25 Questions About the Colonels

They were once the Leopards

What is their body of work?

EKU has a long history of competitive FCS football. They have won 2 national championships and 16 conference championships.  They were coached by the legendary Roy Kidd, who is not in the College Football Hall of Fame. Mark Elder was their first coach since the 1950s not to win a conference championship.  He was replaced by Walt Wells, who then had a cardiac issue and couldn't coach the opener.  It would appear from the game notes that Wells will not coach Saturday.

They played EMU tough last week.  They were down 28-10 in the mid-3rd but then cut the lead to 8 with 7 minutes left.  They traded scores from there and it was 42-34 final. This is the sixth meeting between BG and EKU--the Colonels lead the series 3-2.  (UPDATE:  Thank you to alert commenters who pointed out BG played EKU in 2018 when Jinks was coach.  BG won 42-35 with EKU on the BG 15 to end the game.)

So, EKU has played in the OVC and the WAC and now is in the Atlantic Sun, which is adding football.

How experienced are they?

They have 28 juniors and seniors on the depth chart, which is a lot. They added 13 transfers.

Who are their pre-season all-conference players?

Note:  there is only a first team and Matthew Jackson, LB, was the pre-season ASUN defensive player of the year.

OL | Payton Collins, Eastern Kentucky, So., Columbus, Ohio

C | Howard Watkins Jr., Eastern Kentucky, Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio

DL | Kelton Dawson, Eastern Kentucky, Sr., Stockbridge, Ga.

LB | *Matthew Jackson, Eastern Kentucky, Sr., Nashville, Tenn.

LB | Eli Hairston, Eastern Kentucky, Jr., Columbus, Ohio

DB | Joseph Sayles, Eastern Kentucky, Sr., Alpharetta, Ga.

What is their turnover ratio? 

They were even last week, and +3 last year.

Offense

How is their QB play?

He was just OK last year, 5th in his conference in passing efficiency.  He had a big game against EMU last week, going 35 of 51 for 351 yards, 3 TD and 1 INT.  He is a dual-threat QB.  PFF says he made five "big time throws" last week.

What is their scoring and yards per play

Last year, they scored 28 a game, which is OK.  They had 34 against EMU on 6.2 yards per play, which is really good.

University President Who Chose
Colonels, Known as Hogjowls.

Can they run the ball?

They averaged 5 a carry against EMU, but much of that was McKinney.  On a yards per carry average, they have not had strong backs last year or this year to date.

Do they pass the ball?

As noted above, they weren't great last year but passed it on EMU. Their TE, Dakota Allen, was 9-118 and 2 TD. (Update:  He was the QB for EKU in their 2018 game at the Doyt).

How is their run/pass balance?

They passed on 65% of their plays, which is really high.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

They were 12-18 last week, which is good.  They were relatively average last year.

Do they score in the red zone?

Three TDs and 1 FG in 5 trips last week. 

Do they protect the quarterback?

They do.  It was about 1 sack per game last year and only gave up 1 sack in 52 passing attempts last week.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play

They were decent on defense last year, about the top third of the FCS. They allowed 25 PPG and 5.6 yards per play. EMU put 42 up on them with 6.2 yards per play.  EKU outgained EMU by 100 yards overall.

Colonel John Miller, founder of
Richmond, KY and Revolutionary War Officer.

Do they defend the run effectively?

They were tough to run agains last year, about the top third in FCS.  EMU's overall rushing was 3.8 per carry but their lead backs were over 6 per carry.

Can they be passed on?

Same, about the top third.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

They were pretty good, holding opponents to 37%.  EMU was 6 of 11.

Do they defend in the red zone?

They were really good last year but gave EMU 5 red zone TDs in 5 trips.

Do they pressure the QB?

They had 3 sacks on 33 pass attempts, which is pretty good.

Special Teams:

Punting?

They had poor punting last week, 33 per kick.

Punt Return?

Last year, their punt return was former Falcon Matt Wilcox, Jr. who went on to a solid career for EKU.

They did not return a kick last week.

Placekicking? 

He was 12 of 16 last year, 8 of 9 inside 40. He made 2-2 last week and has a career long of 51.

Kickoff? 

Not great.  Opponents started on their 27.

Kickoff Return?

They started last year on their 20.

Intangible Miscellany

So, a few things.  First, word on the street is the Jakari Robinson practiced with the 1s...that would seem to indicate his waiver is in, but who knows.

Also, we will wait to see if everyone is healthy.  BG doesn't discuss injuries (or Jakari Robinson's waiver) until game time, so we don't know.  I noticed Walter Haire in particular helped off the field on Saturday.

This is no gimmee.  EMU is picked to be better than BG this year, and EKU outgained them by a 100 and only lost by 8.  It goes without saying the BG will not win if they don't get better offensive play than they did at UCLA.  By the way, I understand it was UCLA, but the opponent doesn't cause you to mis-run routes and overthrow open receivers.  BG simply must move the ball effectively to win.  My hope is that we will respond to our humbling Saturday with a more focused performance, but I don't have confidence in these guys yet.

It is a must-win game for the Coach.  It is hard to see us getting to 6 without this win--you'd almost have to win the division to do it. To have any hope for the season, this game has to be won.  We will see how they react.