The big 2014 Eastern Michigan preview: Losing and the law of the price tag

Confused? Check out the advanced-stats glossary here.

1. He wanted the job

If New Mexico State isn't the country's most consistent coaching graveyard, it's EMU. Since going 7-3-1 in 1989, EMU has finished with a winning record just once (6-5 in 1995). Rick Rasnick won 20 games in five years. Jeff Woodruff won 11 in four. Jeff Genyk won 16 in five. Ron English won 11 in most of five.

That said, Drake is not exactly a football hotbed, and Chris Creighton did average seven wins a year there. Creighton's résumé is ridiculously midwestern -- he went 32-9 in four years at Ottawa (Kan.), 63-15 in seven years at Wabash (Ind.), and 42-22 in six years at Drake (Iowa). He was a quarterback at Kenyon (Ohio) and an assistant in Illinois and Indiana before that.

He wasn't a sexy hire, but EMU isn't going to make a sexy hire. He wanted the job, which made him attractive, and if nothing else he has shown that he can unearth interesting talent in less-than-fertile areas. And he boasts more head coaching experience than most realistic EMU candidates. I'm intrigued.

That's what I said about EMU's new head coach in January. As UMass did, EMU found a guy with head coaching experience and lots of ties to the region. He was also crazy enough to want the job. That's good enough for now.

2. This job steals your sanity

You have to be a little on the crazy, confident side to believe you can do some damage at a job that typically only damages your résumé. And if you aren't sightly on the insane side when you start, you might be by the time you finish.

For a while, it seemed like Ron English was following the rebuilding checklist to a T. He succeeded Jeff Genyk in 2009, stripped everything down with an 0-12 season in a Year 0 situation, then began putting the pieces together. EMU went 2-10 in 2010 with competitive losses to decent teams like Army (7-6) and Miami-Ohio (10-4), then returned almost everybody for a run at a bowl in 2011.

They crafted a "Now's our time" video. They crafted a catch phrase ("The law of the price tag"). They were ready.

Post by EMU Sports Performance.

EMU came so very close. The Eagles did win six games in 2011, but thanks to two wins over FCS teams, they needed one more win for bowl eligibility. They lost via last-second field goal to Ball State on November 5. They lost by six to Kent on November 19. And then they lost by six to eventual conference champion NIU on November 25 and stayed home during bowl season for the 24th consecutive year.

And then things fell apart. Injuries and poor depth doomed the defense. EMU careened back to 2-10, then went 2-10 again.

In September 2013, as part of my Big Ten Road Trip piece, a friend and I swung through Ypsilanti to get a glimpse of the facilities on the way out of Ann Arbor. The two-year old "Price Tag" slogan by that point seemed to mean something a little bit different on a worn banner in front of patchy sod.

The English tenure was on death's door, and on the way out, English kind of went insane.

Good luck, Coach Creighton. You seem pretty good at your job. You need to be great.

2013 Schedule & Results

Record: 2-10 | Adj. Record: 0-12 | Final F/+ Rk: 124
Date	Opponent	Opp. F/+ Rk	Score	W-L	Adj. Score	Adj. W-L	5-gm Adj. Avg.
31-Aug	Howard	N/A	34-24	W	22.8 - 40.6	L
7-Sep	at Penn State	61	7-45	L	11.0 - 39.4	L
14-Sep	at Rutgers	91	10-28	L	17.8 - 35.3	L
21-Sep	Ball State	57	20-51	L	29.8 - 34.5	L
5-Oct	at Buffalo	80	14-42	L	25.5 - 35.4	L	-15.6
12-Oct	at Army	100	25-50	L	28.5 - 56.2	L	-17.6
19-Oct	Ohio	104	28-56	L	34.4 - 47.1	L	-14.5
26-Oct	at Northern Illinois	60	20-59	L	21.5 - 43.7	L	-15.4
2-Nov	at Toledo	62	16-55	L	21.8 - 47.6	L	-19.7
9-Nov	Western Michigan	117	35-32	W	28.5 - 43.8	L	-20.8
23-Nov	Bowling Green	47	7-58	L	-5.1 - 37.0	L	-23.6
29-Nov	at Central Michigan	111	10-42	L	24.2 - 45.7	L	-25.4

