Former Eagle head coach Mike Kramer has been in Beau Baldwin’s shoes before.
Baldwin’s third-ranked Eastern Washington University football team will try to avoid an upset bid by the Kramer-coached Idaho State Bengals this Saturday (Nov. 2) in a Big Sky Conference game in Pocatello, Idaho. Kickoff between EWU and ISU is 2:05 p.m. Pacific time at Holt Arena.
Eastern will try for its fifth-straight win this week when the 6-2 Eagles face the 3-5 Bengals. Kramer, who was Eastern’s head coach from 1994-99, led the 1997 Eagles to the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. And along the way to a 12-2 season and outright league title, his team faced many a league challenge along the way. Most notable was a 17-7 loss at Montana State and a 40-35 victory at Montana.
Idaho State was just 2-9 and 1-10 in Kramer’s first two years at the helm, and Baldwin sees a noticeable difference in this year’s ISU squad.
“A lot of credit goes to Coach Kramer for the difference you are able to see one year to the next,” said Baldwin. “You see it in all facets of their team, and that says a lot about the development they have made. It’s going to be war and a great challenge.”
Following last week’s rout-turned-nailbiter at then No. 10 Montana by a 42-37 score, Eastern is currently tied atop the Big Sky standings at 4-0 with Montana State. The Eagles and fifth-ranked Bobcats will square off on Nov. 9 in Cheney in a game with huge league and national implications.
But before that, the Eagles have to get by ISU, now 1-4 in the league after last week’s 19-9 loss at Southern Utah. Montana State is at Northern Colorado.
The Eagles remain third in The Sports Network FCS top-25 poll, just behind No. 2 Eastern Illinois and top-ranked North Dakota State. Montana State is fifth, Montana is 12th and Northern Arizona is 14th. The Eagles are seeking a seventh league title, with previous titles in 1992, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2012.
After this week’s game, the Eagles host fifth-ranked Montana State and play at Cal Poly before ending the regular season at home against Portland State on Nov. 23. Eastern’s non-conference resume this season has included a 49-46 victory at Pac-12 Conference member Oregon State, and narrow road losses to Toledo (33-21) and Sam Houston State (49-34).
The Bengals defeated Dixie State and Western State to open the season, but their lone FCS win was on Oct. 12 against Northern Colorado by a 40-26 score. Eastern didn’t play the Bengals last season, and are 24-9 all-time against ISU dating back to 1947. Eastern has won the last six meetings, and hasn’t lost to ISU since the Bengals won 34-30 in Pocatello in 2005.
“They’ve improved everywhere,” praised Baldwin. “They’ve added a dimension of being able to run the ball and they’ve always been dynamic throwing the ball. Defensively they are playing so much better as a group – they are sound in what they do and are holding teams to a low number of points. Their defense has really made leaps and bounds in terms of what they are doing schematically.
