EWU notebook: Defense answers call for more turnovers against Incarnate Word

SAN ANTONIO – Challenged over the last nine months by their coaches to do more to force turnovers, the Eastern Washington defense responded in a 31-21 loss Saturday night to Incarnate Word.

After forcing just one fumble over 12 games last season, the Eagles forced two against the Cardinals. The first came when true freshman nickelback Bryce Smith punched the ball from Isaiah Champagne’s arms at the 1-yard line, delaying by two plays a Cardinals’ touchdown.

The second came on the Cardinals’ final drive of the first half, when redshirt junior defensive end Dishawn Misa jarred the ball from Chedon James’ arms, only to see Jameson Garcia pounce on it first to keep the drive going.

Neither of those ended in a turnover, and the Eagles still lost the turnover battle 2-to-1, but those plays served as positive indicators to EWU head coach Aaron Best.

“We’ve been priding ourselves on that all spring and all fall,” Best said. “It was nice to see that ball come out.”

One of the game’s biggest plays was another fumble, one by Cardinals’ punt returner Josh Lorick, who waived for a fair catch inside his 10-yard line but didn’t actually make the catch. After the ball bounced off Lorick, EWU safety Drew Carter fell on it first, and three plays later Jared Taylor scored on a three-yard touchdown that cut UIW’s lead to 21-14.

Carter finished the game with a team-high 11 tackles.

That punt was part of an inconsistent day for senior Landon Ogles. On one booming kick, he pinned the Cardinals inside their 5-yard line with a 72-yard punt in the third quarter, but he also shanked three others out of bounds and finished with an average of 42.3 yards per punt.

Ogles also handled one kickoff, while true freshman Hunter McKee handled three kickoffs. None of the four kickoffs were returned.

The Eagles didn’t attempt any field goals, but they did block one: redshirt junior Isaiah Perez got a hand on Will Faris’ 27-yard attempt in the first quarter. It was Perez’s second-career blocked field goal, the other coming in 2023 against UC Davis.

Senior Broussard injured in first quarter

The Eagles will apparently be without starting safety McKel Broussard for an undetermined length of time after the grad senior injured his right wrist against the Cardinals.

The injury came on the final plays of UIW’s first drive, which ended with a 10-yard touchdown run by Harlan Dixon. After the score, Broussard returned to the sideline, tossed his glove and eventually made his way to the medical trailer.

When he returned to the sideline about 15 minutes later, trainers wrapped his right wrist. Broussard did not return to the game.

In his place the Eagles rotated in a handful of safeties, including Carter, redshirt sophomore Jaylen Jenkins (seven tackles), the true freshman Smith (three tackles), redshirt freshman Josiah Goode (three tackles) and senior transfer Gavin O’Leary (two tackles).

Eagles handle the heat

The gametime air temperature was 100 degrees at Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium, making this the second-hottest game Eastern Washington has ever played. The hottest was played in 106-degree weather at Arizona State in 2002.

Despite that, Best said the team experienced no cramping – or not enough that anyone had to leave the game.

“You watch a bunch of football during the day when you’re in the hotel room,” Best said. “There are a lot of teams in the South – that play in the South, that practice in the South – that had a ton of cramping and guys laying down.”

The Eagles substituted liberally on defense, though that wasn’t necessarily something they were doing because of the heat, Best said.

“We’re going sub when it’s necessary,” he said. “”It was the first game. We’ve got a bunch of new faces. Two thirds of the team are playing their first game in an Eagle uniform. Some of that is trial by error to see what we have.”