Injuries restore fifth-year senior's role in offense
Senior wide receiver Eric Cooper poses for a portrait on Sept. 27 at Kelly Shorts Stadium.
After the first three weeks of the season, senior wide receiver Eric Cooper had five catches for less than 50 total yards for the Central Michigan football team.
In week four against Miami (Ohio), the fifth-year senior set career highs with six catches, 81 yards and a touchdown.
Cooper suddenly found himself as a frequent target in CMU’s passing attack after a pair of injuries.
Senior wide receiver Corey Willis is battling a broken wrist he suffered against Kansas, while sophomore wideout Brandon Childress tore his ACL celebrating in the same game which ended his season.
This left few options for head coach John Bonamego to replace his crippled wide receiving core. Cooper has taken advantage of his chance, Bonamego said.
“Eric (Cooper) played great last week by showing a greater degree of consistency than he had the week before," Bonamego said. "It is important that he stays effective and continues to perform that way.”
Cooper entered the season with 13 career receptions for 125 yards. The 5-foot-11 wideout has 13 catches for 144 yards in 2017.
Against Miami (Ohio), Cooper was lined up to the left side of quarterback Shane Morris as the slot receiver. He ran about 10 yards down the field before faking to his right and cutting left for an out route. Morris read the play from the snap and hit Cooper in stride near the one-yard line. A defender dove at the receiver's ankles but it was too late as Cooper crossed the goal line for the 28-yard touchdown.
Those are the kind of plays that Cooper said he used to make in high school, before redshirting as a freshman and only playing in two games in his first year of eligibility.
The Flint native found himself on the sideline for the majority of the first few years with the Chippewas.
“It hit me where it hurts,” Cooper said. “I was in a place that I had never really been in before.”
Describing himself as a “superstar” at Beecher High School, sitting behind players that already had starting roles locked up was the hardest challenge for Cooper.
Cooper said he thinks his improvements come from “picking the brain” of his teammates.
“I had to look at myself and learn from the other guys and in the end, I think it helped me,” he said.
Cooper has focused on being a better leader in 2017, along with proving to people what he is about.
“I want to show my teammates and everyone why I came to Mount Pleasant — to win football games,” Cooper said.
Senior defensive back Amari Coleman and Cooper played on the same football team at Hamady Middle School in Flint, where their relationship began.
“I’ve known Cooper for a long time — he’s a great person and even better friend,” Coleman said. “He has a good role on this team and is just an uplift to anyone that he is around.”
Cooper said the two players battled on the field and became competitors. Coleman made sure to mention that only one person could come out on top in those middle school battles.
“It goes back-and-fourth with who wins,” Coleman said. “I’m going to say me, because that's just how it goes.”
