Things to watch: Eastern Washington must pressure Gevani McCoy to knock off rival Idaho

Southern Utah’s departure from the Big Sky Conference left the conference with 12 football teams beginning with this season, a number that simplified scheduling and allowed for an equitable rotation.

Over a three-year period – 2022, 2023 and 2024 – each football team will play at each other’s stadium once and will host each other team once. That gets each team to 22 conference games over a three-year span.

But that’s two games short of the necessary 24, and so the conference opted to maintain two annual rivalries. For Eastern Washington, those teams are Montana State and the University of Idaho.

On Saturday, Eastern and Idaho will resume that head-to-head matchup at the Kibbie Dome. Kickoff is set for noon.

The teams could hardly be in more different positions than they were last year, when the Eagles whipped the Vandals 71-21 in a game that saw Eric Barriere set program records for single-game passing yards (600) and touchdowns responsible for (eight). The 71 points were also the fifth most Eastern had scored in a football game, and the Eagles’ 837 yards of offense set the program’s single-game record.

But this year, under first-year head coach Jason Eck, the 15th-ranked Vandals are the ones with the better record (5-3 overall, 4-1 Big Sky) and the ones with a shot at the FCS playoffs. The Eagles (2-6, 1-4) are looking to win out and build momentum into next season.

The weather may be windy and wet outside, but it’ll be pleasant – and likely loud – inside the Kibbie Dome. Here are three factors likely to play a role in deciding the winner.

Can the Eagles fluster redshirt freshman Gevani McCoy? Many quarterbacks have found a lot of success against Eastern Washington this season, particularly on designed runs. That’s not so much a part of McCoy’s game: His long run this season is 17 yards, and he hasn’t scored a rushing touchdown. The Vandals have also allowed 22 sacks this season, tied for a conference high. Then again, that hasn’t been a particular strength of the Eagles’ defense, which has just 11 sacks all year. The Eagles will also be cycling in two young defensive linemen in redshirt freshman Chad Vidican and redshirt sophomore Jacob Newsom, both listed as backups at the tackle positions. But if the Eagles can contain McCoy and force him into passing situations, that would be a big boost to a defense that has five interceptions in its past three games.

Will the Eagles be able to play with the lead? If the Eagles can simply continue to play as well as they did in the second half last weekend, it would cure many of their ills. Eastern outscored Portland State 28-3 after halftime last week but still came up short because the Eagles had dug themselves a 35-7 hole. Yet the Eagles have struggled out of the gate in most games this season. Just twice (against Florida and Montana State) have they scored first. Against Portland State and Sacramento State, Eastern gave up the game’s first 21 points before getting back into it near or after halftime. Simply put, the Eagles have hardly held leads this season, and like all teams, they play better when they are able to seize one.

Which underclassmen step up down the stretch? With injuries to opening-day starters in almost every position group, the Eagles are playing a number of younger players. Three sophomores are listed as starters on the offensive line. Their leading rushers – Justice Jackson (324 yards) and Tuna Altahir (254) – are underclassmen. Three of their top four receivers (Efton Chism III, Nolan Ulm and Jakobie James) are sophomores. On defense, sophomore linebackers Conner O’Farrell and Trevor Thurman have seen increased playing time alongside fellow sophomore Derek Tommasini. In the secondary, Marlon Jones Jr., Cage Schenck and Armani Orange are all seeing more playing time as underclassmen. Next year, many of those players will be foundational to this team; some already are. On Saturday, big individual efforts from any of them could go a long way toward earning Eastern its second conference victory of the season.