You have to control their run game.
That’s the line whenever Montana State’s formidable offense takes the field on Saturdays. This week, it’s also the line for their opponent.
Eastern Washington has been the top passing offense and one of the most prodigious offenses in the Big Sky Conference for years. But this past month, the Eagles – currently 1-3 in the BSC and 2-6 overall – have reignited a run game that head coach Aaron Best has put a priority on. And while EWU is nowhere near Montana State’s league-leading 313 rushing yards per game, the Eagles are grabbing the attention of opposing coaches.
“They’ve made a real concerted effort during the conference season to get the running game going,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “They’ve been pretty consistent.”
The Eagles are averaging 211.3 rushing yards per game in Big Sky play, including 215 yards on the road at Idaho last week. The Vandals came into the game having allowed over 144 yards just once all season. The Eagles were bottled up by UC Davis their previous game, but still managed to rush for three touchdowns. EWU gained 286 yards on the ground against Sacramento State and had 263 on Montana that worked out to 6.7 yards per carry in their first two league games.
“You look at the four conference opponents, they were all ranked,” Vigen said. “(EWU is) averaging 30 points, over 400 yards of offense. Rushing for just under 200 (197.0 in all games) at this time.”
That rushing isn’t just between the goal lines as the Eagles are second in league play in rushing touchdowns with 11 just one behind the league-leading Bobcats.
EWU has four backs with over 250 yards led by Tuna Alatair’s 501. Two quarterbacks (starter Kekoa Visperas and Jared Taylor) are in that group and they’ve combined for 620. And that run game helps the quarterbacks get out on the perimeter to attack defenses. It’s also aided in the huge senior season for wide receiver Efton Chism III. The versatile pass catcher has 76 catches for 864 yards and eight touchdowns.
The big question about the Eagles’ running attack isn’t that they have one but how it’s established. While some teams simply line up in run formations and dare you to stop them, the Eagles appear to use their passing game to set up the run. They also have RPO elements in the attack for Visperas while Taylor is a gun-run master. Michael Wortham, who is EWU’s starting kick returner and took a kick 107 yards for a score in EWU’s 38-28 loss at Idaho, also lines up at quarterback…when he’s not lining up in the backfield….or he’s not lining up in the slot.
“It’s a challenge because it’s not like they throw the other guys (Taylor and Michael Wortham) in and now they’re going to run the quarterback,” Vigen said. “They’ve been willing to run Visperas more and more as the season’s gone along, so they have that plus-1 element always there to be in the back of your mind.
“Their primary running back (Alatair) has over 500 yards right now so it’s not that it all has to be the quarterback. 700 yards comes from guys listed as quarterbacks and Wortham isn’t always in there as quarterback. You really have to be on your toes.”
They’ve got the weapons to do just that in Visperas and prolific wide receiver Efton Chism, Jr.
Visperas enters the game as the No. 1 quarterback in the Big Sky in terms of completion percentage at an eye-popping 74.1 percent. He’s also second in passing efficiency (158.8) and touchdown to interception ratio (13 to 1). Chism, Jr., meanwhile, leads the league in receptions with 76. His nearest competitor in the Big Sky for that title is Idaho State’s Jeff Weimer with 49. Chism, Jr. also leads the way in receiving yards and touchdown receptions.
MSU cornerback Simeon Woodard has had a lot of experience playing the Eagles. The Bobcats hosted them last season and traveled to Cheney in 2021 and 2022. MSU won all three games but know EWU poses a threat.
“We’re excited for it,” Woodard said. “We know they have a great group of receivers. (Chism) is a tremendous receiver. We want to go there to do our best to stop him and play our best. They have a great QB and a great offense.
“The red turf is cool. I think after you see it a few times, it becomes a regular field. We’re just going to go there and play football.”
The last time MSU visited Roos Field the game turned into a barn-burner. MSU had to come back from deficits twice to eke out the win after quarterback Tommy Mellott was knocked out of the game. Sean Chambers took over but threw a late interception in pursuit of the game-winning touchdown. He got a reprieve when the Bobcat’ defense got the ball right back with a fumble and this time Chambers ran it in for the go-ahead score. Linebacker Danny Uluilakepa finished off the Eagles with an interception at midfield.
“We definitely didn’t play our best game that day,” Woodard said. “A lot of mistakes and miscommunication, especially on the defensive side of the ball. It wasn’t pretty. But we got it done. If we get into a dog fight like that, we can come together and get the job done.”
Vigen was also there for those three games and knows all too well just how potent the EWU offense can be and what it takes to slow it down.
“If we’re going to disguise and change up our coverage we’re going to need to be dialed into where (Chism) is and what that might mean to the particular scheme or route they might run,” Vigen said. “But he’s going to catch balls. You can’t let him get behind you. When he does catch the ball you better tackle him and that’s not as easy as it sounds. He’s really good after the catch. We’ve seen it over the years when we’ve played against him. That big play piece is what you have to eliminate.”
If there’s a flaw in the EWU pass game, it’s that the ball doesn’t get spread around much. The next leading receiver for the Eagles has just 14 receptions, but two players – Miles Williams and Noah Cronquist – share that distinction. The Eagles have completed 175 passes with 76 going to Chism.
“We need (the MSU secondary) on both sides,” Vigen said. “We need them to support the run, we need them to have really good eyes, because there’s a fair amount of play-action involved in their downfield passing game. There’s such an excellent receiver (Chism) in that group.
“If we can limit the big play ability of the passing game, that’ll be the mark. (Visperas) is completing 74 percent of his passes, so they’re going to get their completions. There’s going to be balls that are thrown in front of our guys, and we need to tackle well. We’ve had a few extra days to practice against all that they’ve done that’s gotta show up on Saturday.”
The Bobcats haven’t faced an offense as multiple, or potent, as EWU’s since the first game of the season when it took on FBS New Mexico. The Lobos threw a trio of weapons at MSU in shifty quarterback Devon Dampier, running back Eli Sanders and wide receiver Luke Wysong. They put up a season-high 17 first half points on the MSU defense in helping build a 31-14 lead that it carried into the fourth quarter.
UNM averaged 6.0 yards per play against MSU, including an 18 for 26 performance by Dampier that included 176 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He also rushed for a score and had 34 yards on just three carries. Sanders had 17 carries for 87 yards and Wysong caught six passes for 95 yards.
The main contrast between Dampier and Visperas is that Dampier worked three receivers into the equation, while Visperas keys on Chism, Jr.. Dampier connected with Wysong, Trace Buckler and Ryan Davis for six, four and three completions, respectively. Those three accounted for 154 of Dampier’s passing yards.
Montana State held UNM to 324 yards but that had a lot to do with the fact that UNM didn’t run as many plays as it normally would thanks to returning two Tommy Mellott fumbles for TDs. MSU’s defense has been up to the challenge all year, however, and in its last game held Portland State, which came into the game averaging over 400 total yards per game, to just 235 yards with 146 of those coming in the fourth quarter against backup players after the Bobcats built a 41-0 lead.
The Eagles are a different animal, however, and they’re more similar to the multi-pronged attack that the Lobos presented problems for MSU with than the one-man show of Dante Chachere’s PSU club.
Wednesday on Nuanez Now on ESPN Montana, Aaron Best confirmed that Visperas could be a game-time decision but is expected to play. He suffered an ankle/leg injury against Idaho.
The Bobcats put their unblemished 8-0 (4-0 BSC) record on the line when they square off with the Eagles Saturday at 2:00 at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.