Category	Offense	Rk	Defense	Rk	Spec. Tms.	Rk
F/+	-11.2%	103	-24.2%	123	-6.7%	125
Points Per Game	18.8	113	45.2	123
Adj. Points Per Game	21.7	108	42.2	123

3. Bad, then real-life bad

On the playing field, EMU's season was doomed from the start. Any hopes of reaching a bowl were extinguished by consecutive blowout losses to Ball State, Buffalo, and Army, and things certainly got even worse on the field down the stretch.

4. Demarius

But for the most part, when we talk about "bad things," we're talking about losses on a playing field. But real-life got involved in a terrible way on the early morning of Friday, October 18, when receiver Demarius Reed was shot and killed in a robbery attempt near campus. His Twitter account, active as of that Thursday, still sits as a haunting reminder of his sudden passing. EMU had to play football barely 24 hours after learning of Reed's passing, and while the Eagles put up a decent fight against Ohio, that didn't really matter at the moment.

This is the third time in a week that we've previewed a team forced to deal with the passing of a teammate and classmate, and that's devastating.

Offense

FIVE FACTORS -- OFFENSE
	Raw Category		Rk	Opp. Adj. Category		Rk
EXPLOSIVENESS	IsoPPP	1.09	90	IsoPPP+	93.3	96
EFFICIENCY	Succ. Rt.	40.2%	81	Succ. Rt. +	86.1	109
FIELD POSITION	Def. Avg. FP	32.9	110	Def. FP+	95.4	103
FINISHING DRIVES	Pts. Per Trip in 40	3.8	102	Redzone S&P+	81.0	114
TURNOVERS	EXPECTED	20.7		ACTUAL	23	+2.3

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	111	110	110	118
RUSHING	76	92	86	100
PASSING	106	116	114	110
Standard Downs		100	96	101
Passing Downs		118	122	68

Q1 Rk	121	1st Down Rk	108
Q2 Rk	104	2nd Down Rk	107
Q3 Rk	87	3rd Down Rk	118
Q4 Rk	111

Quarterback

Note: players in bold below are 2014 returnees. Players in italics are questionable with injury/suspension.

Player	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	Comp	Att	Yards	Comp Rate	TD	INT	Sacks	Sack Rate	Yards/ Att.
Tyler Benz				129	217	1497	10	9	59.4%	22	9.2%	5.8
Brogan Roback	6'3, 185	So.	4 stars (5.8)	49	116	640	4	5	42.2%	6	4.9%	5.0
Brandon Bossard	6'2, 200	RSFr.	2 stars (5.3)
Reggie Bell	6'3, 169	RSFr.	2 stars (5.3)

Running Back

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	Rushes	Yards	TD	Yards/ Carry	Hlt Yds/ Carry	Opp. Rate
Bronson Hill	RB	5'10, 208	Sr.	2 stars (5.2)	195	1093	5	5.6	5.7	40.0%
Ryan Brumfield	RB	5'10, 188	Sr.	2 stars (5.2)	98	509	5	5.2	4.6	42.9%
Darius Jackson	RB	6'0, 215	Jr.	2 stars (5.2)	49	201	2	4.1	4.3	28.6%
Javonti Greene	RB				37	104	0	2.8	2.1	29.7%
Tyler Benz	QB	6'3, 215	Sr.	2 stars (5.3)	22	118	0	5.4	3.9	45.5%
Brogan Roback	QB	6'3, 185	So.	4 stars (5.8)	7	16	1	2.3	2.8	28.6%
Juwan Lewis	RB	5'10, 210	So.	3 stars (5.6)
Shaq Vann	RB	5'10, 196	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)

5. Brogan and Bronson

Back to on-field matters, no matter how awkward the transition.

