Clearly this is not a high-profile opponent, but these guys are a competent opponent. They clobbered Montana Tech this weekend 38-6 (and Tech is usually a credible bellwether at that level). They led 35-0 at halftime and pulled their starters shortly thereafter.
No one gets too excited for an NAIA team, but the truth is these guys would be competitive against the bottom tier of the FCS. Although it didn't happen in my lifetime, Western Montana has beaten Eastern once before in 8 tries.
My hope would be to see Eastern really work on locking down defensively. This is a team we have to hold to 10 points or under, and based on the way the D looked on Saturday, that's probably going to require a bit of improvement. We can't let any quality offense explode for 500 or more yards.. No one wins titles that way. We've got to show the ability to shut down a halfway decent offense, and this team represents that.
No one gets too excited for an NAIA team, but the truth is these guys would be competitive against the bottom tier of the FCS. Although it didn't happen in my lifetime, Western Montana has beaten Eastern once before in 8 tries.
My hope would be to see Eastern really work on locking down defensively. This is a team we have to hold to 10 points or under, and based on the way the D looked on Saturday, that's probably going to require a bit of improvement. We can't let any quality offense explode for 500 or more yards.. No one wins titles that way. We've got to show the ability to shut down a halfway decent offense, and this team represents that.