Eastern's pre-season football camp generally pleases coach as regular season gets underway
By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter
If the Eastern Washington University Eagles are to have success in staging an upset victory over Nevada in their season opener there are two big things they have to pay attention to.
“They run the ball as good as anyone in the country,” Eagles' head coach Beau Baldwin said following the team's final scrimmage last Wednesday. “So they are extremely scary in terms of what they do running the football from a defensive standpoint.”
That is going to be the number one job for Eastern's defense. “You say that against every team, you want to stop the run, but with these guys it's as much as anyone,” Baldwin said.
Nevada's top two rushers were underclassmen Vai Taua (1,345 yards/10 touchdowns) and quarterback Colin Kaepernick (1,183 yards/16 touchdowns), with Kaepernick also passing for 2,052 yards and 20 touchdowns while accounting for 36 total TDs.
“And on defense, their front seven is the strength of their defense. Not that their defense as a whole is not great, but I really think that front seven makes them go,” Baldwin said. “It's going to be a challenge for our guys up front.”
While Eastern was bowled over by the Pac-10's California 59-7 in 2009, they came within two minutes of upsetting Colorado in 2008 at Boulder before losing 31-24 to the Buffaloes. So collecting their first win against the Wolfpack since 1989 isn't such a total longshot bet for Eastern.
Nevada was 8-5 overall and 7-1 in the Western Athletic Conference last season. The wolf Pack ended the season with a 45-10 loss to Southern Methodist University – current Eagle Bo Levi Mitchell was a member of that SMU team – in the Hawaii Bowl.
The Eagles finished the 2009 season with an 8-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs for the fourth time in the last six seasons. Eastern expects to return 10 starters from that team, including five on offense and five on defense.
Defensively, Eastern returns All-America linebacker J.C. Sherritt, who averaged more than 14 tackles per game in 2009 to lead FCS. The Eagles also return three starting defensive linemen, as well as twin brothers Matt and Zach Johnson at safety and linebacker, respectively.
Running back Taiwan Jones is the top player from the offense returning after a 1,000-yard season helped him earn All-America honors as a sophomore.
Eastern concluded their pre-season camp Sept. 1 and Baldwin likes what he's seen. “We've had a really good camp, we've worked hard,” he said.
The final scrimmage allowed the coach the opportunity to see his No. 2 and No. 3 teams, plus help evaluate the final traveling squads. “We're still looking for those three or four last travel spots, those areas where we're competing for that 58th, 59th, 60th and 61st guy. So it was a good opportunity for that,” Baldwin said.
Defense seemed to have the better of the offense in the early part of the scrimmage. “The young defensive players definitely got the better of them,” in battles of the No. 2s and No. 3s, Baldwin observed.
Offense did have some bright spots, Baldwin said. “I've watched Greg Herd get better and better through the entire camp. He didn't red shirt last year but he didn't necessarily get a lot of reps. He's going to be a big part of this offense.”
“And then the two quarterbacks – the second and third quarterbacks – you know (Anthony) Vito and (Nick) Gauthier, we had our moments where things weren't going right,” Baldwin said. “But they were both able to come back and respond and make some plays, lead some touchdown drives.” One of those was an acrobatic catch by freshman Alante Wright.
That was good to see, Baldwin said, “Because both of those guys are going to be in some situations. You never know when your number is going to be called and you have to be ready for that.
“To put them into some live looks today was good for them. I think it's good for the team,” the coach said. “It's also good for the defense to finally get to tackle a quarterback live; for the D-line and the secondary when the quarterback does break into the secondary.”
Baldwin was a sophomore starter at quarterback at Central Washington back in 1991 when EWU and Nevada last met.
But the head coach on the Nevada sideline is the same Chris Ault enters his 26th season at the helm. Ault has had three stints as the wolf Pack's head coach – 1976-92, 17 seasons, 1994-95 and 2004-2009.
With 38 total seasons at the school as a player, coach and athletic director, Ault has a 206-96-1 record as head coach with eight conference championships and 13 post-season appearances.
In 1992 both Nevada and Boise State departed for the Big West Conference. Nevada moved to the Western Athletic Conference in 2000 and recently announced plans to leave for the Mountain West Conference in 2012.
Eastern stays on the road for a neutral site game next Saturday, Sept. 11 against Central Washington at Seattle's Qwest Field before christening the red turf Sept. 18 against Montana.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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