Eastern hears conference call

Having had a few days to reflect on last Saturday’s 42-7 non-conference road loss to Brigham Young University, Paul Wulff has decided he would prefer fulfilling his annual obligation to play a “money game” much closer to the start of the year.

“Normally, we’ve played games like that early in the year,” Eastern Washington’s eighth-year head coach said of having to step out of Big Sky Conference play at midseason to face a Football Bowl Subdivision power such as BYU. “I’ve never done it like that, and it just kind of throws things out of whack in the middle of the conference.

“But there’s nothing we can do about it. It happened, and, hopefully, it’s nothing that affects either one of the teams – that you can move right (back) into you’re conference season.”

The Eagles (4-3 overall, 2-2 in the Big Sky), who return to conference play Saturday when they travel to Sacramento, Calif., to face Sacramento State (1-6, 1-4), earned $325,000 for their effort against BYU. Now Wulff and his staff can only wait to see how their team – which remains in a fight for its postseason playoff life – responds following Saturday’s lopsided loss.

“So far, we’ve responded fine and had a good, solid week of practice,” Wulff said. “I don’t think (the loss) is going to matter in that regard, but you never know until you play the next game.

“Going to Sacramento State is going to be a real challenge.”

The Eagles might have to face it without a couple of starters – linebacker Makai Borden (concussion) and offensive lineman Chris Thomas (ankle) – who were injured in last weekend’s loss and are listed as questionable for Saturday’s game against Sac State.

Wulff noted that tight end Nathan Overbay, who was feared to be lost for the season after breaking his hand earlier this fall, might be available for spot duty against the Hornets.

Consistent trio

Three seniors expected to participate in Saturday’s game between EWU and Sacramento State will make their 41st career starts.

Offensive linemen Rocky Hanni and Matt Alfred have made 40 starts for Eastern, while safety Brett Shelton has done the same for the Hornets.

Hanni started his first four games as a redshirt freshman, missed two games with a concussion and has started all 36 since then. Alfred has started every game since the fourth game of his freshman year and has a streak of 40 consecutive starts, as does Sacramento State’s Shelton.

Bobcats have QB option

Montana State’s backup quarterback Cory Carpenter, who replaced injured starter Jack Rolovich (shoulder) during the Bobcats’ 35-13 loss at Eastern Washington on Oct. 13, threw for 244 yards and a touchdown in last Saturday’s 20-9 win over Sacramento State.

That performance was enough to keep Carpenter under consideration for another start against Northern Colorado, even though Rolovich might be available.

This is how first-year coach Rob Ash explained his injury strategy to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle:

“A player doesn’t lose his job because of an injury, but he doesn’t automatically get it back after he’s injured. What it depends on is how well his backup plays in his absence.

“If the backup surpasses the injured player’s performance, then he’ll be ahead of him when the injured player comes back. We give the player who steps in a chance to earn the job by showing us what he can do on the field. We have to make a comparison between his current performance and the other player’s before he was injured.”

Quick kicks

Eastern quarterback Matt Nichols ranks sixth among Football Championship Subdivision schools in total offense (310 yards per game) and passing yardage (293.3 ypg). Nichols’ favorite target, wideout Aaron Boyce, ranks second in receiving yards (122 ypg) and fourth in receptions (7.9 rpg). … The 28 points Idaho State scored in the third quarter of Saturday’s 38-20 win over Portland State tied a school record and surpassed the meager 20 points the Bengals had mustered in the third quarter of all their previous six games. … Montana’s senior defensive end Kroy Biermann, a leading candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award, played only about a half in Saturday’s 52-7 rout of Northern Colorado but still managed to get three sacks, force a fumble and block a kick. … Northern Arizona’s 29-20 win over Weber State last Saturday gave Lumberjacks coach Jerome Souers his 54th career victory and moved him into a tie for sixth place on the Big Sky’s all-time win list.