The Griz are back home after a few weeks of road games and coming to town is a team that views us as their biggest rival, the EWU Eagles. Eastern last week had a very narrow path to still make the playoffs that required them to win out, resulting in winning the Big Sky, but that was dashed in a loss to Sac State. Now EWU can play the spoiler to the Griz who are eyeing a top seed in the post season.
Eastern is in yet another rebuild after a massive loss of players due to graduation or transfer. Per their media guide they lost 10 starters on offense and 8 starters on defense. EWU added 40 new guys this offseason, including 11 transfers. They still placed two players on the all Big Sky team, a DE and a CB – but the corner (Wells) has only played 3 games this season.
Looking at EWU statistically in the Big Sky;
- 2nd worst in both scoring on offense and points allowed on defense (UM is 1st in scoring / 2nd in defense points allowed)
- 10th in both total offense and total defense (Montana is 1st in offense / 4th in defense)
- 9th in rushing / 10th in passing offenses
- 4th most allowed sacks, 2nd worst in sacks by the defense
- The worst 3rd down offense in the Big Sky, converting just 28% of the time (Montana’s 2nd at 46.2%)
Eastern Washington Eagles 4-5
21-31 loss @ Incarnate Word – At this point in the season opener IW was ranked 4th in the FCS, now they’re 3-6 and obviously out of the polls and the post season. EWU had the game tied at 21-21 nearing the half, IW would kick a field goal to make it 24-21 headed into the half. Then, both offenses went stone cold, 9 consecutive punts between each team – 5 of which were 3 and outs. IW would add a later TD while EWU would lose a fumble on one drive and have a turnover on downs. IW passed for 332 while EWU had 290 total yards of offense
14-41 loss @ Boise State – Expected outcome, it was 30-7 Boise at the half. Boise had over 300 rushing and 300 passing while EWU didn’t even have 300 total yards in the game.
14-17 loss @ Northern Iowa – EWU’s first 8 drives all ended in punts and they had totaled just about 130 total yards over that stretch. During this time UNI chips away and gets a 17-0 lead in the game. Credit EWU though, they didn’t give up. Early in the 4th they’d finally find the endzone, their defense makes a stop, and they score again. UNI gets a drive together but turns the ball on downs at the EWU 17. With 2:23 left in the game EWU would get to the UNI 25 but would miss the game tying kick – game over. 3rd game in a row where the EWU offense would have less than 300 total yards, while UNI had 359 passing and 136 rushing.
52-31 win vs Western Illinois – WIU hung around this game for quite some time, while EWU generally had the lead most of the game WIU would be within 4 in the mid point of the 2nd quarter, within 10 in the middle of the 3rd, and just down 6 early in the 4th. However EWU would score the last 14 points and WIU would have a few turnovers on downs to seal their fate. Eastern finally found their ground game, rushing for 325, and passing for 272.
3-57 loss @ Montana State – Yikes, it was 24-0 Cats at the end of the 1st quarter. EWU ran for 83 yards, and passed for just 124, they’d lose a fumble and have a turnover on downs. Cats had 293 rushing, 280 passing, and absolutely crushed the Eags.
35-27 win vs Portland State – EWU would go up 21-7 but see PSU chip away to get it to within 1 point, 21-20. EWU then scored the next 14, including a big 50 yard TD run, to put PSU down 15. Portland would find the endzone again but their final two possessions were a 3 and out, and then a lost interception to end the game. EWU had a big rushing day, 333 on the ground, while PSU passed for 339.
21-14 win vs Idaho – EWU very gradually gained a 21-7 lead on a few field goals, and 2 TDs (one with a 2 point conversion) into the 4th quarter of the game. Idaho’s offense had issues all day, but they’d get the sore to 21-14 with 2:30 to go, but were unable to get the onsides, and even though they kept EWU from moving the ball they’d get the ball back with just 21 seconds on their own 4 yard line and didn’t get too far down field. Idaho out-gained EWU in the game 338 total to 305 total, both teams were a little similar with mid-100’s rushing yards and upper 100’s passing yards. In the game Idahos first two drives ended in turnovers on downs, one on their own 25 and the other at mid field. They’d throw a pick, miss a field goal, and have two more later turnovers on downs.
23-20 win vs Weber – EWU gutted out an ugly win, securing the W with a pick at mid-field with just a few minutes left in the game, all while just having 199 yards of total offense against Weber. EWU punted 10 times in the game! Meanwhile Weber would miss a field goal on one drive, give up a safety on a fumble in the endzone that they recovered, and had 2 lost interceptions. One of EWU’s TDs was also a 2 yard drive coming off a muffed punt where Weber handed the ball back to the Eagles on their own 2 yard line. In the 2nd half EWU’s offense would not cross mid-field once, the furthest they got was the Weber 44, with 5 three and outs in a row.
13-35 loss vs Sacramento State - Sac passed the ball 6 times total in this game, going 3-6 with 1 INT. They would rush the ball 56 times and had 376 rushing yards. Meanwhile EWUs run game was totally shut down, just 38 rushing yards. They would wind up passing a ton, 53 attempts, and 240 total passing yards.
