Editor’s note: An abbreviated version of this story originally ran in the Great Falls Tribune.
CHENEY, Washington — For a third straight season, it didn’t matter how many yards or points the Bobcats piled up against the Eagles.
On Saturday, Montana State gained the second-most yards in school history. MSU piled up 718 yards on a program-record 104 offensive plays. Montana State junior quarterback Dakota Prukop set a school record with 549 yards of total offense, including 196 on the ground, a school rushing record for a quarterback. The Bobcats totaled 40 first downs and rushed for 365 yards.
None of it mattered. All that mattered was that Montana State still has no answers defensively and MSU still has no answer for Cooper Kupp and the Eastern Washington Eagles.
EWU’s Cooper Kupp catches a pass against Montana State Saturday.
Kupp, EWU’s All-America and seemingly all-world junior wide receiver, snared 12 catches for 201 yards and three touchdowns. Junior tailback Jabari Wilson rushed for 188 yards on just 17 carries. Junior quarterback Jordan West completed 21-of-24 passes for 410 yards and six touchdowns. The sum total was an Eastern Washington offense that appeared utterly unstoppable in a 55-50 win in front of 10,912 here on Saturday afternoon.
The victory was the fourth straight by the Eagles over the Bobcats, a streak that includes three straight offensive explosions. In 2013, EWU scored on all eight of its possessions and set an all-time Big Sky Conference record for yards per play in a 54-29 win. Last season, Eastern again piled up points, including a go-ahead touchdown and two-point conversion with 27 seconds left to defeat MSU 52-51.
“Our mentality is always that we are going to go out and score 50 points,” West said following Eastern Washington’s first win of 2015 and 17th straight regular season win at home.
Saturday’s loss — Montana State’s first of 2015 in just two outings because of a second week bye — marks the third time in 11 outings that the Bobcats have scored at least 41 points and lost. MSU fell behind 28-7 just minutes into the second quarter and trailed 34-17 at halftime. Three Prukop touchdown passes and a touchdown run by the dual-threat quarterback followed intermission as MSU controlled the clock and came storming back. But a 34-yard Kupp catch to set up a two-yard Wilson score and touchdown passes of 35 yards from West to Kendrick Bourne and 34 yards from West to Kupp helped EWU keep Montana State at bay.
MSU’s Dakota Prukop is hit on a pass attempt by EWU’s Kurt Calhoun
“That’s really tough,” said MSU head coach Rob Ash, who fell to 2-7 against Eastern in his career. “That wasn’t enough offense and that wasn’t enough points. That’s the bottom line.”
Montana State dug itself an early hole thanks to two risky fourth down attempts. On the first drive of the game, MSU failed to convert a fourth down from its own 33. Two plays later, Wilson scored a 31-yard touchdown. On MSU’s next possession, the Eagles stopped the Bobcats on their own 10. Five plays and 90 yards, including a 62-yard Wilson run, and EWU was up 14-0.
“If we punt away from them there and they go down and score on the opening drives, which they very well could’ve, it’s still 7-0,” Ash said. “They can score from 50 just as easily as 30. If we went for it or not, we give them the ball back and they still would’ve scored. That’s why you do that sort of thing. They are such a good offensive team, them starting in the minus-40 or the plus-30 isn’t that big of a difference. It’s still a good bet to get yards and score.”
Plays like sophomore Nic Sblendorio’s 78-yard catch and run put Montana State’s lack of tackling ability on full display. The Eagles piled up 667 yards despite possessing the ball for less than 22 minutes. Ash attributed Montana State’s poor tackling to a 16-day hiatus after a season-opening 45-14 win over Division II Fort Lewis. MSU did not tackle or have live contact one time during the break.
“Early on, we didn’t tackle very well at all,” Ash said. “I am going to put that on us as coaches. I think the layoff we had, those 16 days, we didn’t do any tackling. If I had to do it over, we would maybe scrimmage or something and maybe try to keep our tackling fresh.”
MSU’s Dakota Prukop
Prukop threw for 353 yards and four touchdowns, including a highlight-reel one-handed scoring grab by sophomore Mitch Herbert. Prukop also endured 28 grueling carries, his body battered and bruised following a loss in which MSU hung tough until the final buzzer. Nzuzi Webster’s interception of Prukop with eight seconds was the final nail in the coffin for MSU.
“Even when it was 28-7, with a guy like Dakota Prukop and the way Coach Ash runs his program and their offense, I told the guys we cannot relax,” EWU head coach Beau Baldwin said. “We knew this was going to be a war.”
All told, Eastern Washington scored on 10 of its 14 possessions to put the Bobcats away for the 11th time in their last 13 meetings.
“When you lose a game, it’s frustrating any time and every loss leaves a terrible taste in our mouths,” MSU junior Chad Newell said after rushing for 94 yards. “This is not a losing program. Losing is not what we do here. We have to get this fixed.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
