Eagles Expected To Soar In Sky Football Pundits Say Eastern’s Program Ready To Take Off
With his thunderous voice, commanding physical presence and rich vein of bald jokes, Mike Kramer can hold an audience.
Kramer mined each of those oratory attributes while addressing members of the media during the two-day Big Sky Conference Football Kickoff that concluded Tuesday.
But for the first time since taking over the Eastern Washington University football program four years ago, he was able to draw on the promising prospects for his football team as yet another way of keeping his listeners’ collective ear.
The Eagles, who have finished above. 500 against Big Sky opponents only twice since joining the league in 1987, are suddenly being mentioned among the favorites in this year’s conference and Division I-AA playoff chases.
The Sporting News has them ranked 13th in the nation in its Division I-AA preseason poll, and writers and broadcasters who cover the Big Sky picked them to finish third, behind Northern Arizona and defending champion Montana in this year’s conference race.
The reasoning behind such lofty expectations seems sound. Eastern returns 15 starters from a team that finished 6-5 last fall, despite last-minute losses to Montana (34-30) and NAU (13-10), a pair of playoff teams, and Weber State (22-20).
The Eagles also expect to have senior quarterback Harry Leons, who was 4-1 as a starter before suffering a season-ending knee injury last fall, back in the starting lineup. And they have added unprecedented depth with one of the strongest recruiting classes in recent memory.
Still, Kramer opted to preach caution at the Kickoff, noting last year’s team lost its final three games and four of its last five.
“A lot of people who talk to me and ask me how we’re going to be mention the fact that we lost those three close games,” Kramer explained. “That’s pretty tough to take. So we have approached our football team with the idea that we really have a slight character flaw.
“While we may look good in our uniforms and we may press the issue (in big games) for a certain amount of time, in the last 4 or 5 minutes of each half we seem to stagger a little bit. So, in spite of the fact that we return quite a few good football players, I think the jury’s still out on our program and where we’re at.”
The Eagles open their 1997 season at home against Rocky Mountain College on Sept. 6. Kramer said this year’s success will hinge on his senior-dominated defense and whether it can build on last year’s improvement.
Second-team All-American Derek Strey returns at middle linebacker with a chance to overtake Jason Marsh as Eastern’s all-time tackle leader. And there is starting experience at the other two linebacker spots and all four positions in the defensive line.
All-American candidate Maurice Perigo returns at free safety to anchor a defensive backfield that will be young but talented.
Still, those dark memories of 1995 when the Eagles gave up 178 points in their final three games also return.
“Most of that defense has been deeply scarred,” Kramer said. “We were dead last in every category that existed and in some that we invented in 1995. We gave up 50 points to everybody when all those guys were sophomores.
“But we got all their diapers changed between seasons and they made great improvement last year. However, we faltered a little bit at the end.”
It didn’t help that the Eagle offense was trying to manage with redshirt freshman Griffin Garske at quarterback during the second half of the season. The physically gifted, 6-foot-4, 217-pounder showed an NFL-caliber arm but never seemed as knowledgeable about the offense as Leons. He ended up throwing 12 interceptions.
Kramer said Leons will probably enter fall camp as the starter, but added he expects Garske to push his savvy senior.
“We’ve got two types of quarterbacks,” he explained. “We’ve got a skilled, crafty guy who has a hard time throwing a spiral, and we’ve got a guy with a cannon. One’s a quarterback and one’s a thrower.”
Kramer pointed out that Eastern has never had a “great sophomore quarterback. “But hopefully we can overcome that a little bit if (Garske) comes in and has an outstanding early camp,” he added.
Whoever ends up under center will operate behind an experienced offensive line that Kramer ranks as the strength of this year’s team. Senior tackle Jim Buzzard was an all-league pick last fall and could emerge as the next EWU offensive lineman graduated to the NFL.
“If he keeps some weight on, he has an opportunity to play at the next level,” Kramer said of the 6-3, 260-pounder. “The thing I like about Jim is he’s a mean, nasty guy. Big guys that are mean and nasty are pretty rare. And they usually play defense.”
Senior Rex Prescott will step in for Joe Sewell at tailback, but Kramer said he will put a top priority this fall on finding a backup or two for the slightly built 170-pounder, who stands just 5-7. Junior Mike MacKenzie looked good this spring, but the tailback-in-waiting label could fall on incoming freshman Elijah Baker, who was named Washington’s Player of the Year while rushing for 1,022 yards and 16 touchdown for State AAA champion Curtis (Tacoma).
“We’ve got to keep Prescott healthy,” Kramer said. “We’re going to have to play MacKenzie and maybe a couple of freshmen early to keep Rex’s carries down.
“I’d like to see him at the end of the season with about 175 or 180 carries. If he has more than that, he’s going to be beat up.”
Kramer said he expects the Big Sky to be as balanced as it has been in years and admitted he is “mystified” about where his team might fit in.
“We’re proud of the fact that our physicality has greatly improved,” he said. “We’re bigger and stronger than we have been in the past.
“But the conference has a chance to be outstanding. And we’re on a three-game skid.”
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