Injuries ground Eagles

As the injury updates filtered into his office earlier this week, Eastern Washington football coach Paul Wulff kept waiting for a few encouraging words.

But aside from the notice that sophomore free safety Kevin Hatch (shoulder) has been cleared to play in Saturday’s game against Montana, he received none.

“It’s bad,” Wulff said of the injury situation plaguing his Eagles (3-1 overall, 1-1 in the Big Sky Conference) as they head into this weekend’s BSC game against the unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Grizzlies (4-0, 1-0) in Missoula. “It’s as bad as it’s ever been.”

Topping the list of starters who will not be available is sophomore wideout Tony Davis, who was one of eight players injured during last weekend’s 28-21 home loss to Portland State.

Davis, the Eagles’ second-leading receiver with 19 catches for 277 yards and three touchdowns, separated his shoulder in the first half of the PSU game and, according to Wulff, will be sidelined from four to six weeks.

“That really hurt our offense when Tony went down,” Wulff said. “It just kind of stymied us.”

The Eagles also lost staring center Chris Carlsen for two to three weeks with a knee injury, and starting fullback Toke Kefu and backup tight end Nathan Overbay for the rest of the season with broken hands.

Also out are defensive tackle Lance Witherspoon (ankle) and strong-side linebacker Makai Borden (sprained toe), who both missed the Portland State because of injuries suffered earlier this year.

Long snapper Mark Lathim injured a shoulder in last Saturday’s loss, but should be good to go against Montana.

Nine players have been lost for the season because of injuries according to Wulff, who likened the situation to that his Eagles faced in 2005.

“We had a rash of injuries that was unbelievable that year, too,” Wulff said. “I thought, ‘Man, there’s no way it can ever get this bad again.’

“Well, guess what? I was wrong.”

Wulff noted that his 2005 team managed to overcome its big hurt and earn a postseason playoff berth and a share of the Big Sky title, beating eventual co-champion Montana – in Missoula, no less.

Wary Bobcats

Thirteenth-ranked Montana State (3-1, 2-0) steps outside of the Big Sky on Saturday to take on Southern Utah (0-4) in its final non-conference game of the season and one that greatly concerns first-year Bobcats head coach Rob Ash.

“First of all, Southern Utah has played a fabulous schedule – some very tough teams,” Ash said of the Thunderbirds, who have lost to the likes of Montana, North Dakota, Southern Illinois and McNeese State. “Anybody in our division would have a chance of being 0-4 against the schedule they’ve played, so we’re very respectful of that.”

In addition, Ash said he is worried about the possibility of a letdown against a non-conference foe such at SUU.

“We’ve put a lot of energy into the last two weeks about the fact that were’ playing Big Sky games, and we’ll continue to do that,” he said. “But then you get out of conference and you feel like the bottom falls out a little bit from a motivational standpoint.”

Bears endure road woes

It’s difficult to imagine a more taxing early-season schedule than the one dealt to Northern Colorado.

The Bears (0-5 overall, 0-1 Big Sky) played four of their first five games on the road and must travel to Pocatello on Saturday to face conference rival Idaho State (0-2, 1-3).

They also ran into some major problems trying to get to San Luis Obispo, Calif., for last weekend’s non-conference matchup against Cal Poly. According to UNC coach Scott Downing, the Bears left Greeley, Colo., at 5:30 a.m. on Friday and flew into Los Angeles. The flight went fine, but one of the buses chartered to take the team from the airport to San Luis Obispo developed mechanical problems, delaying half the team’s arrival until 7:30 PDT that evening.

“So it was a 15 1/2-hour trip,” Downing said, “which is a long time to be spending in busses and planes and that kind of stuff. But my hat’s off to our kids. We have heard no negative comments out of any of our kids. … It is getting a little bit tiresome, and we’re going to be happy to be home next week against Weber State. But right now, our focus is on getting to Pocatello and playing Idaho State.”

Quick kicks

Eastern Washington, which has committed three turnovers this fall, continues to lead the Football Championship Subdivision with a turnover margin of plus 2.5 per game. … Montana’s senior place-kicker Dan Carpenter, who booted four field goals in last Saturday’s 18-10 home win over Weber State, needs 10 more to reach 73 and break the Big Sky Conference career record of 72, held by Nevada’s Marty Zendejas (1984-87). … Montana is 137-19 at home in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, but four of those losses have come to this weekend’s opponent, EWU.