A Rising Storm in the North | Cheese's Eastern Michigan Dynasty

[Cheese2121]

Quote: Originally Posted by jct32

Good luck shutting down that option offense.

Thank you my friend! I think this will actually be a very close game. The Navy option game gave me fits when I played them back in the first season.

[Cheese2121]

EMU sophomore halfback Robert Thomas carries defenders into the endzone in the first quarter / Thomas punches in the game winning score in the fourth quarter.

Opening Day Victory: Eastern Michigan Holds Off Army in 31-27 Win

EMU HB Robert Thomas earns POTG for 213 total yds, 2 TDs | Army option ground attack puts up 220 yards on the ground | Eastern Michigan wins season opener for third straight year.

AP Ypsilanti – For the third straight year under head coach Dan Clayton, the Eastern Michigan Eagles won their season opener as they narrowly defeated the Army Black Knights 31-27. Impact sophomore HB Robert Thomas took home the player of the game award as he ran for 126 yards on the ground plus the game winning score. Thomas would also add 87 yards receiving and a score. The receiving touchdown was the first of his career. Eastern Michigan turned heavily to their screen game to counter the constant blitz packages dialed up by Army. The Black Knights recorded four quarterback sacks in the loss.

Where He Left Off: Preseason All-American sophomore wideout Nick Vaughn hauled in a long touchdown just before halftime to give the Eagles a narrow 21-20 lead.

Army, who is known for their option offense, stayed true to form as they dialed up a heavy dose of the run game throughout the matchup. The Black Knights had eight different runners on the game. Senior HB Curtis Drakes was expected to get the majority of the work on the ground but was surprisingly absent in the gameplan, only rushing twice for no gain. Instead it was HB/FB Jay Tully who led the way with 111 yards on 12 carries. On defense Army brought constant pressure, blitzing on nearly every down. The pressure paid off as the Black Knights recorded four quarterback takedowns. Senior DT Victor Ripley had two sacks.

For Eastern Michigan, redshirt sophomore QB Mark Iannotti got his first start since the 2011 season. Iannotti led the Eagles to a ten win season and a MAC championship in 2011 before spending all of the 2012 season redshirted. Iannotti had a solid debut against Army throwing for 228 yards and two scores. The offensive line struggled to give Iannotti time. Redshirt junior C Josh Woods, who was making his first career start, struggled surrendering two sacks. The Eagles defense was hemorrhaging yards all day as they struggled to defend both the run and the pass. The lone bright spot was sophomore impact DT Tremayne Smith, who recorded two sacks.

"It is always nice to start the season off in the win column. We have a lot we need to clean up though. We allowed too many big plays on defense and the number of penalties was unacceptable." -- Eagles Head Coach Dan Clayton

Eastern Michigan (1-0) will stay at home next week as they take on the FIU Golden Panthers (0-0) in a primetime Saturday night matchup. Eastern Michigan and FIU have only met once before back in 2011 when the two teams faced off in the GoDaddy.com bowl. Then senior HB Corey Welch scored three times as the Eagles won 38-21 to cap off the 2011 season. Kickoff is scheduled for 7PM est.

Classic Game Score: 697 (#4 Overall)



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Army Black Knights at Eastern Michigan Eagles
Aug 25, 2013	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Army Black Knights (0-1)	7	13	7	0	27
Eastern Michigan Eagles (1-0)	7	14	3	7	31

Team Stats Comparison
	ARMY	EMU
Total Offense	453	356
Rushing Yards	220	128
Passing Yards	233	228
First Downs	11	15
Punt Return Yards	0	7
Kick Return Yards	172	134
Total Yards	625	497
Turnovers	0	1
3rd Down Converstion	5-11 (45%)	8-14 (57%)
4th Down Conversion	0-1 (0%)	1-1 (100%)
2-Point Conversion	--	--
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	2/2 (100%)	3/0 (100%)
Penalties	3-25 yds	4-40 yds
Posession Time	14:52	17:08

