Things to watch: Will Eastern Washington rely more on rushing attack and defense against Tennessee State?
Ranked 13th in the preseason FCS Stats Perform poll, Eastern Washington opens the season by hosting Tennessee State at 1 p.m. Saturday at Roos Field in Cheney. This is the first matchup between the programs. Here are a few aspects to watch:
Will the Eagles rely more on the run than they did last year? Last season with Eric Barriere at quarterback, the Eagles executed more plays than any other Big Sky team, but the majority were passes. Eastern was one of five Big Sky teams that ran more times than it threw the ball, and Eastern’s run percentage of 45.7% was the third lowest in the Big Sky (Montana State had the highest rate, rushing on 65.5% of its plays). This week, coach Aaron Best suggested, as he has many times this preseason when talking about senior starting quarterback Gunner Talkington, that the Eagles are “a product of team-driven success on offense for sure” and that offensive coordinator Jim Chapin “will put (Talkington) in good situations, and the receivers will make life easier at times, along with (EWU’s) running backs and the offensive line.” Just four times last season did the Eagles have more running plays than passing plays in a game, but it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see Talkington hand off the football more times than he throws it on Saturday.
Who breaks a big return on special teams? The Eagles were among the least-efficient special teams coverage units in the Big Sky last season. The Tennessee State Tigers were among the best in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Tigers led the OVC in punt return average and kickoff coverage, and they also ranked second in kickoff returns. But their punting net average of 33.8 yards was the worst in the OVC (and would have also ranked last in the Big Sky). That may be something Eastern Washington could exploit, with sophomore Efton Chism III – a preseason pick as an all-conference receiver – returning punts. Look for one of these teams to break a big return at some point to flip the field and seize momentum.
Can this EWU defense dominate a game? Eastern’s defense ranked sixth in the Big Sky in scoring defense and total defense last season, but with a lot of experience back, it would be a disappointment for the Eagles if those rankings didn’t improve this year.
They have a deep front four led by preseason all-conference pick Joshua Jerome and senior Mitchell Johnson. Their secondary is led by senior safety Anthany Smith, who is hoping to finally stay healthy for a full season. Linebackers are relatively inexperienced at Eastern, but transfers Jaren Banks and Derek Tommasini are both upperclassmen, and sophomore Ahmani Williams played well in a reserve role last season when healthy.
The defense demonstrated in an opening-round playoff victory last year its capacity to shut down an offense, especially in the red zone, when it held Northern Iowa in check in a 19-9 Eastern victory.
The Eagles may need more of those sorts of performances this year – including in this game against a dynamic TSU offense – to notch enough wins to get back to the playoffs.