Eagles Weighing Options Hilltoppers’ I-Bone Challenges Ewu Defense

The murky waters of unfamiliarity flow in more than one direction.

Which is why Western Kentucky coach Jack Harbaugh doesn’t think his I-Bone option offense gives his fifth-seeded Hilltoppers any huge advantage in this afternoon’s Division I-AA quarterfinal playoff game against third-seeded Eastern Washington.

Granted, the option is as foreign around these parts as a cheap plane ticket to Chattanooga, Tenn., the site of this year’s Dec. 20 I-AA championship game.

But back in Bowling Green, Ky., most people - Harbaugh included - haven’t seen much of Eastern’s defensive scheme, either.

“Everybody makes a big fuss about the fact that they haven’t seen our kind of offense,” Harbaugh said Friday before putting his Hilltoppers through an afternoon practice at Albi Stadium, where today’s 12:30 p.m. showdown will be played.

“Well, our problem is on the flip side of that. Teams that we play year in and year out, we get a pretty good idea of how they’ve evolved in defending the option. But we have no idea what kind of plan (the Eagles) will come in with. We won’t know until game time exactly where they’re going to put their people or what kind of defensive configuration they’re going to be in.”

The Eagles have been pretty basic most of the season, relying on their four down linemen to apply pressure up front and keep blockers off their three linebackers.

But defensive coordinator Jerry Graybeal has been working on a variety of his own options to use out of his base 4-3 alignment. He has spent much of his week diagramming different ways to slow down the Hilltoppers’ rushing game, which has produced a Division I-AA-leading 366 yards per game.

“My daughter is starting to think I work for Hallmark,” Graybeal said. “When people ask her what her daddy does, she says, ‘He draws on cards.”’

Graybeal’s main concern is Hilltoppers quarterback Willie Taggart, who rushed for 1,217 yards and 15 touchdowns during the regular season.

“No. 1, he’s just a great athlete,” Graybeal said of Taggart. “But what impresses me probably the most is that from a mental standpoint, he makes excellent, excellent decisions all the time. He really understands the offense.”

The Hilltoppers defense has put up some decent numbers, too, limiting opponents to 87.4 yards per game rushing and 289.9 in total offense.

But Harbaugh admitted his team has not faced an offense as balanced as Eastern’s, which led the nation in total offense during the regular season with an average of 505.6 yards per game.

Harbaugh said first-impressions of Eastern’s offense can be misleading. He explained that the Eagles’ one-back look, with two and sometimes three wide receivers, made him think initially that they were predominantly a passing team.

“But then when you really look into it, about 58 percent of their offense is running the football,” he added. “They have great balance, and it appears their quarterback does a lot of audibilizing at the line of scrimmage to get them in the right play.” The winner of today’s game will play in next Saturday’s semifinals against the VillanovaYoungstown State winner. The game will be played at the site of the higher-remaining seed. Unbeaten Villanova is seeded No. 1.

Game notes

Today’s meeting is the first between the two schools… . EWU (40-10 over Northwestern State) and Western Kentucky (42-28 over Eastern Kentucky) posted the two most lopsided victories in last Saturday’s eight first-round playoff games… . Eagles running back Rex Prescott has rushed for more than 100 yards in each of his last seven games… . Western Kentucky has been ranked as high as third in both the The Sports Network and ESPN/USA Today I-AA polls.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: EWU vs. Western Kentucky

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Quarterfinal matchups Youngstown State (10-2) at Villanova (12-0) Georgia Southern (10-2) at Delaware (11-1) McNeese State (11-1) at Western Illinois (11-1) Western Kentucky (10-1) at Eastern Washington (11-1)