More on EWU’s win over Southern Utah

We have some additional player comments below from EWU’s 31-24 win over Southern Utah on Saturday.

In addition, I’ve included this link to the game story that appeared in Sunday’s S-R, along with this link to post-game column written by John Blanchette.  You can also read the Big Sky roundup provided by the league office here and check out what EWU’s sports information department posted about the game here .

Read on.

Here are the additional comments from players following EWU’s win over SUU:

EWU wide receiver Brandon Kaufman

On his game-winning catch between two Thunderbird defenders:

“I came open and Bo (Mitchell) was flushed, and I knew if he was going to throw it, he was going to throw in late. I saw his eyes look at me, and then he just put the ball up there for to go get it. I was going to jump for it, but the safety basically jumped way too early, and I was like, ‘You’re not touching this ball.’  And then No. 21 (SSU’s Dion Turner) just kind of stopped guarding me, because he though in was going to get intercepted.

“I was one of the easiest catches I’ve ever made, but I managed to make it look difficult.”

EWU linebacker J.C. Sherritt

On SUU’s sophomore quarterback Brad Sorensen and the Thunderbirds’ eight third-down conversions:

“I definitely seemed like they converted every third down. We knew they were a great team and great offense from watching film. He (Sorensen) is a great football players, but we knew if we just had to keep choppoing wood and keep throwing different looks at him.  It took us 3  1/2 quarters, but it finally paid off at the end where we go him on a couple of throws.  (SSU’s) system is one of the best I’ve gone against. They let their receivers do a lot of things on their own.  They don’t have such structured things, so they can choose what they want to do, and that’s hard to defend.  And they have some great athletes, too. It’s a credit to our defense and how, despite how tired we were in the fourth quarter, we were able to fight through it and make the plays we needed at the end to get us a win.”

On next Saturday’s regular-season finale against Idaho State:

“It feels like a major opportunity is right ahead of us, but we’re not going to overlook them. We know what’s happened in the Big Sky this year, where any given weekend anybody can win. But it’s great to be in this position, and we’ve got to take advantage of it.”

EWU quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell

On his erratic 21-for-34 passing effort that produced 211 yards and two touchdowns:

“It felt like weird things were happening out there.  I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with my arm.  Balls were going everywhere. But I eventually just went out there and relaxed, and once I did, we started playing like we normally do.”

EWU defensive tackle Tyler Jolley

On how the Eagles finally managed to put some pressue on Sorensen late in the game and force him into a couple of bad throws:

“I think it was a little bit of Coach (defensive coordinator John Graham) getting in our ear, and just the pressure of having the game on the line really triggered something in my head, so I started getting in some other ears, as well.  And guys responded, like we have all year, and it was awesome how were were able to get in (Sorensen’s) face on that last drive. He’s the best quarterback I’ve played again, hands down.”