CHENEY, Washington — Steve Campbell, like many other coaches around the Football Championship Subdivision, is still trying to figure out the mystery of the Eastern Washington Eagles.
For the first quarter and a half here on December 3, Central Arkansas ran the ball with authority, gashing Eastern Washington for 100 yards on 19 rushes and building a 14-0 lead. But the second-seeded Eagles adjusted defensively, overcame a series of miscues offensively, seized the momentum and sprinted to a 31-14 win to advance to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs.
Campbell, UCA’s third-year head coach, came into the contest well aware of EWU’s ability to finish. The Eagles entered the game with a 10-1 record despite trailing at halftime in six of those contests.
Eastern Washington’s defense buckled down against Central Arkansas in the second half/ by Randy Cahalan, for Skyline Sports
“Those guys have been there before,” Campbell said. “Eastern has dug themselves into a hole before and have always managed to fight themselves out of it. They were able to do that again today.”
Eastern Washington fell behind early partially due to two failed fourth-down tries deep in UCA territory and partially because of a misalignment in its run fits, sophomore outside linebacker Ketner Kupp said after the win. Still, after averaging more than five yards per rush early, the Bears couldn’t move the ball in any fashion. UCA managed just 29 yards on 14 carries after its second touchdown drive and the visitors had just four first downs after halftime.
“We were running the ball effectively early. I don’t understand it and I’m sure they wish they knew why people can run the football on them early and then they rev it up a couple of notches and are able tighten the hatches as the game went on,” Campbell said.
While Eastern’s ability to finish may seem like an intangible quality, the Eagles themselves have a solid understanding of why the trend has carried them to 11 wins in 12 outings this fall. Last season, EWU lost three straight down the stretch to miss the playoffs for just the second time this decade. That result inspired All-American wide receiver Cooper Kupp (Ketner older brother) to return for his senior year instead of heading to the NFL. It also galvanized the rest of the team to rededicate themselves in the off-season to ensure a similar result did not repeat itself.
“It’s what we did in the off-season, how hard we worked,” said Ketner Kupp, who led EWU with 11 tackles while starting in place of injured senior standout inside linebacker Miquiyah Zamora. “We set ourselves apart in that way. And trusting each other, I know the guy next to me is going to do his job and I’m going to do mine.”
Now Eastern is into the FCS Elite Eight for the fifth time under head coach Beau Baldwin. The Eagles are gunning for a fourth trip to the semifinals in Baldwin’s tenure with Richmond coming to Cheney, Washington on Saturday afternoon. The second-seeded Eagles will host the winner of Youngstown State and Wofford in the semifinals if they can get past the Spiders.
EWU senior Kendrick Bourne had 13 catches last week/ by Randy Cahalan, for Skyline Sports
On Saturday, the Eagles gave up a season-low 244 yards of total offense. Central Arkansas threw for just 115 yards despite EWU’s defense missing Zamora, a first-team All-Big Sky selection, along with losing starting strong side linebacker Alex Kacmarcik early in the game. Kupp, a true sophomore, equaled his tackle total for the entire season against UCA. True freshman Andrew Katzenberger found himself in the game because of the injuries to Zamora, Kacmarcik and sophomore Kurt Calhoun.
“You can’t just replace certain players. To see Ketner and Katzenberger step up like they did, that’s huge,” Baldwin said. “And our guys believe it. We don’t say next man up and have it not mean it. Our guys live it – we all just know Ketner and Katzenberger are going to be just fine.”
Offensively, Eastern Washington took exactly what Central Arkansas gave the Eagles’ attack: underneath passing routes in an effort to eliminate big plays. Because of it, EWU quarterback Gage Gubrud set a school record by completing 47 passes in 64 attempts for 449 yards and two touchdowns. The accurate performance helped EWU notch 33 first downs and possess the ball for 38:52 despite averaging just 2.2 yards per rush. It helped the defense fresh.
“As an offense, we trust our defense,” said Gubrud, the Big Sky Conference co-Offensive Player of the Year with senior teammate Cooper Kupp. “It makes it so much easier as an offense to know that if we don’t score, we are fine because they can get a stop. That’s how we’ve felt all year. It might not have gotten to the media and the people outside the program but we knew the whole year that our defense is stellar.”
EWU head coach Beau Baldwin, right/ by Randy Cahalan, for Skyline Sports
EWU scored 21 unanswered points aided by a forced fumble on a Central Arkansas kick return and a fake field goal to extend a long drive. Gubrud ran in EWU’s first score, then threw two touchdown passes to Cooper Kupp to give Eastern a 21-14 lead heading into halftime. After halftime, the defense pitched a shutout and senior wide receiver Shaq Hill stamped the win with his first rushing touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter.
“It’s the same I said for the last 11 halftimes, ‘I do not care what the score says right now,” Baldwin said when asked about his halftime speech. “I said that when we’ve been up at half, or we’ve been down at half. We are going to make the proper adjustments, and more importantly, we’re going to be mentally and physically better than our opponents.
“And what we’ve done for the last 11 months is going to put us in that position to be that way. It doesn’t happen just by saying it – they have to have done it. Our guys were willing to work so hard in the offseason, and it’s led them to these kind of second halves. It’s a mental and physical toughness where we’re playing with more stuff in minutes 40, 45, 50, 55, than our opponent. And it’s been that way all year with this group.”
Baldwin is the last head coach to lead a team to an FCS national title other than Craig Bohl and Chris Klieman, both at North Dakota State. EWU’s 2010 title is the last trophy that didn’t come to Fargo; the Bison have captured the last five national crowns.
As Baldwin’s name continues to pick up momentum around the country for bigger and more lucrative jobs — the Reno Gazette-Journal and the Spokesman Review in Spokane both reported Baldwin interviewed at Nevada earlier this week — Eastern Washington’s head man is enjoying the ride with the team he helped build into one of the powers in the FCS.
“That’s the only way you can truly be a championship type of team, to be together,” Baldwin said. “You can’t be separated. You have to compete against each other, don’t get me wrong. It’s like family, the true definition of family where you battle, fight and compete. But you have to have trust. And it’s earned over time. It’s not something you can put on the wall or on a shirt and just think now we are a family. You have to do it day by day and these guys do that.”
