Opponent Q&A: Eastern Washington Eagles
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It’s Week 3, and that means the Huskies will once again play host as they welcome the Eastern Washington Eagles to Husky Stadium. For this week’s Q&A, I’m joined by the Spokesman-Review’s Dan Thompson to get the lowdown on the Eagles. Let’s get to it!
Mark Schafer: It is year 10 for Aaron Best as head coach of the Eagles. He’s had a few very good, playoff caliber teams, but he hasn’t been able to break through and win the big one like his predecessor Beau Baldwin. What do you and other Eagle fans think of his tenure and what does he need to do to get over the hump?
Dan Thompson: Best certainly benefited from having Eric Barriere at quarterback during that run of three playoff seasons in four years. Barriere deserved all the accolades, including the Walter Payton Award. Those teams also had talented receivers, veteran offensive linemen and a variety of running backs. Indeed, those teams ran offenses that were every bit as strong as the ones the Eagles so often had under Baldwin. The extra year given to guys because of COVID threw off the recruiting cycle, and recruiting during that time, coaches have told me, just wasn’t as strong. But the last couple of years the recruiting has been much better. Ultimately, they’ve just got to win. A winning season this year, even a 7-5 record, would be seen as a step toward championship-level play again.
MS: Marc Anderson coordinates the Eagle offense, entering year 2. What is the scheme like? Nate Bell leads the Eagle offense at quarterback, with 781 yards and 6 TDs through 3 contests. What do you like about him, and who are the other weapons on this offense?
DT: Bell has improved in his ability to throw from outside the pocket. Last year when he did so he wasn’t very accurate, and most of the time it seemed he was set on running in those situations. I think what the Eagles have accepted is that Bell’s strength is his escapability, and Bell has responded by getting better at progressing through his reads and making space. But the Eagles’ wide receiving corps has been decimated by injuries: They are down five guys right now, including three of their top four targets heading into the season. Wes Garrett can only do so much on his own. They use running back Malik Dotson as a power runner, Kevin Allen III as a change of pace, and then Jaxon Bell (Nate Bell’s younger brother) as the “cannonball” option. He’s not big, but he’s hard to tackle.
MS: Zach Bruce coordinates the defense in his first season as DC, after a long tenure coaching safeties. Did you like the hire and what is his scheme like? Who are the major game wreckers on defense that Husky fans need to watch for?
DT: I think Bruce is a great hire. The players really love playing for him. He was coaching (and continues to coach) a talented room of safeties that really this defense is tailored around. So, expect a Cover-4 defense a lot of the time. Sophomore safety Bryce Smith and redshirt junior nickel Jaylon Jenkins are ballhawks in the secondary. Cornerback Ambrose Marsh has locked down receivers so far. And the front four is highly experienced, with four senior starters.
MS: What are Eastern’s prospects in a Big Sky that is dominated by their rivals in Montana and Montana State? Any projections for the Eagles’ record?
DT: That opening week loss to Northern Arizona could really come back to haunt Eastern. Beating Northern Iowa at home was expected, and losing to a very good South Dakota team on the road is forgivable. But with this matchup against the Huskies looking like a pretty difficult game to win, it makes the stretch of four home games in six weeks afterward really important. They get both Montana and Montana State at home, and they really need to win at least one of those. They could afford a loss at UC Davis, maybe, but then at best they’re looking at a 6-3 record in Big Sky play. That would put them very much on the playoff bubble at 7-5 overall, though I’d think a 6-3 record in a top FCS conference — and a difficult nonconference schedule — would make them a compelling at-large selection even then.
MS: Who is a player that is an under-the-radar fan favorite that the larger FCS community doesn’t know much about?
DT: R-Sr. defensive tackle Isaiah Perez is just an incredibly solid player and an anchor to this defense. He’s a skilled kick blocker (he had four last season) and a stout run stopper, and off the field he’s married with three daughters.
MS: It’s time for a score prediction! What will the score be in this showdown between FBS and FCS programs in the state of Washington?
DT: Oh man. If the Eagles play a flawless game defensively, they will give the Huskies a good test on that side of the field. My concern is whether Eastern has enough healthy, experienced receivers to get open for Bell to have some options when he scrambles. I’ll say 35-10 Huskies.
My thanks to Dan, and good luck to the Eagles the rest of the way!
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