Eastern Michigan Football Picks

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.

#110 – Eastern Michigan Eagles 4-7 SU; 7-4 ATS

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 – 6 The 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 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 – 7 Eastern 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.