Room to run: Eastern Washington’s Tuna Altahir leads group determined to get more on the ground

It has become common among the Big Sky’s football teams to embrace the role of dual-threat quarterback, and in that way Eastern Washington is no different.

Last season, the Eagles weren’t afraid to put multiple quarterbacks on the field at the same time, each of whom were capable of throwing or running with the football.

But one of the Eagles’ preseason practice goals is to get more rushing yards from the players who traditionally gain the most, and there is confidence around preseason practices that the group they have is capable of doing more than it did a year ago.

“The first thing is getting more out of our running back run game,” EWU head coach Aaron Best said Tuesday, “without the quarterback conversation.”

The Eagles weren’t particularly great or poor running the football last season, finishing seventh in the Big Sky in yards per game (154.3) and yards per carry (4.1).

But they and anyone watching the Eagles last year witnessed what other teams did against Eastern in the running game. Within the conference, effective ground games correlated with success: All four of the Big Sky’s FCS playoffs teams a year ago ran for more yards per carry than the Eagles did.

Tuna Altahir led the Eagles in rushing yards last year with 534 on 125 carries. Now a redshirt junior, Altahir is closing in on 1,000 career yards in three seasons with the Eagles (984), and throughout camp he has been the first back during team drills.

But the spot behind him is less certain than it was last year, when Justice Jackson – who transferred to Idaho State – spelled Altahir, gaining 472 yards on 76 carries, good for a 6.2 yards-per-carry clip.

“All of them have bright futures,” Altahir said of the team’s running backs. “All of them could play right now.”

Who will play, though, is the big question.

The first candidate for more carries appears to be Malik Dotson. Dotson transferred from Feather River College – where he played with now EWU quarterback Jared Taylor – before last season, and he got on the field early, rushing 13 times for 44 yards last September.

But the Eagles opted to redshirt him to preserve two years’ eligibility for the 6-foot, 212-pound Dotson.

“Juice. Explosiveness,” Altahir said of what is brought by Dotson, who gained 1,057 rushing yards while at Feather River in 2022. “He’s one dude that I think is going to break out this year.”

Whether the Eagles use more than two running backs this season remains to be seen.

Last year, aside from Altahir and Jackson, just two other running backs – Talon Betts and Nick Adimora – had any carries at all. And they didn’t have many, with just five between them.

Betts and Adimora, redshirt sophomores both, are again with the team this year. Redshirt junior Brandon Montoya (eight career carries) is also on the roster.

That quintet of returners is joined by two newcomers: true freshman Kevin Allen III and junior transfer Marceese Yetts. Allen starred at Helix High School in La Mesa, California, where he rushed for 1,295 yards as a senior and 944 as a junior.

Yetts began his career at Air Force but transferred to El Camino College in Torrance, California. There he played two seasons, and in 2023 he rushed 85 times for 550 yards and also caught 27 passes for 358 yards.

“They know that they are going to have important roles on our teams,” Taylor said of the running backs, “and they know we’re going to need them.”

What complicates the running back usage is how the Eagles employ their three primary quarterbacks, each of whom can run and are sometimes on the field to do just that.

Redshirt junior Kekoa Visperas is the clear starter and the most accomplished passer, having led the Big Sky in yards per game (275.4) a year ago. But he also gained 319 yards rushing, sometimes by scrambling and sometimes by design.

Senior Michael Wortham returned kicks, caught passes, threw the ball and ran with it last season. The Eagles will continue to employ him in all those ways this season (he might even return punts, too). Last year he ran for 269 yards and five touchdowns, caught five passes for 57 yards and completed 4 of 7 attempts for 38 yards and a score.

Then there’s Taylor, the redshirt junior who played four games last season, including a start against Idaho in which he threw for 92 yards and a touchdown and ran for 121 and two scores.

Together again this season, Taylor – who, like Dotson, was limited to the four games so he could still redshirt – is optimistic all three quarterbacks will be better for all getting on the field.

“Our biggest benefit from each other is having each other,” he said. “We’re such a close-knit group.”

Considering what they have at running back and at quarterback, the Eagles have plenty of options in the backfield, one that may just be the Big Sky’s most versatile.

“I would say we can do it all,” Altahir said. “Having those guys who are basically running backs as well as quarterbacks is really big for us.”