North Dakota State wears down Eastern Washington en route to comfortable season-opening win

MINNEAPOLIS – It would certainly be possible to start with the performance by Eastern Washington’s defense on Saturday and draw a straight line back to the parade of similar statistical showings from last season.

But in EWU coach Aaron Best’s estimation, that wouldn’t tell a fair story as to how the Eagles fared in their 35-10 nonconference season-opening loss to No. 2 North Dakota State.

“Overall, it was different,” Best said. “Even if the stats may say (it was) very similar, it was a different ballgame. That wasn’t a get-300-yards-easy, call-what-you-want (game).”

So although they are 0-1, with a formidable list of foes still to play in September alone, the Eagles left the field at U.S. Bank Stadium with some positivity that this year is going to be different than last.

“I’m really proud, even though it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to, of how resilient our defense was and the plays that we made,” senior cornerback Marlon Jones Jr. said. “There’s much room to grow, and I’m excited for where we’re headed.”

Last season, the Eagles allowed an FCS-worst 289 rushing yards per game.

In their 2023 season opener, they allowed the Bison to rush for 337 yards, including scoring plays of 54 and 70 yards as NDSU twice built two-touchdown leads before halftime. But the Eagles also got stops when they needed them, including two in fourth-and-short situations.

Unlike the last time these programs met, in the spring playoffs of 2021, the Eagles held their own physically, Best said, against a team he praised last week as being more physical than any Big Sky team.

“Two years ago, we went down to Fargo and there were a lot of people laying on the ground. We were just physically outmatched,” Best said of that 42-20 Eagles loss. “This game had a different tone to it, for sure.”

The game started much like so many did during the Eagles’ 3-8 season a year ago – the Eagles falling behind by two touchdowns barely halfway through the first quarter.

On their opening drive, the Bison marched 80 yards on eight plays, capped by a 7-yard touchdown pass from Cam Miller to Joe Stoffel, two of the 11 seniors who started on NDSU’s offense.

After Eastern went three-and-out, NDSU responded almost immediately as TaMerik Williams broke through the line and then ran away from a pair of tacklers downfield for a 54-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 7:02 left in the first quarter.

Eastern quickly answered with its lone touchdown drive of the game, one that culminated in a 34-yard throw from redshirt sophomore Kekoa Visperas to junior Nolan Ulm on a fourth-and-8 play.

As the Bison drove into Eastern’s territory on their subsequent drive, they faced a fourth-and-3 at the EWU 39-yard line and opted to hand the ball off to Williams. But the linebacker Banks and the safety Armani Orange, who made his first career start, met him and pushed him behind the line for one of the Eagles’ two fourth-down stops.

It was the kind of moment Best was talking about, and there were more. During the middle four of the Bison’s 12 possessions in the game, they gained just 56 yards.

“After (the first four drives) we honed in and those next four drives were great,” Banks said. “We had a couple three-and-outs, just giving our offense a chance, and that’s all we can do.”

Yet the Eagles didn’t answer any of those stops with points . Against a team of the caliber of NDSU – which last year lost in the FCS championship game – the Eagles’ offense simply did not keep up.

Visperas, starting a game for the second time in his career, completed 23 of 39 passes for 266 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He was sacked twice and gained 34 yards on 11 runs.

Junior Efton Chism III was his favorite target, finishing with seven catches for 74 yards. Senior Jakobie James added three catches for 54 yards. Ulm, who had the touchdown, finished with three grabs for 50 yards.

“As an offense we have to finish more, finish our drives,” Chism said. “We’re almost there.”

Chism said as much about Visperas.

“I told him, ‘You’ve got to take over the game,’ ” Chism said. “I feel like he’s there. He’s got to take that next step. And I think he will.”

Eastern struggled to get its running game going against a defense that started 10 seniors, though many were playing their most significant game action of their careers.

The Eagles had 72 yards on 28 carries, and their longest run went for 14 yards.

NDSU coach Matt Entz said the defense was keeping safeties back to protect against Eastern’s historically explosive passing game, content to let the defensive front contain the Eagles’ running game.

“If they wanted to run for 100 yards, we were OK with that,” Entz said. “We could not give up the vertical passing game.”

NDSU outgained the Eagles 513-338 , and the Bison committed no turnovers.

Eastern Washington will play at Fresno State on Saturday night before returning home to play Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 16.

“We just have to do our best and lock in on the miscues we had,” Banks said of preparing for Fresno State. “If we’re better than we were yesterday, then we’re in a good place.”