Big Sky Conference

GAME PREVIEW: No. 11 Montana State vs. No. 14 Eastern Washington

on

The season is only a few weeks old and Big Sky Conference play has yet to begin. Yet the Eastern Washington Eagles seem to have an elevated sense of the magnitude of Saturday’s matchup with Montana State.

The No. 14 Eagles enter Saturday’s showdown with an 0-2 record. The Eagles haven’t lost a regular-season game on red turf known as “The Inferno” at Roos Field in Cheney since 2011. EWU’s winless start can largely be attributed to a brutal opening schedule that included road losses at Oregon (61-42) and at No. 8 Northern Iowa (38-35). With Big Sky play a week away, the Eagles feel their backs against the wall.

“It’s a shot to the gut,” said EWU senior All-Big Sky left tackle Clay DeBord, who will make his 44th career start on Saturday. “We have a bad taste in our mouths. I think we are definitely going to come into this game with a chip on our shoulder. We haven’t been playing Eastern football. We have a winning tradition. But this 2015 team, like one of our coaches said, we don’t know how to win yet. We haven’t done it.

Clay DeBord

Clay DeBord

“I really expect us to get our first win of the season this weekend. I have full confidence in our guys and I think we are going to put up a lot of points and come out with a W.”

Outside of the Montana Grizzlies, Eastern Washington has been Montana State’s most consistent opponent for the last three decades. The two squads have faced off every single year since 1982. Eastern Washington has defeated Montana State 10 of the last 12 meetings, including three in a row in building an all-time 28-10 advantage. Montana State has won in Cheney just once (36-21 in 2011) since 1991.

For the second straight year, the matchup is a non-conference game. Last season, No. 2 Eastern Washington came away with a 52-51 win over No. 14 MSU in an instant classic in Bozeman.

“I don’t know why the Big Sky did this — they gave each team two rivals in the conference and ours are North Dakota and Montana,” said MSU left tackle John Weidenaar, who will make his 40th straight start on Saturday. “I understand Montana obviously. But the three rivalries are us three, Montana State, Montana and Eastern. It’s those three. Every once in awhile, someone will come in, but we are the teams. That’s no disrespect to North Dakota or anyone else in the league, but this is a big rivalry.”

“Technically, it’s not a conference game but it matters,” EWU All-America offensive guard Aaron Neary said. “I know Montana State and ourselves were chosen neck and neck to win the Big Sky. It matters, especially being 0-2. It doesn’t sit well with us. We very well could have beaten both opponents we’ve played and that’s frustrating. But that fuels you, makes you a little more hungry. It’s Montana State and that’s a rivalry and that fuels us.”

Saturday’s showdown pits a pair of explosive offenses against a pair of defenses desperately trying to prove themselves. Last season, Montana State scored a school record for points in a single campaign, yet finished 8-5 including losses to Eastern when scoring 51 and to South Dakota State in the first round of the playoffs when scoring 41. MSU gave up just 63 less points than it scored. In an effort to revamp the unit, MSU head coach Rob Ash promoted Kane Ioane to be his defensive coordinator.

“Every time you play Montana State, it’s kind of a wild card. You get the whole kitchen sink thrown at you,” DeBord said. “I heard they have a new DC out there. I don’t think that matters. It’s never been the same look.

“It’s always one of the best games when we play Montana State. They don’t like us, we don’t like them. It’s like the Griz game. But we really don’t like them. There’s a lot of trash talking that goes on.”

Eastern Washington scored more touchdowns (84) than any Big Sky team ever in 2014. The Eagles averaged an FCS-best 44 points per game. EWU claimed a third straight Big Sky crown, yet the Eagles made it just one round further in the playoffs than MSU. EWU missed the FCS Final Four for the second time since 2010 due to a defense that gave up more than 32 points seven different times, including 59 points to Illinois State in a home playoff loss in the quarterfinals. In an effort to revamp the unit, EWU head coach Beau Baldwin elevated longtime assistant Jeff Schmedding to defensive coordinator.

