Spokane7
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September 4, 2011 in Sports
Blanchette: Eagles prove riffraff can play rough
SEATTLE – Class warfare can be fun.
Naturally, this was a tough sell to the aristocratic tastes of Seattle, where never until Saturday had the University of Washington deigned to mix it up with the football proletariat. Play the rabble from the 63-scholarship ranks? What’s next? Screwtop Chardonnay and Velveeta at the tailgate party?
No wonder the patrons stayed away as if was the Tyrone Willingham era.
Well, the commoners breached the portals of Husky Stadium and, against all odds, still the creaky castle stands.
And the landlords? Their noses were bloodied, if not out of joint.
In fact, it’s likely the Huskies learned more about themselves than did the shirt-tail relatives from Eastern Washington, who are so secure in who they are and what they can do that it was almost a cruel joke when their latest swashbuckle came up short Saturday evening.
It took an end-zone interception by UW’s Desmond Trufant to preserve a 30-27 victory over the Eagles, last year’s champions and this year’s top-ranked team in the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision – or, as Huskydom thinks of it, the other side of the tracks.
Yet right up until he took the football away from EWU’s Brandon Kaufman with 29 seconds to play, there was a single overriding notion on the Eagles sideline.
“Why not, right?” offered center Chris Powers.
Powers was front and, uh, center for each of the Eagles’ improbable comebacks and dramatic flourishes of 2010, and saw no reason the sort of voodoo that did in Sac State and Southern Utah and North Dakota State and, finally, Delaware on that title roll couldn’t be conjured up against Washington.
“That’s the only thing I could keep saying – ‘Why not?’ ” Powers said. “Why not win this game? Why not go out there and put it in the end zone? Why not?
“That last huddle, you look at the clock and there’s 1:30 or something and 90 yards to go. Well, we’ve been here before. It wasn’t anything for us. It’s not a pressure thing.”
Fact is, the Eagles didn’t look at ease until they’d fallen behind by two touchdowns late in the third quarter – after the second of two punt-return gaffes that decided this game.
Just as they never seem to look at ease until it’s third or fourth down.
It was third-and-26 when quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell rifled a ridiculous 43-yard touchdown strike to Greg Herd. Later came the drama-building drive that got the Eagles within a field goal, a masterwork that including three third-down conversions and another on fourth down. Eastern’s first touchdown had been a 32-yard pass play – on fourth down.
Some of that is coach Beau Baldwin and his outlook on four-down territory.
“Too many times the game is played a little too conservative in that area of the field,” he said. “Long field goals can be tough. Fourth-and-6 or -7 might be a higher percentage.”
And some is just nerve.
“Our guys don’t worry about it,” Baldwin shrugged.
Mitchell, given magnificent protection, was pretty magnificent himself – when he had to be. He was 28 of 53 and moved the chains 12 times on first or second down; on third and fourth, he was 11 of 17 for 10 first downs and three touchdowns.
And certainly he had to be magnificent when Ashton Clark fair caught UW’s last punt on his own 5.
“Coach B and I just kind of looked at each other,” Mitchell recalled, “and said, ‘Let’s do it.’ ”
Said defensive tackle Renard Williams: “I thought we had it in the bag.”
They got within 25 yards. Needing to be a little short on the ball to Kaufman, Mitchell was a shade long instead. It was one of those glitches Eastern might have got away with against a fellow FCS lodge member.
The subplot was almost as much fun as the football. Mitchell admitted he tried to “rile up” the Huskies with some ultraconfident pregame remarks to the press and suggested that “they probably respect us a lot more now.”
Kaufman was not as generous.
“It makes me feel empty,” he said. “We’re a good football team and we should be respected. They didn’t respect us at all. They’re an arrogant group.”
Well, the scoreboard allowed them to be – if the Eagles weren’t into moral victories, then they can’t expect the Huskies to wallow in embarrassment, even if Eastern doubled their yardage.
“The goal is always to be 1-0,” Baldwin said, “and I said that all week, whether people shook their heads or not.”
This is, the dynamic of FCS vs. FBS football. Thirty-seven games were played this weekend mixing the two. The FCS won two – Sacramento State stunning Oregon State in overtime, and Richmond dropping sad-sack Duke. Others – Weber State, Stony Brook, Northern Iowa, Eastern Kentucky and EWU – staged heroic near-misses.
It’s not quite the first round of March Madness, but it’s getting there.
Blanchette: GU track lifts off with Thomas 
Daddy_Love on September 04 at 11:03 a.m.
Well, the Eagles are 0-1 now.
I hope the Huskies win “barely” win every game by 1 point, or 3 points. Then they’ll be the worst undefeated team in the country.
affolter on September 04 at 12:05 p.m.
I thought it was a great game. The last play could just as easily gone the other way. As a Husky fan I’m happy with the win. As a fan of all in-state teams I’m extremely proud of the Eagles. They look to be in good position to defend their National Championship title. I hope they do.
I_miss_zips_tartar on September 04 at 2:00 p.m.
