game day - eastern washington

8/8/2019 Game Day - Eastern Washington

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GETTING FASTER?

EWUs Jonesaveraging a rst

down per touch2

NO. 9 EASTERN WASHINGTON AT NO. 17 MONTANA STATE, 1:05 P.M. BOBCAT STADIUM BIG SKY OPENER

SATURDAY, SEPT. 25

VS. E. WASHINGTONGAMEDAY

FULL PAPER

INSIDE

INSIDE

5B BATTLE

Manhattan-Three

orks open district play

AGE B1

3POINT MARGINThe ChroniclesWill Holden handicaps

todays matchup

NEW TURF?

Columnist says, try

a new wrinkle to endlosing streak 2

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KICKING AT

FULL TREN TH

Montana State kicker Jason Cunningham holds for defensive lineman Zach Minter at Bobcat Stadium on Thursday. Because Cunningham

was sick in bed, Minter kicked for MSU the last time the Bobcats played Eastern Washington. The teams meet again today in Bozeman.

Bdridden, sweating andauseous, Jason Cunning-

ham stared at a McDonaldsommercial and felt like

he was about to lose thelittle bit he had managed to

hoke down for lunch.When the commercials ceased and

is feature presentation started, itwas even tougher to hold down thosesaltines and water.

Athletic as he may be, the sight ofZach Minter, a 6-foot-1, 270-pound

efensive tackle, toe-punching a kick-ff will do that to a kicker.I almost puked, Cunningham said.In 131 years of football, a kickeray have never seemed more impor-

tant than five defensive starters. Butsuch was the case when Montana Statefell 35-24 to Eastern Washington in

heney, Wash., last year.As a patchwork Bobcat defenseanaged to hold the high-powered

Eastern Washington offense in check,t was obvious that being forced to go

for it on fourth-and-one, fourth-and-

four (twice), fourth-and-six, fourth-and-10 (twice) and fourth-and-goalfrom the four made the Bobcats,

healthy and flu-stricken alike, feelqueasy. As if missing almost half oftheir defense wasnt sickening enough.

To this day MSU head coach RobAsh says there is no doubt in his mindthat his team, up 10 with 14 minutesto play against a team they hadntbeaten in six years, would have wonhad Cunningham been along for theride. Instead, they were taken for aride in the fourth quarter by TaiwanJones.

unningham and his bedsidebucket havent forgotten.

There were so many chances whenwe got into the red zone, Cunning-ham said. Im not saying I would

have made all those kicks, but I wouldhave given myself a pretty goodchance.

Vegas likely would have as well.Last week Cunningham was

5-of-5 on field goals, one of whichwas from 55 yards, and also notchedseven touchbacks on kickoffs. For hisefforts, he was named the nationalspecial teams player of the week by

The Sporting News.It was fun, Cunningham said ofthe day, which included a 48-21 winover Drake. Mostly I would say thatId like to thank my coaches for givingme a chance to hit all those kicks.

Speaking of chances to kick, theywere doled out at the 2009 contestin Cheney. But after true freshmanbackup punter Mackey Nolan, whohad never even kicked in a highschool game, did his best CharlieBrown impression on the first point-after attempt of the day, the Bobcatsdecision was made for them.

More KICKING I 5

ack at normal positions,

Cunningham, Minter

ready for revenge

TORY BY WILL C. HOLDEN I P H T OG RA PH Y BY NICK WOLCOTT I O F T HE C H RO NI C LE


2/6

By WILL C. HOLDENChronicle Sports Writer

Last year when RobinPflugrad was an assistant coach,Taiwan Jones was fast. This year,Pflugrad is a head coach. AndJones is still fast.

He might even be faster.Pflugrad would know. Jones

ran right by him last Saturday.See that little white speck

flash by on the screen around

the Eastern Washington 30-yardline as Jones, seemingly hotterthan the lava-red turf on whichhe was high-stepping, made hisway past Montanas entire de-fense for a 72-yard touchdownin the second quarter?

Yup, thats the Grizzlies newhead coach.

Considering that run playeda big part in his team losing asecond straight regular seasongame for the first time since2002, one can only imaginePflugrad is happy Jones wasmoving too fast for KPAXs newhigh definition cameras to pick

up any facial expressions.But what was Pflugrad think-ing? That hell divulge.

I saw it up close and person-al, Pflugrad said on this weeksBig Sky Conference teleconfer-ence. It was amazing how fasthe ran by me. You didnt evenhave time to say, hello.

Montana State Univer-sity head coach Rob Ash haswatched the tape from that36-27 EWU win. And no, Ashdidnt chuckle as the Grizzliestrotted back on the field for onelast play thanks to an unsports-manlike penalty on Eagles fansfor prematurely pouring ontotheir new turf.

