Things to watch: Eastern Washington travels to Weber State with hopes of snapping losing streak
If one team has had Eastern Washington’s number the past decade in football, it is the Weber State Wildcats.
The Wildcats have won the past three in the series, including a 14-6 victory in 2018 in Ogden, Utah, when they held the Eagles to just 247 yards of offense and a per-play average of 3.2 yards.
That Eastern Washington team rebounded and reached the FCS title game, but the result against Weber – and the other two most recent matchups – suggest Weber State coach Jay Hill knows a thing or two about slowing down this Eastern offense.
Here are three key aspects of the game to keep an eye on when 24th-ranked Eastern (1-3 overall, 0-1 Big Sky) and No 7 Weber State (4-0, 1-0) kick off at 5 p.m. Saturday in Ogden:
How balanced will Weber State’s offense be? Weber State’s defense is off to an excellent start, allowing just 38 points and 1,126 yards in four games. But the Wildcats’ offense has been better than average, ranked fourth in the Big Sky in points scored (34.3 per game) and third in total offense (430.8 yards per game). Comparing teams that have played different nonconference schedules (as these two have) can be misleading early in the year, so pointing out that Eastern’s defense – which has faced two FBS defenses – has given up 189 points and 2,283 yards doesn’t provide an entirely fair comparison.
But it’s certainly still fair to wonder whether this Eastern defense is going to be any better than last year’s that ranked anywhere from fifth to seventh among Big Sky teams in the major defensive categories. Weber State likes to run the football, something Eastern has been particularly vulnerable against this year.
If the Wildcats can do that, it may spell trouble for the Eagles. “When (teams) get 200 yards rushing, they hardly ever lose,” Hill said this week. “If we can do that and throw the ball effectively, and get 200 yards in the (passing) game, we’re going to be dang hard to beat, especially if we’re taking care of the ball in doing that.”
Who wins special teams? The game-changing capacity of special teams was never more apparent last season than in the Eagles’ 35-34 home loss to the Wildcats. In that game, the Wildcats converted three fake punts for first downs, leading to 13 points. Each came on a different play design: the first was a direct snap to an upback, the next was a run by the punter and third was a pass from the punter. Don’t expect that to happen again in this game – Eagles coach Aaron Best said last year that was maybe the first time he’d experienced three fakes by one team in one game – but special teams are usually a strength of the Wildcats and have been a weakness for the Eagles the past few seasons. Weber State kicker Kyle Thompson is 8 for 11 on field goals this season with a long of 39. Eastern’s Seth Harrison is 1 for 2, the lone made kick coming from 44 yards last week against Florida. Weber State returner Haze Hadley hasn’t shown the numbers that Rashid Shaheed did last year, but he’s had plenty of chances, returning a conference-high 20 punts for 261 yards. EWU’s Efton Chism III has returned two punts this season for 11 yards.
How will the FBS games impact Eastern this game and beyond? Best said this week the Eagles “sustained a lot of good things against an SEC team” in their 52-17 loss to Florida and the team isn’t deviating from its message.
“Certainly, the schedule’s been challenging,” Best said, “and we haven’t played up to the potential we have.” The schedule normalizes here on out, with seven Big Sky games remaining . One question is whether those games against FBS teams in some ways helps the game slow down for the Eagles. They moved the ball well against Florida, with seven drives that lasted seven plays or more, and they ended the game with a season-high 27 first downs and 411 yards of offense. Though they didn’t get back to Cheney until early Monday morning, Monday is usually an off day for the team anyway, so from a physical standpoint players said preparing for Weber State wasn’t all that different than preparing to play any road game. Eastern also must avoid falling to 0-2 in Big Sky play, especially because it still has to play top-five teams Sacramento State and Montana. Even if the Eagles were to win the rest of their games but lose to Weber State, SSU and Montana, a 5-4 Big Sky record (and a 6-6 overall record) is almost certainly not enough to return to the FCS playoffs.
But a victory in Ogden could change the trajectory of their season and give them momentum heading into a home game next weekend against SSU.