What does it take to win the MAC?
A ground game almost unheard of in today’s era, a stout defense, a quarterback who had as many rushing touchdowns as passing touchdowns, a need for revenge, a little bit of luck.
That’s what it takes to win the Mid-American Conference (MAC) or at least that’s what it took in 1987 before the conference championship game was introduced in 1997.
Before Eastern Michigan became the Eagles in 1991 they were known as the Hurons and will be referred to as such in this article.
For the Eastern Michigan Hurons, 1987 will be known as their biggest triumph but behind the scenes is one of the best revenge tours in college football history. Just six weeks before the season started in 1984 six teams voted to expel Eastern Michigan from the MAC, but, before anything could be done the NCAA stepped in and rendered the vote moot. Eastern Michigan would stay in the conference and face the teams that believed they don’t belong.
In 1987, Eastern Michigan was tasked with facing all six of those teams that had voted them out becoming the ultimate revenge tour that ended in Eastern going 10-2 becoming Eastern’s most successful and only team in school history to win the MAC.
The Hurons 1987 season begins with head coach Jim Harkema who coached Eastern Michigan from 1983-1992. The year prior to Harkema taking over the Huron football team Eastern Michigan led the nation with 27 consecutive losses which was quickly snapped by Harkema in 1983. However, the good times weren’t forever as Harkema went a disappointing 41–57–5 during his tenure as head coach and had only one season with over 6 wins. That one season? The 1987 championship season when the Hurons went 10-2. Harkema spent three years from 1984 to 1987 developing his quarterback and star running back for their senior season and it paid off. Those two seniors went on to write themselves into the school's record books becoming two of the greatest players to ever put on the Eastern Michigan jersey.
The Players
Ron Adams, the senior quarterback, was the field general for the Hurons during the 1987 season. Adams was a dual threat QB throwing for 1,527 yards and six touchdowns while also adding 425 yards and another six touchdowns on the ground. He only attempted 202 passes the entire season completing just 107 for a completion percentage of just 52%.
Other teams in the conference at the time were throwing the ball 25-30 times a game but the Hurons only needed to throw it on average 17 times a game because of how dominant their run game was.
Adams' job was essential: Make defenses respect the pass + make plays with his legs + don't turn the ball over constantly. But he could make the big throws Eastern needed when called upon.
The running back room dominated from top to bottom rushing for 225 yards a game and three touchdowns a game.
Senior running back Gary Patton was the main ball carrier for the Eagles in 1987 as the speedy tailback. Patton rushed for 1,242 yards on the season averaging 103.5 yards per game. Patton scored 13 touchdowns that season and over his four year career wrote his name in the schools record books as the all time leader in scrimmage yards.
Patton was paired with Bob Foster, another dominant piece of the puzzle as the powerback who helped capitalize on close range scoring opportunities for the Huron’s. Foster rushed for 525 yards on the season adding 11 more touchdowns on the ground. The Hurons rushed for over 225 yards a game during the season stomping through anyone who got in their way.
The wide receiving core didn’t have much to do but Mark Ziegler and Craig Ostrander added another 866 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns to the mix. With the Hurons being a very run dominant team the receivers were expected to throw the necessary blocks to ensure that the backs had space to run, and with the run game completely dominating other teams defenses there was no real need to throw the ball consistently.
There were many stars on the defensive side of the ball as well. The Huron’s defense controlled the line of scrimmage and made it very difficult for opponents to run the football. Instead, forcing opponents to go through the air where their First-Team All-MAC defensive back Charles Gordon was waiting.
The sophomore Charles Gordon was just one of the defensive stars for the Hurons, recording a team leading five interceptions during the season while also returning punts for the special teams unit. Gordon received honorable mention All-American recognition from the Associated Press and was named a Third-Team All-American by The Football News during the 1987 season.
Gordon wasn’t the only defensive threat; he was paired in the secondary with John Stoitsiadis who added another two interceptions to the team's total of eight. Defensive Backs Tom Menard and Brian Carter along with the linebackers Keith Bertram and Scott Jurek were also a huge part of the suffocating defense the Hurons had.
Unfortunately, their statistics are lost because the NCAA did not start keeping track of defensive metrics until 2000.
The Games
Prior to the season starting Harkema gave this Huron team a nickname “The Road Warriors” because the team had to play five of its eight conference games away from Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilaniti. “The Road Warriors” would go 4-1 on the road during conference play because the team just found ways to win.
In 1987, the Hurons won all but two games both losses coming on the road against Central Michigan and Akron. Both games were low scoring and defensive slugfests as compared to the high scoring fast paced play the Hurons normally played with.
For the first game of the season Eastern opened with a 35-20 victory over Youngstown State before they got on the road.
The Hurons had lots of firsts during the 1987 season which included beating Miami for the first time in school history. The reigning MAC champions were one of the six teams that had voted to expel Eastern from the MAC becoming the Hurons first team crossed off the list on their revenge tour.
The Hurons traveled to Oxford and rushed for 276 yards on the ground, while Adams completed nine passes for 145 yards. The Hurons dominated every statistical category winning 33-17 with 421 yards of total offense. The win pushed the team to 2-0 completing step one on the revenge tour and they were just getting started.
The Hurons would then lose their next game, a non-conference game to a future MAC school the Akron Jackrabbits, before bouncing back against Kent State winning a gritty 23-21 cage match earning their second win against a team that had voted to expel them.
