Eagles Reach Eighth Place In Poll For Top Ranking In School History
Earning its highest ranking in school history, Eastern Washington University soared to eighth place in this week’s Sports Network NCAA Division I-AA football poll of sports information directors.
EWU received two first-place votes in the poll, which had the Eagles ranked 11th before they defeated Idaho 24-21 with a touchdown drive in the final minute.
The ESPN/Sportsticker media poll moved the Eagles up one spot to 10th, and Don Hansen’s Football Gazette has them ranked fifth.
In the Sagarin computer ratings, Eastern, which moved into the I-AA lead in total offense with an average of 495.0 yards per game, has the third-best team in I-AA and the 84th-best among all I-A and I-AA schools. By comparison, Southwestern Louisiana - Washington State’s opponent this week - ranks 160th.
Eastern, leading the Big Sky Conference with a 5-1 record, plays Northern Arizona (4-2) Saturday at Flagstaff, Ariz., in the biggest Big Sky game to date.
Both teams control their own destiny in the race for the Big Sky’s automatic berth in the Division I-AA Playoffs that begin Nov. 29.
MSU star honored
Montana State wide receiver Tony Vallez was named national offensive player of the week for NCAA Division I-AA by ESPN and Sports Ticker.
A senior from Kerman, Calif., also was named Big Sky Conference offensive player of the week. Punter Tom Zurfluh of EWU won the special teams award.
On the horns of a dilemma
Texas coach John Mackovic didn’t help the chances of keeping his job by losing to Baylor, a team the Bears’ own coach called the worst in America.
The Texas Longhorns (3-5, 1-4 Big 12) were in a state of confusion Monday, struggling to come up with motivation for their final three games against Texas Tech (4-4, 3-2), Kansas and Texas A&M.
Pride, integrity and Ricky Williams’ attempt to break Earl Campbell’s single season rushing record of 1,744 yards were about the only incentives that players could come up with.
“We’re going to try to play the spoiler in the Big 12 South race,” said Texas linebacker Brandon Nava. “I didn’t come to Texas to play spoiler, but we have to make a positive out of the situation we’re in.”
Tar Heels buck up
Florida State has played in a lot of important games during the past decade. North Carolina never has, but the Tar Heels vowed not to be intimidated by the Seminoles or the magnitude of Saturday’s Atlantic Coast Conference showdown.
“We have tremendous respect for Florida State, but our program no longer fears anybody, and that’s a good thing,” said North Carolina coach Mack Brown, whose fifth-ranked Tar Heels (8-0) will be part of the ACC’s first-ever Top 5 matchup.
The Tar Heels were 2-20 under Brown in 1988-89, but less than a decade later could end up playing for the national title by beating the third-ranked Seminoles (8-0). , DataTimes The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN - College football notebook