Considering he had eightweeks before he has to startthinking about Montana and

just three days before going toe-to-toe with Jones & Co., Ash wasmore taken by that 72-yard run.

And he agreed with a Grizzly.

Its just a treat to watch Tai-wan on film, Ash said Wednes-day. I think hes a much betterrunning back and football playerthis year than he was last year.

As for Jones own head coach,he seconded all the talk.

Hes got a year of experienceunder his belt, hes had anotheryear in the weight room, EWUsBeau Bald-win said.For mostof last yearTaiwan hadinjuries hewas fight-ing. Hesnot fight-ing themanymore.

The numbers illustrate theimprovement. Jones gained8.8 yards an offensive touch aseason ago. In roughly the timeit took for the national media tosay, That cant be right, Joneshas improved that stat to 10.8yards a touch.

Thats right. If Jones fails topick up a first down every timehe touches the ball thats belowaverage.

Its gotta make it tough not togive it to him on every down,right Beau?

Yeah it is, Baldwin said. Butat the same time you want otherguys stepping up. Because if werely on Taiwan too much, it can

cause other players to regress alittle bit. We have to have otherguys that can make plays, too.

One ofthose otherguys is BoLevi Mitch-ell, whohas madeEWUstransi-tion fromformer

EWU All-American quarterbackMatt Nichols a little less painfulthanks to two years of FootballBowl Subdivision experiencewith head coach June Jones atSouthern Methodist.

While Baldwin said Mitchellstill needs to gain experience inthe Eagles system, his progresshas been aided by a stable ofwide receivers that has also re-plenished itself in the post-Aar-on Boyce and Tony Davis era.

The group includes the6-foot-5 Brandon Kauff-man, who raised a few Griz-zly eyebrows last week, as hecaught five passes for 114 yards,including a 32-yard touchdownpass that helped the Eagles creep

back into the game after fallingbehind 14-0 early.And after expending all that

energy in beating the Grizzliesin Cheney, Wash., for the firsttime since 1991 and watch-ing the record 11,702 euphoricEagle fans storming the fieldfor a second and final time toembrace a group that includeddefensive end Tyler Jolley, whowas sobbing joyfully after onlythe third game of the season,Baldwin knows what is sup-posed to come next.

A letdown in Bozeman. Afterbeating MSU for the past sevenstraight years, some might go sofar as to say its due.

Ive challenged my guys fromthe get-go, Baldwin said. Wetalked about it. People are goingto give you that excuse to latchonto. Its your choice if you wantto latch onto it or come out andwork even harder this week.

S , S , 2 |

SidelineBriefingRecordsMontana State 2-1,

Eastern Washington 2-1

Series34th meeting, EWU leads 25-8

Weather forecastSunny, high 80

CrowdMore than 14,000 expected

TVABC 28(Chris Byers, Mike

Callaghan, AJ Donatoni)

RadioKXLB-FM (100.7), JeLasky, Dan

Davies, Tyler Wiltgen

Coaches

SchedulesEastern Washington

14 @ Nevada 28

28 C. Washington 1436 Montana 27

Today @ Montana St. 1:05 p.m.10/2 @ Weber St. 1:35 p.m.10/9 No. Arizona 2:05 p.m.10/16 @ No. Colorado 1:35 p.m.

10/23 Sacramento St. 2:05 p.m.10/30 @ Portland St. 6:05 p.m.11/13 Southern Utah 2:05 p.m.

11/20 Idaho St. 2:05 p.m.Montana State

59 Fort Lewis 1022 @ Wash. St. 2348 Drake 21

Today E. Wash. 1:05 p.m.10/2 @ Sacramento St. 2:05 p.m.10/9 Portland St. 1:35 p.m.10/16 @ N. Arizona 4:05 p.m.

10/23 N. Colo. 1:05 p.m.10/30 @ Idaho St. 1:35 p.m.

11/6 Weber St. 12:05 p.m.11/20 @ Montana 12:05 p.m.

Players to watch E. WASHINGTON: Taiwan Jonesleads the nation in all-purpose yards.

MONTANA STATE: QB Denarius

McGhee will get a stern test in his

rst Big Sky Conference game.

Injury reportMONTANA STATE

OUT: DE Brad Smith (shoulder),OL Conrad Burbank (knee), Ben

auanuu (leg).

E. WASHINGTON

DOUBTFUL: S Billy Lechtenburg

(knee), S Ethen Robinson (knee),

Domonic Shepperd (knee).

QUESTIONABLE:DE Anthony

Larry (knee).

Quotable We thrive on having to step up and

play big. Our guys are ready to play

this game. We do have a chip on our

shoulder.

MSU defensive tackle Zach Minter

Jones speed, numbers impressive

Forget gimmicks, streak needs painting overHow does gold turf sound? I

know, ridiculous.No need for that around here.But something different needs

to be done to nip this losingstreak in the bud.

