Five Things Learned - Eastern Michigan at Western Michigan

The Eastern Michigan Eagles lost in another close game to the Western Michigan Broncos this weekend, bringing their loss streak to four. It is almost an exact replica of last season. Last year, they defeated their first Big Ten team and then proceeded to drop six in a row. It doesn’t get any easier for them. So what have we learned from this?

Kenneth Bailey

1. Eastern Michigan’s leading rusher is their quarterback.

Last week Eastern Michigan broke the 100 yard barrier on the ground but rushing for 178 yards against Western Michigan. The only problem I see is that over 100 of those yards were from quarterback Mike Glass. It’s nice that Eastern Michigan can add another wrinkle to what can seem to be a lethargic offense at times but I’m not sure it should come from the quarterback. They still need to work on their rushing game and I think they have the backs that can do, they just need to figure out how to use them.

2. Western Michigan didn’t allow a sack.

Western Michigan quarterback Jon Wassink wasn’t sacked last weekend. Normally Eastern Michigan puts some pressure on the quarterback. They did however hold him under his average.

3. Eastern Michigan did an okay job of containing the run.

Eastern Michigan was able to hold the Western Michigan running game under their average. They also did the same for the passing game.

4. Eastern Michigan has been putting some points on the board.

So far, Eastern Michigan has not scored less than 20 points in this season. Unfortunately, their defense hasn’t been as strong as hoped. For as much as I pick on the offense, I expected the defense to be the thing holding the team together. They have allowed more than 20 points in each of Eastern Michigan’s losses. They have to get better too.

5. Close losses are still losses.

If I am going to take one positive note from the past two season, Eastern Michigan is at least competitive. But a close loss is still a loss. In many of those losses, it seems like Eastern Michigan takes their foot off the throttle and plays not to lose. Many times, they let teams back into games. If they want to make the next level, they have to learn to keep teams away.