Eastern Washington set for game-like Red-White contest
Don’t expect to see a lot of mysteries revealed Saturday afternoon at Roos Field.
The Eastern Washington Red-White Spring Game will be all about fun – and showing the coaches something they don’t see in practice or controlled scrimmages.
“I like games and I want our players to compete at the highest level,” said Aaron Best, whose debut as head coach will come on Sept. 2 when the Eagles play at Texas Tech.
“We’re still in the evaluation phase …We want to see them play in a game format. We’ll have a lot of new faces playing next to new faces, but we think it will be exciting for our fans and our players,” Best said.
The excitement began Wednesday, when the Eagles held a draft to pick sides for Saturday’s game. Ten seniors were chosen to make the selection under self-appointed “commissioner” Best.
The teams alternated picks, and once a team made a draft selection, the other team had to select a player at the same position. Remaining players were then drafted to fill gaps in rosters.
This will be the first true “game format” at Eastern since 2011.
All-America quarterback and Gage Gubrud will lead the White team, but was selected second in the draft.
His squad – including one captain who confidently predicted a 40-point victory Saturday – will also also includes three other 2016 All-Big Sky Conference performers in offensive tackle Tristen Taylor, defensive nose tackle Jay Tee-Tiuli and safety Mitch Fettig.
The Red team will counter with a pair of All-Big Sky performers in center Spencer Blackburn and cornerback Nzuzi Webster. Blackburn was the first selection in the draft, presumably as a strategic move to offset the powerful Tiuli on defense for the White squad.
The Red selected wide receiver Nsimba Webster with the third pick. Redshirt freshman Eric Barriere will quarterback the Red swuad.
The game, which begins at 2:05 p.m., will include a 12-minute running clock in each quarter, but the clock will stop after scores and during special teams plays.
One more quirk: There will be a “clutch mode” session with under two minutes left in the second quarter where the clock will stop and start as in a regular game. The Eagles will possibly do the same in fourth quarter, depending on the score/situation.
“The biggest evaluations are with helmets on,” Best added. “Players are going to get bigger or more slender during winter conditioning, but we want to evaluate them within the rectangle in the spring.”
“We want to see what they can do to make plays going into the fall,” Best said.