‘We must clean that up’: Eastern Washington plagued by penalties in loss to Drake

Eastern Washington’s 35-32 overtime loss to Drake on Saturday was a drawn-out affair, to be sure, clocking in at 4 hours , 6 minutes.

It began with the hottest kickoff temperature for an Eastern Washington home game in program history at 95 degrees, and it ended with an emphatic thud when the Bulldogs, previously winless in three tries against Big Sky schools, scored a touchdown on a third-and-10 play from the EWU 14-yard line.

The entire game at Roos Field in Cheney was marred by penalties against both sides, slowing down the game and hindering drives.

In the latter respect, the Eagles were particularly derailed.

The penalties were so notable – 10 for 115 yards – that they were the first factor noted by EWU head coach Aaron Best when he spoke to the media after the game.

“We must clean that up, and those things hurt us,” Best said. “You don’t lose because of those, but you make it harder because of those by having longer fields.”

The 10 penalties were the program’s most since its game against Montana in 2021 when it had 11, and the 115 penalty yards were Eastern’s most since its 2019 game against Lindenwood when it was assessed 13 times for 140 yards.

There were also penalties that were flagged but not assessed, such as the illegal block in the back on a punt return in the first quarter. That offset a personal foul call against Drake on Efton Chism III’s 41-yard punt return that would have set up the Eagles with field position at the Drake 47-yard line.

On the re-kick, Chism returned the punt 12 yards to Eastern’s 35-yard line, but that was brought back to the 21-yard line by a penalty.

Chism’s next return – of 14 yards to the Eagles’ 46 – was also brought back, to the EWU 22, by a holding call.

“The penalties, especially in the special teams arena (hurt us),” Best said. “Instead of being at the 50, you’re at the 25.

“That’s two and a half first downs.”

The Eagles also had a 69-yard reception by Chism called back by a penalty for an illegal man downfield in the second quarter. At the time, the game was tied at 7, and had the catch counted, the Eagles would have had first-and-goal at the Drake 2-yard line. Instead, Landon Ogles punted two plays later, and Drake drove for a field goal.

The Bulldogs were assessed 11 penalties for 75 yards. They were called for an illegal substitution late in the fourth quarter on a punt return, extending an Eastern Washington drive with the score tied at 29, but it was rendered moot when, four plays later, Michael Wortham fumbled at the Drake 26-yard line.

Ground game excels, pass game lacks variety

Eastern Washington came out running, specifically by giving the ball to Tuna Altahir.

On the Eagles’ first drive alone, the redshirt junior Altahir carried six times for 52 yards, capping the 13-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. The rest of the game, Altahir carried six more times and finished with 94 yards.

Eastern played without redshirt junior quarterback Jared Taylor, and so the Eagles relied on Altahir, Wortham, starting quarterback Kekoa Visperas and redshirt junior running back Malik Dotson to carry the load. As a group, the Eagles ran 47 times – more than they did in any game last year – for 206 yards and three touchdowns.

Dotson finished with 43 yards on nine carries. Wortham scored twice and had 41 rushing yards. Visperas ran for 51 yards, though 17 of those were brought back by sacks.

“I thought we ran the ball effectively when we wanted to for the most part,” Best said.

In the passing game the Eagles were efficient from a completion percentage standpoint, as Visperas finished 22 of 29 for 180 yards. But like last week, the Eagles rarely threw downfield: Visperas was 1-for-4 on passes of more than 20 yards and 1-for-2 on the midrange throws from 10 to 19 yards.

One of those went to Chism for 35 yards on a play that was first ruled a touchdown but upon review was marked down at the 1-yard line (Wortham threw to a wide-open Chism on the next play for the score).

But that was one of just two plays of more than 20 yards the Eagles generated through the air.

“Outside of one play to Efton,” Best said, “explosive-wise, they kept everything in front.”

Part of that may have been due to the absence of senior Nolan Ulm, who played part of the first half but none of the second, and wasn’t targeted. Redshirt sophomore Miles Williams had three catches for 30 yards. The only other receiver to catch a pass was junior Noah Cronquist (one for 5 yards).

No turnovers for EWU defense, special teams

Through two games, the Eagles have forced just one turnover, and that came last week in the team’s 42-27 victory over Monmouth.

Against Drake, the Eagles hurried quarterback Luke Bailey seven times but never sacked him and never intercepted him, either.

The closest the Eagles came to a turnover was on the opening kickoff of the second half, when the referees first ruled Taj Hughes had fumbled the ball and Cage Schenck had recovered it for the Eagles. But upon review it was determined Hughes was ruled down before he fumbled.

Up next

Next week, Eastern Washington (1-1) will play Southeastern Louisiana, which dropped to 0-2 this season after a 35-10 loss Saturday to Southern Miss.

The Eagles beat the Lions last year 40-29 in Cheney.

The early forecast for the game on Saturday in Hammond, Louisiana, calls for a high of 86 degrees with humidity of 80%. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. Pacific, and the game will air on ESPN+.