Eastern edges Northern Colorado on last-second field goal

Call it poetic justice.

Eastern Washington overcame some disastrous plays on special teams with one that was utterly sublime, as backup kicker Jordan Dascalo booted a 44-yard field goal as time expired to give the Eagles a 43-41 Big Sky Conference win at Northern Colorado on Saturday afternoon.

Dascalo, a punter who began the year as a third-string kicker, drilled the ball straight through the uprights to cap a scintillating win that kept the seventh-ranked Eagles atop the Big Sky standings.

“I give Northern Colorado a ton of credit,” Eastern coach Beau Baldwin said. “We knew they would be a tough team and that’s the way it turned out.”

A back-and-forth game had seemingly gone Eastern’s way with 5 minutes, 23 seconds to play, when wide receiver Cooper Kupp capped a record-breaking day with his third touchdown catch of the day, a 22-yarder that put the Eagles ahead 40-28.

But the Bears, a consensus preseason pick to finish last in the Big Sky, moved 76 yards to cut the deficit to 40-35 with 2:12 to play, then recovered on onside kick that eluded the grasp of Kupp.

Three plays later, the Eagles were stunned again. A downfield pass from UNC quarterback Jacob Knipp sailed into double coverage, but the ball was tipped to receiver Michael McCauley for a 58-yard touchdown that left the Eagles trailing 41-40.

A failed pass on the two-point conversion meant that Eastern could win with a field goal, but the Eagles had just 1:19 with which to work. Quarterback Jordan West completed three passes to get to the UNC 26-yard line, and only 5 seconds remained after a second-down incompletion to Stu Stiles.

Up stepped Dascalo, a Washington State transfer who took over kicking duties after starter Brandyn Bangsund missed one extra-point kick and had another blocked.

“It didn’t bother me at all, going out there,” Dascalo said. “It’s what I work for every day.”

The kick was perfect, sending Dascalo’s teammates and coaches onto the field to celebrate their fourth win this year by eight points or less.

“It was one of those hard-fought games on the road,” Baldwin said. “At different times they felt in control, and then we felt in control up 12. But give them credit – they made plays.”

So did Eastern (5-2 overall, 4-0 Big Sky), which ran 106 plays and outgained the Bears 648-410 yards. Kupp made half a season’s worth of plays, finishing with school records of 20 catches and 275 yards, and also scored three touchdowns.

Kupp’s career totals stand at 281 receptions, 4,338 yards and 52 touchdowns. A pair of second-quarter grabs broke the previous conference receptions record of 268 held by Kasey Dunn of Idaho (1988-91). A 19-yard reception during a last-minute touchdown drive in the second quarter surpassed the previous Big Sky record of 4,140 yards held by EWU’s Eric Kimble (2002-05).

Kupp has played 35 games in his career and finds himself within striking distance of several FCS records, including the touchdown record. He has 52 TD receptions in his career, just six behind the record.

West finished 38 for 59 for 428 yards and four touchdowns. EWU running back Jalen Moore had 128 yards on 23 carries in the first start of his career.

Northern Colorado (4-3, 2-3) stayed in the game in the third quarter with touchdowns on a punt return and a kickoff return.

Not including a pair of blocked punts, Eastern had gone 124 punt returns without allowing at TD. Shortly after that, a streak of 296 kickoff returns without allowing a TD was broken. The last time EWU allowed a punt return for a TD was in and the last time an opponent scored on a kickoff return was by Villanova in the semifinals of the 2010 FCS playoffs.

“We knew they would be a tough team and that’s the way it turned out,” Baldwin said. “I thought before the game that special teams made me nervous, because they have some special skill players back there. That became a factor. We have to get better in that regard.”