we go again.. 

I saw a few recruits on the sideline and in the stands talking.. I am not sure who they were but they said they were HS and a couple were JUCO kids.. 

DL being pushed around could be attributed to them only being 6 or so deep.... Which means hardly any rest or breathers as fresh OL guys are rotating in and out.

I will reserve any judgement for the DL until Fall

(03-25-2012 01:07 PM)KPJ Wrote:  DL being pushed around could be attributed to them only being 6 or so deep.... Which means hardly any rest or breathers as fresh OL guys are rotating in and out.

I will reserve any judgement for the DL until Fall

KJP,

I wasn't trying to pass judgement on the team, just reporting on what I saw while there.. I am in agreement to wait until the fall... What I was writing was only a snapshot in time of the team.. I was there and wanting to document what I saw...

(03-25-2012 12:44 PM)NUPudge Wrote:  I saw a few recruits on the sideline and in the stands talking.. I am not sure who they were but they said they were HS and a couple were JUCO kids.. 

By recruits, this means POTENTIAL recruits?

We aren't talking about players who have signed with EMU last month (hard to believe signing day was only 'last month' - it seems like an eternity)?

(03-25-2012 12:44 PM)NUPudge Wrote:  Hi everyone, my bad, I was down there yesterday. I was much more impressed with the Offense then with the defense.. The offense is much father ahead of the defense. The defense seems to be inexperienced and not reading their keys and making plays. The defensive coaches were working with the Db's on keeping their eyes down and coming up on the play..

The OL looked good and my guy Gillett looked very good and the other QB's are throwing the ball much better... The RB position will be solid for us barring injuries.. I saw a few new kids at the WR position.. TE's looks very good. I think Russell should move to WR.. He caught a few TD passes that was very nice.

This is not surprising, at least to me.

I got to believe the offense will be hitting on all cyclinders WHILE there are question marks at DL and DB on defense.

Got to turn off the basketball recruiting part of my brain (sorry Dennis) and start thinking football, but the offense comes back largely in tact and with impact newcomers (coming in August).

There are some real loses on defense and they will need to be replaced by inexperienced players like Henderson and McFarlane. Even the JUCOs DLs will need to learn to play D-I FB.

(03-25-2012 02:08 PM)emu steve Wrote:  

(03-25-2012 12:44 PM)NUPudge Wrote:  I saw a few recruits on the sideline and in the stands talking.. I am not sure who they were but they said they were HS and a couple were JUCO kids.. 

By recruits, this means POTENTIAL recruits?

We aren't talking about players who have signed with EMU last month (hard to believe signing day was only 'last month' - it seems like an eternity)?

Good question, from what I gather they were POTENTIAL recruits for 2013 and not the current year. The juco were from Cali and somewhere out east.. They were on the defense side of the ball because they were comparing themselves to our LB's and DL.. Sorry that I can provide more details but they were being watched/guarded by coaches..

Something else I noticed is English was coaching the DB's

Another thing I saw was the detail work they were doing on the WR and TE timing routes.. Sheby looked good and stronger.. Reed caught passes and turn on the speed to score a couple TD and T Allen looked good in the backfield with some big runs..

As I said before the offense looked very good..

(03-25-2012 01:34 PM)NUPudge Wrote:  

(03-25-2012 01:07 PM)KPJ Wrote:  DL being pushed around could be attributed to them only being 6 or so deep.... Which means hardly any rest or breathers as fresh OL guys are rotating in and out.

I will reserve any judgement for the DL until Fall

KJP,

I wasn't trying to pass judgement on the team, just reporting on what I saw while there.. I am in agreement to wait until the fall... What I was writing was only a snapshot in time of the team.. I was there and wanting to document what I saw...

I didn't view your comments as judging...
I'm just trying to provide a potential context for what was witnessed.
It's tough to be a DL at EMU right now.

Oh.... I get it...
Me saying "I'll reserve any judgement until Fall" probably made it sound like I thought you were judging.... *facepalm*

Sorry...

(03-25-2012 09:59 PM)KPJ Wrote:  Oh.... I get it...
Me saying "I'll reserve any judgement until Fall" probably made it sound like I thought you were judging.... *facepalm*

Sorry...

No problem my friend, I think my comment was a little rough.. I think we will b okay as a team if we keep working hard this season and improve on the defensive side of the ball.. I think we will see a very good offense in the fall..

(03-25-2012 11:46 PM)NUPudge Wrote:  

(03-25-2012 09:59 PM)KPJ Wrote:  Oh.... I get it...
Me saying "I'll reserve any judgement until Fall" probably made it sound like I thought you were judging.... *facepalm*

Sorry...

No problem my friend, I think my comment was a little rough.. I think we will b okay as a team if we keep working hard this season and improve on the defensive side of the ball.. I think we will see a very good offense in the fall..

What I'm 'afraid' of is this year's team may 'revert' to Genyk ball - very good offense but issues on defense.

These things are 'cyclical' based on talent and each year is different.

Last year a lot of senior and junior talent on defense. Defense made big strides.

This year not as much. Rebuild job.

It really makes a point: from year-to-year, an OC or DC doesn't go lame or become a coaching genius but the talent he has to work with can vary significantly.

(03-25-2012 08:59 PM)NUPudge Wrote:  Good question, from what I gather they were POTENTIAL recruits for 2013 and not the current year. The juco were from Cali and somewhere out east.. They were on the defense side of the ball because they were comparing themselves to our LB's and DL.. Sorry that I can provide more details but they were being watched/guarded by coaches..

Now we can see how coaching staffs tend to be with potential recruits.

Although Saturday wasn't "Junior Day" it may have been a '2nd' mini Junior Day and I'm sure the coaches were very protective of them.

These weren't players who woke up and just decided to drive 15 - 20 miles to watch a practice...

Pudge,

Maybe they could have been POTENTIAL'12 recruits?

I assume English was still looking at a JUCO DT from California to complete the '12 class.

(03-26-2012 02:32 AM)emu steve Wrote:  Pudge,

Maybe they could have been POTENTIAL'12 recruits?

I assume English was still looking at a JUCO DT from California to complete the '12 class.

Yeah you could be correct but it just seems as if each kid were talking about what their high school team was looking like in the coming fall season and what other offers they had.. The two juco were talking about what they were majoring in at their college and college girls who looked the best..

These visiting recruits were not paid for by emu and was on the parents I am assuming.. Their parents were talking about everyone getting together from difference hotels to have drinks.. Again going forward I will work on names.. I will also try to gather names to provide some more detail for everyone.. It's a good thing I am not a reporter huh? (smile)