EWU notebook: Kendrick Bourne forges his own identity

With Eastern Washington trying to get out of a hole against Cal Poly on Saturday, there was no better time for Eagles wide receiver Kendrick Bourne to emerge from the shadow of Cooper Kupp.

And he did it with some toughness borrowed from Kupp and bolstered in the weight room.

With his All-American teammate held in check for most of the day, Bourne came up big with nine catches, including the winner on the first play of overtime to help Eastern to a 42-41 victory.

“My legs are getting stronger, and I’m able to break some tackles,” said Bourne, who did just that on the first play of overtime.

After catching a short pass in the flat from Jordan West, Bourne fought off several would-be tacklers and scooted into the end zone.

That’s a big deal for Bourne, who stands 6-foot-3 but weighs only 190 pounds.

“I’ve been watching people like Coop, developing an instinct to maneuver around defenders and break tackles if I need to,” Bourne said.

It was the second straight big game for Bourne, who had seven catches for 204 yards two weeks ago in the Eagles’ 28-20 win at Sacramento State.

“It was time to show some toughness,” said Bourne, who also caught a 13-yard TD pass to cut a 15-point deficit to 28-20 early in the fourth quarter against Cal Poly.

Meanwhile, Kupp was drawing heavy attention from the Mustangs’ secondary and was held to four catches for 21 yards.

A big day for EWU tight ends

The weather was rough at Roos Field, with unpredictable winds that gusted to 25 mph – perfect conditions for the Eagles’ tight ends to see some passes thrown their way.

With some of West’s longer throws scuttled by the wind, shorter routes paid dividends throughout the game.

The first touchdown pass went to Zach Wimberly, a 13-yarder that gave the Eagles a brief 7-0 lead. The biggest was West’s gotta-have-it two-point conversion pass to Terry Jackson II that tied the game at 35 with 57 seconds left and forced overtime.

“They (Cal Poly) were dropping back a bit, so we said we’re going to slow it down and dump off some shorter passes,” Jackson said.

The all-important conversion play was “definitely in the game plan, but as a short-yardage play,” said Jackson, who finished with four catches for 27 yards.

Notes: The game was Eastern’s first to go to overtime since 2011, when EWU scored on four straight plays – two touchdowns and two conversions – to win in triple overtime at Cal Poly 53-51. Eastern sent that game into overtime with a 10-play, 80-yard drive with 1:51 left in regulation. … Saturday’s was Eastern’s first OT game at home since beating North Dakota State 38-31 in the 2010 FCS Playoffs. That game also was ended by an opponent fumble, and helped spark the Eagles to the national championship. … With a crowd of 10,352, Eastern had its 12th consecutive sellout crowd at Roos Field, and 24th in stadium history. … The Eagles are 29-3 in their last 32 Big Sky games since a 0-2 start in 2011.