Open question: last year EMU lost 17-13, this year 27-14 this is improvement?

Wooden has it nailed about the offense. Only when EMU fell behind and had to throw did Schmitt seem comfortable in the offense. My kudos to Priest who showed many second efforts most of the yards gained were on his own efforts not because the holes were there. Trey Hunter had some nice grabs. Zach Johnson has his distance back on punts just needs to get that reverse spin on the ball back. Our placekicker blew a chip shot but it wasn't his fault the snap was very low and Zach had a hard time getting a good hold.

Hopefully the performance of the offense will improve abit with Fretz back because Schmitt got sacked alot and the running game was not dominant. Look at what Army did on a couple of drives they had where they were dominant just pushing our lines backward and get 10 yards at a time on the ground. That's where we want to be and we are along way from that. I know we miss TJ Lang as well. This offense doesn't suit Schmitt very well.
As an Army fan asked me did the new coach come from a defensive background and I said yes. He said it shows on the offense.

The defense well because the offense failed was once again put on the field too long and by the end of the fourth quarter it showed. Actually the defense played decent the second and third quarters. We still need a defense that plays solid all four quarters. Where's the rotation and all that depth we've been hearing about? There were some nice sacks by Downs. However those times the D gambled we got burned on outside the corner running plays. And Army was playing a true freshman QB. Sadly the potential difference makers that English recruited for the defense aren't here. Kickoffs are still short no end zone shots by the kickers.

The attendance was nice, the freshmen orientation stuff was great and so where the promos. Thanks to the nice Army couple who scored me an Army T shirt as well. :)

The end result was sadly the same. I'm very concerned about the rest of the season because the offense appears to be weaker and I"m sorry I don't see the defense improving if for the only reason it may be on the field longer than even last year. Hopefully the offense finds it rhythm and EMU wins some games this year.

Difference makers - the JUCO's English brought in hardly player. The freshman recruits other that Soratz didn't play at all and are all redshirt candidates. You never know what you get recruiting wise until the season starts but this class was heralded and contributions were expected.

I think alot of EMU fans thought Delano Johnson, Ryan Leonard a JUCO All American and Moffett would be contributors if they got here. And the Texas TE had some hype as well. There was alot of talk about some of the JUCOs and frosh brought playing ahead of the current players.

You're right recruiting well you never know until they get there and get on the field.

I was told that freshman Garrett Gronowski did make the travel squad, but they are hoping not to have to play him. They are hoping to redshirt him. My guess is that is the same story for nearly all the freshmen. English would prefer not to waste a year of eligibility in a season that he knows probably will not be very good, based on the inherited roster.

Just a point ccj, if the new guys coming in were better talent wise than the guys on the inherited roster, don't you think English would start them? Sadly the freshman guard Sorgatz already lost his redshirt status yesterday along with Devon Davis and Mulumba who also participated.

I understand your point, but I think he would prefer to have his first class for five years instead of four years. He knows he's not going to have this year held against him, and honestly...most freshmen are not ready to unseat returning juniors and seniors.

Did you see the end of the game??? It was northwestern kicking a game winning field goal for a 30 to 27 win.

Eastern fought back hard, despite being down early. I think this is a good sign for the rest of our games. Conference games most importantly.

It is hard to take peoples comment seriously when they can't even get the score right. Final score was NU 27-EMU 24.

(09-12-2009 09:31 PM)emussuperfan Wrote:  It is hard to take peoples comment seriously when they can't even get the score right. Final score was NU 27-EMU 24.

Hey,

true that. Thanks for the correction of the correction....

Either way, it was a great tough game.

the first comment was made regarding the Army score.