Hey, it worked for EasternWashington.

All it took for the Eagles toend nearly 20 years of home-field futility against Montanawas a red carpet. It was as if thechange in hue from green tohideous was meant for thatone game, which Eastern wonover UM last Saturday.

Now its Montana States turn.Paint the Bobcat Stadium field

purple if thats what it takes. Makeit, gulp, maroon and silver even.Nothing will ever compare to

the frustration felt over MSUs16-year losing streak to Mon-

tana, but no Big Sky Conferenceopponent has a better winningpercentage at MSU than Eastern(.640). Its not even close.

The winning ways arent con-fined to Bozeman, either. TheEagles have defeated the Cats inCheney, Spokane even GreatFalls. Theyve done it in over-time (twice) and against the bestthe Bobcats have to offer: TravisLulay, who went 3-1 against the

Grizzles, was just the opposite

against Eastern. Same with KellyBradley: 3-1 vs. UM, 1-3 vs.EWU.

It was Bradley who led theBobcats to the national champi-onship in 1984, but he couldntbeat Eastern that year.

The Eagles hold a currentseven-year winning streak in theseries and have other streaks ofsix, five and four. MSUs longeststring of victories? Three, from1988-90. John Tetreault, whereare you?

Montana State did go nearly30 years without losing to theEagles, but thats because they

didnt play each other from1953-81.Something needs to change,

and its too late to do any paint-ing.

MSUs youth movement is a

step in the right direction; manyof the current Cats have neverplayed against the Eagles, letalone lost to them.

I know Montana State headcoach Rob Ash dislikes usingtwo quarterbacks, but why notthrow Cody Kempt in for aseries or two when the gameson the line. Sure, its beenmostly in mop-up duty, butKempts pass efficiency rating isa ridiculous 251.8 whateverthat means.

Or maybe its time for one ofthose keep-the-defense-honestfake kicks/punts, like the one

that the other MSU team pulledoff last week against NotreDame.

MoreDUMAS I5

COURTESY OF EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

Taiwan Jones carried the ball a career-high 27 times last week against Montana, totaling 221 yards.

TIM

DUMAS

ChronicleSports Editor

ROBASHMSU, 4th year

30th year overall2-15 at MSU

198-114-5 overall

BEAUBALDWINEWU, 3rd year

4th year overall16-10 at EWU26-13 overall

Now healthy, Eastern

back having breakoutseason for Eagles

It was amazing how fasthe ran by me. You didnthave time to say, hello.

Robin Pflugrad, UM head coach


3/6

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5/6

By NOAH TRISTERThe Associated Press

EAST LANSING, Mich. irk Cousins was heading to

church Sunday, less than 12hours after his teams thrillingovertime win over Notre Dame,

when he received a puzzling textmessage about a team meetingat noon.

That never happens, theichigan State quarterback said.

I thought, What cant wait untiloclock? We have to show up atoclock anyway. I knew it was

something serious.The news was that coach Markantonio had suffered a mild

heart attack and had been takento a hospital not long after Satur-day nights game. The excitementover the Spartans big victorylargely vanished around EastLansing, replaced by concernsfor the health of the 54-year-old

antonio.The coach had surgery to put

a stent in a blocked blood vesselleading to his heart. He has beenreleased from the hospital, butwhen he might return to coach-ing is unknown.

His 25th-ranked team, ledby offensive coordinator DonTreadwell, has spent the weektrying to focus on football againwith Northern Colorado comingto town Saturday.

The nice thing is, alongwith the leadership and thingsthat coach

antonio has

already putin place, wehave a lot ofveterans thatare on thisfootball team,Treadwellsaid. Socertainly, ourseniors, wererelying onthem to really step forward.

Dantonios absence comesas Michigan State is starting toearn national attention for itsplay.

The Spartans (3-0) have run

the ball with ease this season,with both LeVeon Bell and Ed-win Baker averaging more thaneight yards per carry.

And that finish against Notreame is already one of the sig-

nature moments of the season:Trailing by three in overtime,

antonio ordered a fake fieldgoal that worked for a touch-down and gave the Spartans a34-31 victory.

It might have been Dantoniosbiggest win at Michigan Statebecause of the opponent and theway it unfolded.

I thought we had a goodchance of running it becauseCoach D was so high on it, saidAaron Bates, who was the holderand threw a touchdown passon the play. Obviously, I didntthink wed be using it in overtimeon fourth-and-13.

Northern Colorado (2-1)is hoping to build on its ownencouraging start to the season.

The Bears,who play in

the FootballChampion-ship Subdivi-sion, wononly threegames lastseason andare already onthe verge ofmatching thattotal.

Quarterback Dylan Ormshas thrown for six touchdownsand only one interception thisseason, and Northern Coloradois hoping for an upset similar tothe one James Madison of the

FCS pulled off against VirginiaTech earlier this month. This isa game Orms has been lookingforward to for a while.

