2014 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team


The 2014 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team represented Eastern Michigan University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Eagles, led by first year head coach Chris Creighton, played their home games at Rynearson Stadium and were members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 2–10, 1–7 in MAC play to finish in last place in the West Division.
This season saw Eastern Michigan play on a new gray FieldTurf surface at Rynearson Stadium. The facility was only the second in FBS with a non-traditional field color, after Albertsons Stadium at Boise State, and only the sixth such facility in all of college football. EMU Football has nicknamed the field at Rynearson Stadium "The Factory" and installed a new tradition of knocking down a cinder block wall before homes games. The new coach has also had the ROTC cannon removed, which traditionally fires off after an EMU score.

Awards

Preseason
Hustlebelt.com Preseason Top 50
Doak Walker Award Candidate
College Football Performance Awards Watch List
Athlon Sports Preseason All-MAC 1st Team
Athlon Sports Preseason All-MAC 3rd Team
Phil Steele Preseason All-MAC 1st Team
Phil Steele Preseason All-MAC 3rd Team
Lombardi Award Watch List
John Mackey Award Watch List
Regular Season
MAC West Division Special Teams Player of the Week

Week 1

Eastern Michigan vs Morgan State
EMU at Florida
The contest marked the first loss of the season for the Green and White as well as the first with Head Coach Chris Creighton. Meanwhile, UF snapped a seven-game losing skid to improve to 1–0 after having its game a week earlier cancelled due to weather. Five turnovers hurt the Eagles as the offense picked up 125 yards. Brogan Roback went 5-for-10 as Eastern used three different quarterbacks throughout the day. EMU starting quarterback Reginald Bell was the team's leading rusher alongside Tyler Allen as both Eagles ran for 20 yards on the ground, with all of Bell's coming in the opening half. Tyreese Russell caught two passes for 20 yards, while Dustin Creel added 16 yards receiving on two catches.
On the defensive side of the ball, Great Ibe and Ray Tillman tallied a team-high 11 tackles. Tillman's double-digit day set a career best, tying the amount of tackles he recorded throughout the entire 2013 season. Reigning Mid-American Conference West Special Teams Player of the Week Nathan Adams also chipped in on defense, making a tackle behind the line of scrimmage on a Florida fourth down play in the red zone.
Florida's Jeff Driskel went 31-for-45 for 248 yards, while backup quarterback Treon Harris completed a pair of passes for 148 yards. Demarcus Robinson led the receiving corps with six catches for 123 yards, including a 70-yards touchdown reception. The Gators chalked up 259 yards rushing as well for a total of 655 yards from scrimmage on the day. The final score was 0–65. Eagles were kept off the scoreboard for the first time in 69 games, dating back to September 27, 2008, against Northern Illinois University.

Week 3

EMU at Old Dominion

Off-field issues

The Friday before the Morgan State game, three EMU football players where charged with assault. The players where Darius Scott, Quincy Jones and Jay Jones. Scott, 22, of Chicago, is a senior defensive back from Simeon Academy. Quincy Jones, 20, is a junior wide receiver from Cleveland. and Jay Jones is a redshirt junior wide receiver from Palm Coast, Florida. The charges stem from an assault that took place at 12:49 p.m. Friday at Huron River Drive and LeForge Road, EMU Police records show. The players didn't play and weren't listed on the team's official depth chart for Saturday's game against Morgan State. According to records the three players were beating the cousin of the man who shot and killed Demarius Reed last year. Demarius Reed was a WR for Eastern Michigan, who was shot and killed during the 2013 football season.