EMU Football Depth Chart and Snap Counts: Bowl Game vs. South Alabama
EMU Football Depth Chart and Snap Counts: Bowl Game vs. South Alabama
Bowl games, despite the national trend, are still important at EMU.
One last ride to finish the year, either you’re in or you’re out.
Since it’s December, most of the talk around this sport has been focused on the latter.
The regular season is over and the transfer portal’s open for business. So far, seven now-former Eagles have hit the portal: WR Tyron Bates, DE Mikah Coleman (to Cincinnati), LG Zack Conti (to Southern Miss.), TE, C.J. Horton, DT Alex Merritt, TE Andreas Paaske (to Arkansas), and QB Austin Smith.
And as of Thursday, we can also add LB Chase Kline to the list of guys who won’t be playing in next week’s bowl game. EMU head coach Chris Creighton confirmed Thursday at his game-opening press conference that Kline has opted out from playing against South Alabama in the 68 Ventures Bowl next Saturday.
While that all sounds like bad news, the truth is that going to another bowl game — even in 2023 when bowl games have become so much more devalued nationally than they were 10 years ago when Chris Creighton first got to Ypsilanti — is still an important feat for the program that, for a long time, hadn’t seen a bowl win since 1987.
Last year, in Creighton’s 9th program, EMU finally broke that 35-year drought of going without a bowl win.
Next Saturday, EMU’s sixth bowl in the Creighton era, will be the team’s chance to capture its first-ever bowl win in back-to-back years.
While bowl games don’t have everybody’s full attention and participation like old tradition had it, EMU has played itself into many meaningful bowl games in the transfer portal era.
In 2016, EMU fell 24-20 to Old Dominion in the Bahamas Bowl, even after EMU had to rally for all of its points scored in the second half.
In 2018, EMU lost 23-21 to Georgia Southern in the Camellia Bowl, GSU needed to come through on a game-winning field goal drive on the final seconds of the game. By my judgment, it was the most emotional game played and finished by both teams in the entire Creighton era.
In 2019, EMU lost 34-30 to Pitt at Ford Field in the Quick Lane Bowl, a banger crowd for both teams got to see Pitt finish with a game-winning TD drive with 47 seconds remaining.
In 2021, EMU got smoked 56-20 by Liberty in the LendingTree Bowl at Whitney Stadium — the home of South Alabama Jaguars football. QB Malik Willis was just too good.
But last year, EMU beat San Jose State 41-27 for the program’s best finish since, well, 1987, and Creighton received a potato french fry shower of a lifetime.
So no, EMU’s fans aren’t going to see every player from the 2023 season in this bowl game — or any bowl game for that matter — but history tells us that whoever suits up for EMU next week will be looking to be looking to play in some meaningful football.
EMU had its press conference leading up to the 68 Ventures Bowl Thursday. Below is the team’s listed depth chart from the game notes provided, along with season-long snap counts from Pro Football Focus, and some notes.
Previous depth charts: Spring/Summer | Week 1 vs. Howard | Week 2 at Minnesota | Week 3 vs. UMass | Week 4 at Jacksonville State | Week 5 at Central Michigan | Week 6 vs. Ball State | Week 7 vs. Kent State | Week 8 at Northern Illinois | Week 9 vs. Western Michigan | Week 11 at Toledo | Week 12 vs. Akron | Week 13 at Buffalo
OFFENSE
QUARTERBACK
#4 Austin Smith (in transfer portal)#3 Ike Udengwu III / #8 Cam’Ron McCoy
Austin Smith, after his first full-season as the team’s starting quarterback, is in the transfer portal. That leaves Ike Udengwu and Cam’Ron McCoy as the two top options for EMU to run with next week. Considering McCoy only played only 3 snaps all year long, it’s safe to assume Udengwu will get his second start of the season. Udengwu made his first career FBS start against Western Michigan, then came out of the game after he got his eyes poked.
RUNNING BACK
#22 Samson Evans / #28 Jaylon Jackson
The bowl game will be Samson Evans’ final game with EMU while Jaylon Jackson has one year left after this one. Combined, the two finished the regular season with 1,209 rushing yards on 167 carries with 14 TD scored. Evans owns the school’s all-time rushing TDs record with 41 total.