I saw a challenge, he said. Isaw a chance to showcase our-selves and to play in a stadiumIve seen a lot on TV.

For Michigan State, this isntexactly a game to circle on thecalendar, but the Spartans havehad to work hard this week to

avoid a letdown after the NotreDame victory especially witheverything thats happened offthe field.

Besides the indefinite loss ofDantonio, the team this weeksuspended tight end Dion Sims,who was among 10 men chargedin the theft of Detroit PublicSchools laptop computers. Simshadnt played this season.

There is plenty at stake forMichigan State. Avoid an upsethere, and the Spartans would fin-ish September unbeaten and setup huge games against Wiscon-sin and Michigan to start next

month.And then theres the matter of

their coach. Dantonio has beenin the players thoughts, and theyexpect to be motivated when thegame starts.

We know with coach, hell beback soon. We know hes doingall right, Bates said. The bestway to show our appreciation is

just to do well on Saturday.Cousins agreed.We hope to make him proud,

wherever hes watching thegame, the quarterback said.You face adversity in life, youface adversity in football, and

weve just got to keep movingforward.

NORTHERN COLORADOSDOWNING FAMILIAR WITHSPARTANS: Northern Coloradomay be playing a Big Ten teamfor just the second time in schoolhistory, but UNC head coachScott Downing is no strangerto the conference. And hes nostranger to facing Michigan State.

In six seasons as an assistantcoach at Purdue (1997-2002),Downing and the Boilermakerswere 5-1 against Michigan State.On Saturday, Northern Coloradoplays Michigan State a week afterthe Spartans won in thrillingfashion over Notre Dame andlost their head coach at the sametime.

Mark Dantonio suffered aheart attack early Sunday morn-ing and will not be at todaysgame in East Lansing, Mich.Offensive coordinator DonTreadwell is filling in for Dan-tonio, and Michigan State has

every reason to be distracted.Instead of taking his usual

place in the press box, hell beon the field handling the headcoachs duties as Dantonio recov-ers from his heart attack.

It wont be too different,Treadwell said. I havent had todo it here yet here at MichiganState, but in our previous loca-tion (at Cincinnati), I had beenon the sidelines.

Treadwell conducted his firstpractice Tuesday since assum-ing Dantonios duties. Treadwellwill still call plays and anotheroffensive assistant will go to the

box to have another pair of eyesthere.Dantonio was released Tues-

day from Lansings SparrowHospital. Its uncertain whenhell return to his duties as headcoach.

Northern Colorado is playinga Big Ten team for the secondtime in the last three seasons.The Bears lost to Purdue 42-10in its 2008 opener.

Were nearly a month into the season andteams have three game tapes to review fromtheir opponents; its time to throw in a newwrinkle.

Like an option pass.In Ashs three-plus years in Bozeman, its

been attempted by Blayde Becksted, TylerLulay and Everett Gilbert but never prop-erly executed.

The only non-quarterback to completea pass since Ash arrived was linebackerBobby Daly, of course, two years ago out ofpunt formation against Minnesota.

And speaking of Gilbert, whatever hap-pened to the Wildcat formation, anyway?

Perhaps its time Jason Cunninghamspread a little more Sunshine (his nickname).Never in college or high school has the MSUkicker nailed a game-winning field goal inthe final seconds.

Theres also the karma factor.

Three former Bobcats Larry Rubens,Dusty Birkenbuel and Pat Bolton wereinducted into the schools hall of fame onFriday night, and none ever lost a game toEastern. Sure, two of them never faced theEagles, but Rubens team was a 24-20 winnerin 1982, the year the series was continuedafter a long hiatus.

And after all this, if the losing streak con-tinues, it may be time for a new hue.

Tim Dumas can be reached at [email protected] and 582-2651.

Suddenly no fourth-down was

insurmountable.Nolans kickoff experience was

equally lacking. Thats whereinter came in.The round mound from Glen-

dale, Ariz., who can dunk abasketball and do a standing backflip thought: kicking? I got this.

Or maybe not.I kicked in high school,inter said. But I was second-

string. So I never really kicked inhigh school.

After beating out fellowdefensive tackle Dan Ogden in ahastily-arranged pregame tryout,

inter quickly got the hook after

his second kickoff a squib thatJones returned 40 yards to theSU 41.When it came time to play his

natural position, Minter wasntnearly as uneasy. But he wasnt

nearly as comfortable as he ispreparing for Eastern Washing-ton a year later.

Everything came so fast last

year, said Minter, a true fresh-man a season ago. Im milesahead of where I was.

And on Saturday, Minter willtake one more step in the processof growing up as he gets hisfirst start. This is one new leap,though, hes confident will bemade easier.

