The Eastern Michigan football team will play CMU on Saturday without the player who orchestrated back-to-back upsets against the Chippewas.

Senior quarterback Andy Schmitt went down with a torn ACL in the team’s 45-17 loss against Michigan on Sept. 19.

Prior to his injury, Schmitt was 51-for-81 passing for 428 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions.

Taking his place will be junior Kyle McMahon, who started the conference opener last week against Temple, but came away with a 24-12 loss.

“We know all about McMahon,” said coach Butch Jones. “You can’t hide what you see on film — he’s a very talented individual with great speed. He’s a dual threat that throws the ball extremely well and we know that he’s going to be a great challenge.”

In that game, McMahon completed 25-of-36 passes for 230 yards with one interception. He also rushed three times for nine yards.

He was, however, able to lead the Eagles on a 51-yard drive in the fourth quarter, finished by a one-yard Terrence Blevins touchdown run.

“We feel like he’s just as good as Schmitt, if not better,” said senior cornerback Josh Gordy. “Maybe he’s a little more mobile. But we still have to be on our game. We can’t let our guard down just because Schmitt is out. McMahon’s a great player and a great athlete — we just have to be ready for him.”

No Reruns

In last year’s regular season finale, Schmitt completed 58 passes for 516 yards and five touchdowns en route to a 56-52 Eagles win.

The loss officially kept the Chippewas from their third consecutive Mid-American Conference Championship game.

“That was a funky game plan,” Gordy said with a laugh. “We probably won’t see that again. But I think it’s going to be a regular game plan this time and, as long as we stick to our keys and do what we have to do — hustle to the ball and put in some great effort — we’ll be all right.”

A repeat performance is less likely with the Chippewas near the top of the conference in passing defense, Gordy said.

Central Michigan is second in the MAC in pass defense, allowing 170.8 yards per game. Eastern is first, allowing 89.2 passing yards per game.

“I think the way our secondary is playing is in direct correlation to our front seven,” Jones said. “We’ve got to do a great job up front — that’s where it stems in our defense — and it trickles to the back end. So we obvioulsy have to play great team defense.”

Schmitt entered his final season third all-time at Eastern Michigan in passing yardage (6,350), passes completed (556), passes attempted (885) and total offensive yards (5,439). He was a MAC All-Academic selection last year.

E-mail the author: Dave Jones