Blog Swap - Hustle Belt

When trying to keep up on just about any MAC team (except Buffalo), Hustle Belt is probably the best place to start. Alan from “Over the Pylon” took over the site not too long ago and has done a great job herding cats, Every team seems to have a writer focused on them and producing regular content.

So this week we reached out and got a hold of their EMU resource, Kennith Bailey, and asked him some questions about EMU.

The Eagles are no longer a running joke in the MAC, they have become a team that you expect to win six or more games, and catch at least a couple of conference foes napping in any given year.

This year they are 2-0 with a Big Ten road win under their belt.

So I asked Kenneth if EMU is going to take it up another level this year, is this going to be their 7-8-9 win season, and he seemed rather grounded.

Kenneth: I’ll wait and see what happens after Saturday. Wins against the Big Ten are nice but if you look back to last year, Eastern Michigan beat Rutgers and then went on a 6 game losing streak. Granted those were close losses but still.

A couple of years ago the Bulls had a QB transfer from Iowa State, didn’t work out well for us. But EMU’s Iowa State transfer is having a great season. When I asked about the key to their offense the passing game and Wiegers.

Even though, on paper, EMU is pretty balanced in terms of play calling, Kenneth went right to the passing game when asked.

Kenneth: Right now, I would say Eastern Michigan is a passing offense. And of course, the key to that is Tyler Wiegers, the quarterback that transferred from Iowa.

So what about their defense? We have a pretty good QB ourselves and of course a likely first round draft pick in our receiving corps.

I thought that EMU’s passing defense would be the key to the game for Buffalo. But Kenneth seems to think otherwise. When I asked about their ability to limit Anthony Johnson his focus was solely on EMU’s run defense.

Can you limit Anthony Johnson?

Kenneth: “If the rushing defense of the last two games is any indication, no”

Finally, as is customary, you have to ask about the prediction for this weeks game, and once again Ken is sure that EMU’s run defense is the key to the game.

Kenneth: “ If Eastern does manage to stop that rushing attack, they stand a pretty good chance of winning.”

I guess we better hope our Running game is “on the Marks”