The Eastern Michigan Eagles have a chance to accomplish something that has only been done once in head coach Chris Creighton's tenure with the team, which is starting the season with a 3-1 record. The Eagles will have a chance to do so when they face Central Connecticut State on Saturday Sept. 21 at Rynearson Stadium in the home opener.
Eastern Michigan’s marching band, also known as the “Pride of the Peninsula,” performed at the Detroit Lions season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. At halftime, nearly 200 students took the field to perform Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” Usher’s “DJ Got Us Falling In Love” and Beyoncé‘s “Crazy in Love.”
Former Eastern Michigan football players faced off against one another in the NFL on Sunday, Sept. 15. Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Andrew Wylie played Oakland Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby. These two NFL starters were on the Eagles team in 2015 and 2016.
After defeating Rutgers in 2017 and Purdue in 2018, Eastern Michigan has defeated an opponent from the Big Ten conference for the third consecutive season. The Eagles upset the previously unbeaten Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday by a final score of 34-31. Sophomore kicker Chad Ryland made a 24-yard field goal as time expired to seal the Eastern Michigan victory. Ryland converted on both of his field goal attempts, including a career-high of 52 yards. He also connected on all but one of his extra-point tries.
Playing in just four games as a redshirt freshman, wide receiver Quian Williams of Oklahoma City gained valuable playing experience with the Eagles but did not record any receptions. However, his sophomore season has gotten off to a very promising start. After the first two games of 2019, Williams has found himself in a position where he is one of quarterback Mike Glass III's favorite targets. Williams has already snagged eight passes for 92 total yards and his first career touchdown.
The Eastern Michigan football program took a tough loss at the hands of the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday, September 7, by a final score of 38-17. The Eagles now set their sights on the Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois, who earned a 31-23 victory against Connecticut a week ago. Despite a season-high 337 passing yards by QB Mike Glass III, the Eagles found the end zone just twice, both coming through the air. Glass also threw his first two interceptions of the season against the Wildcats.
The Eastern Michigan Eagles fell to the Kentucky Wildcats, 38-17, on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Kroger Field in Lexington. Senior quarterback Mike Glass III had 337 yards in the loss. With the loss, the Eagles fall to 1-1 on the season, while Kentucky stays perfect with a 2-0 record. The Wildcats out-gained Eastern Michigan, 461-386 in total yardage. Arthur Jackson III led the Eagles in receiving with 71 yards on five catches.
Fresh off a 30-23 victory over the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina, the Eastern Michigan Eagles remain on the road for a battle with the Kentucky Wildcats out of the SEC on Saturday, Sept. 7. The University of Kentucky spent a majority of the 2018 college football season in the top 25 of the AP Poll. The Wildcats defeated MAC rival Toledo in its previous game by a score of 38-24. Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson, took the reigns of the offense and completed 19 of 26 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns.
Myles McNeal, who is a 3-star recruit according to 247 Sports, committed to play for the Eastern Michigan football program on April 16, 2019. He is scheduled to graduate from Grand Blanc Community High School in 2020 and will join the Eagles team following that. McNeal is a 5’11”, 180-pound cornerback for the Grand Blanc Bobcats, and is rated the 50th best player in the state of Michigan.
For the first time in school history, the Eastern Michigan Eagles took on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina on Saturday, Aug. 31. Despite a slow start by the Eagles, they escaped with a 30-23 victory to begin their season with a 1-0 record.
This Saturday marks the beginning of the much anticipated season for the 2019 edition of the Eastern Michigan Eagles football program. The Eagles will travel to Conway, South Carolina to take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, who are coming off a 5-7 season in which they won just one home game.
The Mid-American Conference will continue a six-season partnership with ESPN, the billion-dollar media company, into the 2025 season. The partnership has a plan of televising two set bowl games, the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. There is also a list of games that potentially could feature MAC teams. Two out of the nine are for sure to be played when decided by the bowl committee each year. This makes at least four bowl games played by the MAC annually.
Following the deep dive into the quarterbacks room for Eastern Michigan, it’s time to check in on the guys they’ll be handing the ball off to. The team has seven running backs listed on the roster, but Shaq Vann and Breck Turner have pulled away from the rest of the group. With that said, though, at least one other Eagles running back is going to get significant playing time in the upcoming season.
Eastern Michigan opens their 2019 college football slate on August 31 against Coastal Carolina. Head coach Chris Creighton has named senior quarterback Mike Glass III the starting quarterback heading into the season, but Glass is far from the only QB on the depth chart. The Eagles have seven passers in total listed on the roster: Glass, Jairus Grissom, Preston Hutchinson, Aaron Jackson, Christopher Kaminski, Jayden Machado and Isaac Stiebling.
The wide receiving group for the Eagles is one of the most talented in the MAC as EMU has 16 receivers on the depth chart. The collective is as follows: Line Latu, Isaac Holder, Hassan Beydoun, Michael Thompson, Keyan Marshall, Tanner Knue, De’Anthony Ball, Amir Spivey, Joe Nowden, Eddie Daugherty IV, Noah Cameron, Dylan Drummond, Quian Williams, Logan Giordano, Matthew Sexton and Arthur Jackson III.
Senior defensive back, Brody Hoying was named to the Wuerffel Trophy watch list presented by the Chick-fil-A Foundation, per EMU Athletics. The list mostly consists of conferences from the Football Bowl Subdivision. Hoying is one of 91 players from FBS who was named to the list.
Thomas Odukoya's name was announced on the 2019 John Mackey Award Preseason watch list on July 19, 2019. 60 players are on the watch list for the college football's most outstanding tight end. Odukoya stands 6'6" and weighs 264 pounds. The preseason All-MAC teams by Phil Steele's College Football Preview has Odukoya on the second team. EMU had 11 players in total that made the four teams from the magazine's preseason list.
The PWC SMU Athletic Forum announced that Eastern Michigan University senior running back, Breck Turner has been named a preseason candidate for the Doak Walker award, per EMU Athletics. Turner joined the list of 71 college running backs and he is one of six running backs from the MAC to be added to the list of candidates.
Eastern Michigan opens their season in just over a month on August 31 against Coastal Carolina on the road. In the meantime, head coach Chris Creighton, quarterback Mike Glass III, and defensive back Vince Calhoun attended MAC media day in Detroit on July 23. Despite the media picking the Eagles to finish fourth in the division, Creighton and his team believe they have what it takes to reach the MAC championship game.
The annual MAC Media Day occurred on July 23 at Ford Field in Detroit.
