The game held significant importance for Montana no matter what. Now both the Grizzlies and Eastern Washington face a crucial tilt on Saturday in Missoula, a contest with playoff implications and the ferocity of one of the Big Sky’s best rivalries.
Montana’s improbable 33-27 overtime win over Idaho State puts the Grizzlies in the playoff hunt with two weeks to play. Montana is 4-2 in Big Sky Conference play, a game behind 5-1 Eastern Washington and two games behind 6-0 Southern Utah. Montana is tied for third in the league standings with No. 15 Portland State (7-2 overall) and Northern Arizona (6-3) overall. Montana remains alive in the conference title hunt with Saturday’s matchup against No. 10 EWU in Missoula and a trip to Bozeman to play rival Montana State still on the horizon.
EWU finishes with UM and PSU while Southern Utah finishes at Portland State before playing NAU at home. NAU hosts Sacramento State before playing the rival Thunderbirds in Cedar City.
Montana defensive coordinator Ty Gregorack/by Brooks Nuanez
Montana holds the tie breaker over NAU thanks to a 23-14 win over the Lumberjacks in Missoula to begin conference play. Portland State holds the tiebreaker over Montana thanks to a 35-16 win over the Griz in Portland two weeks ago. Southern Utah and Montana do not play. SUU does not play EWU either.
The Eagles battled their way to six straight wins by an average margin of victory of 1.5 points thanks to a never say die attitude. Last Saturday, EWU ran out of magic as Northern Arizona forced four turnovers and constantly kept Eastern at bay with timely scores. The ‘Jacks also stopped the Eagles three times on fourth downs as NAU ended the Eagles’ 19-game regular-season home winning streak. It was just the sixth loss on Eastern Washington’s red turf since the surface was installed in 2010.
“This is a resilient bunch – these guys are going to be resilient, our coaches are going to be resilient and I’m going to be resilient. We’re going to come back fighting – we’re still 5-1 in the conference and in control of a lot of things,” Eastern Washington eighth-year head coach Beau Baldwin said following the NAU loss. “It still is a very hard place to be. We have to approach the Missoula game with that mindset.”
Leading up to the NAU loss, Eastern had earned six straight wins, each one in competitive battles. The Eagles finished their non-conference with a showdown against Big Sky rival Montana State. EWU burst out to a 28-7 first quarter lead thanks to two fourth down stops by the defense. The Eagles withstood 718 yards of total offense and nearly 200 rushing yards from MSU quarterback Dakota Prukop in the 55-50 win.
The win was Eastern’s first of the season and sparked a hot streak of close victories. EWU opened Big Sky play by rallying from a 20-7 halftime deficit to beat Sacramento State 28-20. The following week, the Eastern defense came up with a stop on a game-tying two-point conversion attempt in overtime to emerge with a 42-41 win over Cal Poly.
The Eagles handled Idaho State with relative ease in a 45-28 win before Northern Colorado again took EWU down to the wire. The Bears scored a touchdown with 1:23 to play to fake a 41-40 lead but EWU drove the length of the field to set up Jordan Dascalo’s game-winning field goal attempt from 44 yards away as time expired to boost the Eagles to a 43-41 win.
Montana cornerback Nate Harris/by Brooks Nuanez
On Halloween, Eastern battled through the elements and made two Cooper Kupp touchdown catches stand up for the final 22 minutes of play to earn a 14-13 win over Weber State. Last week, it all came crashing down as the Eagles defense allowed its most points to an FCS opponent this season.
“We have to come back and respond,” Baldwin said. “We all are used to a lot of wins in a row and a lot of other stuff, so it becomes that shock feeling. But I’ve known for a while that with this year’s team we are going to be in a lot of tough games. If we’re a little off and a little sloppy, and another team is executing better, no matter who it is in this conference you can’t always overcome some of that. We’ve been able to overcome some things and today we weren’t able to.”
Montana and Eastern Washington have played six times this decade, including twice last season. Montana’s 17-14 win over EWU in 2011 was the last time the Grizzlies defeated Eastern. Last season, EWU beat Montana 36-26 in Cheney in the regular season before defeating UM 37-20 in the second round of the FCS playoffs.
In eight previous matchups with Montana, Baldwin is 5-3 overall but has just one win (during 2010’s national championship run) in Missoula in three previous trips.
QUICK HITS
Location: Cheney, Washington
Nickname: Eagles
Founded: 1882. Eastern Washington is a public university which is academically divided into four colleges: Arts and Letters; Business and Public Administration; Science, Health and Engineering; and Social & Behavioral Sciences and Social Work.
Enrollment: The school has 13,453 total students and a $52.2 million endowment.