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General Stats
Passing yards per game GRIZ (298 for GRIZ vs 181 for EWU)
Rushing yards per game GRIZ (184 for GRIZ vs 142 for EWU)
Total offense GRIZ (482 for GRIZ vs 323 for EWU)
Passing yards allowed per game EWU (248 for GRIZ vs 242 for EWU)
Rushing yards allowed per game GRIZ (144 or GRIZ vs 211 for EWU)
Total defense GRIZ (392 for GRIZ vs 453 for EWU)
Offense points scored GRIZ (41.1 for GRIZ vs 21.8 for EWU)
Defense points allowed GRIZ (23.3 for GRIZ vs 31.4 for EWU)
Turnover margin GRIZ (+6 for GRIZ / +1 for EWU)
Field goal % EWU (66.6% for GRIZ vs 75% for EWU)
Punt Returns EWU (11.1 yards for GRIZ vs 11.2 yards for EWU)
Kick Returns GRIZ (25 yards for GRIZ vs 21.2 yards for EWU)
T.O.P. GRIZ (30:16 for GRIZ vs 28:00 for EWU)
Red Zone defense (touchdowns) EWU (62% GRIZ / 59% EWU)
Red Zone offense (touchdowns) GRIZ (77% GRIZ / 59% EWU)
3rd down offense GRIZ – (46.2% for GRIZ / 28% for EWU)
3rd down defense GRIZ – (37.1% allowed for GRIZ vs 44% allowed for EWU)
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Montana gets 13, Eastern gets 4 – but most of EWU’s gets are super close to Montana’s.
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Eastern Washington Players to Watch:
#2 Nate Bell, QB: Bell is going to be a problem for us, contain him, and you contain EWU. He’s their do it all QB, he leads the team in rushing yards with 663 and 7 rushing TDs. He’s got about 1000 passing yards this season with 7 more TD passes and 6 INTs. He’s even caught 3 passes – containment of him is key for the Grizzly defense.
***update*** - Nate Bell left last week's game with his arm in a sling, giving way to #12 Jake Schakel, a 6-2, 205 pound RS Freshman who's played in 3 games this season. He did some fill in duty late in the MSU blowout loss and finished the Sac State game going 21-38 for 201 yards. If Bell's injury sidelines him Schakel seems to be far more of a pocket QB than Bell.
#21 Marceese Yetts, RB: Yetts is a 5-8, 175 pound running back, he’s 2nd in team rushing yards behind Bell with 192 and 4 TDs on the ground, he’s also 2nd on the team in receiving yards with 252 total receiving.
#6 Noah Cronquist, WR: Noah is the team’s do it all WR, he’s first in yards with 315, but has no receiving TDs yet. He’s also their primary return man, averaging 11.2 per punt return and almost 22 per kick return. However, he also got knocked out of the game last week - possibly a concussion - so his status is unknown.
#8 Miles Williams, WR: Williams has 249 receiving yards and 2 receiving TDs this season.
#31 Jaylon Jenkins, DB: A 6-1 safety, he’s got 4 interceptions this season so far, which I think leads the Big Sky. He’s got 38 tackles, 1 TFL, and a team high 7 PBUs as well. He’d be a guy that I hope really enjoys Wa Griz and feels like it might be a fun place to play in a lot more in the years ahead (wink / wink)
#26 Read Sunn, LB: A Wyoming transfer, Sunn leads the team in tackles with 70, he also has a team high 9 TFLs, 2 sacks, and 1 forced fumble.
#1 Tylin Jackson, DE: An all-conference selection, Jackson is 6-5, 260, he’s got 2.5 sacks and 5 TFLs this season.
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Keys to a Grizzly victory
- Contain Bell or rattle Shackel – This guys is a problem, their offense is make or break on his success. If the Grizzly defense can keep him under wraps they’ll shut down the EWU offense. Now if Bell is out, as the injury news suggests, then we'll have an RS frosh out there that I'd think the Grizzly defense can put some real heat on.
- Ground and pound – I’d love to see a rush-heavy day with ball control, work in the trenches, and big rushing numbers for all 3 of our primary backs. EWU’s defense might play a little more off the ball than others have and that should help the Grizzly running game.
- Avoid mistakes – Despite a poor season EWU is positive in turnover margin and has one of the better safeties in the conference. Ah Yat cannot get caught in errors and give EWU some short field plays due to a pick or two.
- Money Mike – Obviously would love to show EWU what they lost with Wortham, lets feed this dude and have him put up some big numbers.
- Expect the unexpected – EWU’s going to pull out all the stops, Best doesn’t like Hauck, Germer is their OL coach. They’re going to have some tricks up their sleeves for the Griz. The Grizzly defense will really need to stay in their lanes, don’t get fooled with “dirty eyes” and just do their part.
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I could see EWU giving us a little surprise early, maybe a few new wrinkles and some stuff we didn’t expect that could put up some early points that surprise the stadium. If they care for this coaching staff the players know that a win in Montana will help retain Best and company (I’m just assuming Best is on the hot seat). However, Montana is the better team top to bottom, and as long as they do their thing they’ll outpace EWU as the day goes on. I also expect with this being a home game there will be goals to rotate more depth, and with a larger roster they’ll probably play some more freshman. This again could be a Weber / SHU type of plan where the Griz have a good, but not great lead and then they go to a ton of depth.
End of the day, it’s the Griz on top, I’ll say 48-17.
Go Griz!
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