Why? Because the teams nor-mal starter at the position hesplaying today wont be 400 milesaway hugging a toilet. Hell bebarking in Minters ear.

The large presence of JasonDAlba, who has been suspendedfrom todays game because of a

helmet-to-helmet hit last weekon Drake quarterback MikePiatkowski, wont be felt on thefield today, but all 6-foot-2, 280pounds of him will be on thesideline making sure Minter

holds his gap when the ball goesJones way.

Jason will be by my side everystep of the way, Minter said.

Hes been a leader for our defen-sive line this whole year. Nothaving him is very unfortunate,but were going to step up and fillthat spot for him.

If Jones does manage to breakaway from the Bobcat defense,well, thats out of DAlbas realmof expertise. Luckily for MSU, ithappens to be right up Mintersalley.

Having chased down EverettGilbert, presumed to be MSUsfastest player, from behind thisspring, Minter has already envi-sioned surprising one of the mostexplosive backs in the history of

the Big Sky Conference with alittle athleticism of his own.Ive actually thought about

(chasing Jones down), Mintersaid. I hope we dont let him getout there, but if he does, its all

about angles you take.Pardon him, Mr. Jones, but

dont count Gilbert among theshocked if it happens.

No offense Taiwan, but ifZach can chase me down, Imsure he could chase you down,Gilbert said.

As for Cunningham, hes justhoping he can surprise EWU,period. The junior went 1-for-3against the Eagles as a fresh-man, including missing the onlytwo kicks under 32 yards in hiscareer.

Ive been looking forward tothis game for a long time, Cun-ningham said. In a lot of waysits just another game. But in a lotof ways, its not. This is a prettybig one for us.

Will Holden can be reachedat [email protected] 582-2690. Read his blog atbozemandailychronicle.com/app/msu-bobcats or follow him onTwitter @will_c_holden.

S , S , | 5

GRIZZLIES SEEING RED:

Montanas 15-game Big SkyConference winning streakcame to an end last Saturdayon the red turf of EasternWashingtons Roos Field asthe Eagles pulled out a 36-27win. UMs last loss in confer-ence play was a 42-28 setbackat Weber State two years ago.Montana had won 31 of itsprevious 32 conference gamesdating back to 2006.

The Grizzlies, who wereranked No. 1 prior to a 35-33loss at Cal Poly 35-33, havelost two straight. The Griz-zlies are 1-2 for the first time

since the 1992 season, alsothe last time they did notadvance to the postseason.UM started the 1992 season1-5. Montana has lost back-to-back regular season gamesfor the first time since 2002when the Grizzlies 24-gamewinning streak was snappedby Eastern Washington atJoe Albi Stadium in Spokane.UM also lost the next week athome to Montana State.

Montana dropped to 14thin this weeks Sports Networktop 25, its lowest rankingsince finishing the 1998

season 15th.TAVOY SHUFFLE: Idaho

State will likely find all kindsof ways to get the ball in thehands of the electrifying Tav-oy Moore. The junior collegetransfer amassed a school-record 318 all-purpose yardsin the Bengals 35-21 loss toNorthern Colorado. Mooreopened the game by return-ing a kick 91 yards for atouchdown, and took a puntreturn 81 yards for a scorein the fourth quarter to getthe Bengals to within 28-21.Moore had 128 yards onthree kick returns, 109 yardson two punt returns. Hecaught five passes for 57 yardsand rushed twice for 24 yards.

His 318 yards broke theprevious school record of 310set by Alfredo Anderson in1994. Moore also had anotherpunt return TD called backon a penalty. Moore rankssecond in the nation in puntreturns and is eighth in kickreturns. It was the first time aBig Sky player had a returneda punt and a kick for attouchdown in the same gamesince 2002 when MontanasJefferson Heidelberger ac-complished the feat in a first-round playoff game againstNorthwestern State.

PICK-SIX, AGAIN: Mon-tanas Trumaine Johnsonreturned an interception 52yards for a touchdown lastweekend. It was UMs fifth in-terception return for a touch-down this season. Montanais just one away from tyingthe Big Sky single-seasonrecord of six set by NorthernArizona in 1985.

HIGGINS WATCH: WeberState quarterback CameronHiggins has moved into thetop 10 on the Big Skys all-time lists for touchdowns,passing yards and total of-fense. Higgins threw for 253yards and two touchdownsin last Saturdays 24-17 lossto Sacramento State. Higginsnow ranks fifth on the all-time touchdown passes listwith 90, and needs just sevenmore to become the all-timeleader.

Higgins has thrown for10,589 career yards, putting

him 10th in league history.He needs just 236 more

to jump all the way to fifthplace.

