Welcome to "Scouting Ahead," a scouting report on Michigan's next opponent (when there is TV footage available).

For Eastern Michigan, I watched the Eagles' game Saturday against Northwestern, a 27-24 last-second loss and tracked each offensive play. I also noted the defense and special teams. And click here for YouTube highlights of the game (ESPN cut off embedding).

OFFENSIVE PLAY-BY-PLAY: FIRST SERIES: -1st-and-10, twins right, single back. Andy Schmitt passed right to Jacory Stone. Quick recognition. -2-4, 3 WR, single back. Dwayne Priest decent recognition on run. EMU line somewhat dominant on the play. 1-10, 4 WR, singleback. Playaction. Schmitt quick out to Stone on the right. 2-5, twins left, single back. Priest run middle. Tough runner, broke first tackle. 3-1, 3 WR, singleback, Priest run middle. Crushed. Horrible blocking by center and right guard. 4-2, GOFORIT jumbo package. Handoff to Terrence Blevins, went middle/left. Barely got enough for first down. 1-10, 3 WR, singleback, FLAG, False start on right tackle Stphen Johnson 1-15, 3 WR, singleback, quick pass from Schmitt to Dontayo Gage at the line of scrimmage. On the right again. 2-7, 4 WR, singleback, Schmitt pass tipped. Nice defensive play. Northwestern didn’t get much of a rush on Schmitt. 3-7, 4 WR, running back motion wide to the left. Schmitt rolls left, throws away. FLAG declined, illegal shift on Priest when he went out wide. 4-7, FG attempt by Joe Carithers. Blocked. Woefully short. SECOND SERIES: 1-10, playaction pass to Stone. Big Ten Network made it impossible with camera angle to get the formation. 1-10, 3 WR, singleback. Priest ran up the middle. EMU offensive line still getting good push on Northwestern front four. 2-5, 3 WR. Schmitt dumped down when blitzed but hit before line. 3-1, 3 WR singleback, Schmitt had quick pass right again to Marvon Sanders. So far, Schmitt has thrown everything to the right side of the field. He rolled there. 1-10, trips left, singleback, playaction pass left. Snuffed out quickly on pass to Stone. FLAG illegal block in the back by center Eric Davis 1-18, 3 WR, singleback, Schmitt dumps left to Trey Hunter. Hit immediately. Not much by way of disguising that play. 2-21, GUN 3 WR and singleback goes out wide. Schmitt scrambled, throws on run to Sanders. Play looked similar to what Michigan runs a lot with Forcier, letting Schmitt throw on the run. 3-8, GUN, 4 WR, singleback goes wide left. Schmitt got pressured, good awareness to find the open guy, Corey Welch, left. But not enough for first. 4-2, Punt. THIRD SERIES: 1-10, 3 WR, singleback run middle by Priest. Didn’t get much. 2-9, 3 WR, singleback. Schmitt pressured, can’t make a good throw. 3-9, GUN, 4 WR (three on one side, two bunched near line), singleback, Schmitt quick-pass to Stone. Didn’t get much. 4-6, Punt. FOURTH SERIES: 1-10, 3 WR, singleback. Priest runs middle on a short field. He shows some elusiveness and toughness running. 1-10, 2 WR, singleback. Schmitt throws quick. Picked on a horrible timing pass by Ben Johnson. Johnson returned for the touchdown. EMU down, 21-0. FIFTH SERIES: 1-10, twins right, singleback, playaction. Schmitt threw right to Stone, who couldn’t shake defenders. 2-4, twins right, motion receiver to left, singleback. Ball handed off to Priest. He runs well off-tackle. He might be their best offensive player. 1-10, 4 WR, singleback, draw with Welch. He had decent speed, can get quick into the second tier. Had a bit hole. 2-1, trips right, singleback. Handoff middle to Welch. Just stuffed. 3-3, GUN, 3 WR, singleback. Schmitt throws out right short of the first-down marker. Doesn’t go anywhere. 4-1. Punt. SIXTH SERIES: 1-10 (start inside red zone after turnover) twins left, singleback. Playaction. Throws out of end zone. 2-10 twins right, singleback. Quick pass right to Gage. Not much. 3-8 3 WR, singleback. Schmitt had time. Hesitated to throw. Eventually sacked. Didn’t look gooed. Seemed to have a bit of happy feet holding the ball too long. 4th down. Field goal attempt 34 yards good. 21-3 Northwestern SEVENTH SERIES (1st of second half on the BTN replay): 1-10 twins right, 1 TE, singleback. Priest huge hole. He’s the best player they have on offense. Has speed. Good vision. Makes something out of small holes. 1-10 twins left. Singleback. Welch handoff. Not much. 2-10 3 WR, singleback. Schmitt good recognition on pressure with the dumpoff pass to Welch, who had a good running lane. 1-10 twins right, singleback, mostions to 2 WR. Hands off to Priest. He, again, fights for more yards. 2-5 4 WR, singleback. Priest run left between huge hole set by guard and tackle. Surprisingly, the Eastern Michigan offensive line was able to run block real well, creating holes for Priest. 3-2 2 TE, singleback. Priest gets ball, cuts left. And gets not much. FLAG Holding on offense. Unsportsmanlike conduct defense. No numbers given. Auto first down. 1-10 (into NW territory) 3 WR, singleback. Blevins run middle. He’s got some speed, too. 2-1 2 TE singleback. Blevins run middle. 1-10 2 WR, singleback. Playaction pass to Priest from Schmitt. Great play with a little misdirection to get into the red zone. 1-10 twins left, singleback. Priest up the middle, good second effort to run. 2-GL 2/3 TE, singleback. Playaction. Schmitt finds Ben Thayer. Good playcall, although Schmitt’s play-fake wasn’t the best sell job. 3-GL 2 WR, singleback. Hands off to Priest. Broke a couple tackles but couldn’t get to the end zone. 4-GL, GOFORIT, 2/3 TE, singleback. Priest runs up middle. Scores easily. Again, big hole for him to go through. Northwestern leads, 21-10. EIGHTH SERIES: 1-10 twins left, singleback. Playaction. Scramble on run and Schmitt threw to Thayer. Hit him in the hands. Thayer dropped it. 2-10 4 WR, singleback. Handoff to Priest. More positive yards. 3-LONG GUN, 3 WR, singleback. Schmitt gets good time. Throws left. Overthrows Stone. 4-long. Punt. 1-10 2/3 TE, singleback. Priest runs middle. More yards. He doesn’t get negative yards very much. Again, nice-sized holes. DIDN’T COUNT DUE TO LATE BOOTH REVIEW ON PUNT RECOVERY.. 1-10 2 WR right, 2 TE, singleback. Priest pitch left. 2-6 twins left, singleback. Schmitt scwing pass to DeAnthony White, lined up in the backfield. Pretty gutsy pass as a Northwestern defender was barreling in. 1-10 twins right, singleback. Blevins run middle. Stuffed. 2-12 3 WR, singleback. Schmitt with time. Has a guy wide open left. Northwestern had horrific coverage on the play, Schmitt finds a wide open Stone for a touchdown. Northwestern leads, 24-17. NINTH SERIES: 1-10 twins right, singleback. Priest runs up the middle, again, great speed. He eventually got run down 35 yards later. But Eastern’s interior offensive line created a huge whole for him. 1-10 3 WR, singleback. Blevins run middle. Eastern offensive line continues dominance. 2-3 twins right, singleback. Blevins run off tackle left. 1-10 3 WR, singleback. Blevins run middle. 2-8 4 WR, trips right bunch, singleback. Schmitt rolls right, hits Thayer. 3-6 GUN, 3 WR, singleback. Swing pass left to Welch, got first down. Good read of defensive lines there by Welch. 1-10 twins left, singleback. Priest given the ball again. Hurdles a defender. 1-GL twins left, singleback. Blevins run middle. 2-GL 2 WR, singleback. Blevins cuts right. Great block by the wide receiver and the right tackle, Stephen Johnson, to give him the room to get outside. Blevins scores. Game tied 24-24 with 2:40 left.

