Eastern Washington unable to stop No. 5 Sacramento State’s rushing attack in 52-28 loss

Trailing by two touchdowns and facing a fourth-and-4 from their 38-yard line, Eastern Washington punter Nick Kokich took a deep snap, stepped up and threw toward Nolan Ulm running toward the left sideline.

The ball sailed over Ulm’s head, just out of reach, and Kokich dropped into a crouch, hands to his helmet.

It was the sort of play Eastern so desperately needed to connect on, the sort of play the Eagles just haven’t executed during what is now the program’s longest losing streak (five) since 1995.

“It was there. It was available,” EWU coach Aaron Best said of the play. “It wasn’t executed the way we anticipated and practiced it the last couple of weeks.”

Eastern Washington lost 52-28 to No. 5 Sacramento State on Saturday night at Roos Field. It was a costly loss, pinning the Eagles’ backs against the wall if they hope to achieve another winning season and to avoid finishing with a losing mark for the first time since 2006. Their 1-5 start is the program’s worst since going 1-5 at the start of the 2006 season.

Although EWU has played a difficult schedule, with two FBS opponents and now three at the FCS level that on Monday will no doubt be ranked among the subdivision’s top five, this is still a team that is 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the Big Sky with five games to play, a depleted defense and an offense that can only do so much.

“Obviously, you can tell we’re not happy with how the season’s going so far, but we just have to keep believing in each other, believing in the coaches to get us there,” sophomore receiver Efton Chism III said. “Yeah, it’s frustrating, but we know we can do it, so why can’t we go do it right now?”

A lack of execution colored many of the biggest moments . There was a touchdown called back by an offensive pass interference. A missed extra point. A missed field goal. An interception that the Hornets returned for a touchdown.

Those are miscues teams can overcome.

But against the Hornets, whose offensive strength matched up directly against the Eagles’ most exploited weakness this season, even a plus-2 margin in the turnover difference wasn’t enough for Eastern to hang with Sacramento State (6-0, 3-0) for an entire game.

Sacramento State’s ground attack, which came in ranked fourth nationally in yards per game, rushed 62 times for 385 yards and three touchdowns. Eastern’s defense has surrendered 1,790 rushing yards in six games.

The Hornets scampered out to a 21-0 lead on touchdowns by quarterback Asher O’Hara, linebacker Brock Mather – on a pick-six – and running back Cameron Skattebo, the Big Sky’s leading rusher. He added 201 yards to his season total, plus another 41 receiving.

O’Hara added 94 on the ground and ran for three scores. He also completed 4-of-5 passes for 27 yards.

O’Hara cycled in with fellow senior Jake Dunniway, who completed 9-of-14 attempts for 113 yards and three touchdowns. But Dunniway also had two interceptions, turnovers that gave Eastern Washington some life.

Down 21-0 early in the second quarter, the Eagles embarked on consecutive touchdown drives of 83, 36 and 72 yards. Chism scored the first two touchdowns, from 1 yard and then 29 yards out, and then contributed to the third when he ran behind Justice Jackson in the opposite direction as the running back took a handoff to the left side of the defense.

“I was juiced,” Chism said. “(The edge defender) came off the edge and just followed me the whole way. I wasn’t supposed to get the ball, and Justice went in and scored. It was a cool thing for sure.”

Jackson’s touchdown – his first of the season – and the subsequent 2-point conversion tied the game at 21 with 8:08 left in the second quarter.

“We’ve been through this before a few times this season, and we’re just tired of it,” EWU senior safety Keshaun King said. “We’re just tired of being down and giving up, so we just wanted to keep fighting.”

But the Hornets – who have yet to trail at any point this season – buckled down and scored two touchdowns before halftime, taking 35-21 lead .

After the half, SSU received the opening kickoff and drove into Eastern’s red zone. On third-and-11, though, Dunniway threw into the end zone and redshirt freshman Kentrell Williams Jr. intercepted him, one of three turnovers forced by the Eagles.

EWU’s Gunner Talkington, who finished with a season-high 370 passing yards on 26-of-44 attempts, got one first down on the next drive before it stalled, leading to the unsuccessful fake punt. Three plays later the Hornets scored, giving them their second three-touchdown lead of the game.

After that, Eastern drew back within a touchdown on Talkington’s third score of the game, a 24-yard connection with junior Freddie Roberson. But the Eagles never got closer.

Talkington led the Eagles to their best offensive output – 460 yards – since putting up 474 in their opening win over Tennessee State, and the Hornets never sacked him.

“He looked confident,” Best said of EWU’s senior quarterback. “We had explosive plays in the air. We’ve lacked that in the last three or four games. Those (receivers) were giddy. There were a lot of holes in that defense we thought we could take advantage of.”

Chism certainly did, finishing with season highs in receptions (nine) and yards (129), giving the Eagles their first 100-yard receiver this year. Roberson finished with three catches for 97 yards and had another long gain called back by a penalty, one of eight called against the Eagles.

Ultimately, the result was the same as the last four, and the Eagles will look to end their losing streak next weekend at Cal Poly, the only other Big Sky team without a conference win.

“We played a very good football team in all three phases, and we hung right with them step for step, and got behind then got back in it,” Best said. “We swing; we just don’t land our swings. As long as we keep swinging, we will always have a chance. That’s what these kids do, that’s their DNA and those are the kids we play with week in and week out.”