Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 9-2 (7-1 OVC) @ #5 Eastern Washington Eagles 9-2 (7-1 BSC)
Saturday, December 4 • 1:05 p.m. Pacific
Roos Field (8,600/Sprinturf) • Cheney, Wash.
Radio:
EWU: http://www.espnnorthwest.com/patchin-wingmen/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
SEMO: http://www.k103fm.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1127" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Webcast: http://www.ncaa.com/allaccess/?media=213861" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Series History: EWU and SEMO have never met.
Weather Forecast: High of 29°F, Mostly Cloudy. 20% chance of precipitation.
Fan Forums:
EWU: http://www.bigskyfans.com/eagles/
SEMO: http://www.semofans.com/forum/
Regardless of the debate over rankings and seedings, the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision determines its national championship the right way -- with a playoff.
Eastern Washington University’s quest for a long playoff run begins this week when the No. 1 ranked and fifth-seeded Eagles host Southeast Missouri on Dec. 4 at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash., at 1:05 p.m. Pacific time. Eastern will be making its eighth FCS Playoff appearance while the Redhawks are making their first. It will be the first meeting between the two schools.
“We’re the fifth seed -- so we’re not the No. 1 team in the country,” explained Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin. “That’s where we stand and we have a little chip on our shoulder because there are still four teams ahead of us. Don’t get me wrong -- we’re excited about it and it’s an honor for our team to be ranked first in the country. But at this level it’s all about seeding and finding a champion through a true tournament rather than the polls.”
The game will not be televised locally, but will be available via webcast at http://www.ncaa.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. The radio broadcast of the game, featuring play-by-play announcer Larry Weir, may be heard on 700-AM ESPN "The Ticket" and via the web at http://www.espnnorthwest.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
Following a 9-2 finish in the regular season and co-championship in the Big Sky Conference with a 7-1 mark, the Eagles were rewarded with a No. 1 ranking in The Sports Network/Fathead.com Top 25 NCAA Football Championship Subdivision poll. An hour after that poll was released, the FCS selection committee gave Eastern a No. 5 seed and a first-round bye.
Southeast Missouri, featuring 5-foot-8, 185-pound running back Henry Harris, was ranked ninth in the final regular season Sports Network poll. The Redhawks were only 2-9 a year ago, but finished the regular season 9-2 after winning the Ohio Valley Conference title with a 7-1 record. The school, located in Cape Girardeau, Mo., lost its season opener 27-10 to Ball State and its final game 29-27 to eighth-ranked Jacksonville State on Nov. 13.
“They really grind it in terms of how they run the football,” said Baldwin of the third-best rushing offense in FCS (271.1 yards per game). “They don’t turn it over and they find ways to force turnovers. They haven’t given up more than 29 points in any game and in close games they find ways to be on top at the end. They have a workmanlike attitude to their approach and style of play. They aren’t going to do anything to beat themselves, they stay patient and they find a way to be the better team in the fourth quarter and win.”
This week’s game will be a stellar match-up between a pair of Walter Payton Award candidates -- Harris and EWU junior Taiwan Jones. Harris leads FCS in all-purpose yards (219.8 per game), and the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Jones is right behind (195.1 per game). Harris is second nationally in rushing (147.9) and has 18 total touchdowns; Jones is fourth in rushing (134.4) and has 14 total TDs.
A major difference in the two backs are the amount of touches -- Harris averages 25.9 rushes per game and 5.7 yards per carry, and Jones averages 17.6 carries and 7.6 per carry. Including receiving and returns, Harris has touched the ball 328 times (7.4 per play) and Jones has had the ball in his hands on 213 occasions (9.2 per play).
“He’s a very good running back -- he’s not huge but he runs tough and he gets a lot of carries,” said Baldwin of Harris. “He can carry the load and he’s also able to break a big one on you. He’s the whole package. He runs with a lot of physicality for a smaller back.”
Yeah, Cape Girardeau is less than a hour from here.
