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Eastern Washington University Football

Who is Tennessee State? Eastern Washington opens against unfamiliar cross-country foe led by Eddie George

Former NFL running back and current Tennessee State coach Eddie George spoke at the Ohio State Football Coaches Clinic on April 15.  (Lafayette Journal & Courier)
By Dan Thompson For The Spokesman-Review

The opening game of a football season brings plenty of mystery in any year.

When it comes against a new opponent from a conference across the country, even more is unknown.

That’s the situation facing Eastern Washington on Saturday, when the Eagles – ranked 13th in the STATS Perform FCS preseason poll – host the Tennessee State Tigers at 1 p.m. at Roos Field.

“In a conference game, there’s often kids you recruited that end up at other schools, and there’s a personality to those games and a tradition and a never-ending remembrance of what happened in previous games,” said Jim Chapin, EWU’s first-year offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. “With Week 1 in nonconference (play), it has its own life and history.”

In this case, Eastern’s history with its opponent is limited. The programs have never played football against each other, and only three times have the Eagles played a team from the Ohio Valley Conference. The last was Lindenwood, which came to Cheney in 2019. The Eagles won that game 59-31 – though that was when Lindenwood, now in its first year as a member of the OVC, played in the Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Last season, their first under head coach Eddie George, the Tigers finished 5-6 overall and 3-3 in the OVC.

“They’re talented, and they play extremely hard,” Chapin said. “There are not a lot of deficiencies, not a lot of holes.”

Their unfamiliarity presents its own challenges for the Eagles.

“We have to pivot and be flexible,” Chapin said.

This is a crucial game on the Eagles’ schedule, not simply because it is the first but because it is their only nonconference game against a fellow member of the Championship Subdivision. After this, the Eagles play at 11th-ranked Oregon on Sept. 10 and at Florida on Oct. 1.

Sandwiched between is a bye week and a home game against Montana State, the runner-up in last year’s FCS playoffs.

That opening schedule will make repeating last year’s 7-0 start all the more difficult for the Eagles.

When looking at the Tigers, the Eagles see a team that runs an offense similar to their own, EWU defensive lineman Caleb Davis said. The Tigers are working under a new offensive coordinator this year, Theron Aych.

“There are a lot of different things they haven’t put on film, so there are a lot of things we can’t prepare for,” Davis said.

The Tigers’ offense is led by a different quarterback this year: junior Draylen Ellis, who transferred last off-season from OVC rival Austin Peay, which left the OVC over the summer and joined the ASUN Conference. Last season, Ellis led the conference in passing yards per game (291.8) and touchdowns (19), and he ranked third in completion percentage (54%).

In the COVID-shortened season played in 2020-21, Ellis was the OVC co-freshman of the year, an award he shared with running back Devon Starling – who is now his teammate at Tennessee State.

Starling led the Tigers with 800 rushing yards and also had 312 receiving yards a year ago.

On defense last year the Tigers finished fifth in the seven-team OVC in total defense, allowing 364.7 yards per game. That’s about 19 yards less per game than the Eagles allowed a year ago.

But again, comparing stats across conferences – and from previous seasons – is no sure predictor, especially in a unique matchup like this one.

“I think we’ve got to be ready to embrace adverse moments,” EWU coach Aaron Best said on Tuesday during media availability.

“That’s what this game gives us. … We know it’s not going to be exactly the way it was on film. How fast we can make adjustments is going to be key.”