Oct. 3—For the second straight season, the Eastern Washington football team is 1-4 through five games, preparing for a game that it must win to keep any playoff hopes alive.
The Eagles’ opponent is winless Portland State (0-5, 0-1). The two are set to kick off at 4 p.m. Saturday at Roos Field in Cheney. This is Eastern’s first home Big Sky Conference game.
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Eastern is coming off a 57-3 loss at fifth-ranked Montana State, a game in which the Eagles’ offense never got going and its defense got roughed up by the Bobcats, who scored touchdowns on their first three drives, establishing a lead that never really felt surmountable.
In last year’s equivalent game, Eastern went on the road and beat Sacramento State 35-28, rushing for 286 yards, their third-most of the season.
Running the ball with that much success would certainly be part of the Eagles’ recipe this Saturday.
Here are three more ingredients that could be crucial for Eastern:
1. Does either quarterback assert himself as the starter going forward?
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The offense looked its best all season in a game at Roos Field two weeks ago, when redshirt sophomore Nate Bell led the Eagles to a 52-31 victory.
Last week, with redshirt senior Jared Taylor back after a two-game absence, the offense was stagnant, sometimes trying to run plays with both quarterbacks on the field. It led to just three points in the first half.
In the second half, Taylor sat and Bell took over the offense, but the results weren’t much better: None of the drives he led lasted more than five plays or gained more than 32 yards.
“We had to find a spark, and (Bell) has given us that in certain games this year,” EWU head coach Aaron Best said of the halftime switch. “I think we’re all mature enough to know we’re not trying to pull strings or a rabbit out of a hat. Sometimes it’s best just to give the keys to somebody else and see if he can spark something. We’re not trying to create controversy or create anything (like that) within that room or on this team.”
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Best didn’t commit to naming a starter, but with a bye week looming, a strong performance by either quarterback against Portland State could set the course for the final six games of the regular season.
2. Is Portland State better than its record?
The Vikings have lost to three ranked FCS teams and two FBS programs, and their scoring averages (8 points for, 43 against) are the worst in the Big Sky.
But PSU head coach Bruce Barnum noted Tuesday that his team has talent.
“We’re playing a bunch of young people. They are getting better,” Barnum said. “I’ll keep calling their number because they are dynamic. They weren’t ready to beat Hawaii yet. They weren’t ready to beat Northern Arizona. But they’re improving.”
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Like the Eagles, the Vikings have a bye next week. Certainly they would like to “crack the egg,” as Barnum said, and go into the break with a victory.
3. Can the Eagles’ specialists get the job done?
Like the Vikings, the Eagles have made just two field goals this season, and neither was all that consequential. One came last week to give Eastern its only points; the other came in the 21-point victory over Western Illinois.
But one of the Eagles’ two misses was particularly costly, coming in the final seconds against Northern Iowa. A make would have sent the game to overtime. Instead, the Eagles lost, 17-14.
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Redshirt junior Soren McKee seems to have the inside track on shorter kicks, but true freshman Hunter McKee was the option for a 51-yarder against Western Illinois (he had the distance but booted it wide).
Punting has been an up-and-down adventure for senior Landon Ogles, who has the capacity to pin a team deep, boot it through the end zone — and to shank it to the sideline. That range of outcomes has added up to an average of 39.9 yards per punt, second-worst in the Big Sky.
For as important as field position was last week against Montana State, when the Bobcats had a 12-yard advantage over the Eagles, punting could again be a big deal against the Vikings.
