Eastern almost special on kicks
Obscured in the euphoria of a solid win over second-ranked Montana at the most intimidating venue in I-AA was the mediocre play of Eastern Washington’s special teams.
But mediocre is improvement.
After special teams were dismal in the Big Sky Conference opening loss at Idaho State, the Eagles went back to square one.
“What we have done is we’ve gotten better,” Eagle coach Paul Wulff said. “You’re not seeing as many (big returns).”
Brett Bergstrom had six kickoffs against the Grizzlies and three weren’t returned.
In fact, one went through the uprights. However, the three that were returned were taken 19 yards to the 21, 34 yards to the 36 and 35 yards to the 40.
Ryan Donckers only punted twice. A 45-yarder could have been downed at the 1 instead of rolling into the end zone if the Eagle on the scene had turned the other way. The other punt from deep in the EWU end went 51 yards but was returned 20 yards to the Eagle 38.
That’s four returned kicks for 108 yards.
Three games before that, Idaho State returned three punts for 61 yards and four kickoffs for 137.
Mix in another missed extra point and a fumbled kickoff return and mediocre might be generous.
“We’re still frustrated … but we’re getting better,” special teams coach Keith Murphy said.
“Our interior has to be more football players, they can’t be robots. We ended up having to start from scratch.
“We’ve got the effort up, now we have to re-teach them how to take the correct angles to the ball.
“It almost seems like we’re three or four games behind because we had to start over.”
While trying to find the right combinations, injuries have contributed to the problem.
“Part of the problem is we’ve been trying to move too many guys around trying to get the right fit,” Wulff said. “There might not be quite enough continuity there… . It’s almost like we don’t have enough savvy.
“When you take the hit of injuries we’ve taken, that’s where you really start seeing the biggest effect, it keeps removing your depth.
“We’ll keep working on it. That’s all you can do, we’re working with what we’ve got. We have to keep getting better.”
Another cool customer
Montana State beat Weber State two weeks ago when Jeff Hastings kicked a field goal as time expired.
That’s not a surprise, Hastings has 10 field goals this year.
When the Cats found themselves in the opposite side of the same scenario Saturday at Portland State, the Vikings couldn’t have been as confident.
Eric Azorr, who was lining up for a 40-yarder, had missed two earlier attempts, making him 1 for 5 on the season, and had an extra point blocked earlier in the fourth quarter that left the game tied at 41.
No matter to Azorr, who drilled the game-winner with no time on the clock, ending the Vikings’ three-game losing skid to the Bobcats.
Quick kicks
Portland State quarterback Sawyer Smith completed 17 of 25 for 252 yards against MSU, rebounding from a poor performance at Cheney two weeks ago when he was just 10 of 28 for 114 yards… . Portland State running back Joe Rubin ran for 137 yards against Montana State before leaving with a left hand injury and relinquished the 1-AA rushing lead to Brown’s Nick Hartigan. Rubin averages 163.1 yards per game while Hartigan averages 165.4 after a 245-yard effort against Princeton on Saturday. … MSU’s Ricky Gatewood caught 19 passes for 196 yards and two TDs. The Big Sky record is 21 receptions (for 169 yards) by Bobcat David Prandt against EWU in 1985. … Eastern leads the Big Sky in total defense, Weber leads in rushing offense (186.3) with Zach Hall getting 330 yards and three TDs in the last two games… . Montana’s top receiver, Jon Talmage had one five yard reception against the Eagles and left the game with a deep bruise on his back. The hit was given to wide receiver Brett Bergstrom, No. 28, but was mostly likely delivered by No. 29 Jesse Hendrix. … UM’s 14 point loss was their biggest at home since at 35-14 loss to Idaho in 1990.