#1 EWU @ USD Discussion & Game Thread

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Saturday, Sept. 10 • 2 p.m. Pacific

#1 Eastern Washington Eagles 0-1 (0-0) @ South Dakota Coyotes 0-1 (0-0)

DakotaDome (10,000) • Vermillion, S.D.

Series: Never played.
TV: Televised regionally by the Midco Sports Network
Radio: http://www.espnnorthwest.com/listen-live/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

One big play short of being 1-0, the Eagles play fellow 0-1 NCAA Football Championship Subdivision foe South Dakota this Saturday at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, N.D. Kickoff is 2 p.m. Pacific time in a game televised regionally on the Midco Sports Network.

Eastern out-gained Washington 504-250 in total offense, but lost the turnover battle 4-0 and narrowly lost to the Huskies 30-27 last Saturday (Sept. 3) in front of 58,088 fans at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Wash. The Eagles had a chance to win the game, but Washington’s Desmond Trufant – the younger brother of former Eagle Isaiah Trufant – intercepted a pass in the end zone with 29 seconds left to ruin Eastern’s upset bid. The loss spoiled a remarkable performance by senior quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, who had the second-most passing yards in school history with 473.

“We are 0-1 and we’ve got to just dig back,” said Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin, whose team retained the No. 1 ranking in The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top 25 poll despite the loss. “We don’t like the taste of being 0-1, but we’re going to find a way to fight and do the things we need to do in practice to come back. We need to do everything we can to get a win against South Dakota.”

“We have to clean up some things -- we obviously made some mistakes in spots where they were able to score on short fields,” explained Baldwin of his team’s performance last week, including two turnovers by EWU’s punt return unit. “So those are the areas we need to come back and clean-up, but you know it’s just tough to be that close and lose. It’s tough when you’re in that spot and you have a shot to win at the end. But at the same time, I’m extremely pleased with the fight of our squad.”

Eastern returns 15 starters from last year’s team that finished with a school-record 13 wins and just two losses. Twelve Eagle players garnered preseason honors, including seven who received All-America honors at the NCAA FCS level. Those players include quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, wide receiver Brandon Kaufman, center Chris Powers and tackle Gabriel Jackson on offense, and safety Matt Johnson, linebacker Zach Johnson and tackle Renard Williams on defense.

[Gil Dobie]

EWU by at least 30

[EWURanger]

EWU by at least 30

Hope you're right. I don't know much about USD other than their record last season and the fact that they had a decent showing against Air Force last Saturday. It appears they have a very mobile QB who can hurt you with his legs. That said, I'm not sure if he will be better than the QB we faced last weekend who is very similar in that regard. I think with us coming into their home turf they will be a tough match up and I expect a good battle from them.

My biggest concern with this game is that it is in between the UW and Montana games, which are both marquee games for us this season. I don't want USD to be an afterthought. I want us to go there focused, because this seems like a trap game. We absolutely cannot afford going into Missoula 0-2 so I think Coach B will have the team focused on the task at hand. I also hate playing in domes, as we usually have somewhat mixed results in them (see UNI).

I expect our offense to be a little more balanced this week with a lot fewer passing attempts. We need to prove we can run the ball as well as throw it all over the field so I expect Brown and Bronson to get plenty of carries.

[TheHerd]

The Yotes QB is pretty good and can hurt ya if he gets on a role, but I don't see you guys having any problems with them. My prediction: Eagles 31 Yotes 10.

[Grizalltheway]

National Spotlight Game.

[grizzaholic]

National Spotlight Game.

WTAG..South Dakota, not THE NDSU Bison Conglomerate.

[Grizalltheway]

National Spotlight Game.

WTAG..South Dakota, not THE NDSU Bison Conglomerate.

They're still a charter member of the *Dakota Big 3*

Shit, we'd better stop before Gil starts menstrating.

[grizzaholic]

WTAG..South Dakota, not THE NDSU Bison Conglomerate.

They're still a charter member of the *Dakota Big 3*

Shit, we'd better stop before Gil starts menstrating.

Or the two who shall not be named come in to destroy this thread...then we will have SE trolling our posts.

[AZGrizFan]

My biggest concern with this game is that it is in between the UW and Montana games, which are both marquee games for us this season. I don't want USD to be an afterthought. I want us to go there focused, because this seems like a trap game. We absolutely cannot afford going into Missoula 0-2 so I think Coach B will have the team focused on the task at hand. I also hate playing in domes, as we usually have somewhat mixed results in them (see UNI).

