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

Big Sky notebook : Wulff ages during 3-0 start


Wulff
 (The Spokesman-Review)

It didn’t seem like the Eastern Washington football team had much fun last season on the way to a 3-8 record after seven straight winning seasons.

A year ago at this time EWU was 0-3, losing badly at Oregon State and West Virginia and then coming home for an inexplicable loss to Central Washington.

Three games into the 2007 football season the Eagles are 3-0 and downright giddy.

When the team got on the plane for the trip home after last Saturday’s dominating 34-7 win at Idaho State, the flight attendant had an announcement: Happy 60th birthday to head coach Paul Wulff.

Laughter and applause erupted from the team.

Wulff, who turns 41 in February, started an immediate investigation, which zeroed in on Matt Nichols. Despite threats, don’t expect the sophomore quarterback to be punished.

Nichols is 14th nationally with a 271.7 yards-per-game average and a 157.2 passing efficiency rating. He has thrown just one interception in 98 attempts after a school-record 17 picks last year. With nine TD passes, he has exceeded the eight he notched a year ago.

“He’s done a nice job and has worked hard,” Wulff said. “He’s very committed to being a good football player and his commitment has shown up by his improvement. He still has a lot of things to get better at, but hopefully, we can build off each week’s performance. It’s very important that we do that. He’s one of the hardest-working guys I’ve ever been around.”

Nichols and the Eagles will be tested Saturday night when Portland State visits Woodward Field for a 6:05 kickoff. The Vikings stuffed Eastern 34-0 last year, ending a streak of 205 games without a shutout.

Shotgun wedding

Portland State has altered its offense.

After a 1-2 start that included 25 sacks, the Vikings put quarterback Brian White into the shotgun.

The result wasn’t impressive at first glance, as San Diego State rolled to a 52-17 win. But a closer look shows that White finished 36 of 53 for 408 yards, the most passing yards in a game for PSU since 2001, and was only sacked three times.

“Believe it or not, offensively that’s probably the most growth we’ve ever made,” coach Jerry Glanville told the Oregonian. “That side of the ball looked like a whole different football team. I hope we’re heading in the right direction.”

Wildcats shuffle QBs

There were high hopes when quarterback Jimmy Barnes transferred from Alabama to Weber State, but those hopes have been dashed in the Wildcats’ 0-3 start.

Barnes, who threw two critical interceptions, was benched twice in a dismal 21-5 loss to Montana State last Saturday. Now Barnes, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound sophomore, has lost his starting job to freshman Cameron Higgins. Barnes isn’t even listed as the backup for Weber’s game at Montana, dropping to third on the depth chart behind junior Brendon Doyle.

“We certainly haven’t given up on Jimmy,” Weber coach Ron McBride said in a release. “But we need to see what the others have to offer.”

Quinn debuts

J.D. Quinn, who transferred from Oklahoma to Montana before last season, finally made his debut last week. According to the Missoulian, sources said the junior offensive lineman missed the first two games for disciplinary reasons.

“He just brings sort of a nastiness to our huddle that offensive linemen need,” quarterback Cole Bergquist told the newspaper. “We already had it, but that’s just another guy with even more nastiness. He’s a guy that you like to see in your huddle when you are a quarterback.”

Quinn was arrested on drunken driving charges in Missoula and entered an alcohol counseling program in July. He left Oklahoma after he and another player took money from a car dealership for work not performed.

The Sooners had to vacate eight wins from the 2005 season and both players were dismissed from the team last August and lost a year of eligibility. Quinn was ordered to replay more than $8,000.

Quick kicks

It’s Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame and All-Athletes Reunion Weekend. … Montana has defeated Weber State eight straight years. … Northern Arizona is at Sacramento State for the Hornets’ first home game of the season. … Northern Colorado has lost 12 straight games. … Montana is No. 1 in the Sports Network poll for the first time since the second week of the 2004 season, when it promptly loss at Sam Houston State. … Prior to EWU’s win at Idaho State and Montana State’s win at WSU, Big Sky teams were 0-20 on the road. … ISU has lost its conference opener in 11 of the last 12 years, the lone win being over highly ranked EWU in 2005. … MSU has six defensive touchdowns in the last six games with Weber.