Eastern Washington receiver Efton Chism III continues to climb all-time program ranks, starting with three touchdowns against Monmouth

There wasn’t anything particularly remarkable, at least initially, about the three touchdowns of Efton Chism III last week against Monmouth (New Jersey).

The first one, on Eastern Washington’s first drive of scrimmage, began with a catch in the flat at the 26-yard line, a play mostly notable – at first – because of the hit absorbed by quarterback Kekoa Visperas.

The second one, which put the Eagles up 35-14 midway through the third quarter, Chism caught at the 11-yard line with defenders in front of him.

The third one seemed innocuous enough as well, with the senior wideout reeling in a ball on the right side of the field still 16 yards from the end zone, a handful of defenders still between his current and future location.

Yet each time, Chism found his way in for a score.

“He’s elusive and twitchy and instinctual,” said EWU redshirt sophomore Miles Williams, who starts at wide receiver alongside Chism, a preseason All-America selection. “Once the ball is in his hands, he doesn’t have to think at all.”

For most of his college career, the 5-foot-11 Chism has been a centerpiece of the Eastern Washington offense, and the program’s all-time record books bear that out.

While the career numbers of Cooper Kupp are beyond reach – most of which lead not just Eastern Washington but the entire FCS – Chism is poised to climb near him in a handful of categories.

After his 12-catch, 173-yard, three-touchdown performance in the Eagles’ 42-27 victory over Monmouth, Chism boosted his ascent, one he and the Eagles (1-0) will aim to continue at 4 p.m. Saturday against Drake (0-0) at Roos Field in Cheney.

In his career, Chism has 238 catches, 15 behind second-place Eric Kimble on Eastern’s all-time receptions list (Kupp had 428, most in the FCS).

In receiving yards, he has 2,714, eighth most in program history and 1,017 shy of third-place Brandon Kaufman (Kimble had 4,140 while Kupp had an FCS-record 6,464).

As far as receiving touchdowns, Chism has 27, tied with NFL receiver Kendrick Bourne for seventh on Eastern’s career list, six shy of Kaufman and Nicholas Edwards for third place, 19 shy of Kimble’s second-place mark of 46, and 46 fewer than Kupp’s mark of 73 (and yes, that’s an FCS record, too).

Chism has already had a notable career and is well on his way to a remarkably productive one at a school that has a penchant for developing wide receivers into Big Sky – and sometimes national – stars.

Teammates rave about him. So do his coaches, who point out that he’s an excellent blocker (he’s also sure-handed as the team’s holder on special teams snaps and as the primary punt returner).

“The yards and things will come, but he just wants to win,” EWU wide receivers coach Jeff McDaniels said. “If we beat Drake and he has two catches, he’s going to be as happy as a win over Monmouth with 12 catches.”

After being named Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week, Chism still deferred to the performance by Visperas, who completed 25 of 28 passes and threw more touchdowns (five) than incompletions.

“I couldn’t do it without him,” Chism said.

It is in preparation, too, that Chism thrives and sets up the work he’s able to do on game days, McDaniels said.

“He’s such a smart player,” McDaniels said. “It’s really easy for us to move him around. He can play every spot in this offense. And I think he has fully bought into everything we’ve asked him.”

Before the catch

Chism’s preparation begins in the film room, when he watches each defensive back who might be on him in the upcoming game, one player at a time.

“I’ll watch that defensive back the whole time, and I’ll try not to watch the other guys,” Chism said. “Then I’ll restart and watch a different guy.”

Most of the time, Chism lines up in the slot, so the nickelback, if there is one, is the first one in front of him. He said he doesn’t often get shadowed by one defensive back, but he added it’s only been one game and teams could change tactics.

Come game day, that preparation helps him read coverages better and anticipate with more accuracy what teams are doing on a given play.

“I’ve got to have a plan before the ball is snapped, based on leverage, what I think the coverage is, what route I am running,” Chism said. “But as soon as the ball is snapped, it’s all reactionary. I know what I want to do, and if I can do it, I’m going to do that.”

The catch

Then Chism has to make the catch, often in traffic and usually soon after the snap. Against Monmouth, the average depth of reception – how far down the field he made the catch relative to the line of scrimmage – was 3.3 yards. His longest catch by that measure came 17 yards downfield on a third-and-3 play.

(Visperas wasn’t just throwing short to Chism, either. Of his 28 attempts, just four traveled beyond 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. His longest completion in the air was a 25-yarder to Nolan Ulm.)

Chism ascribes to the mantra, “You touch it, you buy it,” so no matter where the football is thrown, he said, if his hands touch the football he has to come down with it (Williams said the same thing).

“Having Kekoa back there makes it easy,” Chism said. “He puts it exactly where it needs to be.”

He focuses on not turning to run too early, either, sometimes knowing that a defender is right there ready to try to tackle him.

Then comes the part that stood out so much against Monmouth.

After the catch

After last week’s game, EWU head coach Aaron Best said that Chism “played above the human standard today,” and he specifically noted the work Chism did after coming down with the football.

By McDaniels’ count, Chism broke 11 tackles.

“I think that’s the most impressive thing. He makes the offensive staff really good when we throw him a 5-yard hitch and he has a gain of 17,” McDaniels said. “It allows our quarterbacks to get into such an easy rhythm because we don’t have to throw down the field to get big or productive plays.”

When Williams watches Chism after the catch, he notices that there’s not a lot of wasted time. Chism just goes.

“Most of the time, it’s just him doing a quick move and breaking an arm tackle,” Williams said.

Running after the catch is something Chism said he’s emphasized in practice since high school, where he was coached by former Washington State receiver Michael Bumpus. Teammates get mad at him sometimes, Chism said, because he stiff-arms defenders in practice.

Yet in the flow of the game, Chism isn’t thinking all that much after he catches the ball. He’s practiced it so much, it has become instinctual to make defenders miss.

“I go black,” he said. “As soon as I catch the ball and I do something, it just kind of happens.”

There is a lot of season left, and the Eagles hope that the 11 remaining regular-season games will be followed by more in the postseason.

It means Chism should have plenty of opportunities to add to his stats.

Regardless of the numbers, though, Chism has his teammates’ respect.

“He’s super talented, but seeing the work ethic,” Williams said, “there’s no doubt why he’s so good.”