I suppose the answer to your question at the end is, quite frankly that .500 isn't impressive for Eastern anymore. Yes there were only two .500 and no winning seasons from 1990-2015, but 8 years with only two losing seasons (one of which was a COVID year) this program has proven capable of more. There are definitely excuses for this season: losing production, having first time coordinators, having a young QB, and some unfortunate injuries. It's also worth praising that an EMU team with all this uncertainty coming into the season can still possibly go bowling. Still since 2016, EMU is 28-32 in MAC play. For reference from 1993-99 the Eagles were 27-32 under Ron Cooper and Rick Rasnick, which I find shocking (especially because Rasnick was fired with one game left in 99). I think Creighton would agree, that record has to be better in the games that really count (16-22 since 2016 against the MAC West is also a concern). We've gotten back to where we were in the 90s. Well, we're a little better because of how good the noncon performances have been, and there are more bowl games to get invited to as well. Who knows, perhaps a miracle happens in the final third of the season and EMU gets that trip to Detroit. However, it just feels like there's always a stumbling block for that next step, I don't know what it is.
I suppose the answer to your question at the end is, quite frankly that .500 isn't impressive for Eastern anymore. Yes there were only two .500 and no winning seasons from 1990-2015, but 8 years with only two losing seasons (one of which was a COVID year) this program has proven capable of more. There are definitely excuses for this season: losing production, having first time coordinators, having a young QB, and some unfortunate injuries. It's also worth praising that an EMU team with all this uncertainty coming into the season can still possibly go bowling. Still since 2016, EMU is 28-32 in MAC play. For reference from 1993-99 the Eagles were 27-32 under Ron Cooper and Rick Rasnick, which I find shocking (especially because Rasnick was fired with one game left in 99). I think Creighton would agree, that record has to be better in the games that really count (16-22 since 2016 against the MAC West is also a concern). We've gotten back to where we were in the 90s. Well, we're a little better because of how good the noncon performances have been, and there are more bowl games to get invited to as well. Who knows, perhaps a miracle happens in the final third of the season and EMU gets that trip to Detroit. However, it just feels like there's always a stumbling block for that next step, I don't know what it is.