EWU notebook: Defense figured it out
For the fifth time in as many Big Sky Conference games, Eastern Washington’s defense found a way to turn the tide in the second half of the Eagles’ 14-13 win over Weber State.
The Eagles quickly fell behind 10-0 while they adjusted to “a bunch of formations that we weren’t expecting,” roverback Todd Raynes said.
One of them resembled a reverse wishbone, a tight formation that produced multiple running lanes for the Wildcat running backs and mobile quarterback Jadrian Clark.
With a 25 mile-per-hour winds at their backs, the Wildcats threw effectively downfield in the first quarter, with Clark completing passes of 20 and 34 yards to Daryll Denby to set up a fake-field goal that ended with backup quarterback Chad Leckington scoring on a 6-yard run.
“It was hard getting lined up the first couple of series,” said linebacker Miquiyah Zamora, who had a career-high 16 tackles, plus a sack and a tackle for loss.
In the second quarter, with the wind in their faces, the Wildcats still were able to run effectively, especially during a 16-play, 68-yard drive that ended with Josh Kealamakia’s 24-yard field goal with 36 seconds left in the half.
By halftime, Weber had 107 yards on the ground and 130 in the air, while Clark kept the Eagles off-balance with designed runs. The Eagles were lucky to go into halftime trailing by only 13-7, thanks partly to an interception by linebacker Alek Kacmarcik early in the second quarter that led to EWU’s only touchdown of the half.
Something had to change, and it did.
“We made some adjustments to shut down the run, and I think we did a pretty good job,”said Raynes, who finished with 13 tackles. “It’s pretty amazing how tough our guys grinded through it.”
For the game, Eastern gave up 412 yards – not bad, considering the defense faced 83 plays and was on the field for 41 1/2 minutes. In the second half alone, it held Weber to 174 yards on 39 plays.
Gubrud unlikely hero
Third-string quarterback Gage Gubrud showed another talent that came in handy Saturday afternoon: an ability to punt rugby-style.
Punting mostly against the wind, Gubrud averaged 38 yards on five kicks to keep the Weber State offense from getting good field position. Two of those kicks ended inside the Weber 20.
“We knew it was going to be windy,” said Gubrud, a reshirt freshman from McMinnville, Oregon. “It’s hard to punt without the wind affecting it, so I tried to keep it low.”
With 51 seconds left and Eastern facing fourth-and-9 from its own 21, Gubrud drilled a kick that seemed to glide just above the turf before rolling to the Weber 38. The Wildcats moved to midfield, but turned the ball over on downs and Eastern escaped with a one-point win.
100 for Baldwin
The wind and rain were still buffeting Roos Field after Eastern’s win, which happened to mark coach Beal Baldwin’s 100th game as head coach at EWU.
“More than anything I want to thank everybody who has been a part of this fun ride to this point,” said Baldwin, who is 73-27 overall and 50-21 in Big Sky Conference games after Saturday’s win.
“We’ll reflect more on it later – right now I’m thankful to people who helped us win today. We’ll get in the film room and work on game 101.”
Baldwin took over for Paul Wulff in 2008. He led the Eagles to the FCS title in 2010 and has won four Big Sky titles in seven years.