EWU has playoffs in its sights
Regardless of their last result or next opponent, Eastern Washington University football coaches steadfastly remain focused on their team.
Eagle fans have more choices.
As EWU head coach Paul Wulff said, pull for “anybody that’s playing Montana.”
That was never difficult, even before last week’s disheartening 31-28 loss to the Grizzlies in a Big Sky Conference showdown.
But it does present an interesting dilemma for Eastern fans.
No Big Sky runner-up has missed the playoffs with an overall record of at least 8-3, which is where EWU would be if the Eagles and Grizzlies win out. On the other hand, once a third team joins the mix, anything can happen, which is especially true this season with the quality of a couple other I-AA leagues.
UM and Montana State, Eastern’s final opponent in Bozeman, are both 3-0 in league play and both play Northern Arizona (2-1), which fell hard, 45-14, in Cheney when ranked No. 16.
“We want to win the championship and we’ve got a good chance,” Wulff said. “The last two years it was a three-way tie with 5-2 records, so I think there’s a good chance.”
Recent escapes indicate it is going to be hard for the Griz to remain perfect.
Teams that share the title call themselves champions, but that doesn’t ensure a spot in the I-AA playoffs.
MSU won the automatic berth the last two seasons despite being 7-5 overall. Montana, with its traditional high ranking, got in both years with 9-3 and 9-2 records. NAU made it last year at 8-3, but two years ago Idaho State was left out with an 8-3 record.
Throwing the league into a three-way tie could jeopardize one of the teams.
Should EWU not get the automatic berth, let it not be forgotten that on Nov. 6 unbeaten and sixth-ranked Cal Poly comes to Cheney for a non-league game. That could be the win that puts the Eagles over the top or the loss that undermines their chances.
The Eagles face a difficult game this weekend, going to winless Weber State. No one expected the Wildcats would be oh-fer, so that is a concern, along with the fact they are coached by long-time Eastern assistant Jerry Graybeal. Also, Weber State has the best defensive lineman in the league in Brady Fosmark and last year’s rushing champ, Nick Chournos.
Mix in last week’s disappointment, it’s easy to understand Wulff’s comment to his team: “Don’t let Montana beat you twice.”
Kramer karma
Three weeks, three close calls for the Bobcats.
The most surprising thing about MSU’s 31-24 overtime win over visiting Portland State is the lack of an outrageous Kramerism.
Despite opening league play 3-0 for the first time since 1982, each win despite the Cats trailing the likes of Idaho State, Weber and PSU entering the fourth quarter, the best Mike Kramer, the always quotable MSU coach, could say to the Great Falls Tribune was: “That one will rank with one of the best I’ve ever been involved with, period.”
The Bobats were trailing PSU 14-3 at halftime and the last sighting of quarterback Travis Lulay had him slightly dingy after a hard tackle.
Lulay came back in the second half but the Cats fell behind 21-10 before another great rally, like the one from 17 down against winless Weber State two weeks ago that ended up as a 20-17 win on a field goal as time ran out.
MSU went 82 yards in 15 seconds to tie the game with no time on the clock. Working without a huddle, Lulay passed 17 times, including two completions on fourth down before Justin Domineck dove over the line on fourth-and-goal from the 1. With no time on the clock, senior E.J. Cochrane, who missed five PAT’s as a freshman, made the kick.
Domineck went 17 yards to score on MSU’s second play in OT and the defense stuffed PSU.
Lulay finished 27 of 56 for a career-high 375 yards.
Kramer, who was 37-32 in six years at EWU, won his 60th game as a Big Sky head coach, which is third all-time behind Nevada’s Chris Ault (111) and Montana’s Don Read (85).
Quick kicks
With defensive linemen Larry Raynes and Mike Wolfe coming out of the UM game with knee injuries, EWU moved Harrison Nikolea from offensive guard back to defense. He was moved two weeks into the season, switching his No. 99 jersey for No. 57. “He’s going to be no. 57 on Saturdays but it could be on either side of the ball,” Wulff said… . Weber’s Graybeal had gall bladder surgery early last week but was at practice the next day. “They took my gall bladder out, they didn’t take my heart out. I’m going to work every bit as hard as I always do, even harder,” he told the Ogden Standard-Examiner … EWU linebacker Doug Vincent, after 16 tackles against Montana, is now 10th on the school career list with 225, 10 behind his brother Luke, who is eighth.