Despite strong start, Eagles aren’t satisfied

Will hunger give way to hubris at Eastern Washington? Not if offensive lineman Matt Meyer can help it.

Unfazed by a cruel September schedule that screamed 1-3 or worse, the Eagles flipped the script and won three out of four against Washington State, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa and Northern Arizona.

The schedule goes south from there, but the Eagles don’t plan to let their play do the same.

Case in point: the Eagles’ young offensive line, which got even younger last week at NAU after the lone senior, center Jerrod Jones, went out with a knee injury and key backup Will Gram also was injured.

Predictably, a redshirt was burned as D.J. Dyer saw time at center, while sophomore Spencer Blackburn started in place of Jones. The starting lineup at NAU included three sophs and two freshmen – not counting true freshman Jayce Gilder, who was making his first start at tight end.

Of course, the growing pains are easier to bear when you’re 3-1.

“We just keep plugging along,” said Meyer, a redshirt sophomore from Lynden who’s started the first four games at right guard. “We take on a role at the beginning of the season, but sometimes that role changes.”

“We just have to attack it and make the best of it. I think we’re progressing pretty well, but we’re definitely not playing at the best of our ability,” Meyer said Tuesday as the Eagles prepared for Saturday’s home game against UC Davis.

That’s just what coach Beau Baldwin wants to hear as Eagle fans exhale going into what looks like the soft middle of the schedule. Up next are home games against Davis and Northern Colorado, two teams picked to finish in the bottom half of the Big Sky Conference.

After that comes mid-season bye before a trip to Montana State and a big home game at month’s end against Montana.

But if fans see a breathing space, the Eagle players were breathing hard at practice Tuesday afternoon.

“Now’s not the time to be assessing ourselves,” wide receiver Cooper Kupp said. “We’re never going to think we’re good enough.”

Going into fall, the O-line could have been excused for feeling the opposite. “They’ve been hungry,” Baldwin said as longtime assistant Aaron Best was 20 feet away, putting his linemen through the paces.

“All they’ve read from everybody or seen on TV about them is questions, questions … They’ve had a little chip, and they should carry that chip, but they’ve been incredibly well-coached.”

Warming to a subject that embraces the entire team, Baldwin said the O-line is just one example of the product of hard work that began last winter.

“All of that growth didn’t just happen,” Baldwin said while noting the injuries and the need for silent counts while playing on the road. “People think ‘they must have prepared really well for that game.’ No, that comes from a standard that’s set, and that leads to success.”