Spring practices are in the books and
fall camps will be here before you know it so that means
getting an early jump on the 2006 NCAA football season.
Knowing the teams now will save you time in August and Matt
Fargo is here to help you get a grasp of what to expect this
upcoming year. We go from worst to first in this 2006
College Football Preview.
Fargo’s Take It was an up and down season for the Eagles
last year as they started the season at 3-2 only to lose
five straight games before closing the season with a win at
Buffalo. The final three losses were by a combined 10 points
and all three could have gone Eastern Michigan’s way but it
simply could not close the deal. Things should not get much
worse if the offense comes together but it doesn’t look like
things will get much better either. The lack of a
quarterback and a running game are the biggest issues
heading into the fall and those two areas need to be
corrected in a hurry for the Eagles to have any chance of
improving on their four wins. The defense was not great last
season but it was decent enough to hold six teams to 24 or
fewer points. The secondary is the biggest concern on that
side of the ball as the rest of the unit should once again
be effective. Eastern Michigan has one of the best place
kickers in the country in Andrew Wellock but he had some
struggles last season after being a 2004 Lou Groza finalist.
He could very be an X-factor this year.
Returning Starters on Offense – 6The loss of
quarterback Matt Bohnet hurts the offense right out of the
gate and Eastern Michigan is likely going to struggle early
on in the season to find its rhythm which will affect our
college football picks.
A running game can make up for breaking in a new quarterback
but unfortunately for the Eagles, they have no running game
to speak of. Their leading returning rusher is Tyler Jones
who gained just 267 yards last season. The return of Pierre
Walker, who missed last season with an injury, could help
matters if he is back to full strength. The biggest weapon
is receiver Eric Deslauriers who finished with 874 receiving
yards last year but matching that total could be difficult
if a formidable quarterback cannot be found.
Returning Starters on Defense – 7Eastern Michigan
finished 67th in the country in scoring defense last season
which is pretty respectable coming out of the MAC. The
strength was its passing defense which was 46th in the
nation but unfortunately, that will be the weakness this
season as three sophomores and three freshmen are part of
the eight-player two-deep chart. A strong defensive line and
deep linebackers will help make up for some of the backfield
deficiencies but not all. It is up to the defense to keep
the Eagles in games early in the season so the offense can
find its identity but that will be a tough task to take on.
Many other MAC teams will be breaking in new offenses so
that will definitely be of assistance.
Schedule The first half of the season is a nightmare for the
Eagles, so much so it is almost unfair. Five of their first
six games are on the road including back-to-back Big Ten
games at Michigan St. and Northwestern. The lone home game
in that stretch is a conference game against Central
Michigan. Because of the early traveling, four of the final
six games are at home but three of those are against Toledo,
Northern Illinois and Navy, all potential bowl teams. The
only good that comes out of the whole schedule is that the
Eagles’ four MAC road games are against teams that are all
in rebuilding seasons, including Western Michigan and
Bowling Green so a win on he road somewhere is not out of
the question.
You can bet on… A third straight four-win season is likely
out of the question for Eastern Michigan as too much
experience has left the program. When the best player on the
team is a receiver, it does not equate toward much success.
There is potential here overall but being unproven, this
team cannot be ranked very high. The Eagles were a solid
money-maker last season, cashing in seven of their 11 games.
However, without a quick strike offense, trying to close
that back door will be difficult. The first game of the
season is at Ball St., a team that is slowly improving so
coming out of the opener with a win could do wonders for the
young Eagles.
