Sizing up Eastern Washington’s football opponents, from easiest to toughest

Montana is down, Southern Utah is up, and North Dakota State is always good.

Meanwhile, Texas Tech looks like the most winnable money game Eastern Washington has seen since the Eagles beat Idaho back in 2012.

Those are the biggest takeaways from a schedule that appears to be one of the most forgiving in recent years.

The operative word here is “appears.” Good thing they don’t play these games on paper, or Eastern Washington might have gone 0-for-September last year. Instead, the Eagles won three of four en route to another Big Sky Conference championship.

Without inviting some bad karma on the Eagles, they should have a slightly easier schedule in September and beyond. Eastern also misses two of the better teams in the league, Cal Poly and Northern Arizona.

My pick: a record of 9-2 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky Conference. Which two games will they lose? That’s the tough part.

With that, here’s how I rank the games, from easiest to toughest:

11. Sacramento State (Sept. 30 in Cheney) – No surprise here. Head coach Jody Sears (a former EWU assistant under Paul Wulff) was fortunate to keep his job after going 2-9 last year. The Hornets return 18 starters, but must find a new QB after Nate Ketteringham transferred to North Dakota.

10. UC Davis (Oct. 7 in Davis, California) – The Aggies went 3-8 last year and haven’t had a winning season since 2010, so they threw money at the problem and hired alum and former Colorado coach Dan Hawkins at $265,000 a year base salary. Hawkins will need time to fix a porous run defense if the Aggies are to move up this year. One caveat: Davis has played the Eagles tough in recent years.

9. Montana State (Oct. 14 in Cheney) – The Bobcats made strides last year under first-year coach Jeff Choate. MSU went 4-7, but four losses were by a combined 13 points. QB Chris Murray, the Big Sky Freshman of the Year, is the real deal and the Cats showed improvement last year on defense, but Eastern should cruise at home.

8. Portland State (Nov. 18 in Cheney) – The Vikings always play Eastern tough in this rivalry game (it was 35-28 last year in Portland), and PSU was competitive in almost every game despite having 29 players injured at one time or another. Coach Bruce Barnum returns 14 starters but must shore up a defense that gave up 478 yards per game last year.

7. Southern Utah (Oct. 21 in Cedar City, Utah) – This could be a trap game, as it was in 2012 when No. 1-ranked EWU fell at SUU. The Thunderbirds (6-5 last year) return 14 starters and should have one of the top defenses in the league, but they have big holes at most skill positions. QB Patrick Tyler is back, but he’s being pushed by Hawaii transfer Aaron Zwahlen.

6. Weber State (Nov. 4 in Cheney) – The Wildcats (ranked 22nd in the FCS media preseason poll) are one of the biggest mysteries in the preseason, but things should be clearer by November. Coach Jay Hill went 6-2 in the Big Sky last season, albeit against an easy schedule. The Wildcats lost some key personnel (QB is the biggest issue) but return 14 starters.

5. Fordham (Sept. 16 in New York) – Denied an at-large playoff bid in 2016 despite an 8-3 record, the Rams have plenty of motivation this year. The offense starts with record-setting running back Chase Edmonds (5,285 rushing yards, 69 TDs in three years), but opposing defenses can’t concentrate solely on him, because fifth-year senior Kevin Anderson was the league’s passing leader a year ago. A big question will be how the Eagles handle a cross-country trip and a 10 a.m. PDT kickoff.

4. Montana (Sept. 23 in Missoula) – This is a pivotal year for third-year coach Bob Stitt after the Griz went 6-5 (3-5 in the Sky) last year and are unranked in the preseason polls for the first time since 1991. The Griz are unsettled at quarterback, but should have one of the top receiving corps in the conference and a stout run defense – a good recipe to knock off the Eagles. UM has lost five of the last six meetings against Eastern, but dominated the Eagles 57-16 two years ago in Missoula.

3. North Dakota (Nov. 11 in Grand Forks, North Dakota) – Book your flights now (I’m going by charter), because this could be for the conference title. With good reason, the media and coaches picked UND and EWU to finish atop the standings. The Hawks return 15 starters, including senior QB Keaton Stensrud (150-for-288, with 2,027 yards, 14 TDs and just two picks), plus the best defense in the league (opponents averaged just 2.9 yards per rush last year.)

2. North Dakota State (Sept. 9 in Cheney) – There will be motivation aplenty for both teams in what will be the highest-profile FCS intersectional game of the year. The Eagles remember last year’s overtime loss in Fargo, but the Bison still recall their epic playoff loss in Cheney in 2010. NDSU quarterback Easton Stick is 20-2 as a starter, and the Bison defense looks tough despite a season-ending knee injury to two-time All-American defensive end Greg Menard.

1. Texas Tech (Sept. 2 in Lubbock, Texas) – Coach Best has a chance to one-up predecessor Beau Baldwin, who lost his debut in same stadium in 2008. However, the Red Raiders have fallen on hard times (5-7 last year, with the worth defense in FBS). Eastern should score in bunches, but the defense will need a strong effort to stop a Red Raiders offense that’s loaded at receiver. One bright spot: Tech is starting over at QB after the early departure of Patrick Mahomes (10th overall in the NFL draft.)