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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

EWU football: Eagles will have hands full with fast, physical Ducks

Ducks running back Byron Marshall is tough to corral. (Associated Press)

Eastern Washington strong safety Zach Bruce isn’t worried about Oregon’s offense going into Saturday’s matchup against the Ducks.

“That’s the wrong attitude,” the Eagles junior said this week. “I think of it as a challenge.”

Certainly the seventh-ranked Ducks will present plenty of challenges for the Eagle defense, from their successful “blur” offense to their team speed to their fast-paced zone-read offense.

“They have a lot of threats,” said Bruce mentioning the Duck players by uniform number as they appear on game film from last year. “Number 9 (wide receiver Byron Marshall) and number 6 (wideout Charles Nelson), they’re pretty fast,” Bruce said. “We have to be great in space and be good tacklers.”

Marshall is a dual threat who caught 74 balls last year for 1,003 yards, and rushed for another 392 on just 42 carries. A bigger menace for Eastern’s undersized defense is 230-pound running back Royce Freeman, who burst onto the scene last year as a true freshman with 1,365 yards and 18 touchdowns.

While Oregon’s evolution into an elite program has been led by its offense, EWU coach Beau Baldwin believes the other facets don’t get enough credit.

“I think not enough gets said about the overall great team they are, physically,” Baldwin said. “It’s more than just speed.”

After watching film, Eastern defensive tackle Matthew Sommer said, “Their big boys are athletic. Some people say that Oregon’s not that physical, but they’re plenty physical.

“We just have to come in and show some mental toughness.”

That will come in handy against another of the Ducks’ offensive weapons: a frenetic pace that strives to let no more than 10 to 12 seconds elapse before snapping the ball on the next play. Many Oregon opponents have wilted in the second half, the victims of fatigue.

Baldwin said this week that he’s tried to prepare the players by “putting them in more stressful moments in fall camp than we do in most years … not only for Oregon for the rest of the season. It’ll help us for other teams, because more often than not, a team is going as fast as it can.”

Eagles are flying this time

Two years ago, Eastern opted to save some money and take an eight-hour bus ride for the season opener at Oregon State. The Eagles won that game, 49-46, but endured some anxious moments when several players – including Adams – suffered from dehydration.

With that in mind, the Eagles are taking a charter flight to Eugene. They’ll leave Friday morning, then practice at a local high school before holding their walk-through at Autzen Stadium.

Paper chase

For the native Oregonians on Eastern’s roster, securing some extra tickets for the game is a close second to the game itself.

“It’s a work in progress,” said Sommer, who hails from Salem and is working on “the young guys” on the EWU roster to get some extra tickets.

Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, who’s from the Portland suburb of Milwaukie, said he expects 70 family members and friends to be in attendance. “It’s a huge group,” said Bourne, who said the game gives him a chance to “show the scouts that type of game environment.”

Notes

• Ten Big Sky Conference teams will be playing FBS teams this fall. Every school except Montana, Montana State and Northern Colorado will play one FBS opponent, while Idaho State will face two Mountain West opponents in back-to-back weeks (Boise State and UNLV)

• An hour after the Eagles kick off, Big Sky rival Weber State will open its season at Oregon State, just 40 miles up the road from Eugene. Weber coach Jay Hill was a position coach under new Beavers coach Gary Andersen at Utah State before Andersen moved to Wisconsin in 2013.

• Jerome Souers of Northern Arizona and former EWU coach Mike Kramer of Idaho State are each entering their 18th seasons as head coaches in the Big Sky. Souers ranks second all-time with 100 wins. Kramer is third with 91.