Sentiments like your second paragraph only serve to promote untrue stereotypes about Husky athletics and devalue the Eagles. Instead of playing up false drama between the supposed “haves” and “have-nots”, why can’t you write a story about what really happened? It was a good football game between a rebuilding BCS team and a FCS program that’s at the top of it’s game. Sometimes the truth is more interesting than fiction.
UWvEWU on September 04 at 5:15 p.m.
Mr. Blanchette, as a native of Spokane, recent graduate of UW, and friends of numerous EWU football players I would like to tell you that you are a sore loser. Like zips_tartar said, “you are promoting false stereotypes about Husky athletics and devalue the Eagles”.
It was a well fought game between what was surprisingly a great EWU team and a rising UW team. Being at the game with less than a minute to go, I thought Eastern had it.
Unfortunately, I happened to stumble upon your article that was linked to the UW football blog of the Seattle Times and was instantly appalled. The group I was with participated in and watched many UW fans and EWU fans tell each other what a good game it was and shake hands. Why can’t a sports reporter swallow his pride and do the same?
Also, do you honestly think a city with almost 4 million people is full of “aristocrats” with the names of Bill Gates and Howard Shultz?
My final point is aimed at your comment “[…] Eastern Washington, who are so secure and what the can do came up short”. How does two dropped punts, recovered by the opposing team, and two interceptions seem secure to you?
juan_galto on September 05 at 1:17 a.m.
This is silly stuff, Blanchette. You’re not seeing dismisal from the Seattle (or national) media or Steve Sarkesian, who said the Eagles are better than some of the PAC-12’s teams. The Husky defense ran a lot of prevent defensive schemes all night, giving up the short yards to keep the offense from throwing deep. That sounds like a healthy respect of the Eagles.
I’ve read a lot commentary and haven’t read reports of UW players talking down EWU—but I have read negative comments about the Huskies from EWU players (and one columnist).
There may be arrogance as noted by the column, though one need not look outside Spokane/Cheney to find it.
bentnose on September 05 at 8:32 a.m.
Arrogant? Yeah, like the way Mitchell talked all week leading up to the game or the way he pointed and taunted the UW sideline after his first TD pass Saturday? Arrogant? As in the way the EWU fan sitting in front of me Saturday stood up and waved his girly pompons, turning around to swear at the UW crowd behind him with every little thing that happened in EWU’s favor?
Arrogance works both ways, and I’ve never seen a worse display of arrogance from any school — deservedly or not — than what I saw from EWU’s players and fans Saturday. Confidence is one thing, but the way EWU acted was more silly than anything else.
Oh, and here’s a news flash. UW is still a pretty bad football team. And it just beat “the national champs.”
By next week, no one except the people living in the past in Cheney will remember the final score. I honestly expected a lot more class out of EWU and its fans, but they seem to enjoy playing the redneck card even though most of the players are from the Puget Sound. There is a saying among champions that goes, “Act like you’ve been there before.”
Eastern and its fans could learn a thing or two about what it means to act like a champion.
goldeneagle1964 on September 05 at 1:14 p.m.
Bent nose is guilty of hypocrisy. He chastises John for painting UW with a broad stroke and turns around and does the same thing. Funny. Folks, it is just a football game. The article was a good one and well written.
Regarding my experience leading up to the game and what I saw. Using bent nose’s logic I will use it to form a viewpoint that must be 100% indicative of all UW fans. For the past week my UW friends have talking about the game as a tune up or a blowout. EWU was to get smoked by 40 plus. Some friends gave me 28 points! (easy money) In the tailgates and stands before the game jokes and negative comments were sent my parties way. I read UW blogs leading up to the game and again much trash talking.
My takeaway: the Blanchette article pretty summed up the lead
up.
During the game the EWU team had more swagger ( as noted by bent nose). Though there are numerous advantages (scholarship totals, size, athletic ability, coaching salaries, resources) EWU out competed UW with a “lower level” qb shredding UW for the 4th most in the history of their storied program. The smaller team amasses DOUBLE the total yards of a team from the might PAC 12. The difference in the game was the two special teams miscues by EWU lad led to 14 points for UW. Interesting that the fewer scholarships at the 1AA level impacts special teams the most. EWU lacks specialists and depth as a result. Even with the deck stacked against EWU they had a shot to win after driving the ball nearly 80 yards in a minute. Coincidently, that one drive by EWU would have accounted for 25% of UW’s total yards for the day.
My takeaway: EWU will have a very good season and my Huskie friends a miserable one.
Before chants of “scoreboard, scoreboard” erupt, yeah I know UW won the game and that is what counts. But it counts for one game only. A prior comment noted UW as being a “rising” program. Not sure if I consider being doubled up in yards and escaping with a three point win in the final seconds against a 1AA program is rising.
bentnose on September 06 at 3:02 p.m.
goldeneagle64, you seem pretty defensive … are you John Blanchette’s grandaddy or something?
UW is a young team, and just not very good. And I do think EWU is a very good Div1AA team. EWU would beat many Div1A teams, and probably should have beaten UW Saturday. I just think it’s funny that the columnist uses age-old stereotypes to make a point that, frankly, doesn’t exist.
But the fact that goldeneagle got riled up about it tells me something. If you can’t see that the “arrogance” card can be turned both ways, you’re not paying attention.