EWU rolls up big numbers after starting 0-2

Eastern Washington University started the football season 0-2 by falling behind 30-0 and 21-0 in road games, but since then the Eagles have been amazing.

In rolling to four consecutive wins Eastern has scored 172 points – 124 before halftime – and the Eagles’ opponents have scored 23. Three times EWU has scored in the first minute of the second quarter and twice in the closing seconds before halftime.

“I think we’ve been pretty good on converting some third downs to keep drives alive,” Eagles head coach Paul Wulff said. “We’ve had some wrinkles in every week. Probably there’s a little element of surprise to some teams that helps out a little bit.”

For the season, the Eagles have converted on 55 percent of third-down plays (46-84), but in the last four games it has been at 68 percent (39-57) and 72 percent in the first half (23-32).

The Eagles have scored points on 12 of 16 trips inside the opponents’ 20-yard line during the winning streak. EWU has scored on a punt return, a fumble return and a kickoff return, and the Eagles have 10 touchdowns of more than 20 yards.

“I’d like to see it over a period of time,” Wulff said. “It’s been nice but, realistically, I don’t know if we can expect that every week. It’s a four-quarter game so somewhere along the line … we have to play the best we can, hopefully in all four. But it has been nice to get out and play very well on offense.”

The last time the Eagles won four straight was after losing to Montana State in 1997, when they won eight in a row to reach the semifinals of the I-AA playoffs.

That is also the year EWU won the Big Sky Conference championship, the only time in the last nine years Montana didn’t win or share the title.

The last three wins have been in league games, giving the Eagles their first 3-0 start since 1992. They have never started 4-0.

Secondary rivals

Montana State may be Montana’s rival, and EWU may not have a true opponent to dislike on an annual basis, but the Eagles-Grizzlies matchup has generally been one of the premier games in the Big Sky.

Since 1990, Eastern has defeated the Griz five times in 14 games. No other league team has won more than twice in that span.

Saturday’s 2 p.m. game at Woodward Field between the fifth-ranked Grizzlies (5-1, 2-0) and No. 23 Eagles (4-2, 3-0) marks the fifth time both teams have been in the Top 25 in nine years beginning in 1996.

That was the last time the game was at Woodward before the Governor’s Cup game was moved to Albi Stadium. That year the defending national-champion Grizzlies were ranked No. 1 and Eastern was No. 20. Montana scored with 30 seconds left to win 34-30.

In 1997, the 17th-ranked Eagles beat No. 2 Montana 40-35. In 2000, it was No. 9 Montana 41, No. 18 EWU 31. In 2001, the No. 3 Griz prevailed over No. 15 Eastern 29-26 in a controversial overtime finish.

Only a few hundred tickets remain for the game at Woodward, which, with portable seating, has a capacity of 11,106. The previous record is 6,879 for a 1992 game with Idaho.

Quick kicks

Eastern’s Eric Kimble leads the Big Sky in receiving yards per game (115.2), all-purpose yards (155.8), punt return average (18.8) and scoring (8.0). … ISU is the third team to outgain the Griz (487-343) this year and lose. … Weber State is 0-6 for the first time since 1976. … Weber State kicker Joe Johnson made 12 consecutive field goals before missing a 36-yarder in a 20-17 loss at Montana State. … MSU won when third-string kicker E.J. Cochrane, a senior walk-on from Philadelphia who missed five PATs as a freshman and didn’t attempt a field goal last season, made a 44-yarder as time expired. … Weber’s Nick Chournos rushed for 116 yards despite missing the last nine minutes with an injury and has a school-record 3,155 yards. By comparison, Portland State has three career 4,000-yard runners: Charles Dunn (6,007), Curtis Delgardo (4,178) and Ryan Fuqua (4,126). Eastern has one: Jesse Chatman (4,173).

•Sac State has been outscored 57-0 in its two league games. … Coach Mike Kramer is 2-16 at MSU when the Cats score less than 20 and 16-2 when the Cats hold opponents to less than 20. … MSU is looking for its fourth consecutive crowd of more than 12,000, which would be a first, when Portland State visits. … PSU coach Tim Walsh recorded his 100th career win last week. … All 25 teams in The Sports Network I-AA poll play this weekend. Five games match Top 25 teams, including No. 4 Western Kentucky at No. 1 Southern Illinois. Sam Houston, which whipped Montana, is ranked No. 13 Cal Poly, which plays in Cheney on Nov. 6, is No. 9.