Northern Iowa coach Todd Stepsis faces EWU for second straight year, but at different program

It was just about this time last football season that Eastern Washington lost a home game in overtime to Drake, a nonscholarship program, and failed to create the momentum it could have with a 2-0 start.

It’s impossible to say with any certainty if the rest of the season might have played out differently. But once the Eagles fell to 1-4 at the end of that September, they entered must-win territory a week earlier than they would have had they secured a victory over Drake.

Fast forward a year, and Eastern Washington sits in a somewhat analogous position, this time with an 0-2 record, facing a Northern Iowa team that is coached by Todd Stepsis – the man who led Drake to that 35-32 upset in Cheney.

“It was important, just the win itself, and the confidence it built for that team,” Stepsis said on Wednesday. “… When you have wins like that, you start to be seen as a peer. When you’re at a nonscholarship school, you’re seen as just that: A nonscholarship school.”

That Drake team finished 8-4 and won the Pioneer League to claim an automatic bid into the FCS playoffs, where it lost to Tarleton State, 43-29, in the first round.

It was a capstone season for Stepsis, who soon after accepted the head coaching position at Northern Iowa, a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. And so, on Saturday at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Stepsis will attempt to beat the Eagles for the second year in a row.

“I think we’ve shown that (Drake) game to our players here, and it’s less about showing them that game and the results,” Stepsis said. “It’s more (to say) here’s what we did a year ago, these were some of the areas we attacked. Can we continue (to attack that), or will they be ready for that?”

This year’s Eagles, especially the starters, are significantly different than last year’s. Both of the quarterbacks who played in that game last season won’t play for the Eagles on Saturday, with Kekoa Visperas having transferred to Tennessee Tech and Jared Taylor unavailable after sustaining an injury last week at Boise State.

That means redshirt sophomore Nate Bell will lead the Eagles in their effort to do something they’ve never done in six previous tries: Win at Northern Iowa.

“We have a ton of confidence in him,” EWU head coach Aaron Best said Tuesday. “(He will get the) bulk of reps in practice and get all the reps in the game. (That) will allow him to ‘press play’ a little bit when we get to Saturday.”

Of the previous eight meetings between these programs, four have taken place in the playoffs. Eastern won the most recent matchup, 19-9 in the first round of the 2021 postseason in Cheney. The Eagles also won the most recent regular-season game, the back half of a home-and-home series in Cheney, 34-30 in 2016. Northern Iowa is scheduled to play in Cheney once more next season, on Sept. 5, 2026.

Like the Eagles, the Panthers (1-1) are coming off a loss to a Mountain West team. In a 31-7 loss at Wyoming, UNI was outgained 379-170. Wyoming overcame 13 penalties; UNI was flagged for nine. In Week 1, UNI defeated Butler, which finished third last season in the Pioneer League, 38-14.

Eastern, for its part, is still looking for consistency on offense. The Eagles have yet to throw a touchdown pass, and they will be without the starting quarterback Taylor as well as starting running back Malik Dotson.

But Stepsis was complimentary of Bell, who will be starting a college game for the first time after relieving Taylor in the fourth quarter last week. Notably, Bell completed 5 of 9 pass attempts for 74 yards, including a 49-yard pass to senior Noah Cronquist.

“He’s a good athlete. He was playing slot receiver and off returner,” Stepsis said of Bell. “He threw a real pretty ball at the end of that game. He can throw it.”

After this week, the Eagles will finally play their first home game at Roos Field on Sept. 20 against Western Illinois, just in time to welcome students back on campus for classes. A week after that, they’re back on the road again to open Big Sky play at third-ranked Montana State.

A 1-2 start still wouldn’t be everything the Eagles hoped for. But it’s better than the alternative.

“This is a really big game for us. Another one on the road,” redshirt freshman cornerback Ambrose Marsh said. “A win here would definitely help us pick up some momentum coming back home and then coming into conference play.”