Eastern Michigan Football: Offense will be key to bowl game in 2021

Offense has the chance to be the best so far in Creighton’s tenure

One of the bigger surprises in the shortened MAC season was the development of Eastern Michigan’s offense. The Eagles had struggled on that side of the ball for a few seasons, but last year proved to be a breakthrough on that side of the ball and a lot of that can be put on the development of quarterback Preston Hutchinson.

Hutchinson has been in the program for five seasons and he finally got his opportunity last fall and made the most of it. Hutchinson threw for nearly 1,700 yards with 12 touchdowns. He was also a great dual-threat and kept the defense honest with his ability to run. Hutchinson was great last fall and should be even better with a year of experience under his belt.

The running game will be led by Hutchinson at quarterback and Darius Boone Jr. Boone Jr was a pretty solid back last season and will hope to be even better this season. The running game was not the strength of the team last season and it will be the part of the offense that develops into a strength this season and I think that is a possibility.

The top two receivers from the team last season, Hassan Beydoun and Tanner Knue, are back again and with Hutchinson getting better at quarterback, the receivers should only improve as well. Depth is a concern though and some other guys will have a lot to prove outside of the top two guys.  A guy to look out for will be tight end Thomas Odukoya, who has solid receiving skills and is a good blocker. I think Odukoya is the breakout candidate on offense.

The strength of the offense will be the massive offensive line that the Eagles have. All five starters return on what might be the conference’s best line. Sidy Sow and Brian Dooley are the names to watch up front.