Underdog Pirates Eye Upset Western Washington To Bring Lofty Ranking Into Pine Bowl For Saturday’s Showdown
For the past two weeks, the Whitworth College football team has been preparing to play Western Washington University. An entire season of preparation may not be enough.
Western has been ranked No. 2 in the country in the NAIA Division II Top 25 poll for four straight weeks. The Vikings have battered and bruised their two opponents - Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound - by scores of 36-17 and 40-0.
Their offense is tops in the Columbia Football Association, piling up a 506.5 average yards per game. Their defense, with 10 starters returning, has allowed only 231.5 yards per game and also ranks No. 1.
Whitworth lost its first two games to Central Washington (35-7) and Eastern Oregon (37-23). The Pirates, who rank fifth in the six-team Northwest Conference on offense (264 ypg) and defense (445.5 ypg), have a 10-game losing streak they’d love to snap.
Think Arizona State vs. Nebraska.
If that isn’t the newest mantra of every underdog, it should be.
“We want our guys to make them work for their touchdowns,” said Whitworth coach John Tully, whose team returns to the Pine Bowl at 1:35 p.m. Saturday after a week off. “We don’t want them to score in three-play drives. Twelve-, 15-, 17-play drives, that’s what we’re looking for.”
Western, whose coach Rob Smith recorded his first career win at the Pine Bowl, has scored at a furious pace behind quarterback Darren Erath. The 6-foot, 195-pound junior from Puyallup is 28 of 54 for 290 yards and five TDs.
Erath’s main target is 6-3, 195 senior wide receiver Chris Nicholl of Mercer Island. Nicholl is the team’s career leader in touchdown catches with 21. This year, he has three TDs and is averaging 38.4 yards per reception.
Western’s running game centers around Ryan Wiggins (25 carries for 180 yards). Last week, Wiggins returned the opening kickoff 89 yards untouched against Puget Sound.
“They’re definitely a team that can win the national title. They have superior athletes, offensively and defensively,” said Tully, whose Pirates lost to the Vikings 36-7 last year and have not beaten them since 1990.
Think Arizona State vs. Nebraska.
For the first two games, Whitworth redshirt freshmen Rob Leslie (12 for 28, 135 yards) and Casey Doyle (7 for 18, 107 yards), platooned at quarterback. Tully said he has decided to go with Doyle full-time because “he seems to have a good understanding.”
Against Eastern Oregon, Leslie sputtered in the first half while Doyle managed to move the ball and mount a comeback in the second half. The two-week layoff has allowed the Pirates to heal their bumps and bruises. However, offensive lineman Harry Suzuki will not play because of death in his family.
“We’ve looked at films to get a feel for what they’ll try to do against us. That’s come down here and try to score a lot of points,” Tully said. “We have to be very, very aggressive.”
Think Arizona State 19, Nebraska 0.
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