Keeping up with Jones
MSU fans and the Spartan defense will probably be tired of hearing the name Tyler Jones by the end of Saturday’s Eastern Michigan game. Against Ball State, Jones ran for 164 yards on 22 carries through three quarters of play. Oh, and he was 11-for-16 throwing the football for 146 yards. Yeah, that’s right…he’s the quarterback. Call him the Michael Vick of Ypsilanti.
Jim Carty of MLive.com reports that Jones makes Eastern Michigan football worth watching.
He was almost unstoppable, juking and darting his way through the Ball State defense like a mini-Michael Vick for runs of 41 and 30 yards and an average of 7.5 yards per carry.
“He’s got a little bit of IT,” Eastern Michigan coach Jeff Genyk said.
IT being that mix of talent, timing and heart that every coach wants in a quarterback.
Dave Dye of the Detroit News also mentions Jones in his Michigan State vs. Eastern Michigan keys to the game.
Michigan State’s biggest concern defensively is containing the running ability of Eastern Michigan quarterback Tyler Jones, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound sophomore from Belleville. Jones ran for 164 yards on 22 carries in an opening loss at Ball State. He lines up in the shotgun most of the time in an offense that resembles Northwestern’s. “If he had his druthers, pitch it or carry it, he’s going to carry it,” Spartans coach John L. Smith said. “When he’s coming on an option, you better take him away. He’s got a lot of confidence. He is a good football player — very athletic, very good feet.”
Jeff Arnold of MLive.com writes that EMU head coach Jeff Genyk was happy with the play of Jones, but wasn’t happy with what he saw from the Eagles defense.
Two extra days and several hours worth of film review backed up what Jeff Genyk suspected and Ball State’s scoreboard had so realistically portrayed.
For all of the preseason hype given to Eastern Michigan University’s experienced defensive line, last week’s 38-20 opening-night loss demonstrated there’s still much work to be done.
“I think they didn’t perform very well,” Genyk said Monday during his weekly news conference. “I think they didn’t make a lot of plays, and with (defensive tackle) Jason Jones and (defensive end) Kevin Howe, that’s kind of their forte - to make a lot of tackles for loss, and put pressure on the quarterback.”