Week 7 - #18/20 Sac State vs Eastern Washington
The 18th/20th ranked Hornets (2-3, 0-1 BSC) host the flailing Eastern Washington Eagles (1-4, 0-1 BSC) under 7th year Head Coach Aaron Best. Both teams are coming into this game off of a bye week. The Eagles have not won a game since a week 1, 42-27 win against Monmouth. The Eagles 3 FCS losses are by a combined 10 points. In their last game, EWU lost at home to Montana in a 49-52 barn burner.
The Eagles offense found life in their last game as dual threat quarterback Kekoa Visperas (104/142, 1076 yds, 10 TD, 37 car, 143 yds, 2 TD) displayed his talents and the high flying potential this offense has. EWU runs pretty much everything under the sun out of 11 personnel, RPO, spread, mis-direction, lots for opposing defense to prepare for. The Eagles have plenty of talent with wide receiver Efton Chism III (47 rec, 513 yds, 7 TD) being the main target in the passing game. Running backs Tun Altahir (52 car, 306 yds, 1 TD) and Malik Dotson (53 car, 271 yds, 3 TD, 8 rec, 96 yds). Up front, the EWU offensive line has good size and is mobile on the misdirection plays, but they have allowed 9 sacks on the season (along with 3 other BSC teams).
Offensive Team Stats
Defensively, EWU has been dreadful. The Eagles 4-3 / 4-2 sets have struggled to stop anyone and have yet to make a red zone stop. Safeties Derrick Ganter Jr (37 tkl, 0.5 TFL) and Kentrall William Sr (32 tkl, 1 TFL, 2 INT) leads the defense in tackles and interceptions. Linebacker Ahmani Williams (18 tkl, 1.5 TFL, 1.5sac) leads the defense in sacks.
Defensive Team Stats
The Eagles special teams have been notable in the return game. Returner Michael Wortham (26.1 ypr) has had some big returns this season with a long of 55 on the year. Punter Landon Ogles (18 pnt, 42.1 ypp) has pinned 8 punts inside the 20 and has 4 punts longer than 50 yards. Kicker Soren McKee (20/20 PAT, 3/4 FG) has not had many opportunities this season and has a long of 36 yards this season.
Hornet Team Stats
Position Advantage
Don’t let the Eagles record fool you, this is a talented team with nothing to lose, which makes them a dangerous team to play. Coach Best is coaching for his career so I would anticipate for him to pull out all the stops every week. There are some serious matchup issues for the Hornet defense in this one. While the Hornet front will be up to the task, they will have their hands full trying to contain Visperas and limiting the big plays. I anticipate Chism easily carving up the Hornet secondary, so it will be interesting to see where/how this Hornet defense can find some stops.
On the other side of the ball, the Hornet offense under the inept play calling from Coach Fresques should be able to move the ball against the porous EWU defense. They are that bad at getting stops. If the Hornets take care of the ball and execute, they should find plenty of success. Interestingly of note, we get to see one of the worst red zone offenses against the worst red zone defense in the BSC, so something will have to give.
I’m reluctantly picking the Hornets in this game. While the playmaking ability of the EWU offense concerns me, the Hornet offense should be able to control the tempo of this game. Couple that with a reprieve of being on the road 4 of the first 5 games and coming off a bye, the Hornets have no excuse for not showing out in this game.
Stingers Up!
EWU vs Montana Highlights:
The 18th/20th ranked Hornets (2-3, 0-1 BSC) host the flailing Eastern Washington Eagles (1-4, 0-1 BSC) under 7th year Head Coach Aaron Best. Both teams are coming into this game off of a bye week. The Eagles have not won a game since a week 1, 42-27 win against Monmouth. The Eagles 3 FCS losses are by a combined 10 points. In their last game, EWU lost at home to Montana in a 49-52 barn burner.
The Eagles offense found life in their last game as dual threat quarterback Kekoa Visperas (104/142, 1076 yds, 10 TD, 37 car, 143 yds, 2 TD) displayed his talents and the high flying potential this offense has. EWU runs pretty much everything under the sun out of 11 personnel, RPO, spread, mis-direction, lots for opposing defense to prepare for. The Eagles have plenty of talent with wide receiver Efton Chism III (47 rec, 513 yds, 7 TD) being the main target in the passing game. Running backs Tun Altahir (52 car, 306 yds, 1 TD) and Malik Dotson (53 car, 271 yds, 3 TD, 8 rec, 96 yds). Up front, the EWU offensive line has good size and is mobile on the misdirection plays, but they have allowed 9 sacks on the season (along with 3 other BSC teams).
