The Eastern Michigan University football team took the field for the first time in 2012 for its traditional green and white spring game.
Senior quarterback Alex Gillett played well with more poise and accuracy in the pocket, throwing just three incompletions on the day.
“This Spring, we really emphasized working on my accuracy,” Gillett said. “Last year we were a really heavy running team – running the ball on more than half our plays. This year if it works, we would like to be a more balanced attack on offense.”
Gillett, who is entering his final season with the team, said he was optimistic about all the improvements that have happened since his freshman year.
“We just need to keep continuing to move up and up, and just keep winning and improving from the last season,” Gillett said.
Fourth-year Coach Ron English said he liked what he saw on the field but there is still room for growth.
“The worst thing I saw out there today was eyes on the defense,” English said. “We need to keep our eyes up. I was impressed by the amount of snaps we had today, we had about 80 snaps out there, which is more than we have done in all our practices, and conditioning looked great.”
The highlight of the day was sophomore running back and return specialist Tyler Allen returning a kick all the way for a touchdown.
“He runs straight downhill with the ball, and he is a deadly kick returner for us and we hope for him to be a weapon for us this season,” English said.
Many previous players showed up to the game including ex-NFL players, such as two-time Superbowl winner Ron Jonson, former Lions quarterback Charlie Batch, Barry Stokes and Jason Jones.
English said he was confident going into this fourth year as head coach of the team and building the program.
“We have a lot of depth up front on the offense line,” English said. “I liked how our quarterbacks played, and they have been improving their accuracy. We are developing depth at every position.”
English also said he thinks this could be the year for his team.
“I do believe we can win the MAC this season,” he said. “We just have to keep working on improving in this offseason and getting better.”
The team officially opens its 2012 season at home Sept. 8 against Illinois State.
