Football: A Look at the Rockets' Sixth Opponent - Eastern Michigan
8/23/2000 12:00:00 PM | Football
Aug. 23, 2000
The Eastern Michigan University football team will have a new look and a new attitude when the Eagles open the 2000 season.
The Eagles have a new man at the helm in Head Coach Jeff Woodruff, and the first-year head man has already instilled a pride in the player ranks with "Every Man United" (EMU) as the theme for the football team.
"There is no doubt that you build a program with pride and excitement, and we have encouraged our team in those two areas," Woodruff said. "The first thing that will catch your attention about our team is the discipline and organization on the field. Those were the first things that the players noticed. The expectations have been raised and we have demanded a lot more from the players, but they are excited and working hard with smiles on their faces.
"There is a mutual respect for each other and we are definitely going to have a 'team' concept," Woodruff added.
EMU Athletics Director Dave Diles named Woodruff head coach, Dec. 15, 1999, when Rick Rasnick's contract was not renewed after a four-year stint as head man.
"Jeff Woodruff brings a lot of excitement and enthusiasm into his new role as Eastern Michigan University's new head football coach," Diles said when naming Woodruff to the position last December. "He has been a major part of several top intercollegiate football programs during his career, including a national championship team at the University of Washington, and we feel that success will carry over in leading the EMU football program into the future."
Woodruff joined EMU after spending the previous two years as an assistant coach at the University of Arizona and his entire coaching background is jam-packed with success.
A native of Kent, Ohio, Woodruff was a football letterwinner at Kent State University before earning his bachelor's degree in 1979.
He began his coaching career as a tight ends coach and graduate assistant on the Kent football staff in 1979. Woodruff joined the University of Washington football staff as a graduate assistant coach from 1980-82 before moving on to the University of Nevada-Reno as the secondary coach and recruiting coordinator in 1983. He returned to the University of Washington staff in 1984 as quarterbacks coach, moving up to the offensive coordinator position in 1992. While at Washington, Woodruff was a part of the staff that helped the 1991 Washington team win the national championship. After leaving in 1994, Woodruff became the head football coach at Cholla High School in Tucson, Arizona before joining the University of Arizona staff as an assistant in 1998.
During his coaching career, Woodruff has been on football staffs that have participated in 13 post-season bowl games, including the Holiday Bowl (1998), Rose Bowl (1980, 1982, 1991, 1992, 1993), Freedom Bowl (1985,1989), Independence Bowl (1987), Sun Bowl (1986), Orange Bowl (1985), Aloha Bowl (1984) and Holiday Bowl (1998).
Woodruff is expected to bring that success rate to an EMU program that has had just one winning season in the past five years.
The 2000 Eagles have plenty of experience to lead the way with a total of 40 lettermen returning.
"We were happy with the way our spring drills went, but we know that we need to find depth at several positions and the new players will provide that help. Overall, our team speed is good but we need to develop more team strength."
OFFENSE
There is one area that Woodruff feels comfortable about and that is quarterback, where senior Walter Church (6-4, 225, Sr.) is back to direct the offense.
"Walter Church is our guy," Woodruff said. "Walter is an experienced signal caller with a chance to really grow in our offense with the help of Quarterbacks Coach Cary Conklin. Walt will be given every opportunity to finish his career the way it started and he has all the tools to do that. We also feel that Troy Edwards (6-2, 199, So.) is the type of athlete that fits what we're doing."
Church enters his senior season with three school records already in his possession and with several more in his sights. He has completed 569-of-1,042 passes for 6,816 yards and 32 touchdowns in his 29-game EMU career. He started 10 times in 1999 and finished the season with 2,015 yards passing on 178-of-332 pass attempts and eight touchdowns.
Pushing Church for a starter's role will be sophomore Edwards who was pressed into action as a "true" freshman late in the '99 season when Church was injured. Edwards played in two games and completed 29-of-46 passes for 389 yards and started and played the distance in a 31-21 win over Ball State.
The running game accounted for just 909 total yards last year and Woodruff, a running backs coach at Arizona for the past two seasons, will make sure that the run gets more emphasis in 2000.
The top rusher from '99, Eric Powell (5-10, 218, Jr.) gained 583 yards last year and returns. Pushing Powell for starting time will be converted wide receiver John White (6-3, 207,Jr.). White, a high school tailback, played wide receiver his first two EMU seasons and was switched back to his natural position for the 2000 spring drills. He scored three touchdowns and rushed for 89 yards in the final intrasquad of the spring to give the Eagles a new look at that position.
