Big loss, yes. But there's still plenty of positives to look at from the Eastern Michigan Eagles (1-4, 0-1) 44-22 loss to the LSU Tigers (4-0, 2-0).
Leonard Fournette was expected to just run all over the place and not play the second half. He eventually had to come out, but it took a while. The half ended with the Tigers only up by six and Fournette took the first play of the second half, basically untouched, for a 75-yard score. He was under 100 yards at the half, but ended the day on a very high note with 235 yards on 28 carries with three touchdowns.
All things considered, the Eagle defense played pretty well. Jeremiah Harris and Great Ibe were both held out from playing today, which isn't good to hear considering they are already without Pat O'Connor and Hunter Matt. For not having to play with those four, it's good that the Eagles hung in there as long as they could. Even if the Tigers run game was strong and deep and the offense had 479 overall yards, the secondary stepped up and limited Brandon Harris to four completions and 80 yards.
The defense was also good at stopping LSU on third downs, where they were 1-for-6 in that category. The Eagles also won the time of possession battle, holding the ball for 31:31, which is good for how they've done the last couple of games.
Roback was 17-for-24 through the air. 161 yards, one touchdown thrown to senior Dustin Creel and three interceptions. The interceptions are bad, but at least he was on the receiving end of this two-point conversion:
That play made things a one-possession game, but then LSU's offense took over in the fourth quarter and put up 14 unanswered points.
Both running backs, Darius Jackson and Shaq Vann, were able to pick up some touchdowns on the ground. The two only had 98 rushing yards combined, but they still were able to string together some good plays and move the chains.
Eddie Daugherty should be getting a little more love, 126 kick return yards on five tries. This guy can play. Same with Sam Browning, who had a team-high six catches for 87 yards.