I expect our offense to be a little more balanced this week with a lot fewer passing attempts. We need to prove we can run the ball as well as throw it all over the field so I expect Brown and Bronson to get plenty of carries.

a) This game (much like the Washington game) doesn't mean shit. You're 0-0 in conference even if you lose this game.
b) Yeah, running the ball. 504 yards of offense and 473 of that is passing?

[LDopaPDX]

It will be hard for Eastern not to have some sort of drop in intensity this weekend. Going from Seattle to Vermillion will do that to you, let alone coming off a close, narrow loss in a program-defining game.

If Eastern comes out all cylinders firing, this game will be padded by a big margin quickly. We'll find out this week if Eastern has improved in the "taking care of business" end in which they were so weak last season.

[Gil Dobie]

EWU by at least 30

Hope you're right. I don't know much about USD other than their record last season and the fact that they had a decent showing against Air Force last Saturday. It appears they have a very mobile QB who can hurt you with his legs. That said, I'm not sure if he will be better than the QB we faced last weekend who is very similar in that regard. I think with us coming into their home turf they will be a tough match up and I expect a good battle from them.

I'm somewhat basing it on last years NDSU/USD and EWU/NDSU games, combined with the great game EWU played against Washington last week. It evolved into the opinion that EWU is that much better than USD.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

My biggest concern with this game is that it is in between the UW and Montana games, which are both marquee games for us this season. I don't want USD to be an afterthought. I want us to go there focused, because this seems like a trap game. We absolutely cannot afford going into Missoula 0-2 so I think Coach B will have the team focused on the task at hand. I also hate playing in domes, as we usually have somewhat mixed results in them (see UNI).

I expect our offense to be a little more balanced this week with a lot fewer passing attempts. We need to prove we can run the ball as well as throw it all over the field so I expect Brown and Bronson to get plenty of carries.

a) This game (much like the Washington game) doesn't mean shit. You're 0-0 in conference even if you lose this game.
b) Yeah, running the ball. 504 yards of offense and 473 of that is passing?

This game does mean shit. It's a spotlight game. And an intradivisional matchup game against a team with great tradition. A counter, if you will. Win, and we only need 6 more out of 9. Griz on the other hand, if they manage to pull off a win against CP... will need to win 6 of their last 8. Ouch.

[SouthDakotaGrizzly]

Even though I live in South Dakota, I don't know shit about USD. Didn't even know they changed their helmet decal this year until I saw the image on this thread. The Yotes did play Air Force surprisingly close last weekend, but that doesn't really mean much. Unless EWU has a big letdown after nearly knocking off UW last weekend, they should win this easily. But keep in mind, USD did beat Minnesota last year.

[Thumper 76]

Please crush them. Pretty please?

[AZGrizFan]

a) This game (much like the Washington game) doesn't mean shit. You're 0-0 in conference even if you lose this game.
b) Yeah, running the ball. 504 yards of offense and 473 of that is passing?

This game does mean shit. It's a spotlight game. And an intradivisional matchup game against a team with great tradition. A counter, if you will. Win, and we only need 6 more out of 9. Griz on the other hand, if they manage to pull off a win against CP... will need to win 6 of their last 8. Ouch.

Classic stuff.

[Hambone]

Even though I live in South Dakota, I don't know **** about USD. Didn't even know they changed their helmet decal this year until I saw the image on this thread. The Yotes did play Air Force surprisingly close last weekend, but that doesn't really mean much. Unless EWU has a big letdown after nearly knocking off UW last weekend, they should win this easily. But keep in mind, USD did beat Minnesota last year.

I'm not sure how closely they played AF last weekend, as it was 30-7 at halftime and 37-7 (I think) at the end of three, so there may have been some garbage points. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, as I don't know any other stats up to that point.

As for this game, I think that EWU will build an early lead and take a couple TD victory. USD does play pretty tough at home for the most part, though, so they might stay in it up until the end.

[Wildcat Ryan]

Even though I live in South Dakota, I don't know **** about USD. Didn't even know they changed their helmet decal this year until I saw the image on this thread. The Yotes did play Air Force surprisingly close last weekend, but that doesn't really mean much. Unless EWU has a big letdown after nearly knocking off UW last weekend, they should win this easily. But keep in mind, USD did beat Minnesota last year.

I'm not sure how closely they played AF last weekend, as it was 30-7 at halftime and 37-7 (I think) at the end of three, so there may have been some garbage points. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, as I don't know any other stats up to that point.

