Jim Allen

Please, no more body-bag games. They’re just too painful to watch, especially if you also have to pony up $450,000 to have your defense embarrassed by a lower-division team.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Half an hour after the game, Vernon Adams was still scrambling. Teammates, fans, coaches and reporters all wanted a piece of the Eastern Washington quarterback – something the Oregon State defense could never grasp in the Eagles’ 49-46 win Saturday night.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Half an hour after the game, Vernon Adams was still scrambling.

CORVALLIS – They call it a walkthrough, but the Eastern Washington players and coaches moved at a much slower pace during their hour-long session Friday evening at Reser Stadium. This was a stroll-through, efficient and deliberate – all the better to pick up a few more clues on how to knock off 25th-ranked Oregon State this afternoon.

So, Allen Brown, has anyone ever said you’re too small to play college football? Brown, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior safety at Eastern Washington, considers the question.

So, Allen Brown, has anyone ever said you’re too small to play college football?

As the Eastern Washington football players take another shot at the Pac-12 this weekend, so do the coaches. They’ve done that since spring, in the film room and on the field, all the while practicing the same even-keel mentality they preach to their players.

New faces, new looks They don’t have the stature of the departed “Trio” of Brandon Kaufman, Nick Edwards and Greg Herd, but this year’s wide receivers have the quickness, which could make the Eagles even more dangerous on shorter passing routes. That includes seniors Ashton Clark, Cory Mitchell and Daniel Johnson as well as underclassmen Shaquille Hill and Cooper Kupp. In turn, the offense will try to maximize that quickness with some new formations, including the zone read, which will spread the field horizontally as well as vertically.

The tailgating scene has come of age in the parking lot above Roos Field. Country music blares over hundreds of cars, campers and motor homes while kids throw footballs and parents toss burgers on the barbecue.