Confident Eastern faces healthy Vikings
Eastern Washington’s young football team had its moments against highly-ranked Montana two weeks ago then completely destroyed Northern Colorado.
Now it tests that progress at 23rd-ranked Portland State Saturday night at PGE Park.
“You are seeing signs of growth,” Eagles coach Paul Wulff said. “The question is how far can we grow with the remaining games? We did grow these last few weeks and now we’re going to test that growth against an awfully good team on the road.”
The Eagles (2-5, 2-1 Big Sky Conference) have their hands full against the Vikings (4-3, 3-2), who are finally getting healthy. PSU opened the season by winning at I-A New Mexico 17-6, but they got beat up in a loss at California, subsequently losing to Montana and Montana State.
“In their Big Sky losses they were injured at tailback and quarterback,” Wulff said. “Now those kids are back and they’re at full strength like they were the first couple of games. It’s going to be a tough challenge. One, they’re healthy. Two, it’s their last home game of the year and they play well at home.”
The Vikings are big and talented on the defensive front and have an aggressive secondary, which is why they lead the nation with 15 interceptions. They have become more balanced on offense rather than being predominately a running team.
“They’re basically a Cover Two (zone) team, two high safeties, (but) there are a lot of holes they give up,” Eagle quarterback Matt Nichols said.
Nichols, a redshirt freshman, completed 15 of 23 passes for 186 yards but had four interceptions in a 33-17 loss to Montana.
In the 34-0 win over UNC he was 16 of 21 for 259 yards.
“I don’t think you ever have it completely figured out, but I think we’re clicking a lot better now,” he said. “The receivers know where they’re supposed to be, I know where they’re supposed to be. I think our youth is starting to go away and everybody feels pretty good right now.”
The Eagles also ran for 212 yards at UNC with true freshman Jesse Hoffman picking up 124, a task that could be tough to duplicate against a defensive line that weights 310, 300, 300, 265 across the front.
“Obviously, when they’re that big, pad level is a big issue,” said tight end Tom McAndrews, who made his first start in place of injured Tim Calhoun last week. “It is every week, but even more so against big guys like that. You can’t do a lot of things different. We’re going to try to come off the ball hard and find a way to run the ball against them.
“We’re definitely confident. We know we can move the ball. We know we have to take care off the ball – that’s what killed us (before).”
PSU quarterback Sawyer Smith, injured against Cal, threw for a career-high 282 yards with three touchdowns in a 34-13 win over Idaho State last week.
“Having a shutout is a huge confidence boost,” Eastern linebacker David Eneberg said. “Our confidence is way up. We saw what our potential can be and how dominate we can be if we do execute and play physical. Our mentality is not going to change. We want to outphysical teams.”
Eastern has won three straight in the series, scoring at least 41 points each time, and the Vikings are wary.
“On defense they are very good,” PSU coach Tim Walsh said. “Nobody has really racked it up on them except West Virginia and Oregon State. … Once again, whichever defense plays best will probably win.”
Notes
Eastern won the last three meetings, scoring at least 41 points in all three. … EWU RB Ryan Cole scored five touchdowns in last year’s 42-24 win. … Eastern averages about 50 yards more per game on offense, but PSU has the edge in scoring 21.7-17.7 … The Vikings hold opponents to about 55 few yards and more than 11 less points (16.3-27.6). … Both teams have played two I-A games, but the Vikings play at Oregon next week. … Calhoun remains out and RB Dale Morris, whose only action this season was a start against Montana, is questionable.