Eagles are stampeded by the Bison

It had no official title.

But last Saturday's home opening football game between the No. 2 ranked Football Championship Subdivision North Dakota State Bison and the then No. 7 Eastern Washington Eagles could have had a catchy subtext.

Rumble on the Red or the Rivalry at Roos have an alliterative ring.

As it turned out it was a Bison stampede as the rubber-match between the two football powers ended in a 40-13 NDSU rout. Few saw that coming after the previous two match-ups have gone to overtime.

It was a day to celebrate the fact that finally the wildfire smoke had cleared. It was a time to be glad that we were not Houston, Texas drying out from Hurricane Harvey or Florida bracing for the drunken drive of Irma.

The afternoon was also set aside to honor the 1967 Eastern Washington State College Savage football team in celebration of the 50th anniversary of their runner-up finish in the NAIA national championship game to Fairmont State - a 28-21 loss in Morgantown, W.V.

And when the game went from seeing the Eagles perch on the edge of a game-changing play here or there in the first half, to being pushed off the edge of the cliff in the second, perhaps there were some wondering if those grey haired and bearded grads like Billy Diedrick, Ed Fisher or Ray Stookey still had any eligibility to help dig the Eagles out of their 0-2 funk.

New Eastern head coach Aaron Best tackled the issue of two one-sided losses - the other a 56-10 Sept. 2 humbling to the Big 12's Texas Tech - in the Sept. 11 coach's show.

He had the all too-close-for-comfort sideline view that the 10,231 who assembled at Roos Field for the 50th game under its new name got to see from afar. It was likely as easy for the fans, a good third of them clad in gold and green, to understand how the Eagles failed and the Bison succeeded on Saturday.

"Third down offensively, staying on the field, is the most important," Best said. "And on defense, third down, no matter what the distance, you have to get off and get the ball back to the offense."

It didn't take much of an understanding of math to see Eastern had trouble on third down on both sides of the ball.

They were unable to effectively convert on offense, going just 4 of 13 while allowing the Bison half of their 14 opportunities.

But hidden in that number were three times that not only moved the chains, but resulted in NDSU points. And a fourth, a third and 15, came up a yard short.

The game lived up to its billing for the first 20 minutes and 39 seconds when Gage Gubrud scored untouched on a keeper and a Roldan Alcobendas field goal gave the Eagles a 10-9 lead.

But Bison interceptions, both by Robby Grimsley on back-to-back Eastern possessions signaled the beginning of the end as the second pick led to the visitors getting a go ahead touchdown and started a 31-3 finish. The Bison did indeed stampede, outgaining the Eagles 532 to 204 in total yards and had a 375-70 rushing advantage.

"It's true in all sports, there's usually four to six times a game - you don't know when those things are going to happen - where the tide may turn," Best said.

One that stood out for him was an overthrow of Nick Sblendorio in the end zone early. "The timing just wasn't impeccable, so if you're not impeccable against the No. 2 team in the nation you're probably not going to be successful." Best said.

"We just gotta' execute better, honestly," Gubrud said after the game.

A lot is made of the fact that as Gurbud began his run from nowhere to become a record-breaker in 2016 he did so with three receivers that ended up in the NFL in some manner.

And the stats bear that out. After two games a year ago, Gubrud was connecting on a most memorable 75 percent of his passes, had just shy of 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns. In 2017 he's a very forgettable 32 of 64 with one score and a third of his yardage totals from 12 months ago.

"We don't have three NFL receivers on our offense, but we still have good receivers that can still do some stuff," Gubrud said.

There's no better time than Saturday in the Bronx, New York against Fordham to show that.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.