Stadium: Roos Field holds 8,700 fans. Complete with its trademark red turf, the stadium is named after Michael Roos, an All-Big Sky offensive lineman who is currently a Pro Bowl offensive lineman for the Tennessee Titans. EWU averaged 9,809 fans in four home games this fall.
THE TEAM (5-1 in Big Sky, 6-3 overall in 2015)
The Coach: Beau Baldwin, eighth season at Eastern Washington. Baldwin has established himself as one of the top young coaches in America. The 44-year-old led EWU to a fourth Big Sky crown in five seasons last fall. As his eighth season comes to nears its completion, Baldwin has posted a 50-12 Big Sky record , including just seven losses in the last six years. Baldwin is 73-28 in his time at EWU, including a 13-2 mark in 2010 en route to the FCS National Championship.
WHAT TO WATCH — THE OFFENSE
Cooper Kupp, wide receiver, 6-2, 200, junior — Kupp put forth a rookie season seemingly impossible to top. The 2013 Jerry Rice Award winner (FCS top freshman) caught 93 passes for 1,691 yards and 21 touchdowns two years ago.
Last season, the two-time consensus All-America somehow topped the production. Despite starting quarterback Vernon Adams, now of the Oregon Ducks, missing four games with a foot injury, Kupp notched 104 catches, the second triple-digit catch season in Big Sky history. He finished with 1,431 yards and 16 touchdowns.
This season, he continues to out due himself. He enters Saturday’s game with 100 catches for 1,388 yards and 18 touchdown catches. He already has broken the Big Sky career records for catches (298), yards (4,510) and touchdowns (55). He needs three more touchdowns to tie David Ball for the all-time FCS record. He needs 97 more catches and 740 more yards to surpass former Elon star Terrell Hudgins’ records. With four more catches and 184 more yards, Kupp will surpass Jerry Rice on the all-time career list for the FCS.
Jordan West, quarterback, 6-4, 225, junior — West felt the weight of the world on his shoulders entering the season. Many wondered how EWU would move on without Adams, the two-time reigning Big Sky Offensive MVP who moved on to Oregon during the off-season. West responded by throwing for more than 300 yards in five of his first eight starts, including for more than 400 yards four times.
The last two weeks, West has combined to throw for 365 yards and last week, redshirt freshman Reilly Hennessey had a chance to play enough to throw 13 passes.
Still, West leads the Big Sky with 2,863 passing yards and 30 passing touchdowns. Aside from Kupp, his favorite target has been junior Kendrick Bourne. Bourne has 63 catches for 872 yards and seven touchdowns this season.
Aaron Neary, offensive guard, 6-4, 300, senior — Neary is the leader of an offensive line that is one of the Big Sky’s most veteran and has eased in West’s transition.
Neary was first-team All-Big Sky selection and a second-team All-America as a junior. Senior left tackle DeBord (6-6, 305) was an honorable mention All-Big Sky selection last season after earning second-team honors as a sophomore. Three other seniors have been in and out of the lineup for a unit ravaged by injuries thus far.
THE DEFENSE
Samson Ebukam, defensive end, 6-3, 245, junior — In his breakout sophomore season, Ebukam looked like the second coming of Jerry Ceja, the former standout EWU speed rusher. In his first year as a starter, Ebukam moved up and down the line and earned second-team All-Big Sky honors. He finished fifth in the Big Sky with 7.5 sacks and sixth with 12.5 tackles for loss.
This season, Ebukam has 35 tackles, including 6.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
Miquiya Zamora, linebacker, 6-1, 220, junior — The former prep safety burst onto the scene in his first year as a starter last season. The Pasco, Washington native earned the starting spot at weak-side linebacker as a sophomore and thrived flanking Hamlin. In 2014, Zamora piled up 102 tackles (second on the team), four tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. He broke up three passes, intercepted a fourth and forced two fumbles.
This season, the captain leads Eastern with 84 tackles, including four tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
Jake Gall, linebacker, 6-1, 215, sophomore — Gall has burst onto the scene in his first year as a starter.
The high-energy linebacker from tiny Cle Elum, Washington had his best game against NAU, notching 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. This season, he has 63 total tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss, each second on EWU>
Alek Kacmarcik, linebacker, 6-1, 205, freshman — Kacmarcik was one of the top 15 prospects in the state of Washington as a senior at Woodinville High. He has continued that success at Eastern.
As a redshirt, he was the Eagles’ Scout Team Player of the Year. The former Oregon NIKE football camp MVP has proven his worth so far, notching 46 tackles including a pair of sacks against Northern Iowa and 4.5 tackles for loss overall.
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. Head Shots courtesy of Eastern Washington Athletics. All Rights Reserved.
