2018 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team

The 2018 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team represented Eastern Michigan University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Chris Creighton and played their home games at Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilanti, Michigan as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 7–6, 5–3 in MAC play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the West Division. They were invited to the Camellia Bowl where they lost to Georgia Southern.

2018 Eastern Michigan Eagles football
Camellia Bowl, L 21–23 vs. Georgia Southern
Conference	Mid-American Conference
	West Division
2018 record	7–6 (5–3 MAC)
Head coach	Chris Creighton (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Aaron Keen (2nd as OC; 5th overall season)
Defensive coordinator	Neal Neathery (3rd season)
Home stadium	Rynearson Stadium (Capacity: 30,200)

2018 Mid-American Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Buffalo x		7	–	1					10	–	4
Miami		6	–	2					6	–	6
Ohio		6	–	2					9	–	4
Akron		2	–	6					4	–	8
Bowling Green		2	–	6					3	–	9
Kent State		1	–	7					2	–	10
West Division
Northern Illinois x$		6	–	2					8	–	6
Western Michigan		5	–	3					7	–	6
Eastern Michigan		5	–	3					7	–	6
Toledo		5	–	3					7	–	6
Ball State		3	–	5					4	–	8
Central Michigan		0	–	8					1	–	11
Championship: Northern Illinois 30, Buffalo 29
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions

Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2017 season 5–7, 3–5 in MAC play to finish in fifth place in the West Division.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Rimington Trophy[1]	Dakota Tallman	C	SR
Chuck Bednarik Award[2]	Maxx Crosby	DE	JR
Doak Walker Award[3]	Ian Eriksen	RB	SR
Bronko Nagurski Trophy[4]	Maxx Crosby	DE	JR
Outland Trophy[5]	Jimmy Leatiota	OL	SR
Wuerffel Trophy[6]	Jeremy Hickey	OL	SR
Ted Hendricks Award[7]	Maxx Crosby	DE	JR

Preseason media poll

The MAC released their preseason media poll on July 24, 2018, with the Eagles predicted to finish in fourth place in the West Division.[8]

West Division
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Northern Illinois	133 (15)
2	Toledo	125 (7)
3	Western Michigan	87 (1)
4	Eastern Michigan	67
5	Central Michigan	58 (1)
6	Ball State	34

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	6:30 p.m.	Monmouth*	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI	ESPN+	W 51–17	14,357
September 8	12:00 p.m.	at Purdue*	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	BTN	W 20–19	47,661
September 15	6:00 p.m.	at Buffalo	UB Stadium Amherst, NY	ESPN+	L 28–35	18,384
September 22	10:30 p.m.	at San Diego State*	SDCCU Stadium San Diego, CA	CBSSN	L 20–23 ^OT	30,898
September 29	6:00 p.m.	Northern Illinois	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI	ESPN+	L 23–26 ^3OT	14,779
October 6	12:00 p.m.	at Western Michigan	Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI (Michigan MAC Trophy)	ESPN+	L 24–27	24,282
October 13	12:00 p.m.	Toledo	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI	ESPN+	W 28–26	17,998
October 20	3:00 p.m.	at Ball State	Scheumann Stadium Muncie, IN	ESPN+	W 42–20	14,022
October 27	12:00 p.m.	Army*	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI	CBSSN	L 22–37	22,627
November 3	12:00 p.m.	Central Michigan	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI (Michigan MAC Trophy/rivalry)	ESPN3	W 17–7	13,468
November 10	12:00 p.m.	Akron	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI	ESPN3	W 27–7	12,403
November 23	12:00 p.m.	at Kent State	Dix Stadium Kent, OH	ESPN3	W 28–20	6,125
December 15	5:30 p.m.	vs. Georgia Southern*	Crampton Bowl Montgomery, AL (Camellia Bowl)	ESPN	L 21–23	17,710
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

[9]

Game summaries

Monmouth

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawks	0	3	7	7	17
Eagles	13	17	14	7	51

at Purdue

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	3	0	10	20
Boilermakers	6	6	0	7	19

at Buffalo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	21	0	7	28
Bulls	14	14	0	7	35

at San Diego State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Eagles	3	7	7	3	0	20
Aztecs	3	14	0	3	3	23

Northern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
Huskies	3	10	0	0	7	0	6	26
Eagles	10	0	0	3	7	0	3	23

at Western Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	10	7	7	24
Broncos	7	7	0	13	27

Toledo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rockets	3	0	3	20	26
Eagles	21	7	0	0	28

at Ball State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	14	14	7	42
Cardinals	0	6	7	7	20

Army

	1	2	3	4	Total
Black Knights	3	13	7	14	37
Eagles	0	0	14	8	22

Central Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	0	7	0	0	7
Eagles	7	0	0	10	17

Akron

	1	2	3	4	Total
Zips	0	7	0	0	7
Eagles	7	0	0	17	24

at Kent State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	14	7	0	28
Golden Flashes	10	0	7	3	20

vs. Georgia Southern (Camellia Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
GASO Eagles	7	10	0	6	23
EMU Eagles	0	7	7	7	21

