Time to grow up

Any time you have a freshman quarterback throwing to freshmen receivers, bad things can happen.

“And they did – interceptions, dropped balls, fumbles, you name it,” Eastern Washington University football coach Paul Wulff recently recalled of last year’s blunder-beleaguered 3-8 season.

But on the positive side, those freshmen who manned the skilled positions for the Eagles last fall – and accounted for the majority of the team’s many mistakes – are no longer freshmen. And Wulff is hoping to see them all take that next big step in their development.

“It’s not necessarily the step you take between your freshman and sophomore years,” Wulff said. “Really, where that big step usually occurs is whatever year you first play a lot of football. Kids normally make large strides going into that second year after they’ve had a lot of game experience.”

Translation: Look for considerably improved play from sophomore quarterback Matt Nichols, who started the last 10 games of 2006, and sophomore wideouts Tony Davis, Brynsen Brown and Aaron Boyce, who were all full-time starters and the Eagles’ three most productive receivers last fall.

Nichols, a 6-foot-2, 220-pounder from Cottonwood, Calif., completed 55.2 percent (143 of 259) of his passes and threw for 1,749 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie. But he also tossed 17 interceptions to earn a spot alongside Steve White (1983) and Jon Snider (1987) atop the EWU’s single-season list of leaders in that category.

Davis, Brown and Boyce accounted for 1,539 of the Eagles’ 2,221 passing yards and eight of the team’s 13 touchdown receptions as freshmen, but were plagued by too many dropped passes and poorly run routes to suit Wulff, who hopes that all changes this fall.

“We’re still very young at those positions,” Wulff said, “but, hopefully, that added year of experience will help.”

One big fan of Nichols and his youthful receiver corps is junior running back Alexis Alexander.

“I think the young skilled position players having grown up will be the biggest difference you’ll see on our team this year,” said the 5-10, 230-pounder, a former fullback, who is listed as the No. 2 running back heading into Friday night’s 7:05 season opener against Montana-Western at Woodward Field.

“With Matt Nichols not being a freshman anymore with a freshman mentality, and with Aaron, Brynsen, Tony and (sophomore backup) Jeffrey Solomon … I’m telling you, it’s going to make a huge difference on our team. They were all boys last year, but they’re men now, and they know exactly what they want to do, so watch out.”

Alexander, who rushed for just 58 yards on 12 carries from the fullback slot last year, has battled fellow junior Dale Morris, who missed all but two games of his sophomore season with a foot injury, for the No. 1 running back position throughout fall camp.

The two will probably share time there, along with senior Toke Kefu, who is listed as the No. 1 fullback.

Whoever wins the job will run behind a talented and veteran offensive line that features four returning senior starters in Rocky Hanni, preseason all-American Matt Alfred, Chris Carlsen and Zach Wasielewski, along with redshirt freshman Beice Leahy.

Alfred has been hampered this fall by inflammation in his knee and has practiced only sparingly. Carlsen has also missed some time because of a concussion, but both are expected to play Friday.

“We’re really excited about how the offense is going to do this year,” Alexander said. “We think we’re going to score a lot of points and put up some big numbers.”

If that happens, the Eagles could make some meaningful amends for last year, because defensive coordinator Jody Sears is confident his veteran defense is ready to hold up its end after a perplexingly inconsistent performance in 2006.

Eastern, while relying primarily on sophomores to man its defensive line, gave up an average of 185.8 rushing yards per game last season, prompting the coaching staff to reevaluate its defensive strategy.

“We spent quite a bit of time after recruiting was finished looking at everything we were doing,” Sears said. “We decided it wasn’t any kind of schematic problem. We were putting guys in position to make plays, but it was more a matter of inconsistency and lack of leadership.”

The added year of experience should help immensely up front, where junior returning starters Jason Belford, Lance Witherspoon and Greg Peach will surround fellow junior tackle Shawn Powell, who was a backup last fall.

Sears’ stable of linebackers will be young and relatively inexperienced, although the coaching staff has really warmed to the play of sophomore Makai Borden, who is expected to replace last year’s starter Shea Emry at middle backer. Junior Marcus Walker is listed as the strong-side starter, taking over for David Eneberg, who was named the team’s most valuable defensive player last fall.

Depth is a major concern in the secondary, where the Eagles have shuffled in some new faces to help offset the loss of senior Gregor Smith because of lingering problems with his right shoulder. Sophomore Kevin Hatch will start in place of Smith at free safety, but sophomore Jesse Hoffman, a converted running back, will also get a good look.

Senior whip safety Bryan Jarrett and senior cornerback Ira Jarmon both have extensive experience as starters, and senior rover Anthony Dotson started a couple of games last fall. But sophomore cornerback Lonnie Hosley and sophomore free safety Kevin Hatch were both full-time backups last fall and will both make their first starts against Montana Western.

Still, Sears likes what he has seen during fall camp.

“There has been a heightened sense of urgency because of what happened last year,” Sears said. “And the leadership some of our older guys have shown has really been encouraging. Ira Jarmon has profoundly emerged as a tremendous voice for the defense – he and Bryan Jarrett. Those two guys have really grabbed the reins and taken control.

“It’s nice to see, and I like where we’re at right now as a defense.”

The special teams outlook improved dramatically with the arrival of Felipe Macias, a first-year junior college transfer who could end up handling both field goals and kickoffs.

“He’s clearly the front-runner right now,” Wulff said of Macias. “He gets the ball up off the ground extremely quick and gets great height. He’s very accurate with both his field goals and kickoffs.”

The Eagles have also beefed up their offensive and defensive return teams because of a new NCAA rule that moved kickoffs back to the 30-yard line to open up the possibility of more returns.

“We’ve moved a lot of our starters to special teams to improve the quality out there,” said Wulff. “Obviously, special teams is a huge, huge factor now with the kickoff change. You’ll have a chance for a lot more great returns, but you’ll also have the challenge of covering kickoffs, so it’s critical that we have as quality personnel as we can get on those return units.”