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		ARMY	EMU
7:04	(ARMY) K. Martin 1 yd run (J. Meyer kick)	7	0
3:49	(EMU) R. Thomas 16 yd pass from M. Iannotti (L. Taylor kick)	7	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		ARMY	EMU
7:14	(ARMY) R. Maples 23 yd run (J. Meyer kick)	14	7
6:17	(EMU) J. Humphrey 1 yd run (L. Taylor kick)	14	14
3:31	(ARMY) J. Meyer 22 yd FG	17	14
1:30	(ARMY) J. Mayer 29 yd FG	20	14
1:00	(EMU) N. Vaughn 36 yd pass from M. Iannotti (L. Taylor kick)	20	21
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		ARMY	EMU
4:58	(EMU) L. Taylor 49 yd FG	20	24
0:42	(ARMY) G. Rabb 4 yd run (J. Meyer kick)	27	24
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		ARMY	EMU
1:26	(EMU) R. Thomas 5 yd run (L. Taylor kick)	27	31

Army Black Knights PASSING C/A YDS TD INT G. DeBartolo 10/16 233 0 0 C. Morton 0/1 0 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD J. Tully 12 111 9.2 0 R. Maples 8 73 9.1 1 G. DeBartolo 7 31 4.4 0 G. Rabb 2 5 2.5 1 C. Dukes 2 0 0.0 0 K. Martin 1 1 1.0 1 J. Crucitti 1 1 1.0 0 C. Morton 1 -2 -2.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD P. Laird 5 124 24.8 0 C. Dukes 2 31 15.5 0 J. McFarlin 1 52 52.0 0 S. Williams 1 19 19.0 0 J. Tully 1 7 7.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK J. Tully 1 0 S. Jackson 0 1 T. Houser 0 2 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD B. Berry 4 1.0 0 0 V. Ripley 4 2.0 0 0 T. McLees 3 0.0 1 0 Q. Kantaris 2 1.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG J. Meyer 2/4 3/3 9 30 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 B. Williams 1 37 37.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD C. Dukes 5 146 29.2 0 J. Crucitti 1 26 26.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD -- -- -- -- --

Eastern Michigan Eagles PASSING C/A YDS TD INT M. Iannotti 13/26 228 2 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD R. Thomas 23 126 5.4 1 J. Humphrey 3 8 2.6 1 D. Brooks 1 12 12.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD R. Thomas 4 87 21.7 1 P. Hall 3 62 20.6 0 R. Johnson 3 32 10.6 0 N. Vaughn 2 35 17.5 1 N. Olds 1 12 12.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK S. MacLeod 0 1 J. Woods 0 2 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD T. Sharp 5 1.0 0 0 D. Hester 5 0.0 0 0 T. Smith 4 2.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG L. Taylor 1/1 4/4 7 50 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 J. Karutz 3 132 44.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD R. Johnson 6 134 22.3 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD R. Johnson 1 7 7.0 0

2013 Eastern Michigan Schedule/Results

   
                                                                     
Opponent (record)         Result      Record
---------------------------------------------------
vs Army (0-1)            W 31-27       1-0
vs FIU
at Michigan
at Oregon State
at Central Michigan
vs Ball State
vs Western Michigan
vs Ohio
at Northern Illinois
at Toledo
vs Kent State
at Akron

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Next Game:

Saturday, August 31, 2013 @ 7:00pm

(0-0) at (1-0)

All Time Series Record verse opponent (1-0)
Last Meeting Eastern Michigan W 38-21 (2011)

[Cheese2121]

1. LSU (0-0)----2. Oregon (0-0)----3. Tennessee (0-0)----4. Wisconsin (1-0)----5. Stanford (0-0)----6. Virginia Tech (0-0)----7. TCU (0-0)----8. Ohio State (0-0)----9. Georgia (1-0)----10. Auburn (0-0)----11. Alabama (0-0)----12. Texas (1-0)----13. UCF (0-0)----14. Oklahoma (0-0)----15. Penn State (0-1)----16. Florida (1-0)----17. Syracuse (1-0)----18. USF (0-0)----19. Michigan (0-0)----20. West Virginia (0-0)----21. Washington (0-0)----22. Iowa (0-0)----23. USC (1-0)----24. Utah (1-0)----25. Nebraska (1-0)
	MAC West
	Name	W	L	CW	CL
	Eastern Michigan	1	0	0	0
	Ball State	0	0	0	0
	Central Michigan	0	0	0	0
	Toledo	0	1	0	0
	Northern Illinois	0	0	0	0
	Western Michigan	0	1	0	0
	MAC East
	Miami (OH)	1	0	0	0
	Temple	0	0	0	0
	Akron	0	0	0	0
	Ohio	0	1	0	0
	Kent State	0	0	0	0
	Bowling Green	0	0	0	0
	Buffalo	0	0	0	0
NCAA News
Syracuse Leaps to #17 in the Polls After Stunning #4 Penn State 33-16
Utah Shows No Mercy in “Battle of the Brothers” Mauling Utah State 62-13
#5 Wisconsin Kicks off Season with 58-28 Win Over Western Michigan
Nebraska Runs Up the Score in 70-7 Win Against Wyoming
School’s Open! Top Ten Matchup will Feature #1 LSU and #7 TCU
Florida has No Trouble with Toledo in 55-11 Win on Opening Day
Syracuse 33 --- #4 Penn State 16 Wyoming 7 --- #25 Nebraska 70 Toledo 11 --- #17 Florida 55 Western Michigan 28 --- #5 Wisconsin 58 UL Monroe 42 --- #15 Baylor 39 Utah State 13 --- #24 Utah 62 North Texas 31 --- #10 Georgia 56 New Mexico State 14 --- #13 Texas 51 #23 USC 38 --- Hawaii 26