Eastern Michigan taking the field before the 2018 Camellia Bowl

Roster

2018 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 3 Aaron Jackson  Sr RB 5 Shaq Vann  Sr QB 7 Isaac Stiebeling So WR 8 Line Latu Jr QB 9 Mike Glass III  Jr QB 10 Preston Hutchinson  Fr WR 11 Isaac Holder  Jr QB 12 Tyler Wiegers  Sr WR 14 Carl Swopes Fr WR 15 Greg Jean  Fr WR 16 Lemar Harris  Sr WR 18 Keyan Marshall  So QB 19 Jarius Grissom Fr RB 20 Blake Banham (C)  Sr RB 22 Karmi Mackey Fr WR 23 Kevin Bradley Fr WR 24 Tanner Knue Fr RB 25 Ian Erikson  Sr RB 26 Willie Parker  So RB 27 Marc Hairston Fr RB 30 Bo Bell  Fr RB 33 Breck Turner  Jr RB 38 Dez Horne  Fr WR 40 Eddie Daugherty Sr FB 43 Tyler Lyle  So WR 44 Hassan Beydoun Fr FB 45 Ashton Clemons  Jr OL 50 Sam Dervil Sr OL 54 Ka'John Armstrong  Sr OL 56 Jimmy Leatiota Sr OL 57 Michael Smith  So OL 60 Mike Van Hoeven  So OL 62 Sidy Sow  Fr OL 64 Thomas Major III  Jr OL 65 Lucas Tesznar Fr OL 67 Jeremy Hickey  Sr OL 68 Alex Howie Fr OL 69 Jake Donnellon  So OL 70 Samari Saddler Fr OL 71 Marcellus Johnson Fr OL 74 Steve Nielsen Jr OL 75 Yannik Rohrschneider  Fr OL 76 Jim Gregory So OL 77 Brian Dooley Fr OL 78 Dakota Tallman  Sr WR 80 Dylan Drummond Fr WR 81 Quian Williams  Fr TE 82 Gunnar Oakes  Fr TE 83 Tre'Shawn Fields  Jr WR 84 Logan Giordano Fr TE 85 Thomas Odukoya Jr WR 86 Michael Thompson Jr WR 87 Mathew Sexton Jr TE 88 Bryce Hemp  Jr WR 89 Arthur Jackson III Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 1 Jalen Phelps Jr DB 3 Vince Calhoun Jr DB 4 Kevin McGill Jr LB 6 Jaylen Pickett Sr DB 7 Ikie Calderon Sr DB 9 Carthell Flowers  Fr LB 10 Kobie Beltram Jr DB 12 Jeff Hubbard So DB 13 Justin Moody Sr DB 14 Ross Williams  Sr DB 17 Robert Daniel Fr DB 21 Jordan Porter  So DB 23 Blake Bogan  Fr DB 24 Brody Hoying  Jr DB 28 Isaiah Watson Fr DB 29 Timarcus Simpson Fr DB 30 Rich Jones  So DB 31 Otis Jackson III Fr LB 32 Terry Myrick So LB 34 Konrad Dixon  Fr DB 35 Freddie McGee III  So DB 36 E. J. Williams  Fr DB 37 Kymani Brown So DB 38 Joey Hiser  Fr DB 39 Jerodd Vinces Fr DB 41 Russ Vaden IV  Fr LB 42 Tyrone Neal Jr LB 48 Matthew Buschman Fr LB 49 Desean Boyd  Fr LB 51 Kyle Rachwal  Sr DL 52 Desmond Kelly Jr DL 55 Ville Valasti Sr DL 58 Carter Stagner Fr DL 59 Thad Abram  Jr DL 61 Nicholas Gill So DL 63 Vince Boyd  Fr DL 66 Rafe Reyes Fr DL 73 Ty Eddington Jr DL 90 Jeremiah Harris  Sr DL 91 Clay Holford Sr DL 92 Maxx Crosby  Jr DL 93 Mikey Haney Fr DL 94 Hunter Andrews  Jr DL 95 Shawn Simeon Jr DL 96 Tyler LaBarbera Sr DL 97 C. J. Hunt  Fr DL 98 Marqualin Scott Jr DL 99 Turan Rush So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 18 Paulie Fricano  Jr K 21 Jesse Kelly Sr P 27 Vinnie Patteri Fr P 31 Jake Julien So P 34 Max Chaffee Fr K 44 Chad Ryland Fr LS 46 Steve Bird Fr LS 47 Drake Sutton  Jr	Head coach Chris Creighton Coordinators/assistant coaches Aaron Keen (Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks) Neal Neathery (Defensive Coordinator / Linebackers) Todd Frakes (Safeties / co-Recruiting Coordinator) Herb Haygood (Wide Receivers) Luke Meadows (Run Game Coordinator / Offensive Line) Ben Needham (Defensive Line) Jay Nunez (Special Teams Coordinator / co-Recruiting Coordinator) Jay Peterson (Running Backs) Fred Reed (Cornerbacks) Rob Reeves (Tight Ends) Dylan Saccone (Assistant AD for Football Operations) Brian Overholt (Video Coordinator) Casey Monahan (Graduate Assistant - Defense) Tevyn Stevenson (Graduate Assistant - Defense) Will Temizer (Assistant Recruiting Coordinator) Jason Daniels (Student Football Operations Assistant) Travis Hensley (Recruiting Assistant) Keaton Kelly (Offensive Quality Control) Robert McFadden III (Offensive Graduate Assistant) Vontrell King-Williams (Graduate Assistant - Recruiting Quality Control) Ryan Olson (Offensive Graduate Assistant) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: August 18, 2018

Players drafted into the NFL

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
4	106	Maxx Crosby	DE	Oakland Raiders

References

1. "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
2. "2018 Bednarik Award Watch List". July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
3. "2018 Doak Walker Award Candidates". July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
4. "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
5. "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
6. "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
7. "Preseason Watch List - 2018 edition of the Ted Hendricks Award" (PDF). August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
8. http://getsomemaction.com/news/2018/7/23/niu-ohio-picked-as-divisional-winners-in-2018-mac-football-media-preseason-poll.aspx
9. 2018 Eastern Michigan Eagles football schedule FBSchedules.com. Accessed April 11, 2018.