Gage Gubrud front-runner at quarterback after EWU spring game

This wasn’t your average spring game.

Jarring hits, a 100-yard interception return and the emergence of a new quarterback gave Eastern Washington football fans a reason to stick around Roos Field through a windy Saturday afternoon.

And when the Red-White Spring Game was finished, many were on the field, soaking in the rain but also the promise of fall.

It was that entertaining.

“Now we just have to keep the momentum and take it into the summer and fall,” cornerback Nzuzi Webster said as players, coaches and fans gathered on the turf.

That’s a bit premature – the Eagles have two more practices this week – but there were plenty of positive takeaways after the game.

The biggest: Redshirt sophomore Gage Gubrud is the front-runner at quarterback. If fans didn’t figure it out before Saturday, the stats were clear. Gubrud played exclusively with the first team and threw twice as many passes as Reilly Hennessey or Jordan West, the other top contenders.

Gubrud looked sharp, completing 25 of 34 passes for 208 yards; he ran for 16 more despite playing under what amounted to flag football rules.

“It’s frustrating when guys are just getting one hand on you … for a quarterback like me who wants to run, obviously I want to show what I can do in that situation,” Gubrud said.

Gubrud led the offense on three long scoring drives of 67 (16 plays), 70 (12 plays) and 66 yards (10 plays), with numerous conversions on both third and fourth downs.

Asked whether Gubrud was his No. 1 quarterback, coach Beau Baldwin said, “Fans can think whatever they want … that’s a fair question, but I felt like that’s where we are today.”

Then Baldwin made it clear that the Eagles might be in a different spot for the Sept. 3 opener at Washington State.

“There is no reason we couldn’t win football games with any one of those three players,” Baldwin said. “I believe that, and I believed that last year. And now they are all a year older.”

All were solid. Hennessey was 5 for 8 for 70 yards and a touchdown pass, and West was 9 for 12 for 69 yards and two scores – including one that went the other way.

As West fired into the end zone from 20 yards away, wide receiver Simba Webster was 5 yards deep in the end zone when he cut toward the sideline.

His twin brother, Nzuzi, was in tight coverage. “I knew he wanted to go out, and I burst out and made the play,” Nzuzi Webster said.

Webster soon found a convoy all the way to the south end zone.

Earlier, Nzuzi made another big play, separating Simba from the ball at the 5-yard line. The ball squirted into the air before linebacker Alek Kacmarcik made a diving interception at the 2.

“We saw some physical play today,” said defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding, whose unit gave up 382 yards in 84 plays.

“We saw what you want to see,” Schmedding said.

Several younger players got a chance to shine, especially at wide receiver. With Cooper Kupp and Kendrick Bourne out with minor injuries, Stu Stiles (eight catches for 57 yards), Simba Webster (six for 63) and Zach Eagle (four for 54) stated their case for more playing time in the fall.

Kacmarcik and fellow linebacker Kurt Calhoun led the defense with eight tackles each.

Said Baldwin, “Whatever side made a play, I felt like I can go back time after time on the next drive and the other side responded.”

“We never got in a lull,” Baldwin said.