Baldwin pleased with EWU scrimmage

There was no question the Eastern Washington University football team got a lot out of its first preseason football scrimmage on Saturday.

A whopping 89 plays worth of work.

Under hot and sunny skies, new head coach Beau Baldwin put the Eagles through a nearly 2-hour scrimmage. Mostly situational in nature, the scrimmage had particular emphasis on plays in the red zone and on third down, as well as special teams.

The result of those 89 plays were 404 yards of total offense (4.5 per play), including 353 through the air. Don’t forget the loads of videotape the Eagles coaching staff and players get to watch in the coming days.

“It’s hard to evaluate right after the scrimmage,” said Baldwin, whose team opens the season Aug. 30 at Texas Tech followed by a trip to Colorado on Sept. 6. “I thought the guys played hard and, with this heat, that’s not the easiest thing to do.

“This actually went a little longer than planned, but I think we got some good reps out of it and we’ll see the film. That is when we’ll have a real idea of how we did.”

Returning Big Sky Conference Offensive MVP Matt Nichols completed 15 of 24 passes for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was one of four Eagles quarterbacks who saw action as they combined to complete 30 of 46 passes.

A total of 14 different players caught passes, even though Baldwin held out two starting receivers (Aaron Boyce and Tony Davis) as a precautionary measure, as well as three of his four senior running backs (Dale Morris, Alexis Alexander and A.J. Jimerson).

Backup quarterback Alex Smart completed 8 of 13 passes for 81 yards, with true freshmen Scott Burgett (4 of 6, 24 yards) and Ferris High graduate Jeff Minnerly (3 of 3, 24 yards) also looking sharp.

Returning starter Brynsen Brown was the leading pass receiver with five catches for 100 yards. He had a 67-yard reception from Nichols that came up just a few yards short from scoring, but he did end the scrimmage with a 2-yard touchdown grab from Nichols.

Brett Igbinoba, a 2005 graduate of Cheney High, caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Nichols and finished with four grabs for 61 yards. Tight end Matt Martin, a 2006 graduate from La Crosse-Washtunca, had three catches for 46 yards.

Offensive units rushed 36 times for 95 yards, not including seven quick-whistle sacks for 39 yards in losses. Freshman redshirt Tyler Hart rushed 11 times for 40 yards.

Eastern’s defense was impressive, giving up just three plays of longer than 20 yards. They allowed only two touchdowns and three field goals, with all of the scores except one TD coming during the team’s red-zone session.

Four players from area high schools combined for 22 tackles, including six and an interception by safety John Roberts (Colville). Linebacker Marcus Walker (Pullman) also had six tackles and linebackers J.C. Sherritt (Pullman) and Ethen Robinson (Lewis and Clark) had five each.

Baldwin was encouraged by the play of the defense, despite not playing without several projected starters. Senior starting nose tackle Shawn Powell is out for the season with a knee injury. Another starter out for about a month with a broken fibula is freshman redshirt cornerback Taiwan Jones. The Eagles also played without their other starting cornerback, Lonnie Hosley (ankle sprain).

“The defense did a great job and it all starts with our defensive line,” said Baldwin. “They are going to be the heart and soul of our defense and in a lot of ways our whole team.

“We have a lot of veterans coming back and they are going to set the tone.”

Eastern returns 15 starters and 43 total letter winners from last year’s squad.