Eagles count UM as one more team

MISSOULA – It’s hard to imagine what things might be like this week if Eastern Washington University hadn’t lost at Idaho State three weeks ago.

The Eagles would still be ranked in the top five instead of No. 12 and would have an identical record to the second-ranked Grizzlies – one loss to a I-A team and unbeaten in the Big Sky Conference.

Everyone could savor the hype, knowing that a loss would be more of a speed bump on the road to a possible I-AA playoff berth as opposed to a probable roadblock in Eastern’s case.

Focus would be on Eastern’s conference-leading offense (505.4 yards a game) against the Grizzlies’ conference-leading defense (292.2 yards); or last year’s dramatic Montana win at Woodward Field (27-24, preserved by a blocked field goal in the last minute); or the Eagles’ sliver of success at Washington-Grizzly Stadium (three wins) where the home team rarely loses (120-16 since opening in 1986).

Alas, it’s not to be since that 34-30 debacle in Pocatello.

Both teams are insisting this is just another game. For the Eagles, it is.

This game is just like the Eagles’ last two wins against Portland State and Northern Arizona, next week’s homecoming game with Weber State, and every game thereafter.

Eastern needs to win, without peeking at the outside distractions.

“People seem to get all frantic … but it’s just another game,” EWU senior linebacker Joey Cwik said. “We have to look at it like it’s another game … a game we have to win, a roadblock we have to break through on the way to our ultimate goal.”

The Grizzlies make it tough, and 23,000-plus frantic fans make it tougher.

“It is a tough environment to play in, but going down there we know what we’ve got to do, what we’re there for and not worry about the crowd,” EWU senior quarterback Erik Meyer said. “We’ve got to do what we need to do and stay focused.”

In addition to blocking and tackling, the Eagles spent the past week ignoring the hype and focusing on focus.

“You have to eliminate as much of the talk as you can,” said EWU coach Paul Wulff. “The kids have to understand – and they do – what it truly takes to win the ballgame. Everything on the outside is a distraction. You have to stay focused. They have to be stubborn in their approach to their preparation.”

That’s because the Grizzlies are enough of a challenge without distractions.

Montana features a powerful running back in Lex Hilliard (110.4 yards a game), a standout receiver in Jon Talmage (26 catches, 394 yards), and a slight mystery at quarterback in Cole Bergquist, who is making his second start.

“That is a little bit of an unknown,” Wulff said of Bergquist. “He definitely has some skills. We have to treat him like every other player – look at things they’re capable of doing that they’ve shown, and go from there. We have to contain the running back, we can’t stop him, (and) not give up big plays.”

Bergquist, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound redshirt freshman from San Clemente, Calif., was a solid 16 of 26 for 178 yards and two touchdowns in a 32-10 win at Idaho State last week.

“They have a lot of shifts and motion. They try to create confusion,” Cwik said. “If we worry about what we need to do, our assignments, it will take care of itself. We’ve seen every formation.”

The Grizzlies truly shine on defense.

“The kids play very, very hard,” Wulff said. “They stop the run extremely well. When they know it’s a pass they do a good job pressuring the quarterback. We need to be able to do the things we do, make the plays when we can.”

The EWU running game has been solid the last two games, led by Ryan Cole’s 308 yards and six touchdowns, and that has caught the attention of UM coach Bobby Hauck.

“They’re back to being the Eastern Washington we’re used to, which is multidimensional,” Hauck said. “So we can’t let Ryan Cole go crazy on us.”

Meyer had probably his least effective game as a three-year starter two years ago in Missoula, completing 6 of 16 passes for 61 yards in a 41-10 loss, and wants a win badly, but insisted this was no different than last week’s 42-14 win at Northern Arizona.

“It is just another Big Sky game because we have to win now (but) it has a lot of meaning to me because they’ve beaten me as a starter the last two times. I want to come out and take it to them,” Meyer said. “They’re aggressive, they feed off the fans and their emotion. We have to come out and get started early and don’t quit. From start to finish we’ve got to beat them every down.”