Football Opens 2007 with a 27-3 Setback at Pittsburgh

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PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Eastern Michigan University football team opened the 2007 season with a 27-3 setback to the University of Pittsburgh in a non-conference game Saturday evening here at Heinz Field. The Panthers tallied 328 yards of total offense compared to just 145 for the Eagles.

With the victory Pitt improve to 1-0, while the Eagles drop to 0-1 on the season.

Sophomore quarterback Andy Schmitt (St. John's Mich.-St. John's) completed 16-of-27 passes for 106 yards. Senior Pierre Walker (Detroit, Mich.-Central) led the Eagles rushing attack with 11 carries for 30 yards. Defensively, junior Daniel Holtzclaw (Enid, Okla.-Enid) led Eastern with 10 tackles, while sophomore Chris May (Jupiter, Fla.-Dwyer) added nine tackles.

The Panthers were led by junior quarterback Bill Stull who was 14-of-20 for 177 yards and a touchdown before leaving in the third quarter with an injury to his throwing hand. Freshman running back LeSean McCoy rushed for 68 yards while sophomore Shane Brooks rushed for 12 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Eastern Michigan got on the board first with 3:30 left in the first quarter as redshirt freshman Sean Dutcher (Owosso, Mich.-Owosso) split the uprights for a 27-yard field goal to give the Eagles an early 3-0 advantage. However, Pittsburgh quickly drove 65 yards in five minutes before Shane Brooks scampered into the end zone for a touchdown with 1:26 left in the quarter to give the Panthers the 7-3 edge.

Following an EMU turnover the Panthers expanded the margin to 11 points, 14-3, as Bill Stull connected with Oderick Turner for a 21-yard touchdown strike with 14:05 remaining in the second quarter.

The Green and White strung together a 14 play, 49 yard drive midway through the second period, however the drive stalled at the 23 yard-line. Dutcher once again was called upon to put points on the board but his 40-yard field goal attempt was just short.

That was all the scoring the rest of the period as the defense for both sides stepped up to limit the opposing offense. For the period the Eagles racked up 96 total yards compared to 154 for Pitt.

Following the intermission, the Panthers marched 60 yards in 11 plays before Brooks capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown dive with 5:49 left in the third quarter. Pittsburgh would take on a pair of late field goals to equal the game's final margin of 24, 27-3.

The Eagles return to Ypsilanti, Mich. next Saturday, Sept. 8, to open the Mid-American Conference portion of the schedule against West Division foe Ball State University. Game time is set for noon at EMU's Rynearson Stadium. The game is billed as Eagle Nation Day; at halftime of the contest EMU will celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the 1987 California Bowl Championship.

Postgame Quotes:

Eastern Michigan Head Coach Jeff Genyk
"I thought we played very hard and ran around out there with a purpose tonight. I was very pleased with our game plan and the way we attacked them, but when it comes right down to it we didn't make enough plays. We had a couple balls slip through our fingers, a couple tipped passes we couldn't intercept and those are plays we have to make if we want to win. I think it sums up our night that we caused a fumble on an inside blitz and two of our guys have it at one point, but Pitt eventually ends up with it."

"Our defense was excellent for the first three quarters. We had a good fit at the line of scrimmage. We tackled well and were really able to contain their running game. We wore down as the game went on though, particularly at the start of the fourth quarter when our offense had three straight three and outs at a point when we really wanted to give our defense a breather. We couldn't contain Gus Mustakas by the end. He's a heck of a player and we didn't have an answer for him."

"A game like this is significant because you can only replicate so much in practice. We have two wide receivers with tremendous hands, who dropped passes tonight. We have an excellent ball-hawking middle linebacker who dropped an interception at the end of the second quarter. That's not something that's going to happen every week, but you need to play a game like this so you can get up to speed and get the mistakes out of your system."

EMU Quarterback Andy Schmidt
"Our offense was prepared coming into the game, but we weren't the same team out there that we'd been for the last four weeks of practice. We left a lot of plays on the field that we had the opportunity to make, but just couldn't come through. I think we're a much better team than we showed out there tonight."

"The mistakes weren't due to a lack of preparation or anything like that. I think it was just first game jitters for some of our guys. They're good players though and I'm sure they'll bounce back."

"I was fired up after we scored the first points of the game. I really wanted a touchdown but even after settling for a field goal, I thought we were looking good and were in a good position to challenge in the game. For whatever reason we just couldn't make the plays down the stretch when we needed to."

"I can take quite a bit out of this game as a player but also as a leader on this team. I think personally I may not have been aggressive enough or taken enough shots down the field. We need to learn when to pick our spots to take some chances."

EMU Running Back Pierre Walker
"Pitt used the line-up and strategy we thought they would coming in; a base D with very few blitzes. We were prepared but I think we could have been a little more physical with them, especially early on when the game was still up for grabs. That wasn't the same team we'd been for the last four weeks of camp and I'm confident we'll show that in our next game."

"There's no big strategy for recuperating after this. You just look at the film, correct your mistakes and try to get back to basics."

"As a leader for the running backs and for the offense, I tried to instill a mentality coming in that there wasn't anything special about Pitt just because they played in the Big East. I told everyone that Pitt's just football players like us, who put their pads on the same as us, breathe the same air that we do, live on the same planet that we do. We had to eliminate any sort concerns about who they were and just play football. I wanted everyone to think the only difference between Pitt and Ball State is that Pitt doesn't play in our conference."

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Team Stats

Andy Schmitt

Tyler Jones

Players Mentioned

Sean Dutcher

Daniel Holtzclaw

Chris May

Andy Schmitt

Pierre Walker

Players Mentioned

Sean Dutcher

Daniel Holtzclaw

Chris May

Andy Schmitt

Pierre Walker

Eastern Michigan Athletics