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HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Morehead State football opens the 2010 campaign with one of the biggest tests the Eagles have faced since moving to non-scholarship. MSU will travel to Harrisonburg, Va. to face one-time Football Championship Subdivision national champion James Madison.
The Eagles have a new look and new attitude that coach
Matt Ballard says is completely different than in recent years and he’s hopeful that will lead to a reversal of fortunes from the 2009 season.
MSU is coming off a stellar defensive season when it ranked nationally first in tackles for loss, fourth in rushing defense and seventh in overall defense. The loss of three key defenders puts the responsibility for continuing the tradition of stifling defense on experienced players like
Jerome Raymond and
Mark Hall. The two defensive ends will be joined by an experienced pair of linebackers in
Keaton May and
Tony Bachman. D.J. Smith and
Kameron Scott anchor the secondary, a unit that has out-performed pre-camp expectations.
Many of the Morehead fans though, will be focused on the offense. While it was able to move the ball effectively at times last season, the Eagle offense had trouble scoring. A key to MSU’s turnaround, the offense has a new look and feel to it. Experienced running backs like
Desmond Cox and
Ronnie McDermott give leadership and up-and-coming wide outs
Donte Sawyer,
Jaison Yoshimura and
Andre Williams have shown a lot of promise. A lot of the preseason buzz is around sophomore quarterback
Zach Lewis. Lewis cut his teeth last year, learning the basics of Ballard’s offense and adjusting to the speed of the college game. Now the all-time leader in high school passing yards in Kentucky will take the reigns.
A full scholarship FCS program, JMU finished fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association race last season with an overall record of 6-5 and a CAA mark of 4-4. The Dukes, the 2004 national champion return 43 lettermen and 13 starters from last year’s team.