Eagles could use rebound
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Try as it might, the Eastern Washington University football team couldn’t avoid a letdown after beating second-ranked Montana.
The result was a 28-23 home loss to Weber State last weekend that undid all the good that resulted from the previous victory.
Can the 14th-ranked Eagles handle adversity better than they handled prosperity? That is the question heading into today’s Big Sky Conference game at Sacramento State.
“You’re always concerned until you get to the next game,” Eastern coach Paul Wulff said. “How are you going to perform off the last one? No one performs the same way week in and week out. This team is pretty resilient. It has veteran players, it knows how to win. We plan to do the things it takes to win.”
Wulff wasn’t expecting the Eagles (4-3, 3-2) to have a letdown last week.
“It sure seemed that way, based on performance,” he said. “I think the effort was good, but emotionally we were a little flat and football is such a game of emotion. That’s why we weren’t as crisp in making the plays we normally make.”
The Hornets (2-6, 1-3) are a different challenge. They are 0-7 against the Eagles at home and near the bottom of the conference in all statistical categories.
“We can’t overanalyze it,” Wulff said. “We have a chip on our shoulder. We need to go down and play a better football game. There is no magical formula.”
The key is the Eagle offense, which had trouble with Weber’s defensive front and didn’t capitalize on opportunities early in the game to finish with a season-low in scoring.
“It’s the same as every week – run the ball more consistently,” EWU left tackle Chris Perkins said. “The offensive line has to step up and give Money (quarterback Erik Meyer) time to throw the ball.”
Sacramento State’s defense hasn’t been bad against Big Sky teams and only allowed California to score 10 points in the first half of a season-opening 41-3 loss.
“They’re active and they rush the quarterback well,” Wulff said. “We have to be able to function well on the offensive front. If we can do that, we have a chance to move the ball.”
The Hornets’ defensive problems can be traced to an offense that has turned over the ball a conference-high 21 times, including 18 fumbles.
The Hornets had six turnovers a week ago but only lost to Idaho State 27-17. Portland State beat Sacramento State 28-12, but the Vikings scored one defensive touchdown and returned another fumble to the Hornets’ one.
More telling about the Hornets’ offense is that the defense has also forced 21 turnovers on which the offense didn’t cash in.
Despite a veteran offensive line, sophomore running back Ryan Mole, averaging more than 90 yards a game, and dangerous quarterback Chris Hurd (a transfer from Washington State), Sacramento State is averaging just 278.3 yards and 18 points a game.
“The main goal is to stop the run – they like to run the counter – and improve on our pass defense,” said EWU safety Bryan Jarrett said. “We’ll play a lot of man coverage and assign somebody to the quarterback. We’ll come out with our base stuff. It’s all about us this week, it’s not about them. They have a lot of athletes, so do we.”
Jarrett doesn’t expect a repeat of last week’s performance.
“I think we had a lack of focus,” he said. “We took (Weber) seriously, but coming off the high from the Montana game we had a letdown. We couldn’t focus for four quarters and the game was lost in the fourth quarter.”