It’s win-or-go-home time for Eastern football
The playoffs have arrived early this year at Roos Field, the product of circumstances that no self-described expert on Big Sky Conference football could have predicted.
On Saturday afternoon, preaseason co-favorite Eastern Washington will be fighting for its postseason life against a Portland State team that was picked to finish 12th – a team that began the season with an interim coach, no history of success and burdened by rumors that the program might be disbanded.
But in one of the most remarkable stories of the year, the Vikings persevered. From their upset of Washington State on opening day to last week’s one-point win over league leader Southern Utah, the Vikings overcame every obstacle to all but clinch a spot in the FCS playoffs with one game left.
That game comes today against an Eastern team that’s reeling from two straight blowout losses that have left fans, players and coaches shaking their heads.
Part of the problem is expectations, said EWU coach Beau Baldwin, who’s led the Eagles to three straight conference titles.
“It’s hard after being told you’re going to do it again, when people are talking about Frisco tickets,” Baldwin said. “We had built expectations so high.”
They’re much lower now. The Eagles (6-4 overall and 5-2 Big Sky) need a Senior Day win over PSU (8-2 and 5-2)followed by a favorable nod Sunday morning from the NCAA selection committee. They figure to be competing with several other 7-4 teams for an at-large berth.
First things first, Baldwin said: The Eagles need to win.
Looking back on last week’s 57-16 loss in Missoula, he said, “There’s not one thing we did better than Montana.”
A quick look at the stat sheet shows the problems. Again, the Eagles struggled in the areas that Baldwin says are crucial; on offense, they were 2-for-15 on third down, turned the ball over six times and scored just twice on five trips to the red zone.
Defensively, they got just one sack while allowing the Griz to convert 11 of 20 chances on third and fourth down.
“I think we played hard,” said defensive lineman Matthew Sommer, who was recruited by Portland State. “But we’ve got to get off the field on third down, got some turnovers and have our offense capitalize on them.”
Asked why Eastern has been struggling lately, PSU coach Bruce Barnum had a simple answer: “It’s on the quarterback.”
Much will depend on the performance of EWU freshman quarterback Reilly Hennessey, who’s expected to get the bulk of the snaps against PSU. Hennessey will face a PSU defense that ranks in the middle of the pack in most categories but is quite good against the pass; the Vikings have held seven Big Sky opponents to a combine pass-efficiency rating of just 108.2.
The bigger challenge will be on the other side of the ball. Junior quarterback Alex Kuresa ranks third in the Big Sky in passing efficiency while completing 108 of 180 passes (57.8 percent) for 14 touchdowns and four interceptions.
He’s also one of the best running quarterbacks on the West Coast, with 651 yards and seven touchdowns.
Notes
With a win, Eastern still has a chance to claim a share of the Big Sky title, provided Northern Arizona (5-2 Big Sky) can knock off first-place Southern Utah (6-1). That would create a three-way tie for first place – four if Montana (5-2) wins at Montana State. … Eastern has won the last three meetings with PSU, including a 56-34 decision last year in Portland. The Vikings last beat EWU in 2011, taking a 43-26 victory at Roos Field.