Eastern faces challenge
MISSOULA – Psst. Want in on Paul Wulff’s not-so-revolutionary secret to beating the University of Montana’s powerful football team on its own turf?
Have better players.
At least that’s what Eastern Washington University’s head football coach suggested earlier this week when asked about the success the Eagles have had against UM in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
“We’ve just had some good teams that have gone in there and beat them because we were better,” Wulff said in reference to the fact that four of the mere 19 home losses Montana has suffered in the 22 seasons it has played in Washington-Grizzly Stadium have come at the hands of Eastern.
“We’ve gone in there and played good football and, sometimes, we come away with the some wins.”
The Eagles knocked off the Grizzlies here back in 1997 when Wulff was an assistant under Mike Kramer, and then did it again in 2005 when he was in his sixth year as their head coach.
Still, Wulff is quick to point out that Montana has won 11 of the last 14 games the two schools have played and still owns a 22-10-1 edge in the series, which dates back to 1938. He is too much of a realist to believe his injury-riddled Eagles (3-1 overall, 1-1 in the Big Sky Conference) will be anything other than off-the-chart underdogs when they face the unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Grizzlies (4-0, 1-0) today at 12:05 p.m. (PST) in front of a sellout crowd of 23,183 in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
“Montana is one of the best football teams in the country,” Wulff said, “and they’ve got all the advantages in the world going for them. They’re playing their fifth straight home game, they’ve got a veteran football team with some really good players and they’re well coached.
“It’s going to be tough for anybody to beat them, whether it’s at home or on the road.”
It is going to be extremely difficult for an Eastern team that will be missing several of its key offensive weapons as the result of injuries suffered in last weekend’s 28-21 home loss to Portland State. Missing are sophomore wideout Tony Davis (shoulder), tight end Nathan Overbay (hand), fullback Toke Kefu (hand) and center Chris Carlsen (knee).
Which means the Eagles will need a near-perfect effort from quarterback Matt Nichols and the remaining members of the starting offensive unit if they hope to hang with the Griz.
“We’ve got to take care of the football, plain and simple,” Wulff said. “We cannot turn the ball over, and if we do, then we’ve got to go get them in return.”
Working in Eastern’s favor – in that regard, at least – is the fact that it leads the nation in turnover margin with an average of plus 2.5 per game. A lot of credit for that must go to Nichols, who has thrown only two interceptions this year after being picked off 17 times as a redshirt freshman last fall.
“His accuracy is probably the most impressive thing about him,” Montana coach Bobby Hauck said of Nichols, who has completed 81 of 128 passes for 1,129 yards and 11 touchdowns. “He’s really improved in that area from a year ago, and he seems to have a better command of their offense.
“But the thing that impresses me most about their offense is their balance. They’re running it as well as they’re throwing it.”
The Eagles have averaged 180 rushing yards and 290 passing yards, but will be severely tested by a veteran Montana defense that limited Weber State to just 78 yards of total offense and six first downs in the second half of last Saturday’s 18-10 win.
The Grizzlies rank first in the Big Sky in scoring defense (10.2 ppg), passing defense (171 ypg) and rushing defense (90.9 ypg).