As for this game, I think that EWU will build an early lead and take a couple TD victory. USD does play pretty tough at home for the most part, though, so they might stay in it up until the end.

I watched the game on the Mtn, it wasnt as close as the score indicated. Now who is better between Air Force and Washington is another good question.

[SouthDakotaGrizzly]

I'm not sure how closely they played AF last weekend, as it was 30-7 at halftime and 37-7 (I think) at the end of three, so there may have been some garbage points. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, as I don't know any other stats up to that point.

As for this game, I think that EWU will build an early lead and take a couple TD victory. USD does play pretty tough at home for the most part, though, so they might stay in it up until the end.

I watched the game on the Mtn, it wasnt as close as the score indicated. Now who is better between Air Force and Washington is another good question.

Like I said, I don't know shit about USD. I saw the score in the paper and, expecting to see something along the lines of 56-7, was surprised that it was within 3 TDs. I would expect EWU to win big, but at the same time wouldn't be totally shocked if USD made it closer than most expect, mostly due to EWU possibly having a letdown after the UW near-win.

[kalm]

There's enough senior leadership on both sides of the ball that any let down would be very surprising. I think we go in pissed and take care of business handily.

[Bronco]

I'm just happy the rockets have a long trip before they visit loud cold Wash Griz stadium.
They looked great against Washington last week...I was very impressed

[JBB]

Just in:

Both teams had FBS competition last week. Both teams in the aggregate looked good. USD had 368 yds and EWU an impressive 504. Its even more impressive when you consider the Eagles only had 31 yds rushing!

On the defensive side the EWU defense looks impressive. They allowed a modest 102 yds last week passing and a respectable 148 yds rushing. Good balanced defense and an offense that can really pass.

USD on the other hand allowed 487 yds last week. The impressive think about that is only 96 yds were from passing. A stout passing defense is going to meet a prolific passing offense. That leaves the South Dakota running game.

In this game a balanced attack is favored. With all the eggs in the passing basket and with USD fielding a respectable passing defense and a solid running game we might see the defending national champs stuck in the prairie mud so-to-speak.

Interesting the Eagles should travel out here. No doubt a plumb that was promised USD if they joined the Big Sky. Now that they are part of the Big Dakota 3 its really a feather in the cap for the Eagles. A big break playing in the Dakotas against 1 of the Big 3 over a home game against a transitioning USD team.

Im picking USD in this one. They will run their way to justice and shut down the Eagles passing attack just enough.

[Gil Dobie]

Just in:

Both teams had FBS competition last week. Both teams in the aggregate looked good. USD had 368 yds and EWU an impressive 504. Its even more impressive when you consider the Eagles only had 31 yds rushing!

On the defensive side the EWU defense looks impressive. They allowed a modest 102 yds last week passing and a respectable 148 yds rushing. Good balanced defense and an offense that can really pass.

USD on the other hand allowed 487 yds last week. The impressive think about that is on 96 yds were from passing. A stout passing defense is going to meet a prolific passing offense. That leaves the South Dakota running game.

In this game a balanced attack is favored. With all the eggs in the passing basket and with USD fielding a respectable passing defense and a solid running game we might see the defending national champs stuck in the prairie mud so-to-speak.

Interesting the Eagles should travel out here. No doubt a plumb that was promised USD if they joined the Big Sky. Now that they are part of the Big Dakota 3 its really a feather in the cap for the Eagles. A big break playing in the Dakotas against 1 of the Big 3 over a home game against a transitioning USD team.

Im picking USD in this one. They will run their way to justice and shut down the Eagles passing attack just enough.

Air Force is primarily a running team. 61 rushing attempts and 9 passing attempts. It's hard to judge a pass defense on those stats. Hopefully USD give them a game, but EWU is tough.

[JBB]

Thats a good point Gil. I dont know their style of play. I didnt see the 9 rushing attempts either. Thats not many tries. EWU used 17 tries to get 31 yds.

My point: EWU didnt show much of a rushing game. Slowing down the passing game could give the edge to USD, especially since they averaged 4.2 yds/carry over 44 carries. EWU allowed 3.9 yds/carry.

Air Force was successful rushing against the Yotes and that was the difference in that game.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

There's enough senior leadership on both sides of the ball that any let down would be very surprising. I think we go in pissed and take care of business handily.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

I'm just happy the rockets have a long trip before they visit loud cold Wash Griz stadium.
They looked great against Washington last week...I was very impressed

WGS won't be very cold when we visit. After we win, it won't be very loud either.