OFFENSIVE THOUGHTS: -Best player on this offense was Dwayne Priest. He could run a little bit. Great vision. Good speed. Also has patience when he runs. Through three quarters, he was so much of the Eastern Michigan offense. -Offensive line did a good job controlling the Northwestern line of scrimmage against the run. Didn’t pass block particularly well as Schmitt had to roll out and face pressure a lot. -Schmitt wasn’t overly impressive. He seemed to be uncomfortable throwing to his left side, although that could have been by playcall design. -Good adjustments at half, going with more of Priest running and hitting Priest in the screens and on short routes. He's the catalyst and if Michigan is concerned about any of the Eastern players, it'd be him. Not much around him, though, as Schmitt rarely aired it out. Used a lot of outs and short routes.

DEFENSIVE THOUGHTS: -Started lining up in a 4-3 -Even early on, Eastern’s defense appeared slow, even on linebacker blitzes. Northwestern quarterback Mike Kafka had time despite the rush. -Northwestern’s offensive line beat up on the Eastern defensive line early. -Cornerback Johnny Sears, not a bad open-field tackler. -Poor tackling by the Eastern front four early. The defense gave Kafka a lot of time. And the Wildcats were running a lot of spread along with some zone read option. On the first touchdown run by Northwestern, the offensive line just dominated the defense. -Eastern’s defense didn’t seem like it could stop Northwestern when it ran any sort of scramble or spread with Kafka in the first quarter, especially when Kafka passed. They were adequate early when Northwestern ran the ball and tried to get to the edge. -Eastern Michigan’s blitz was really unimpressive. The defensive front is really, really weak. Michigan’s offensive line should be able to handle them. In tackling, any sort of shiftiness forced the Eagles to be tentative. -Eastern forced a fumble late in the second quarter. Good pursuit by Ryan Downard, the safety, to get to the ball and help cause the fumble. Gave Eastern its best field position (inside red zone) -Kafka shredded the Eastern Michigan defense most of the day. So did the Northwestern running backs. -Bad pass by Kafka was picked by Ryan Downard (safety) as Kafka was hit with about 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Turnovers kept Eastern in this game. -On the last drive, Eastern did a good job, forcing Northwestern to hit a 50-yard field goal to win. Which, of course, the Wildcats did with 6 seconds left.

SPECIAL TEAMS: -Nice opening return for Johnny Sears. Seemed somewhat elusive. Sears has pretty good return skills. He’s really a good returner. He was the most impressive player on the field for Eastern. -Impressive punt coverage by Sears, too. He’s a pretty good special teams player. Downed a Zach Johnson punt at the one. -Johnson, not a bad punter. First two punts inside the 20. -Intelligent play by Martavius Cardwell on a fourth quarter punt. Northwestern had the ball drop, hit a player and then Cardwell smartly covered it up, giving Eastern the ball back. -Turnovers kept Eastern Michigan in this game.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan sports for Annarbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow on Twitter @mikerothstein.