X RECEIVER
#17 JB Mitchell III
#13 Jamarien Wheeler
Z RECEIVER
#2 Tanner Knue
#5 TE Max Reese
H RECEIVER
#1 WR Hamze El-Zayat
#11 Terry Lockett Jr.
The bowl game will be the final one played by senior starters Tanner Knue and Hamze El-Zayat — combined 75 receptions for 849 yards, 5 TD scored. J.B. Mitchell, who didn’t have the game the offense had planned/hoped for last time EMU went down to his home state of Alabama, finally saw more snaps than Knue did in the same game against Buffalo to finish up the year.
Y RECEIVER, TIGHT END
#83 Jere Getzinger
#85 Andreas Paaske (in transfer portal)/ #88 Blake Daniels
Out through the portal: The young Andreas Paaske, who is off to play in the SEC for Arkansas. Aside from Paaske, there aren’t any other tight ends scheduled to graduate from the program, so everybody in the bowl game should be able to build on their performance heading into 2024.
LEFT TACKLE
#63 Mickey Rewolinski
#50 Owen Snively
LEFT GUARD
#54 Zack Conti (transfer to Southern Mississippi)#76 Chris Mayo
#55 Dan Sunderman
With Zack Conti out as a transfer to Southern Miss, Chris Mayo is scheduled to start in Conti’s place against South Alabama. Mayo made three starts in his first year with the Eagles (at left tackle), and Dan Sunderman made one start this year at left guard (vs. Ball State).
CENTER
#75 Carson Lee
#67 Broderick Roman
#70 Dimitri Douglas
RIGHT GUARD
#68 Alex Howie
#75 Carson Lee
RIGHT TACKLE
#77 Brian Dooley
#73 Joshua Anderson
Neither right-side seniors, Brian Dooley nor Alex Howie, missed a game this season. Dooley will graduate with the most games played (current: 61 total) and started (59); Howie has 27 starts through 33 games played in his career.
DEFENSE
LEO
#11 Mikah Coleman (transfer to Cincinnati)#45 Joey Zelinsky
#49 Jaden Gaines
Considering defensive ends wasn’t as much of a strength of this defense like it had been in years past, Mikah Coleman to Cincinnati now means EMU has to play in a bowl game without its sack leader (4.5).
DEFENSIVE END
#47 Justin Jefferson
#45 Joey Zelinsky
Justin Jefferson, with nine starts made this year, is tied for fifth on the team with 44 tackles made (11 solo, 6.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks) and leads EMU’s defense with 11 QB hurries.
NOSE TACKLE
#94 Peyton Price
#99 Melvin Swindle II
Without Coleman, Peyton Price is the team’s next-best remaining sack leader from the season (4), and tied with Jefferson for 44 tackles made this year.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
#98 Tim Grant-Randall
#92 Alex Merritt (in transfer portal)#90 Adrian Gonzalez
MIKE, LINEBACKER
#12 Elijah Williams
#44 Luke Cameron
Without Kline, senior Elijah Williams is slated to step up once again. When Joe Sparacio came out of the NIU game after a game-opening ejection on a targeting call, Williams came in and cleaned things up with six tackles, 3.5 for loss.
When he was asked in October about his senior leadership that doesn’t always get reflected on the field, Williams responded: “The media doesn’t see what happens in the locker room, the weight room, the cafeteria, wherever it may be. I’d definitely like to attribute some of my leadership to positive changes that have happened within the program. A lot of comes from just really building a relationship with guys and genuinely caring about somebody and wanting the best for them and preaching that through actions and words.”
WILL, LINEBACKER
#19 Joe Sparacio
#40 Bryce Eliuk
STAR
#4 Daiquan White
#5 Korey Hernandez
CORNERBACK
#29 Kempton Shine
#14 Keylen Gulley
CORNERBACK
#17 Bennett Walker
#26 Tristen Hines
FREE
#16 Cameron Smith
#27 David Carter Jr.
BANDIT
#3 Quentavius Scandrett
#39 Barry Manning
SPECIAL TEAMS
PUNTER
#30 Mitchell Tomasek
#33 Ryan Kingston
Mitch Tomasek has been the MAC’s top punter for the second year in a row — not bad for having only two years of college football played.
PLACEKICKER
#35 Jesus Gomez
#37 Kenyon Bowyer
LONG SNAPPER
#46 Steve Bird
#51 Mitchell Dietzel
KICKOFFS
#37 Kenyon Bowyer / #33 Ryan Kingston
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
