There's a good chance Eastern Washington coach Mike Kramer won't devote much time to scoreboard watching tonight when his Eagles open their 1997 college football season against Rocky Mountain College at 6:35 at Woodward Stadium.
Kramer's veteran Division I-AA team, picked to finish third in the powerful Big Sky Conference, could probably mail in its final victory margin against the NAIA Bears, who had lost 41 consecutive games prior to last season when they finished 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the Frontier Conference.
So most of Kramer's attention will be centered on his young players - guys like offensive lineman Luke Fritz, who will make his college debut as Eastern's starting right guard.
The 6-foot-4, 295-pound freshman, who graduated from Oroville High School and now lives in Osoyoos, British Columbia, redshirted during the Eagles' 6-5 run last fall - not so much for his own benefit as for the safety of his teammates.
"A year ago we wouldn't even let him in team drills," Kramer said of Fritz, "because he fell down a lot and we were afraid he'd hurt guys.
"But he's progressed to the point now, because of injuries to (projected starters) T.J. Ackerman and Justen Wochnick, that he's our starting right guard."
Kramer said Fritz will split time at the position with Wenatchee's Jeremy Taylor, a 6-2, 280-pound sophomore, who is one of six players on Eastern's roster who sat out the 1996 season as academic non-qualifiers out of high school.
Among Kramer's other Prop 48 players who are expected to see their first game action in almost two years are defensive backs Maurice Chambers and Julian Williams, defensive linemen Dario Romero and Dan Oblenis and offensive lineman Mark Skodje.
Kramer said his six newcomers have "tremendous talent," but are "as raw as raw can be.
"At this point, after going through two-a-day practices, what they really need is some game-type action," he added. "And they're going to get more than a mouthful come Saturday."
Chambers, a cornerback from Spanaway, and Williams, a strong safety from Vancouver, are listed as second-stringers, but Kramer said both should see plenty of action in the six-defensive back alignment the Eagles plan to use against Rocky Mountain's spread passing attack.
Kramer expects the outmanned Bears to use four and five wide receivers out of a shotgun formation in an effort to buy their quarterbacks more time against Eastern's experienced defensive front.
"This is an excellent, excellent opener for us, because it's against the type of offensive scheme we really need to see defensively," Kramer said, pointing out that several Big Sky teams will run similar wide-open offenses. "It's a great opportunity for us to get in the right mindset, defensively, against this type of offense."
Kramer said he plans to look at plenty of new faces on offense as well, but insisted that the score of the game will not dictate how long he keeps his starters on the field.
"What we would rather do is play our starters until we become comfortable with their performances," he explained.
Notes
With true freshmen Scott Mitchell and Chris Samms on redshirt status, Eastern has only two quarterbacks - senior starter Harry Leons and sophomore Griffin Garske - listed on its three-deep depth chart. ... Despite the obvious depth of talent in his latest recruiting class, Kramer said backup outside linebacker Brad Packer and backup wide receiver Marcus Pitts are the only two true freshmen who will not redshirt this season. "If any of the others play, it will be out of necessity because of injuries," Kramer explained. . . . With classes not scheduled to start until Sept. 22, there will probably be a shortage of student support and plenty of empty seats at tonight's game and next Saturday's Woodward Stadium matchup against Eastern Oregon, another NAIA school. . . . EWU opens the year ranked 13th among Division I-AA schools by The Sporting News; 23rd by Preview Sports Publications and 25th in the ESPN SportsTicker poll.