Kicking/from 1

Dumas/from 1

BIG SKYCONFERENCE

Standings

Team Conf. All

E. Wash. 1-0 2-1

Sac. St. 1-0 2-1

N. Colo. 1-1 2-1

Weber St. 1-1 1-2

MSU 0-0 2-1

N. Ariz. 0-0 1-1

Portland St. 0-0 1-2

Idaho St. 0-1 1-2

Montana 0-1 1-2

Todays GamesN. Colo. at Mich. St., 10 a.m.

E. Wash. at MSU, 1:05 p.m.

Sac. St. at Montana, 1 p.m.

NAU at Idaho St., 3:35 p.m.

UC Davis at Weber, 6 p.m.

BIG SKY CONFERENCE

N O T E S

Without Dantonio, Spartans host UNC

AP

Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio will not be on the sidelines today when the Spartans host UNC.

Northern Coloradofacing Big Ten teamfor second timein three seasons

I saw a challenge toshowcase ourselves andto play in a stadium Iveseen a lot on TV.

Dylan Orms, UNC quarterback


6/6

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6 | S , S ,

DEPTHCHARTS

Montana StateOffenseLEFT TACKLE

72 Mike Person 6-5/295 Sr

70 Killian Fitzpatrick 6-8/270 Fr

LEFT GUARD

57 Casey Dennehy 6-1/270 So

56 Shaun Sampson 6-0/249 So

CENTER

61 Alex Terrien 6-4/285 Jr


RIGHT GUARD

71 Jesse Hoffmann 6-4/286 Sr


RIGHT TACKLE

50 Leo Davis 6-4/271 Jr

75 Andrew Verlanic 6-4/276 So

QUARTERBACK

9 Denarius McGhee 6-0/197 Fr

12 Cody Kempt 6-2/211 Sr

RUNNING BACK

8 Orenzo Davis 5-9/185 Jr

20 C.J. Palmer 6-0/210 Jr

W RECEIVER

14 Everett Gilbert 5-9/180 So

27 DeSean Thomas 6-1/180 Jr

X RECEIVER

1 Elvis Akpla 6-1/187 Jr

86 Tanner Bleskin 6-3/210 FrZ RECEIVER

82 Julius Lloyd 6-0/184 Sr

10 Kruiz Siewing 5-11/182 So

TIGHT END

81 Kyle Begger 6-2/245 Jr

88 Shane Robison 6-5/250 Jr

KICKER

15 Jason Cunningham 6-1/162 Jr

DefenseBANDIT

48 Dustin OConnell 6-2/245 Sr

34 Preston Gale 6-2/239 Fr

TACKLE

90 Dan Ogden 6-0/270 Sr

96 Zach Minter 6-2/277 So

NOSE TACKLE

98 Christian Kelii 6-0/282 So

96 Zach Minter 6-2/277 So

END

11 John Laidet 6-5/250 Jr

49 Caleb Schreibeis 6-3/245 So

SAM LINEBACKER

44 Aleksei Grosulak 5-10/250 Fr

9 Roger Trammell 6-1/230 Jr

MIKE LINEBACKER

42 Clay Bignell 6-2/236 Jr

44 Aleksei Grosulak 5-10/250 Fr

WILL LINEBACKER

23 Jody Owens 6-1/214 So

59 Tanner Ripley 6-1/214 Sr

BOUNDARY CORNER

26 Arnold Briggs 5-10/185 Sr

17 Sean Gords 5-10/185 Fr

FREE SAFETY

22 Michael Rider 5-11/196 Sr

5 Joel Fuller 6-0/200 So

ROVER

7 Jordan Craney 6-1/205 Sr

32 A. Cosme-Peko 5-11/209 Sr

FIELD CORNER

13 Darius Jones 5-10 /16 7 So

24 James Andrews 6-1/ 187 Jr

PUNTER

18 Rory Perez 6-2/180 Fr

E. WashingtonDefense

LEFT END

97 David Miles 6-4/255 Jr

90 David Gaylord 6-4/245 Fr

LEFT TACKLE

49 Tyler Jolley 6-3/285 Sr

56 Evan Cook 6-3/270 So

RIGHT TACKLE

98 Renard Williams 6-2/300 Jr

95 Charles Moetului 6-3/235 Jr

RIGHT END

91 Jerry Ceja 6-3/220 So

99 Anthony Larry 6-3/250 Fr

INSIDE LINEBACKER

4 J.C. Sherritt 5-10/220 Sr

48 Grant Williams 6-1/225 So

MIDDLE LINEBACKER

51 Tyler Washburn 6-0/215 So

44 Paul Ena 6-2/230 So

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER

10 Zach Johnson 6-1/225 Jr

47 Bobby Gentry 5-11/200 Jr

CORNERBACK

28 Dante Calcote 5-8/160 Sr

29 Jeremy Chaten 6-1/160 Jr

CORNERBACK

21 Jesse Hoffman 6-2/210 Sr

34 Artise Gauldin 5-10/175 SoSTRONG SAFETY

5 Matt Johnson 6-2/220 Jr

38 Allen Brown 5-10/160 Fr

FREE SAFETY

7 Jeff Minnerly 6-1/190 So

36 Will Edge 6-0/180 Sr

PUNTER

45 Cameron Zuber 6-0/180 Sr

OffenseLEFT TACKLE

60 Gabriel Jackson 6-4/275 Jr

67 Caleb Worthington 6-7/295 Fr

LEFT GUARD

70 Steven Forgette 6-4/280 Fr

74 Russell Turpin 6-4/290 Fr

CENTER

78 Chris Powers 6-2/270 Jr

66 Ashton Miller 6-2/265 Fr

RIGHT GUARD

72 Nikolai Myers 6-4/295 Sr

58 Clint Moquist 6-3/280 Sr

RIGHT TACKLE

76 Will Post 6-6/295 So

77 Brandon Murphy 6-4/305 Fr

QUARTERBACK

9 Bo Levi MItchell 6-2/210 Jr

12 Anthony Vitto 6-1/195 Fr

RUNNING BACK