A week later the Hurons returned to Ypsilanti to take on another future MAC opponent in Northern Illinois. Once again the Hurons would win a close one 32-31 becoming 4-1 on the season and having the best record through five games in school history.
Central Michigan would squeak out a 16-6 win against the Hurons one week later in front of a crowd of 25,906 people, the most attended game for the Hurons all season. Central Michigan was not one of the teams that voted to expel Eastern but was also not one of the teams that voted that they should stay. Instead Central abstained from the vote and were not on the official hit list for the MAC revenge tour.
But just seven days later came the next team on the list. The Hurons returned to Rynerson Stadium to take on Ball State in another tightly contested clash. The Hurons would go down 14-3 at halftime before scoring 32 second half points for the 35-28 victory. The game was highlighted by the dominance of Gary Patton who ran for four scores and 225 yards, setting EMU's career mark for touchdowns. With the Eagles down 28-27 with just four minutes to play in the fourth quarter QB Ron Adams gave up his body to throw a block for Patton who was cutting back around after finding no space on the outside. This block gave Patton enough space to go 72 yards untouched to the end zone for the go ahead score. The win pushed them to 5-2 on the season.
Western Michigan was the next team on the schedule as the Hurons traveled to Kalamazoo to face one of the two schools that voted not to expel them from the MAC. The game would be another tightly knit contest with “The Road Warriors” staying true to their nickname and squeaking out a 23-17 win and tying the previous season's win total at six.
On Halloween night the Hurons ran Ohio straight out of Ypsilanti after a 34-16 dismantling taking down yet another school on the revenge tour hitlist. This was Eastern’s fifth conference win which was the most in school history since joining the MAC.
Just five days later Eastern marched into Toledo to take on the Rockets on Thursday night with the game being televised on ESPN. This game was to ensure that they would not be sharing the MAC title at the end of the season. The Hurons dominated the game winning 38-9 and racking up 521 yards of total offense. At the time the win at the Glass Bowl was just the second time Eastern had beaten Toledo on the road. Gary Patton had a smaller role on the evening but ran for 70 yards giving him 3,287 career rushing yards to set the EMU record, and offensive lineman Brian Clouse recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.
The Hurons offense scored 17 more points than their average throughout the season on Thursday night primetime and the defense held Toledo to just nine points, ten points less than their 19 points a game average during the 1987 season. Eastern Michigan dominated every aspect of the game completely shutting down the Rockets and the victory pushed “The Road Warriors” to 8-2.
Eastern Michigan won five of its six conference away games and with just one game left to play the Hurons returned home to face the last of the six teams that had voted to expel them just three years prior. Bowling Green was in town hoping to prevent the Hurons from becoming outright MAC Champions. Their hope quickly vanished as 20,000 fans watched the Hurons take down the Falcons 38-18 completing the revenge tour and winning the MAC outright as its champions.
Some of the highlighted play includes a Charles Gordon pick-6 who returned it 70 yards, while quarterback Ron Adams added another score on the ground. Bobby Foster also tacked on a rushing touchdown helping the Hurons distance themselves from the Falcons in a 20 point win.
The fans also got in on the action as they hopped over barriers and fences before the game was even finished as they began celebrating the momentous occasion. With time left on the clock the fans stormed the field and managed to tear down a goalpost as they celebrated becoming champions along with the fact that they were going to be going to the California Bowl to face San Jose State, in the school's first bowl game as Division 1 and first since 1971.
The Hurons ended the regular season on a five game winning streak, winning seven conference games, the most in school history, and scoring 30 or more points in four of those last five games. This was an abnormal season for the Hurons and it wasn’t done yet.
The California Bowl
The Hurons would face the San Jose State Spartans in the California Bowl on December 12 in Fresno, California. Although the game was considered neutral, “The Road Warriors” would once again have to go on the road and find a way to win with a lot of determination and a little bit of luck. The game was set almost a month after beating Bowling Green in the final game of the regular season. The Spartans known for their high flying offense were expected to win with analysts making the Hurons 17 point underdogs. What analysts didn’t understand was nothing was going to stop the Hurons from getting their happy ending.
There were many players who had outstanding performances against the Spartans but only a few were mentioned. Gary Patton was named MVP of the California Bowl for his dominant display of 146 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground while Bob Foster added another two rushing touchdowns. Kicker Tim Henneghan was clutch for the Hurons hitting a 42 yard field goal and three extra points to keep the Hurons close with the Spartans. But in the end it was the Ron Adams' 31-yard touchdown throw to Craig Ostrander with just under four minutes to play in the fourth quarter that will be remembered.
The touchdown gave the Hurons the 30-27 victory and saved the MACs affiliation with the bowl game as the last three MAC teams that had played in the bowl game had been blown out by their Pacific Coast Athletic Association counterparts.
In The End
This truly was the culmination of every struggle that Eastern Michigan had gone through since becoming a Division 1 school. From having a 27 game losing streak in 1982, to almost getting kicked out of conference in 1984, Eastern Michigan’s 1987 championship season is truly a story of belief, determination, and magic. A fairy tale ending to a season that was not built in favor of the Hurons. A season that could’ve gone a completely different direction just like every other season Eastern had. So what was the difference? What allowed this team to save their program and prove to the rest of the MAC that they belonged? Well, it took a intense offensive attack led by the star running back, a quarterback that ran just as much as well as he threw the ball, a defense that owned the line of scrimmage, a need for revenge, and a whole lot of luck.
