Chris Wright, Wide Receiver – #81

With junior wide receiver Kenny Whittaker and red-shirt senior wide receiver Lorence Ricks both seemingly out of the picture, sophomore quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will have no choice but to Wright.

Wright will most likely be heavily covered by the Tennessee State secondary, but Wright has the quickness to excel off the line of scrimmage and break free and find himself wide open.

Wright’s speed makes him a tremendous weapon for the Eastern offense, should he be left alone in the open field. Wright is the best deep threat in Eastern’s passing offense, and should Garoppolo send a lot of targets his way, there could be many points on the scoreboard.

Cory Leman, Linebacker – #8

Red-shirt senior Cory Leman knows how important it is to send head coach Bob Spoo home with a win at his last game at O’Brien Field, while Leman himself would also like to make his last game at O’Brien memorable.

Look for Leman to continue to be a leader on this defensive unit, which will inspire his teammates to rally around him.

If Leman plays to the best of his ability, look for this to be a historic day in Eastern football history. Leman himself could make history of his own, as he has already moved into the Eastern all-time tackles list and will look to move farther up the ranks this week.

Michael German, Quarterback – #12

The red-shirt freshman quarterback, German, hails from Pompano Beach, Fla., the same hometown as Eastern’s red-shirt freshman running back AJ Woodson and red-shirt sophomore defensive end Judes Amilcar, so fans can expect the same intensity of Florida high school football games to be found in Charleston this weekend.

German has thrown for 1,264 yards this season, averaging 183.9 yards per game.

Rico Council, Linebacker – #47

On Saturday, fans will get to see senior linebacker Rico Council play, but its very possible that they will also see him playing on Sundays next season. Council, who has 3.5 sacks this season, is projected to be a middle to late round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

The six-foot-one, 225 pounder out of Chattanooga, Tenn., has 67 total tackles this season, averaging 8.4 per game. He also has one interception this season.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7942 or dcrenzetti@eiu.edu.