Tyler Benz had to see the writing on the wall when four-star freshman Brogan Roback signed in February. A near-blue-chipper doesn't sign with a MAC program with the idea of sitting as an understudy for a few years. Sure enough, following a six-for-15 performance against Northern Illinois, Benz went from first-string to second-. When a new head coach came aboard, Benz quietly left the program.

Roback was one of three quarterbacks to sign in the 2013 class, but he was easily the most highly touted of the three. To be sure, he was in no way good in 2013, but he got some experience.

Roback was also quite aggressive with the football. Benz completed 59 percent of his passes at just 11.6 yards per completion, but Roback wanted it all: 42 percent completion rate, 13.1 yards per completion. His bad performances were absolutely horrendous (one-for-12 for four yards and a pick against BGSU, nine-for-22 for 139 yards against WMU), but he showed signs of life in blowout losses to Toledo and CMU. Creighton has said Roback isn't guaranteed to be the starter in 2014, but ... yeah, he's probably going to be the starter.

Be it Roback or anybody else, the starting quarterback will line up with a pretty good asset next to him. Bronson Hill made some serious noise in the middle of the 2012 season, rushing for 283 yards in a narrow loss to Toledo and reaching 905 yards for the season despite getting only seven carries before October 13. His production in 2013 was scattershot, but with this team, that was probably unavoidable. He rushed for 125 or more yards four times last fall, peaking with a 257-yard performance against Ohio, and he has now crossed the 2,000-yard mark in two years. He has decent wheels and size, and while Creighton's Drake offense threw nearly 60 percent of the time in 2013 (good news for Roback's future stat lines), there will almost certainly be a place for Hill, who has shown decent capabilities as a pass-catcher out of the backfield as well.

Toss in a couple of reasonably decent targets in Dustin Creel and tight end Tyreese Russell, plus some star recruits new (receiver Kenny Jones) and old (junior Quincy Jones, sophomore Juwan Lewis), and there's potentially some solid depth in the skill position lineup.

Receiving Corps

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	Targets	Catches	Yards	Catch Rate	Target Rate	%SD	Yds/ Target	NEY	Real Yds/ Target	RYPR
Dustin Creel	WR	6'2, 205	Jr.	2 stars (5.2)	76	46	593	60.5%	24.8%	55.1%	7.8	18	7.5	74.0
Tyreese Russell	TE	6'3, 242	Sr.	2 stars (5.2)	75	44	594	58.7%	24.4%	51.0%	7.9	35	8.7	74.1
Jay Jones	WR	5'10, 181	Jr.	2 stars (5.0)	44	25	293	56.8%	14.3%	54.3%	6.7	-30	5.0	36.6
Bronson Hill	RB	5'10, 208	Sr.	2 stars (5.2)	22	16	175	72.7%	7.2%	50.0%	8.0	-8	9.4	21.8
Demarius Reed	WR				22	15	185	68.2%	7.2%	62.5%	8.4	8	9.0	23.1
Duwhan Alford	TE	6'1, 250	So.	2 stars (5.2)	18	10	57	55.6%	5.9%	100.0%	3.2	-74	2.9	7.1
Donald Scott	WR				16	5	53	31.3%	5.2%	100.0%	3.3	-40	1.3	6.6
Quincy Jones	WR	6'3, 209	Jr.	3 stars (5.7)	10	5	49	50.0%	3.3%	60.0%	4.9	-20	4.6	6.1
Ryan Brumfield	RB	5'10, 188	Sr.	2 stars (5.2)	10	5	80	50.0%	3.3%	66.7%	8.0	11	10.6	10.0
Cole Gardner	TE	6'5, 250	So.	2 stars (5.2)	5	2	17	40.0%	1.6%	0.0%	3.4	-15	1.5	2.1
Javonti Greene	RB				5	2	15	40.0%	1.6%	0.0%	3.0	-17	1.7	1.9
Darius Jackson	RB	6'0, 215	Jr.	2 stars (5.2)	4	3	26	75.0%	1.3%	75.0%	6.5	-8	7.7	3.2
Kenny Jones	WR	6'2, 190	Fr.	3 stars (5.6)

Offensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	96.5	3.27	3.02	38.4%	69.0%	18.3%	77.7	3.2%	11.6%
Rank	85	18	86	75	65	54	98	29	114

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	Career Starts	Honors/Notes
Lincoln Hansen	RT	6'6, 301	Sr.	2 stars (5.1)	28
Orlando McCord	RG				19
Campbell Allison	RG	6'6, 316	Sr.	NR	18
Andrew Wylie	LT	6'6, 310	So.	2 stars (5.2)	12
Jake Hurcombe	C	6'3, 302	So.	2 stars (5.4)	11
Robert McFadden	LT	6'7, 303	Sr.	2 stars (5.2)	10
Kent Collins	LG	6'3, 288	Sr.	2 stars (5.2)	6
Darien Terrell	LG	6'4, 332	So.	2 stars (5.2)	5
Matt Thornton	RT	6'4, 305	So.	2 stars (5.2)	0
Dwayne Brown	OL	6'3, 320	RSFr.	3 stars (5.5)	0
Ka'John Armstrong	OL	6'5, 272	Fr.	3 stars (5.6)
Dakota Tallman	OL	6'4, 304	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)

6. The line might come around first

EMU's line was built for English's run-first system, and the change to Creighton and offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer could result in square-peg-round-hole-itis for a little while.

But in terms of talent and experience, no unit might have as much of a mix of it as the EMU line, which bosts seven players with starting experience (90 career starts), three former three-star recruits (all freshmen or redshirt freshmen), and a high-two-star in Jake Hurcombe. EMU was good at keeping defenders out of the backfield on standard downs, rushing and passing, and that's a start, anyway.

DeBoer, by the way, is an interesting choice for O.C. He went 67-3 in five seasons as the head coach at the University of Sioux Falls (seriously, how many good-for-their-level programs do the Dakotas produce?), and his pass-first offense averaged almost 400 yards per game (407 against Illinois) in 2013. Like Creighton, he has proven a decent amount at lower levels; now we'll see what he can do in the MAC.

Defense

FIVE FACTORS -- DEFENSE
	Raw Category		Rk	Opp. Adj. Category		Rk
EXPLOSIVENESS	IsoPPP	1.41	124	IsoPPP+	78.3	124
EFFICIENCY	Succ. Rt.	49.7%	119	Succ. Rt. +	80.6	121
FIELD POSITION	Off. Avg. FP	26.0	119	Def. FP+	92.6	118
FINISHING DRIVES	Pts. Per Trip in 40	5.2	121	Redzone S&P+	85.0	102
TURNOVERS	EXPECTED	10.6		ACTUAL	11.0	+0.4

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	120	125	121	124
RUSHING	123	126	123	124
PASSING	96	113	112	113
Standard Downs		124	116	126
Passing Downs		125	123	125

Q1 Rk	125	1st Down Rk	121
Q2 Rk	114	2nd Down Rk	125
Q3 Rk	124	3rd Down Rk	117
Q4 Rk	115

7. Where do you even start?

There are rankings in 26 advanced defensive stats above. EMU ranked above 100th in none of them and worse than 115th in 20. Six of the top eight on the line, six of seven at linebacker, and eight of 11 at defensive back all return, which suggests that youth was at least one of last year's problems, but it's hard to even know where to look for positives or negatives. It was all negative.

Defensive coordinator Brad McCaslin comes with Creighton from Drake; his Bulldogs allowed just 4.7 yards per play in 2013 -- 6.2 per pass attempt (including sacks) and 3.7 per carry. McCaslin's Drake defense stopped the run, forced a ton of turnovers, and filtered the ball toward a strong middle linebacker. EMU's 2013 defense did none of those things.

Defensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	83.8	3.36	4.19	44.6%	68.1%	12.5%	124.7	5.0%	9.0%
Rank	122	112	124	112	72	126	24	50	23

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Kalonji Kashama	DE				12	21.5	3.3%	9.0	5.5	0	0	2	0
Pat O'Connor	DE	6'4, 272	Jr.	2 stars (5.2)	11	31.0	4.8%	5.0	4.0	0	3	0	0
Cy Maughmer	NT				9	21.5	3.3%	3.5	2.5	0	0	0	0
Mike Steals	DT	6'5, 259	So.	2 stars (5.2)	10	18.0	2.8%	4.0	1.0	1	0	0	0
Travis Linser (2012)	NT	6'4, 280	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	11	13.5	1.9%	4.5	1.0	0	0	1	0
Arron Pipkins	NT	6'1, 280	Jr.	2 stars (5.2)	5	8.5	1.3%	2.0	1.0	0	0	0	0
Alex Jones	DE	6'2, 238	So.	NR	6	8.0	1.2%	2.5	2.0	0	0	0	0
Omar McFarlane	DE	6'1, 250	Jr.	NR	6	4.5	0.7%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Matt Price	DE				3	2.5	0.4%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Deshai Powell	DE	6'2, 245	RSFr.	2 stars (5.3)
Derrick Dunlap	DT	6'2, 290	RSFr.	2 stars (5.3)
Lion King Conaway	DE	6'4, 205	Fr.	2 stars (5.2)

Linebackers

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Ike Spearman	WLB	6'1, 220	Jr.	3 stars (5.6)	12	57.5	8.9%	3.5	0.5	2	0	0	0
Great Ibe	SLB	6'1, 225	Jr.	NR	9	45.0	7.0%	3.0	0.0	0	2	0	0
Hunter Matt	MLB	6'1, 225	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	12	37.5	5.8%	5.0	3.0	0	0	1	1
Sean Kurtz	MLB				12	36.0	5.6%	1.5	0.0	2	1	0	0
Derric Williams	SLB	6'2, 210	So.	2 stars (5.2)	7	26.5	4.1%	2.5	1.5	0	0	0	0
Anthony Zappone	WLB	6'1, 235	So.	2 stars (5.2)	5	6.0	0.9%	1.5	1.0	0	0	1	0
Mark Borland	LB	6'0, 225	Sr.	NR	2	2.0	0.3%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Lavonte Robinson	LB	5'10, 225	RSFr.	2 stars (5.4)
Kyle Rachwal	LB	6'3, 225	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)

8. There might be something to the pass rush

The run defense was Drake's calling card last year, but the Bulldogs certainly weren't bad against the pass, allowing just a 58 percent completion rate at 10.9 yards per completion with a 6.5 percent sack rate. With five of the top six cornerbacks returning (including Willie Creear, who showed a little bit of on-ball ability, and former star recruit Jaleel Canty), McCaslin's scheme might find some success.

But a lot of that will depend on the success of a pass rush that was downright solid last fall. EMU ranked 24th in Adj. Sack Rate, attacking from a lot of different angles; the Eagles had five players with at least two sacks and only one with more than four. That one (Kalonji Kashama) is gone, but end Pat O'Connor is back, as is a decent blitzing threat in Hunter Matt.

Granted, the fact that EMU ranked 113th in Passing S&P+ with a strong pass rush probably tells you more than you want to know about EMU's secondary, but there's perhaps some hope there, even if the run defense is still a couple of years away from meeting McCaslin's standards.

Secondary

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Rivals	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Mycal Swaim	FS				12	58.5	9.0%	1.5	0	1	1	0	0
Donald Coleman	SS				12	56.0	8.7%	1	0	0	2	0	0
Willie Creear	CB	5'10, 193	Sr.	2 stars (5.2)	12	46.0	7.1%	0	0	1	5	0	0
Pudge Cotton	SS	6'1, 218	Sr.	3 stars (5.7)	9	29.0	4.5%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Quan Pace	CB	5'10, 165	So.	2 stars (5.3)	11	23.5	3.6%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ja'Ron Gillespie	CB				8	23.0	3.6%	0	0	0	2	1	0
Jaleel Canty	CB	5'9, 191	So.	3 stars (5.5)	11	21.5	3.3%	0	0	0	2	1	0
Darius Scott	CB	5'8, 160	Sr.	2 stars (5.3)	5	18.5	2.9%	0	0	0	1	0	0
Ray Tillman	CB	5'11, 183	Jr.	NR	6	10.0	1.5%	0	0	0	1	0	0
Kevin Johnson	FS	5'11, 200	Sr.	2 stars (5.2)	4	7.5	1.2%	0.5	0	0	0	0	0
Jalen Williams	FS	5'11, 194	Jr.	NR	5	6.0	0.9%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ross Williams	CB	5'11, 160	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)
Tim Gordon	DB	5'11, 158	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)

