Arrow-right Camera

Color Scheme

Subscribe now
Eastern Washington University Football

Things to watch: Can Eastern Washington make big plays on offense against North Dakota State?

By Dan Thompson For The Spokesman-Review

In December, the Eastern Washington football program had reached, in the estimation of offensive coordinator Jim Chapin, a tipping point.

Would a bunch of guys tap out, or would they stay so they could help restore what the program wanted to be?

“We made it really clear to our kids that if you want to be part of something special, you stay,” Chapin said in August, “because this is going to be a special story.”

That story begins Saturday in Minneapolis, where the Eagles will face the No. 2 North Dakota State Bison at U.S. Bank Stadium. It will be the first college football game played in the venue, which is the home field of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. The game will stream on ESPN+ with kickoff set for 12:30 p.m.

Beating the defending runner-up in the FCS is a tall order for an Eagles team coming off a 3-8 season (only a handful of players chose to transfer during the offseason), but various Eagles players said this week they are up to the task. Here are three things to look for as they seek to start the year with a victory.

Can the Eagles stretch the field against an untested NDSU secondary? If there is a vulnerability on the Bison defense it appears to be the secondary, something Eastern will look to exploit. The Bison will start two seniors at safety, but Cole Wisniewski is a converted linebacker with three career starts, and Sam Jung will be making his first collegiate start at NDSU. At starting cornerback, senior Jayden Price started 15 games two years ago but was a backup last year, and Marcus Sheppard is a Bowling Green transfer who appeared there in 16 games as a reserve. Eastern will flood the secondary with plenty of experienced wide receivers and tight ends, including Jakobie James, Anthony Stell Jr., Efton Chism III and Nolan Ulm – a group with a combined 257 career receptions. The question will be how well the experienced EWU offensive line – the Eagles return four starters – can protect redshirt sophomore Kekoa Visperas, who will make the second start of his career.

Are the senior transfers on defense difference makers? During the offseason, the Eagles brought in more FBS transfers than ever, and three of them are listed as starters on defense. Da’Marcus Johnson, a 6-foot-4, 255-pound transfer from Fresno State, will start at defensive end. Linebackers Adam Cohen (UCLA) and Ben Allen (Bucknell) add depth to a corps that returned three starters, two of whom are now either sharing time with the first unit or have been relegated to backup roles. That’s a good sign for a defense that was consistently (and historically) porous last year against the run, which is something the Bison offense does better than almost any other program in the country. NDSU senior quarterback Cam Miller is a proven winner (eight FCS playoff victories), but he is also rarely asked to carry the offense. Last year, he attempted more than 25 passes only three times. If he needs to throw more often than that on Saturday, it bodes well for the Eagles’ chances.

Will the Eagles need to make some big field goals – and will they make them? After last week’s scrimmage in which Eastern’s two kickers – redshirt freshman Soren McKee and redshirt sophomore Jackson Cleaver – made a combined 1 of 3 field-goal attempts, EWU coach Aaron Best pointed out that throughout camp they have made “anywhere from probably 85 to 89%” of their kicks. Fair enough, but Best also pointed out that games are indeed different animals than practices.

Saturday’s venue won’t present any weather-related problems, but the vastness of the space and moment potentially could.