Pushing Powell and White will be letterman Rich Schutt (5-9, 182, So.).
The offense has seven returning starters and most of those players are back in the trenches.
Left tackle John Grabowski (6-6, 300, Jr.) joins left guard Luis Garcia (6-1, 297, Sr.), right guard Cory Annett (6-2 1/2, 296, Jr.) and Craig Cipa (6-5, 283, Sr.) as regulars along the front. Woodruff has moved Annett into the center's spot vacated by four-year letterman and three-year starter, Tom Michel.
The receiving corps lost its top two pass catchers from the '99 roster, Brandon Campbell (53 catches for 764 yards) and Jermaine Sheffield (39 catches for 656 yards) but a total of eight lettermen are back at the wide receiver and tight end positions. Tailback Powell was third on the team in receptions last year with 30 out of the backfield while Kenny Christian (6-1, 198, Jr.) hauled in 23 from a wide receiver spot.
Other returning receivers include veteran tight end Matt Kelly (6-3 1/2, 246, Sr.) along with wide outs Jamal Stevens (5-11, 182, Jr.), Kevin Walter (6-3, 208, So.), Keijuan Douglas (5-5 1/2, 184, Sr.), Erik Ibom (6-1 1/2, 202, Jr.), Vince Nasca (6-2,194,So.) and Adrian Barbera (6-1, 206, Sr.).
The kicking game could be one of the strongest areas of the team with three-year starting punter Nick Avondet (6-0, 177, Sr.) joining last year's regular placekicker Toller Starnes (5-7 1/2, 197, Jr.) and long snapper Carson Dach (6-0 1/2, 250, So.) in the starting lineup. Starnes booted 17-of-21 field goals and added 24-of-25 extra-point kicks to lead the '99 Eagles in scoring with 75 points. Dach came in as a freshman last year and handled all of the long snapping duties with tremendous accuracy.
DEFENSE
Defensively EMU returns seven starters, including four of the top five tacklers from '99.
The linebacking duo of Scott Russell (6-1, 231, Jr.) and Jason Short (6-4, 227, Sr.) has been in the starting lineup for the past two seasons and will return to hold down the inside positions. Russell finished second on the team in tackles last year with 105 total tackles from his strong inside linebacker post while Short was fourth with 97 tackles from his weak inside spot.
Junior outside linebacker Kenny Philpot (6-1 1/2, 238, Jr.) started all 11 games in '99 and responded with 97 tackles, including 20 tackles for a loss of 87 yards and six sacks for 45 yards lost.
Four standouts from '99 are back in action on the defensive front with senior James Turner (6-1 1/2, 272) joining Nik Buckmeier (6-3 1/2, 272, Jr.), Jari Brown (6-4, 244, Jr.), Jeremaine Kyles (6-2, 285, Sr.) and Elliott Daniels (6-0 1/2, 231, So.) set to provide one of the strongest fronts in the Mid-American Conference.
Buckmeier, Turner, Kyles and Brown all started at least five games last season and were a highly efficient crew. Two of last year's top lineman, Ashley Travis and Tarance Simmons, both graduated.
The secondary will have the most gaps to fill this year after starting cornerbacks Lincoln Dupree and Isaac Shipp along with free safety Donald "Blake" McCall all graduated.
One bright spot in the backfield will be the return of Clifton Robinson (6-0 1/2, 200, Sr.) who missed the entire '99 season with an injury. Robinson was a three-year regular at linebacker before missing last season and could be a factor in one of the safety posts.
Strong safety London Lindsey (5-9 1/2, 190, Jr.) joins James Willingham (5-8, 177, Sr.) to give the Eagles a veteran presence in the deep secondary. Lindsey started eight games last year and Willingham earned four starts. Lindsey was fifth on the team in tackles with 88.
SCHEDULE
Woodruff was not only pleased with spring practice but is looking forward to what he feels is a good schedule for his rookie season at the helm.
"This is a great schedule for us," Woodruff said of the 2000 Eagles' slate. "The fact that we open with two home games, with a non-conference first game, is great. After that opener against UCONN we play a Miami team that has a great reputation. From there we go on the road to play two teams, Temple and South Carolina, that everyone has heard of. We follow that up against a strong Central Florida team at home before going back full time into league play."
After that five-game start, the Eagles will move into full MAC mode with the final six games counting for the championship race.
The 2000 MAC race will once again be split into divisions with the East and West champions meeting in the MAC Playoff game, Dec. 1, in Huntington, West Virginia. The winner of that playoff will advance to the Motor City Bowl in late December 27 at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan.