Offensive Team Stats
- Points scored per game: 32.6 (3rd BSC / 19th FCS)
- Total Offense: 432.8 ypg (198.8 rushing ypg / 234.0 passing ypg) - 3rd (3rd / 4th) BSC
- Sacks Allowed: 9 (T-6th BSC)
- Turnovers: 1/1 (INT/Fum)
- Red Zone: 20/22 - 17/3 (TD/FG) - 3rd BSC
Defensively, EWU has been dreadful. The Eagles 4-3 / 4-2 sets have struggled to stop anyone and have yet to make a red zone stop. Safeties Derrick Ganter Jr (37 tkl, 0.5 TFL) and Kentrall William Sr (32 tkl, 1 TFL, 2 INT) leads the defense in tackles and interceptions. Linebacker Ahmani Williams (18 tkl, 1.5 TFL, 1.5sac) leads the defense in sacks.
Defensive Team Stats
- Points allowed per game: 38.2 (11th BSC / 110th FCS)
- Total Defense: 495.0 ypg (205.2 rushing ypg / 289.8 passing ypg) - 11th (9th / 11th) BSC
- Sacks : 7 (9th BSC)
- Turnovers Forced: 2/0 (INT/Fum)
- Red Zone: 19/19 - 17/2 (TD/FG) - 12th BSC
The Eagles special teams have been notable in the return game. Returner Michael Wortham (26.1 ypr) has had some big returns this season with a long of 55 on the year. Punter Landon Ogles (18 pnt, 42.1 ypp) has pinned 8 punts inside the 20 and has 4 punts longer than 50 yards. Kicker Soren McKee (20/20 PAT, 3/4 FG) has not had many opportunities this season and has a long of 36 yards this season.
Hornet Team Stats
- Points scored per game: 27.6 (7th BSC / 42nd FCS)
- Points allowed per game: 25.8 (6th BSC / 48th FCS)
- Total Offense: 375.6 ypg (148.8 rushing ypg / 226.8 passing ypg) - 8th (8th / 2nd) BSC
- Total Defense: 325.6 ypg (67.8 rushing ypg / 257.8 passing ypg) - 3rd (1st / 6th) BSC
- Sacks Allowed: 5 (T-2 BSC)
- Sacks: 19 (1st BSC)
- Turnovers: 7/7 (INT/Fum)
- Turnovers Forced: 6/7 (INT/Fum)
- Red Zone Offense: 18/24 - 11/7 (TD/FG) - 10th BSC
- Red Zone Defense: 12/16 - 10/2 (TD/FG) - 2nd BSC
Position Advantage
- Quarterback: Eagles. Kekoa Visperas can make big plays with his legs and arm and is a far better talent than Carson Conklin.
- Running Backs: Push. Elijah Tau-Tolliver is the best all around back on the field, but the combination of power runner Tuna Altahir and the shift Malik Dotson are a capable duo.
- Wide Receivers: Eagles. Efton Chism III is the best wide receiver on the field by a wide margin, but as a group the Hornet receivers have had a better season so far. Edge to the team with the game impactful playmaker.
- Tight Ends: Hornets. Coleman Kuntz has the same production as Jett Carpenter and Austin York combined.
- Offensive Line: Hornets. The Hornet offensive line will have to make amends for their horrid performance in Flagstaff, but still protect the quarterback better than the Eagles.
- Defensive Line: Hornets. Hornets get after the quarterback much more efficiently than the Eagles, and they defend the run better as well.
- Linebackers: Hornets. Will Leota and Nakian Jackson find the ball much better than Adam Cohen and Ahmani Williams.
- Defensive Backs: Push. Both secondaries have a penchant for getting burned in the passing game. On paper, the Hornets are better…I have my doubts in this one.
- Punters: Eagles. Cal McGough has a slightly better punting average, but Landon Ogles has pinned opponents inside the 20 at a better clip.
- Kickers: Hornets. Zach Schreiner is much more proven than Soren McKee.
- Kick Returners: Eagles. Michael Wortham has come close to breaking a few wide open. Maybe this is the week Michael Johnson is back on kick return duty.
Don’t let the Eagles record fool you, this is a talented team with nothing to lose, which makes them a dangerous team to play. Coach Best is coaching for his career so I would anticipate for him to pull out all the stops every week. There are some serious matchup issues for the Hornet defense in this one. While the Hornet front will be up to the task, they will have their hands full trying to contain Visperas and limiting the big plays. I anticipate Chism easily carving up the Hornet secondary, so it will be interesting to see where/how this Hornet defense can find some stops.
On the other side of the ball, the Hornet offense under the inept play calling from Coach Fresques should be able to move the ball against the porous EWU defense. They are that bad at getting stops. If the Hornets take care of the ball and execute, they should find plenty of success. Interestingly of note, we get to see one of the worst red zone offenses against the worst red zone defense in the BSC, so something will have to give.
I’m reluctantly picking the Hornets in this game. While the playmaking ability of the EWU offense concerns me, the Hornet offense should be able to control the tempo of this game. Couple that with a reprieve of being on the road 4 of the first 5 games and coming off a bye, the Hornets have no excuse for not showing out in this game.
Stingers Up!
EWU vs Montana Highlights:
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