Eagles Start Season on High Note, Blow Out LTU
YPSILANTI, MI-- The Eagles opened their season at home against Louisiana Tech and things couldn't have gone better for Eastern and new head coach Brandon Gillespie. Gillespie was hired at the beginning of the season to replace Ron English who hadn't had much success at Eastern in his tenure there. Gillespie is an Eastern graduate and a very good defensive mind, getting the job through his connections at the university and a short stint as a defensive assistant on the Eagles. Many questioned the hiring, saying an assistant isn't ready to be a head coach, Gillespie acknowledged as much in his press conference, "I'm sure everyone is thinking I'm not ready for this...that I don't have enough experience, and hell, maybe they're right. But I promise this, nobody will work harder than me to put the best possible product on the field for this team."
On to the game, which was very lop-sided. The Eagles featured a very potent rushing attack behind Senior Tailback Dominique Sherrer who tallied 165 yards on 22 carries with 3 TD runs to boot. All in all, the Eagles totaled 44 rushes for 250 yards and the 3 TDs. Junior QB Alex Gillett had an average day under center, completing 13 of 19 for 196 yards, a TD and 2 picks. Gillett wasn't asked to carry the load offensively but he did his job and really didn't cost his team any offense, which is what his job will boil down to at Eastern. Leading the way in the receiving corps was Sophomore WR Nick Olds, who caught 6 balls for 93 yards.
The story of this game however, was the Eagles defense. They gave up 250 yards of total offense, but only gave up 7 points. They forced 3 LTU turnovers which led to 21 points for the Eagles, and two defensive touchdowns by the Eagles (a 63 yard fumble return by Jaron Gillespie and a 31 yard pick-6 by Marlon Pollard.)
Louisiana Tech struggled all day offensively, with freshman QB Nick Isham leading the way going 18 for 37 for 211 yards, 1 TD and 2 picks.
The Eagles move to 1-0 and look to win next week against Arkansas State at home again. So far, Gillespie's defense has looked stout and his offense explosive...but this isn't the highest level competition either (although, LTU is better than many of the MAC teams in my own personal opinion.) We'll have to see.
Final Score: LTU 7 --- 52 EMU
Offensive Player of the Game: Dominique Sherrer- 22 carries for 165 yards and 3TD
Defensive Player of the Game: Marcus English- 7 tackles, 1 TFL, 1.0 Sacks