22 Taiwan Jones 6-1/200 Jr

30 Darriell Beaumonte 5-11/205 Jr

TIGHT END

82 Matt Martin 6-2/240 Sr

85 Zack Gehring 6-3/220 Fr

RECEIVER

80 Nicholas Edwards 6-3/200 So

17 Alante Wright 6-3/200 Fr

RECEIVER

2 Ashton Gant 5-10/180 Sr

33 Tyler Hart 5-10/205 Jr

RECEIVER

1 Brandon Kaufman 6-5/205 So

3 Greg Herd 6-3/200 So

KICKER

92 Mike Jarrett 5-9/165 Jr

THE EDGEEASTERNWASHINGTONATMONTANA STATE

Passing: For the past two years, EasternWashingtons pass defense has beenthe worst in the nation. Its not the worstin the nation this year, but its still thesecond worst in the Big Sky Conferenceafter allowing a Division II sophomorequarterback, who put up mediocrenumbers as a freshman, to toss for 251yards and two touchdowns against themtwo weeks ago. All of that said, ask quarterbackAndrew Selle, who led Montana to the national

championship in 2009, what he thinks of that EWUpass defense. They held Montanas quarterback to204 yards through the air on less than 50 percentpassing while also intercepting him twice last week.Thats the thing about EWUs pass defense: It

appears to be a bit schizophrenic, capable ofproducing and giving up big plays. The Eagles aresecond in the conference in interceptions with fourand their secondary has forced four fumbles. Buttheyve also given up three pass plays of 20 yards ormore for touchdowns.

While its hard to compare Denarius McGhee toNevadas Colin Kaepernick (EWU opened the seasonat Nevada), one of the best quarterbacks in the FBS,Montana States freshman signal caller does havesome similarities hes mobile, strong-armed andhe takes chances. The Eagles also allowed McGhees

current backup, Cody Kempt, to throw for 320 yardsagainst them a season ago. It all seems to say thatMcGhee and a more complete stable of MSU receiversthis year could cause some problems for EWU today.

Rushing: Its also tough to compareanyone to Taiwan Jones, but OrenzoDavis has a lot of that same explosiveness.Watching those two running backs duelcould be the most entertaining partof todays contest. And expect bothJones and Davis to get the best of theirrespective opposing defenses.

That might be hard to believeconsidering Eastern has a couple All-Americansthat could seemingly snuout rush after rush

in defensive tackle Renard Williams and middlelinebacker J.C. Sherritt, but both of those guyswere on the eld last year and C.J. Palmer stillran for 134 yards on 26 carries. It is reasonable toexpect that with the addition of linebacker ZachJohnson, an all-conference player who sat out all of2009 with an injury, the Eagles rush defense, whichheld Montanas Walter Payton candidate ChaseReynolds to a somewhat reasonable 114 yards lastweek, may be improved. But its also reasonable toexpect that Davis, a better back than Palmer, couldcut them up.The biggest key will be MSUs banged-up oensive

line, which is without its two starters at guard. IfCasey Dennehy continues to improve in the place ofConrad Burbank and Jesse Homanlls in admirablyfor Ben Tauanuu, and Montana State continues to

shove opposing lines back as easily as theyve beendoing through the rst three weeks of the season, bigrushing numbers could get put up today. Edge: Montana State

WHEN MONTANA STATE HAS THE BALL

EDGE

Passing: Since the comparisons are y-ing, new EWU quarterback Bo Levi Mitch-ell is serviceable, but hes no Matt Nich-ols. The departed All-American knewthe Eagles oense inside and out. It isvery apparent that Mitchell, despite histwo years of FBS experience at SouthernMethodist, still isnt completely comfort-able under center. Hes a competent,heady game manager with a strong arm and good

mobility, but so far he hasnt wowed anybody. Andagainst UM, he missed on some throws that couldhave helped EWU win more handily.

