Image via Eastern Michigan Athletics
Could Eastern Michigan’s offense see a different signal caller Saturday?
Before last weekend’s 34-14 loss to Toledo, seventh-year quarterback and second-year starter for EMU Noah Kim was listed as “questionable” on the team’s pregame injury report.
Kim started and played into the fourth quarter, but he didn’t finish.
All game long, Kim was beat up and rattled by Toledo’s defensive pressure — mainly by Andrew Zock.
Zock, awarded the top defender in all of FCS football last year as a sophomore before he transferred with his head coach from Mercer to Toledo, looked like he should be in the running for the top defender in MAC football this year.
Kim escaped Zock’s pressure on the first drive of the game that ended on a fourth-down dropped pass to Benson Prosper, but Zock got all of Kim on his next time on the field. On the first play of the next drive, EMU (4-4, -1 , MAC) left Zock unblocked on a run-pass option (RPO) play, and he swallowed Kim up in the backfield; the quarterback fumbled the ball before he could throw.
That was the first of two sacks Kim took. As a team, Toledo finished the game with six total sacks, nine tackles for loss, and 16 hurries, and the secondary broke up seven passes.
The game was clearly wearing on him. Right tackle Elijha Payne, a first-year transfer from Delaware State who made his second start with the team at right tackle last week, and company were no match for Zock (9 tackles, 2 sacks, 9 hurries, 1 forced fumble).
Driving into the fourth quarter, Kim was forced to throw the ball away on first down, had a sideline throw broken up by a diving Toledo defender as he was hit and hurried by Zock, then completed his throw on fourth down to Prosper for a late conversion, but it didn’t matter. Penalty, illegal formation. Somebody wasn’t lined up properly on the line of scrimmage.
EMU punted away and went to its bench to take Kim out of the game.
Was it because the game finally wore too much on him by that point? Or is it because the game, as far apart as 20 points on the scoreboard with 12:40 still left on the clock, dictated the change?
“It’s a little bit of both, but, you know, he's banged up and got more banged up,” Creighton answered after the Toledo game. “You saw both Jace [Stuckey] and Brogan [McCaughey] with their feet; so, knew that would be helpful at that point, and gave those guys a chance to get some reps.”
Stuckey got into the game for two drives, McCaughey (pronounced “Mc-Key”) for one.
EMU’s defense put the offense on the field with a fumble and return to Toledo’s 30-yard line, but Stuckey and the group couldn’t capitalize. Zock forced Stuckey to throw his first pass away, and later got to Stuckey (with teammate Isaac Prince) on a 12-yard sack on fourth-and-1.
On Stuckey’s next drive, he was hit as he misfired a short route to Prosper (roughing the passer, automatic first down), and completed a quick pass to Tanner Lemaster to move the chains. He immediately lost eight yards on a sack by an unblocked D-end (Ezra Odinjor), and lost two more yards on a completed screen pass to Joey Mattord. Stuckey scrambled and regained those 10 yards, but got sacked by four Rockets on fourth down for another turnover on downs.
The defense gave up a 42-yard run and brought the Toledo ball carrier down at the 2-yard line, then allowed just one more yard in its next four plays for a goal-line stand and turnover on downs at the 1. McCaughey, a single-year Yale transfer, showed the most life with his legs of any of the quarterbacks. He scrambled and broke off runs of 18 and 11 yards and completed a pair of passes for 12 (to backup running back XaVior Tyus) and 6 yards (to tight end Joshua Long).
Though his final play was the game’s last, and it just so happened to be a 10-yard sack. Go figure.
“When the two quarterbacks came in, they used their feet and had some productivity out of that,” Creighton said Monday during the week-opening press conference. “Concerning [we] weren't able to run it, and weren't able to protect, and then how we started the game after a really good week of preparation, you know, we just did not start well.”
Image via Eastern Michigan Athletics
The injury bug’s been hungry and active against EMU’s roster.
Or maybe “injury bug” isn’t the right term here. Maybe blaming the team’s issues on it being the only roster in the country that’s experienced playing eight (going on nine) games with no bye week. Maybe that’s just making excuses.
Still, EMU’s already had a season that’s put its depth on display, and now things might be even more pronounced with a, perhaps, necessary change at QB if Kim’s not fully healthy for Saturday with the team hits the road again to face Ohio (5-2, 3-0 MAC).
The offensive line hasn’t been fully healthy at all this season. Cole Dellinger at right guard hasn’t played since the second game of the year, and injuries have helped shuffle three different players at the right tackle spot. Left tackle Tyler Brumfield has clearly been playing through pain all year long, and even Guzzy Kayed, at left guard, has had to miss a game this year.
Receiver Nick Devereaux is said to be working toward his return to the field soon, but has already missed four games since he was an early exit during the Wisconsin road trip. Harold Mack had to miss a game due to injury this year, too.
Defensively, Barry Manning was an early exit from the field, and senior captain Zach Mowchan has been banged up the past few games, which has led to less and less of him on the field.
Carter Evans, Rayquan Adkins, Makhi Gilbert (limited lately), Jason Marshall (missed two games, limited lately), Caleb Coley (missed five games, exited vs. Toledo) have all had their bouts with the injury bug this season, too.
No team isn’t playing through pain at this point in the season, but EMU, the team that has played more football than anybody else in the nation, is most certainly feeling the schedule wear it down.
