Eagles Would Prefer Many Happy Returns Ewu’S Levingston Takes Talents Up Against 14Th-Rated Bobcats
League-leading Montana State and Eastern Washington, two teams that pride themselves on discipline and fundamentals, could very well see this afternoon’s Big Sky Conference football showdown decided by a rogue return specialist.
That’s not the way either coach would prefer for their 1:05 Woodward Stadium matchup to unfold. MSU’s Cliff Hysell and Eastern’s Mike Kramer are football purists who like to let the big hogs in the trenches decide who wins or loses. But when Bashir Levingston is on the field for the Eagles, the game belongs to him. And there is nothing pure - except speed - about the way this 5-foot-9, 180-pound senior transfer performs.
In Saturday’s 31-25 win over Cal State Sacramento, for instance, Levingston returned a late first-quarter kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown, only to land smack in the middle of Kramer’s doghouse.
It turns out that Levingston had done things his own way, opting to reverse his field and run away from the wall of blockers that had formed down the left sideline. Afterward, Kramer said he might have benched anyone else for pulling such a stunt. But he admitted his young team desperately needs the home-run threat Levingston brings to the table each time he touches the football.
Almost as if to thank his coach for a second chance, Levingston went on to return two more kickoffs for touchdowns against the Hornets and set or tied seven Division I-AA records in the process.
Hysell has seen the video of Saturday’s three returns and is well aware that Levingston leads the nation in punt returns, as well, with an average of 20.2 yards per return and three touchdowns. In addition, he has caught eight passes - four for touchdowns - and averages 30.4 yards per catch.
“What can you say about Levingston?” asked Hysell, who brings his Bobcats (6-2 overall, 4-1 Big Sky) into today’s game as the 14th-ranked I-AA team in the nation. “He ends up in the end zone too much if you’re the opposing coach. He’s really a weapon.” The Eagles (4-4, 3-3) have some other weapons as well. And the defending Big Sky champions seem to be warming to the role of spoiler they inherited two weeks ago after suffering a third conference loss to Montana.
Eastern boasts the league’s fourth-leading runner in senior Mike MacKenzie, who has rushed for 829 yards and 12 touchdowns on 159 carries, and its fifth-leading passer in junior Griffin Garske, who has completed 54.5 percent of his passes for 1,741 yards and 12 TDs.
“Traditionally, Eastern Washington has had one of the best - if not the best - and most physical offensive lines in the conference,” Hysell said. “Mike MacKenzie is a big, physical running back, the umpteenth one we’ve seen this year. They’re also throwing the ball with success, and that really puts pressure on a defense.”
Montana State, which handed Eastern its only regular-season loss last fall, has fashioned its half-game Big Sky lead behind a wide-open offense featuring senior quarterback Rob Compson, who has thrown for 1,961 yards and 15 touchdowns. The Bobcats also have the league’s top receiver in Chip Hobbs, who has caught 53 passes for 782 yards and eight TDs.
“They do a lot of things offensively to make sure Compson succeeds,” Kramer said. “Their main thing is that they’re pretty solid. They don’t give your defense opportunities for big plays like a lot of other wide-open offenses do.”
Today’s game will mark the Woodward Stadium finale for eight Eastern seniors - MacKenzie, Levingston, injured strong safety Jimmy Lake, kicker Josh Atwood, defensive tackle Avont Grant and offensive linemen T.J. Ackerman, David Andres and Aaron White.