I’m sure Ron English will turn the 2-10 ship around several degrees in year 1. As you rightly put it, the offense did some damage last year. The defense is what needs an overhaul. But that’s English’s forte.

Last year EMU should have been 1-11. They beat BGSU by a butthair 24-21 with 30 seconds to play. But hey, a win is a win. They did beat CMU legitimately and lead a good part of the second half (all of 4th Qtr)- a nice parting gift from the team to coach Genyk.

What jumps out at us about EMU football is that (at least last year), they moved the ball pretty darn well and against quality opponents like Michigan State, Maryland, WMU and CMU. We’re talking a lot of yards both rushing and passing, sometimes 450 yards+ per game. So if the backfield and OL is back, plus a possibly better coaching staff, then EMU could show some interesting results vs. Army and Northwestern weeks before facing Michigan.

Defensively, EMU was indeed a godawful trainwreck against the run and fairly good (middle of MAC) vs. the pass. Nobody in the league gave up more points though: 36 points per game, plus a ton of yardage? Very disturbing.

Michigan should win this game decisively and gain a lot of yardage on the ground with the spread option attack. Northwestern’s success game a week prior should be an excellent indicator for Michigan, particularly with NW QB Kafka who loves to run the football and is a so-so passer.