Eastern’s playoff ambitions face test
The schedule says it’s just Game 10 with a date next weekend in Bozeman for a share of the Big Sky Conference football championship, but the I-AA playoffs start today for the Eastern Washington Eagles.
“At this point they’re all playoff games,” EWU coach Paul Wulff said. “That’s how we’re approaching this… . We play a nationally-ranked team and this game has huge implications for the future for both teams.”
That’s a fair assessment for the 21st-ranked Eagles (6-3) in today’s 2 p.m. non-conference matchup against 11th-ranked Cal Poly (7-1) at Woodward Field.
Since losing to Montana three weeks ago, Eastern (5-1 Big Sky) has been in a must-win situation, but now the opponents are no longer pushovers like Weber State and Sacramento State. Wins in the final two games all but assure the Eagles a playoff spot. A loss today would mean having to beat the Bobcats and then hoping the Cats win in Montana the final weekend so the Eagles get the league automatic berth.
But those are worries for next week. The Eagles have their hands full today.
“They’re a good football team,” Wulff said of Cal Poly. “They have a great defense and they have some weapons on offense. They’re well-coached … very well-coached. It’s going to be a heck of a match. We have to play real well, we have to play better than we did against Sacramento State.”
This is the first time since the 1997 championship and playoff year Eastern has played a game with similar implications in November.
“That’s what we’ve been working to get to, we’re in November and all our games still matter,” Wulff said. “It’s a great opportunity. All the hard work the kids have done and coaches have done in the off-season is starting to pay off. To be able to play games like this is a lot of fun for the program.”
Until losing 38-33 to UC Davis last week, the Mustangs had the longest I-AA winning streak at eight games and had reached No. 5 in the polls and third in the Gridiron Power Index – the equivalent of the I-A BCS rankings.
Cal Poly’s forte is defense, the last game notwithstanding.
The Mustangs allow 16.5 points and 380 yards of total offense, but just 80.1 on the ground. They have 32 sacks, 18 interceptions and six defensive touchdowns in eight games.
The headliners are 6-foot-2, 231-pound middle linebacker Jordan Beck, who has amassed 400 career tackles in leading the team four straight years, and 6-3, 255-pound junior end Chris Gocong, who has 11.5 sacks this year. Both are finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award as the best defensive player in I-AA.
“They’ve got great defensive team speed,” Wulff said. “They give you a variety of looks. … If you were going to compare them to anybody it would maybe be Northern Arizona, but they’re better. They’re extremely aggressive and probably the fastest defense we’ve faced this year. They have some very good football players and a NFL middle linebacker.”
The Eagles, who average 36.7 points a game, have the weapons to attack the defense.
Cal Poly’s offense isn’t as prolific but it is capable, averaging 28.2 points.
“They’ve got big-play capability,” Wulff said. “Two wide receivers in particular have great speed and are big playmakers. They have the ability and have done it on everybody to beat people deep. Their quarterback is very athletic.”
Again there is no Big Sky team to compare with the Mustangs.
“Their style isn’t something we’ve seen,” Wulff said. “They’re very dangerous, they have ability to run the football with their quarterback. With the ability to throw, it’s a very scary situation for us. We have to be very disciplined.”
Quarterback Anthony Garnett completed 21 of 34 passes for 377 yards in the loss last week, all career highs.