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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Unfashionable trend at EWU

Be it Eastern Washington’s season-ending defeats in the playoffs to Sam Houston State in 2004 and Northern Iowa last year, or this year’s losses to Central Washington and Sacramento State, they were marked by second-half comebacks by the victors.

And at least one other worrisome trend, according to EWU coach Paul Wulff.

“When I go back in all those games, the one constant that I get is that the pass rush from our defensive line … is the cause,” Wulff said. “It’s the inability to get to the quarterback, put stress on him in critical situations of the game. … That’s not to say there (aren’t other factors), but if you want to look at a constant, that is the constant problem we have.”

With no effort it’s easy to recall an offensive mistake, a blown assignment on defense or an official’s call that contributed to those gut-wrenching losses.

Still, there is a disturbing trend, one the Eagles don’t want to see continue against Montana, the fourth-ranked I-AA team, visiting Woodward Field Saturday at 2 p.m.

“Very disturbing,” seventh-year head coach Paul Wulff said. “We have to fix that.”

Wulff isn’t pointing a finger at this year’s linemen.

A look at the depth chart shows three sophomores, including one that was a tight end last year, and a freshman comprising the two-deep at end. The tackles include senior Keith Grennan, in just his second year at the position, two sophomores and a freshman.

Some defections, for injuries or personal reasons, have produced that unbalanced situation, but that is just part of college football.

“I’m very frustrated with our lack of production at that position,” Wulff said. “We have some youth there that is not playing to the level we need them to play. There’s a lot of learning curve. I think they have ability but until they start doing it in ballgames consistently …”

A key factor in a win at Montana State two weeks ago – the Eagles’ only win in five games – was pressure on quarterback Cory Carpenter. There was nearly no pressure on Sacramento State’s Marcel Marquez last Saturday and he engineered three long drives in the second half, two in the fourth quarter to erase a 20-7 deficit.

“We have to keep getting those defensive linemen better,” Wulff said. “We have to recruit more speed and tenacity to get to the quarterback and we have to get the kids that are here to understand the urgency.”

Finding defensive linemen isn’t easy, especially down the football food chain.

“If you go to the human population, there are not a lot of big, fast people,” Wulff said. “There are a lot more big, average people you can put on the offensive line. But to find someone who has the combination of size and speed to put out there is hard.”

Wulff has been at Eastern 13 years and in that time the Eagles have had a number of star defenders, so he isn’t second-guessing the program.

“If you want to blame the coaches, you can do that, people can say what they want,” he said. “We run all the coverages that people are capable of running. … People on the outside, armchair quarterbacks, have to realize that ultimately players have to execute and make plays. It’s a players’ game, it’s not a coaches’ game. We’ve had success in the past doing these things. We’ve won more games than we’ve lost overall.”

But knowing that doesn’t make the losses any easier to swallow.

“What is disturbing is to lose fourth-quarter leads – very frustrating,” Wulff said. “I’m having a very hard time accepting that and that is something we cannot do. When you control a majority of the ballgame and you lose the damn thing.”