[jct32]

Nice job getting that first win. Those key sophomores are doing great for you. I think you can take FIU as well.

[Knickerbocker91]

Congrats on the win. I wish EA would fix their option playbooks though (if they're ever able to making college football games again), because the FB always ends up getting more carries than the #1 RB.

[Cheese2121]

Quote: Originally Posted by jct32

Nice job getting that first win. Those key sophomores are doing great for you. I think you can take FIU as well.

Thank you my friend! It is always nice to start the season off with a win, especially before we meet up with some of our tougher out of conference games. I think we should have a pretty good shot against FIU. I thought it would be fun to schedule a game against the team we had met in a bowl game a few years back. I am really happy to see Thomas continuing to grow, especially getting involved in the passing game.

Quote: Originally Posted by Knickerbocker91

Congrats on the win. I wish EA would fix their option playbooks though (if they're ever able to making college football games again), because the FB always ends up getting more carries than the #1 RB.

Thanks man! Yeah the option attack was never ideal in EA but I will say in NCAA '12 I definitely fear it. I have played two in my three years so far (Army and Navy) and both have been successful in torching my run defense, albeit in not a conventional fashion.

[Cheese2121]

Eastern Michigan Team News: Week One

Eagles Pick Up First Recruit of Season -- Three star safety Bobby Graham became the first member of the Eagles 2014 class as he signed a letter of intent following the team's week one win over Army. Graham who is ranked as the 20th free safety in the country, was being recruited by both USC and Boise State. He is expected to have a chance to start as a true freshman for Eastern Michigan. Graham did not take an official visit with the school but is rumored to have been talking with the coaching staff for several seasons.

Recruiting Profile – Bobby Graham
	Bobby Graham | FS Garden City Cougars, High School Senior, Garden City, MI
	Height: 5'11"	Caliber:
	Weight: 197	Considered: USC, Boise St
	Position Rank: 20	Overall Rank: 691
	EVENT 40 YD BENCH SQUAT SPARQ High School Workout 4.44 313 320 67.00
Scouting Report Garden City native, Bobby Graham possess all the tools to be a top flight collegiate safety. As an underclassman in high school, Graham spent the majority of time playing as a cornerback. He switched to safety his junior season and put on size while maintaining his speed. He possesses a quick first step and is a solid wrap up tackler. He is better playing in a deep zone and could struggle at times matching up in man coverage against faster slot receivers. A big signing for Eastern Michigan, who out recruited powerhouses USC and Boise State, to secure Graham’s talents, Graham could start as a true freshman. It is rumored that Clayton had been talking to Graham for several seasons. Free safety has been a problem area for the Eagles for the past two seasons as incumbent Sean Cotton has been a liability in both the pass and run game. The coaching staff will reevaluate the position come next offseason but it is tough to imagine that Graham will not be the starter by at least his second season on campus. If he does not start as a true freshman, he will after a redshirt year.

Eastern Michigan 2014 Recruiting Class (to date)

Eastern Michigan Eagles Recruiting - 2014
NAME	POS	CLASS	HOMETOWN	HT	WT	CALIBER
Bobby Graham	FS	HS	Garden City, MI	5'11"	197

[DavidTheGreat20]

Big commitment for you, especially due to who you were up against. What I like about your signings compared to my Michigan dynasty is that the players who will commit to you have a chance to start Day 1, while I have to redshirt mine.

Good luck against FIU and U-M, I'm sure you're up for the challenge