Opponent Q&A: Eastern Michigan Eagles

It’s week 2 and it’ll be another home game for the Dawgs as they host the Eagles of Eastern Michigan (affectionately referred to by our own Andrew Berg as “The Boys from Ypsilanti”). James Jimenez of SB Nation’s MAC blog Hustle Belt joined me this week to answer a few questions I had about the Eagles.

MS: This is currently year 11 for Eagles Head Coach Chris Creighton. In those 11 seasons, he has led EMU to six bowl games, something that many considered impossible when he was hired. What do you think of Creighton’s tenure in Ypsilanti?

JJ: I’ve been around at HB since Creighton was hired and do remember the roller-coaster that was the Ron English era prior to his arrival. (He was fired mid-season for offensive remarks after going 11-46 over five seasons, but has since cleaned up his act and had a nice coaching career for himself as an assistant.) Creighton was brought in at a time where faith in EMU football was at an all-time low; there were discussions of dropping the program for several years even after his arrival on campus. He had a lot to prove, starting from a cultural standpoint and working his way into the on-field aspects. The famous grey field, the wall of bricks in their pre-game entry, the sledgehammer on the sidelines and the #2 memorial jersey were all his idea, and they’ve all come to be embraced by EMU as unique parts of their history.

He could well have left for better waters once he proved he could turn EMU around in those first couple bowl appearances, but he stayed true to EMU instead. Ypsilanti has come to embrace Creighton and his calm, earnest form of coaching ever since. He’s a very nice guy who is active in the community and also happens to be one of the best coaches in the conference. He has singlehandedly made EMU— the butt of decades of jokes— relevant in the college football atmosphere, which really isn’t easy to do when you’re a short drive away from Ann Arbor. He’ll have a statue in front of the program’s brand new performance center when he chooses to retire, for sure.

MS: The offense is coordinated by Mike Piatkowski and quarterbacked by Cole Snyder. The offense also features Delbert Mims, who had 8 touchdowns last year, and Oran Singleton, who had a touchdown last week in the win against UMass. What is the identity of this team on offense and who are the other playmakers?

JJ: This is a team that has extremely old-school philosophies on both sides of the ball. On offense, it’s all about ball control and finding chunk plays in the appropriate moments, with the idea of sitting on the ball as much as possible Cole Snyder will bring two years of starting experience with him from Buffalo, where he was a solid dual-threat QB. He didn’t show off the legs a lot last week vs. UMass, but he’s capable of escaping the pocket and extending drives when necessary. Oran Singleton presents a unique receiver EMU hasn’t had in a while, a super small but quick route runner who should give them some flexibility at receiver. Delbert Mimms showed some power running chops last week as well, and I think EMU will lean upon him a lot vs. Washington given his experience at an Autonomous program. Other guys to look out for on offense are JB Mitchell, who is the team’s main deep threat, and Jere Getzinger, a balanced tight end who’s good for chain-moving plays.

MS: On defense, the Eagles are coordinated by second year man Ben Needham. What is the identity of this defense, and who does the Husky offense need to look out for?

JJ: As I said earlier, this is a very old-school team. The defense is looking to stop the run first and find the ball second, with stout run-stopping linebackers, staunch DTs up front and ballhawking secondary players who can also tackle. This unit is in a bit of a transitory state due to a slew of graduations, but there were a few names that stood out last week.

James Djonkham, a former Arizona State linebacker, had an electric debut for EMU with 13 tackles, 1.5 TFLs and a sack, while Coastal Carolina transfer JT Killen (great LB name, right?) collected nine tackles. Justin Jefferson (no relation to the Vikings receiver) is the highlight man on the defensive line after leading the team in TFLs last season (7.5.) Quentavius Scandrett is the man to watch for in the secondary after collecting 59 tackles and two interceptions in 2023.

EMU was one of the MAC’s worst total defenses last year, but were about average in scoring defense, which is intriguing in its own right. We’ll see if a second year under a new coordinator helps.

MS: In your opinion, what does the rest of the year look like for the Eagles?

JJ: I think this is a solid 6-8 win team if they hit their best potential. Having steady leadership at QB with Cole Snyder should absolutely be a boon after the nightmare rotation they had last season which lost them many more games than they should have done, in my opinion. The key with the Eagles will be if their defense can move from the dredges and into the middle of the table. It would be especially helpful if someone on the defensive line opposite Jefferson could step up to provide more of a pass rush. If they can do that, it’ll go a long way towards helping them find on-field success.

MS: It’s time for a score prediction! What do you think the score is going to be in this MAC/Big Ten game?

JJ: I really don’t like doing score predictions because football is such a random game of chance no matter how much we try to deny such a fact. Alas, gambling considerations tend to be a good reference for this type of prognostication— as much as I hate to admit such a fact. (Don’t gamble, kids.) EMU has been known to jump up and bite some noses of opponents who aren’t careful, and I think a program under a first-year head coach with a lot of departing talent might be in a hangover situation, making them ripe for the taking.

That said, I just don’t see it happening right now. Washington should be able to take care of business, though I don’t think it’ll be the 24-or-more point kind of taking care of business.

Thank you James, and good luck to the Eagles (and indeed the whole of the Mid-Atlantic Conference) the rest of the way! And if you want to follow the MAC-Tion throughout the year (and who wouldn’t?), be sure to follow Hustle Belt on Twitter and check out the site!