Eagles Play Giant-Sized Broncos Eastern At Boise State

With their first national ranking of the season and last week’s upset victory to boost their confidence, the Eastern Washington Eagles face one of their biggest challenges of the season.

Not only are the Eagles, ranked No. 25 in Division I-AA, going up against Division I-A Boise State, they’ll have to contend with the Broncos’ offensive line that averages 305 pounds per giant.

“Boise State is extremely talented on both sides of the ball, and are very impressive with a huge, senior-dominated offensive line,” EWU coach Mike Kramer said. “They have exceptional team speed and are very aggressive defensively. They are great - as good as any team I ever want to see on our schedule.”

Superlatives aside, it will be a daunting task for the Eastern defense, which allowed averages of 450.8 yards and 37.8 points in the season’s first four games. However, that was before coaches simplified their game plan and found success when the Eagles (3-2) upset then-No.15 Northern Arizona 14-10 last week.

“Our defensive front put pressure on them, and our defensive coaching staff did a magnificent job of not overcoaching our defense,” Kramer said. “We played about one front and one coverage the entire night and it was good enough to win.”

Northern Arizona managed 377 yards, only 81 on the ground. Four interceptions helped EWU.

On offense, sophomore quarterback Chris Samms makes his third start for the Eagles in place of Fred Salanoa, who is out for the season with a knee injury. Samms, who has a solid 114.7 pass-efficiency rating, won both his previous starts.

But it’s the rushing game that keeps the Eagles moving the ball. Jovan Griffith leads the team with 690 yards and averages 6.8 yards per carry. His backup, Jesse Chatman, has 489 yards at 7.0 per carry.

Boise State (3-2) is coming off a surprising 26-20 win against previously undefeated Utah. In fact, having also defeated New Mexico (20-9), the Broncos are 2-0 against the Mountain West Conference. Their other win was a 35-27 decision against Southern Utah.