Special Teams

Punter	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Punts	Avg	TB	FC	I20	FC/I20 Ratio
Austin Barnes	5'11, 205	So.	50	39.7	7	18	12	60.0%
Owen Dubiel	6'0, 205	Sr.	18	35.2	0	7	3	55.6%

Kicker	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Kickoffs	Avg	TB	OOB	TB%
Kody Fulkerson			36	50.2	0	3	0.0%
Brendan Renius	6'2, 224	So.	11	58.9	3	1	27.3%

Place-Kicker	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	PAT	FG (0-39)	Pct	FG (40+)	Pct
Dylan Mulder	6'0, 186	Jr.	24-26	5-6	83.3%	1-5	20.0%

Returner	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2014 Year	Returns	Avg.	TD
Tyler Allen	KR	5'8, 171	Sr.	51	19.9	1
Jaleel Canty	KR	5'9, 191	So.	4	17.5	0
Demarius Reed	PR			7	6.6	0

Category	Rk
Special Teams F/+	125
Field Goal Efficiency	110
Punt Return Efficiency	33
Kick Return Efficiency	29
Punt Efficiency	121
Kickoff Efficiency	125
Opponents' Field Goal Efficiency	107

9. No solace from special teams

Sometimes a bad team can stay close by making field goals and breaking even in the field position battle thanks to special teams. EMU was not one of those bad teams. The return game was in decent hands with Tyler Allen (who returned 51 kickoffs last year, easily the second-most in the country in a category in which "most" is not a good thing) and the late Demarius Reed, and Dylan Mulder was a decent place-kicker inside 40 yards, but kick and punt coverage was absolutely atrocious. This probably won't change in 2014.

2014 Schedule & Projection Factors

2014 Schedule
Date	Opponent	Proj. Rk
30-Aug	Morgan State	NR
6-Sep	at Florida	21
13-Sep	at Old Dominion	NR
20-Sep	at Michigan State	13
TBD	Buffalo	107
TBD	Central Michigan	106
TBD	Northern Illinois	51
TBD	Toledo	53
TBD	at Akron	118
TBD	at Ball State	81
TBD	at Massachusetts	123
TBD	at Western Michigan	113

Five-Year F/+ Rk	-28.0% (121)
Two-Year Recruiting Rk	111
TO Margin/Adj. TO Margin*	-12 / -10.1
TO Luck/Game	-0.8
Approx. Ret. Starters (Off. / Def.)	17 (10, 7)

10. Participation ribbons for a while

Losing is not something Chris Creighton has done much -- in four years at Ottawa, seven at Wabash, and six at Drake, he never suffered a losing season and only three times won fewer than seven games. But he's now taking on one of the three or four toughest jobs at the FBS level, and he's inheriting a demoralized roster that wasn't good at very much last fall. It is is not a roster devoid of talent, but it won't have enough to do much.

The schedule isn't particularly favorable, and even if things click for Roback, and Hill has a big year, and the offensive line holds up, and the pass rush is solid, and the defense improves to something nearing competence (lots of ifs there), there's still probably little chance for EMU to get too far beyond four wins without an upset. Then again, EMU has won only four games in the last two years combined; four in one would be progress.

Last year was no fun for EMU, either on the field or in real-life. Never mind the law of the price tag (insert "EMU fought the law, and the law won" joke here); never mind reaching six wins; never mind becoming any sort of immediate threat in the MAC. The goal for 2014 needs to be about relaxing, playing football, and finding pieces around which you can build.