Eastern Washington Eagles relish high-pressure situations

Football teams are seldom given to self-reflection, especially in late October.

But there they were Tuesday afternoon: Eastern Washington coach Beau Baldwin and his players reflecting on their knack for winning the close ones.

That may be a reflection of Baldwin himself, who continually preaches the value of resilience under stress.

“It’s just something that’s been drilled into us,” safety Todd Raynes said. “Mental toughness, never giving up, no matter how bad the situation might be.”

It was bad enough last weekend, when Eastern pulled out a 43-41 win at Northern Colorado. But then, the Eagles have been there, done that so many times under Baldwin, who had another reason for reflection:

Baldwin is about to coach his 100th game at Eastern.

“That just means I’m getting old,” Baldwin joked as the fifth-ranked Eagles prepared for Saturday’s Big Sky Conference home game against Weber State. “It’s amazing, and I didn’t realize until they brought it up earlier this week.”

“I’m just very appreciative of everything Eastern has done for me and my family. I’m blessed and it’s a privilege,” Baldwin said.

And on the field? After seven-plus years under Baldwin, the ledger stands at 72 wins and 27 losses,with four Big Sky titles and a national championship in 2010.

In games decided by a touchdown or less, the Eagles are 28-12 since Baldwin took over the program in 2008. This year’s team is 4-1 in close encounters, the payoff for resilience.

“Every team takes on a certain identity, but we do have a certain resiliency on this team, and that’s something we want to continue to build on,” said Baldwin, whose team is 5-2 overall and 4-0 in Big Sky games.

On the other hand, Baldwin said there’s plenty of room for improvement – especially on special teams, where the Eagles gave up two touchdowns on long punt and kickoff returns. “They (Northern Colorado) had their way with us on special teams,” Baldwin said.

Additionally, there’s angst over the running game, which is missing some key players; and over consistency on defense. Last week, the Eagles pitched a shutout in the second half until Northern Colorado drove twice for scores in the final five minutes.

Now the season is in the home stretch, in more ways than one. Four games are left in the regular season, and three are at home, but Baldwin said he’s guarding against a false sense of security.

“You guard against it by being humble to the fact that home field doesn’t mean anything in terms of the team you’re playing,” Baldwin said.

Notes

Running back Jabari Wilson and wide receiver Nic Sblendori, who missed the Northern Colorado game with ankle and shoulder injuries, respectively, are questionable this week. Starting defensive tackle Andre Lino injured his ankle against Northern Colorado and joins kicker Tyler McNannay as doubtful for this week‘s game. Other players listed as questionable are linebacker Alek Kacmarcik (hamstring), running back Malcolm Williams (hamstring) and Kaleb Levao (knee). Linebacker Curt Calhoun (hamstring) is probable. Previously starting offensive tackle Cassidy Curtis missed five games after undergoing surgery on his foot, but saw spot duty last week at right tackle.