It looks to me they are trying to be a little more simplified so they can be sound fundamentally,” Ash said on Tuesday. “It seems to me that’s what they are trying to do. It reminds me of the defenses they played in 2010 and 2011 when they won the national championship in 2010, the lined up on defense, played Cover 2 and kept everything in front and made teams drive the field to beat them.”

Eastern’s returns early on have not been stellar. The Eagles are giving up 376 yards per game on the ground alone. Oregon and UNI gained almost 1,200 yards total, totaling 59 first downs and averaging almost 50 points per game. But Baldwin isn’t ready to panic just yet.

“I want them to feel being 0-2 but at the same time, I want them to move forward and not just base things on end result,” Baldwin said. “We played Oregon. We wanted to win the game but at the same time, that’s the type of game when you are the underdog. We came off a game where we lost a close game to Northern Iowa against a team that is, year in and year out, a playoff team. If we were 1-1 at this point, say we make two or three more plays at Northern Iowa, we are still pretty much doing the same things well and the same things not so well. You have to be really careful about basing your emotions on how you feel straight on end results.”

UNI ran the zone-read option with authority against EWU last week. Quarterback Aaron Baily rushed for 134 yards and tailback Darrian Miller added 112. Montana State features elusive, electric quarterback Dakota Prukop and a backfield featuring the thunder-lightning junior duo of Chad Newell and Gunnar Brekke.

Dakota Prukop and MSU offense against Eastern Washington 2014

Dakota Prukop and MSU offense against Eastern Washington 2014

“We know (MSU) will try to do the same thing (as UNI),” EWU junior linebacker Miquiyah Zimorah said. “They have a great quarterback who can extend plays and make all the reads. That’s why he’s so well respected in our league. He’s so good on is feet.”

Eastern will counter with an offense that continues to throw the ball down the field as well as any offense in the FCS. Two-time reigning Big Sky Offensive MVP Vernon Adams transferred to Oregon and handed his old team their first loss. In his place, junior Jordan West and freshman Reilly Hennessey have combined to throw for 482 yards per game and nine touchdowns. Junior All-America Cooper Kupp already has 24 catches for 425 yards and five touchdowns. He’s questionable with a hip pointer.

“We have to play sound defense, making sure we’ve always got a man for a man as far as our coverage is concerned and more importantly, finish plays,” Ioane said. “When the ball is in the air, we want to finish. We want to knock the ball down. We want to get the interception.”

Kupp isn’t the only banged up Eagle. Senior right tackle Cassidy Curtis (foot) and junior right tackle Jerrod Jones (knee/shin), redshirt freshman quarterback Reilly Hennessey (ankle), junior running back Jalen Moore (ankle) and senior wide receiver Shaq Hill (knee) are all listed as doubtful. Hennessey is the only one with a chance to play, Baldwin said.

Defensively, senior captain Todd Raynes (back) did not practice on Thursday but junior Buck end Samson Ebukam (hamstring) and junior strong safety Zach Bruce (shoulder) did and are expected to play. Raynes is a game-time decision.

EWU will play a slew of young players regardless. Eight true or redshirt freshmen are listed on EWU’s defensive two-deep, including four starters.

Depth chart, injuries and circumstance aside, Ash knows his Bobcats will have their hands full. He’s won just once in his four previous trips to Cheney. He’s 66-32 in his career leading MSU and 46-18 against Big Sky competition but he is 2-6 against EWU.

“I suppose they have their backs to the wall and they are at home for the first time this year so those things may work to their advantage,” Ash said. “At the same time, we’ve adopted the philosophy of taking care of what we can take care of. It’s more important for us to work on our game plan that worrying about where their mentality is going to be. We will have to play a very, very good football team no matter what frame of mind they are in.”

 

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

Recommended for you