Whats more, Mitchell had some trouble whenMontana pressured him. Aside from sacking himthree times and hurrying him twice, the heavyblitzes sent by the Griz forced Mitchell into throw-ing two interceptions, one of which was downrightugly. Considering MSU has dominated the actionup front for the past three weeks, expect Mitchellto see some of that same pressure today. Eventhough the Bobcats will be without stout defen-sive tackle Jason DAlba, they still own one of themost ferocious pass rushes in the conference.

However, Mitchell is in possession of a few safetyblankets, and theyre big ones. The one area where

MSUs veteran secondary has struggled this yearhas been defending big receivers and EWU has atrio in Brandon Kauman (6-foot-5, 205 pounds),Nicholas Edwards and Greg Herd (both 6-3, 200).The Bobcats have to be mindful of all three,especially in the red zone, where theyve given upimportant touchdowns to sizable receivers thepast two straight weeks. The Bobcats also have tobe mindful of the dump-opasses, consideringTaiwan Jones burned them a season ago.

Rushing:There may not be anotherrunning back in the conferences historythat is as capable of scoring every timehe touches the ball like Taiwan Jones.If his 8.78 yards an oensive touch lastyear was amazing, his 10.8 yards anoensive touch this season has reachedpinch-me status. It basically means

he picks up a rst down every time hetouches the ball. If that werent enough, hes

coming othe best performance of his career, inwhich he gained 281 yards from scrimmage on30 touches against UM.

But that might be the biggest point. Com-ing oa pair of oseason surgeries one for asports hernia and one for his shoulder alongwith a broken hand, the slender Jones has nevertouched the ball 30 times a game. EWU headcoach Beau Baldwin is very mindful of that. In thegames following his previous workload highs,Jones has been less eective. With a pair of brutalconference games on deck (on the road at WeberState and at home against Northern Arizona),expect Baldwin to be leery of turning to Jones asoften this Saturday as he did against Montana.

The question is this: Will Jones even need to

touch the ball that much? In last years 35-24win over MSU he gained 153 yards on just fourcatches all on those little dump-os that haveburned MSU once again this year. Not having animmobile defender in the middle like DAlba thisweek wont hurt the Bobcats as much as it oth-erwise might against an amazing running back.Having a history of struggling against shifty backswhen they get the ball in space just might.

Edge: E. Washington

WHEN EASTERN WASHINGTON HAS THE BALL

27

OVERALL This, perhaps more than any other of the last eight, isthe year that MSU looks to have a slight advantage on paperagainst Eastern. In contrast to last year, when they caught theEagles without four defensive starters, a kicker and a punterand still played them to a standstill, this year the Bobcats havecaught the Eagles at an almost perfect moment coming oan emotional win in which they showed some key aws. If theBobcats dont make any big mistakes today, its their game to

lose. Why? Because MSU has always had the defense to limitJones, and now they have the oense to keep up with him, too.A healthy Cunningham makes the dierence in a close one.

The Eagles are coming oa win overMontana at home, an occasion thatoccurred for the rst time since 1991.Their red sea of turf was unveiled in frontof a record home crowd. Tears of joyowed from senior defensive lineman

Tyler Jolly eyes following the game. Theremight not be a team more primed fora letdown in the history of the Big Sky.Baldwin knows it and hes been preaching aboutovercoming it all week. The Bobcats, on the otherhand, are coming oa brief scare against Drake.

They have a similar history against EasternWashington as Eastern Washington hadagainst Montana. And everyone is tellingthem they havent proven anything yet thisseason. In other words, they have plentyof motivation. The key for MSU, nothing

if not streaky for most of the past decade,will be keeping their emotions in check. Ifthe Bobcats can avoid the busts so often

associated with the booms, they have more than alegitimate shot today. Edge: Montana State

INTANGIBLES

30Analysis by WILL C. HOLDEN of the Chronicle

Kicking & punting: A season ago,not having a kicker or punter againstEastern Washington doomed Montana

State. This year, not only does MSUhave both, they have a kicker who was justnamed national player of the week. It ap-pears MSU has all the faith in Cunninghamto allow him to go after just about any eldgoal inside the MSU 40. Last year, the Bob-cats were going for it on fourth-and-goalfrom the four. EWU has Mike Jarrett, a second-year

kicker who has missed 2-of-3 kicks beyond40 yards this season.

Returns & coverage: Jones returns

punts and kicks for EWU, too, but hesproved to be far less dangerous in this cat-egory, with longs of 17 and 30 yards in eachrespective category. As for MSUs returners,theyve proved that holding onto the ball andpossibly gaining minimal yardage is about thebest that can be hoped for.

Edge: Even

SPECIAL TEAMS

EDGE

EDGE

EDGE

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