EMU Football Depth Chart and Snap Counts: Week 4
EMU Football Depth Chart and Snap Counts: Week 4
Eastern Michigan's published depth chart ahead of UMass Week.
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One more non-conference test, and then it’ll be time for the conference slate.
Through three games, Eastern Michigan holds a 2-1 record with wins over Howard and UMass and a loss at Minnesota. This week EMU travels to Jacksonville State to face off against a first-year FBS program.
EMU’s depth chart listed in this week’s game notes are detailed below along with players’ snap counts (via Pro Football Focus), quotes from EMU head coach Chris Creighton during Monday’s press conferences, and some of my notes as well.
Previous depth charts: Spring/Summer | Week 1 vs. Howard | Week 2 at Minnesota | Week 3 vs. UMass
OFFENSE
QUARTERBACK
#4 Austin Smith
#8 Cam’Ron McCoy / #3 Ike Udengwu III
Eastern’s passing attack has been disappointing so far this season. In three games this season: Austin Smith is 41/74 passing (55.4%) for 403 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. On the ground, Smith has 15 officialy rush attempts for 60 yards (4.0 avg.). In each of EMU’s first three games, the offense has finished with explosive play rates of 2%, 2%, and 4%.
Will #4 still be the guy moving forward?
Said Chris Creighton during Monday’s press conference: “It’s been three games and we just haven’t gotten into the rhythm that we know that we can get into yet, so we’re talking about that a lot. We do like how we’re running the football but want to be equally proficient in both the run and the pass. It feels as though we’ve had some opportunities in every play and you can figure out why and why not. So we’re going to continue to work on it. We really believe that we’re going to have a very proficient pass game and it really hasn’t happened yet.
“This offseason, it wasn’t as much of a quarterback battle in figuring it out. It was ‘Hey, let’s accentuate Austin’s strengths and let him develop’ and all those things. It’s been probably a slower start than what we all had anticipated. Again, in the Howard game, I don’t think that was an Austin Smith thing; that was two kickoff returns, then a big lead, then a bit of a — just a subtle relaxation if you will. Didn’t have very many plays. In Minnesota, I think we left some things out there, didn’t have as many plays. We are about 50 plays a game and our opponents are averaging about 75 and that’s just not enough for us to get into a rhythm. He’s totally capable, he’s made some huge plays. On some scramble situations that, arguably won the Howard game… had some huge plays this week and then won the game with his arm. He’s very, very capable and he’s got it in him so it’s not something that we’re worried about. We want to develop and get better as an offense and whatnot and the quarterback obviously holds the keys to that. But we know that he’s got what it takes.”
RUNNING BACK
#22 Samson Evans / #28 Jaylon Jackson
Samson Evans, one touchdown shy of tying EMU’s all-time touchdowns scored record, had 89 rush yards on 8 carries and no scores vs. UMass. Evans was just shy of having a career-long touchdown run against UMass before a defender forced a fumble from Evans’ carry at the goal line.
Jaylong Jackson had a 55-yard TD run vs. UMass, and finished with 83 yards (12 carries) for the day. The two featured backs have a combined 57 carries for 344 yards and 2 TD this season.
X RECEIVER
#17 JB Mitchell III
#7 Von Swinton
Z RECEIVER
#24 Tanner Knue
#7 Von Swinton
H RECEIVER
#1 Hamze El-Zayat OR #5 TE Max Reese
Hamze El-Zayat, with the 50-yard game-winning catch against UMass, has just as many TD receiving as Tanner Knue does this year. Knue leads the team with 15 catches, 119 yards; El-Zayat is the second-leading wide receiver with 5 catches for 81 yards. J.B. Mitchell, with the least amount of experience of the three, has three catches for 32 yards so far.
Said Creighton: “J.B. has been here for a couple of years now and he was behind a really good group. Those guys are gone now so this is his year to really step up and be a part of it. I think he’s been really comfortable out there and we’re confident [in] and comfortable with him. We haven’t gotten our passing game going full-throttle yet but we plan on that happening here soon and he’ll be a part of it.”
Y RECEIVER, TIGHT END
#85 Andreas Paaske
#83 Jere Getzinger / #88 Blake Daniels
LEFT TACKLE
#63 Mickey Rewolinski
#76 Chris Mayo
LEFT GUARD
#54 Zack Conti
#50 Owen Snively
CENTER
#70 Dimitri Douglas
#67 Broderick Roman
RIGHT GUARD
#68 Alex Howie
#75 Carson Lee
RIGHT TACKLE
#77 Brian Dooley
#73 Joshua Anderson
DEFENSE
LEO
#11 Mikah Coleman
#49 Jaden Gaines
DEFENSIVE END
#45 Joey Zelinsky
#47 Justin Jefferson
NOSE TACKLE
#94 Peyton Price
#99 Melvin Swindle II
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
#98 Tim Grant-Randall
#74 Jez Janvier
Alex Merritt, Ugo Nosikie, Malik Tullis and Mikey Haney were all not dressed for the UMass game, which meant EMU sometimes rotated defensive ends to play more interior roles.
Mikah Coleman, in his first year as a starter, is already EMU’s leader in TFL (5), sacks (3), and QB hurries (3).
Said Creighton: “Mikah, we’ve known that he’s just been a great talent and he’s somebody who’s really developed and know what to do and how to do it, and has the ability, so we think that he’s just going to get better and better. That’s a good group, but that’s a group that we’ve been banged up at, so we put a lot on his shoulders and he’s off to a great start.”
MIKE, LINEBACKER
#6 Chase Kline
#44 Luke Cameron
WILL, LINEBACKER
#19 Joe Sparacio
#36 Zach Mowchan
Joe Sparacio is EMU’s leader in tackles (38) while Chase Kline, who had 2 TFL and 1 sack last year, has 3 TFL and 2 sacks in his two games played so far this year. Kline also has 2 QB hurries and a forced fumble.
STAR
#1 Joshua Scott
#5 Korey Hernandez
FREE
#16 Cameron Smith
#27 David Carter Jr.
BANDIT
#3 Quentavius Scandrett
#8 T.J. Peavy
CORNERBACK
#29 Kempton Shine
#17 Bennett Walker
CORNERBACK
#4 Daiquan White
#26 Tristen Hines
First-year cornerback Bennett Walker, who came to EMU with some junior college experience (San Diego Mesa), is the nation’s leader in interceptions with 3. He had 1 against Minnesota, and 2 against UMass. Quentavius Scandrett is the only other EMU defender to have an interception this season.
“When Bennett got here this summer, that was one of the things that stood out — was that he had great ball skills. So he’s really put that to use here early in the season.”
SPECIAL TEAMS
PUNTER
#30 Mitchell Tomasek
#33 Ryan Kingston
Mitchell Tomasek, the reigning First Team All-MAC punter, currently has the MAC’s second-best punting average of 45.4 yards per boot (15 punts, 681 yards) with a long of 61.
PLACEKICKER
#35 Jesus Gomez
#37 Kenyon Bowyer
The streak ended for Jesus Gomez. After the first 48 PAT attempts of his career were good, he finally missed one against UMass. He’s still perfect in field goals this year (4/4).
LONG SNAPPER
#46 Steve Bird
#51 Mitchell Dietzel
KICKOFFS
#33 Ryan Kingston
#35 Jesus Gomez
KICK RETURN
#28 Jaylon Jackson
#1 Hamze El-Zayat
PUNT RETURN
#1 Hamze El-Zayat
#28 Jaylon Jackson
#23 Elijah Jackson-Anderson
HOLDER
#30 Mitchell Tomasek
#33 Ryan Kingston