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W. Illinois

E

EWURanger

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Staff member
1-2 record with the losses against Illinois (52-3) and Northwestern (42-7), respectively. Their win came again Patriot League Valparaiso, 51-30.

This is definitely a winnable game, and one the Eags must win heading into conference play. If the defense can continue to play as it has against UNI and IW, and we can get just a modicum of offensive production, we should win this at home.

Thoughts?
 
Sad state of affairs, but yeah. This is winnable. At home. We need to have an offense that starts fast. We’re falling behind so quickly in games that we can’t catch up. We’ve had the first two offensive drives end in turnovers and one three and out in our three games. Each first possession for the opposing team has been a TD. That’s not helpful.
 
WIU schedule is tough stuff in their OOC games.(got paid) Last year same thing as their first 3 games had 182 pts scored against them first 3 games. They went 4-8 overall.
We can score 35 pts on the these guys and and they should score under 30 pts on us at home.
Feels like we should have won that last game vs UNI not sure how when they had 495 yards of offense and we had 276??? **Didn't they have a bunch more penalty's on them than we did?
 
Obzerver said:
Didn't they have a bunch more penalty's on them than we did?
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Not just that. Eastern was +2 in turnovers and still lost the game. I cannot recall any game in which that was the case and we still lost, and it really speaks to the lack of production on offense. The defense has played well in both FCS competitions and special teams - dare I say - have been pretty exceptional (minus missing the FG at the end of the game).
 
This is a huge game from a marketing standpoint for the program. First home game of 2025 as “Spokane county’s” team. If they don’t beat WIU by a large margin, not only is the teams hopes going to be dashed heading into conference but so is the administrations already thin coffers. There is more at stake here than just heading into a season 0-4 or 1-3.
 
Seattle Eagle said:
Not just that. Eastern was +2 in turnovers and still lost the game. I cannot recall any game in which that was the case and we still lost, and it really speaks to the lack of production on offense. The defense has played well in both FCS competitions and special teams - dare I say - have been pretty exceptional (minus missing the FG at the end of the game).
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Shit has been happening since 2021, dunno where you been.

www.espn.com

Montana State 23-20 Eastern Washington (Nov 6, 2021) Game Stats - ESPN

Complete team stats and game leaders for the Montana State Bobcats vs. Eastern Washington Eagles NCAAF game from November 6, 2021 on ESPN.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

We even had EB3.
 
Yea I don't know why you guys are talking about, Eastern has been giving up a ton of yards. 463 and 495 versus gaining 290 and 276 respectively.

I left out Boise State cause they're FBS but the announcer said during the game Boise State hasn't gotten that my offensive yards since 2018.

Western Illinois beat Valparaiso 51 to 30. Eastern hasn't scored 51 points total all season. Valparaiso gained 287 yards to Western Illinois's 507. That's with Western Illinois giving up two turnovers.

So Eastern probably gets 270 to 290 offensive yards, Western Illinois gets 500+ yards.

Western Illinois wins 38 to 24. My only hope is Eastern tends to have more energy playing at home.
 
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Eastern had,every opportunity to beat Incarnate Word and Northern Iowa on the road. While neither of those teams is a juggernaut, they are likely both better than Western Illinois. Now we’re at home. This should be a win. The question is whether the team has any confidence to pull out a narrow win. We’ve become pretty good at losing.
 
So apparently Eastern ranks 114th in the country in total defense after playing two FCS teams and a G5 FBS team while Western Illinois ranks 83rd after playing two P4 Big Ten teams and a non scholarship FCS team.

That is a crazy stat to me but they're bad... cause... vibes?

Also, total offense Eastern is ranked 88th, Western Illinois is 91st. 88th btw? I remember when Eastern was consistently top 5.
 
EWU offense used to put up video game like numbers. Shoot, that’s been since the late 90’s EWU was doing that…salanoa, Blankenship, Meyer, Nichols, BLM, Adams, EB3… the list goes on and on. We knew we could outscore anybody, and shoot outs always puts butts in seats. But 88th now?!
 
oRUsY0P.jpeg
 
EWU’s defense is better than it has been. I’m not saying they’re great, but they are better. With all the three-and-outs the offense has put on the field, even NDSU’s defense would have crappy stats, not 114th, but still not good. The 114th ranking sounds about right, but it’s misleading due to how bad the offense is. This is the worst I’ve ever seen the EWU offense.

I still feel EWU gets the win, maybe not a blowout, most likely a close one, but a win. WIU beat a really bad non-scholarship team (Valpo), who lost to a Division III team. Valpo only managed to put up 7 points and 250 yards against Adrian College. They put up 30 on WIU, granted, 20 of those points were in the fourth quarter, but still.

WIU put up 3 points on Illinois. Not surprising against a #12 FBS team. However, they got the field goal in the fourth quarter and had only 78 yards up to that point.

WIU scored 7 points on Northwestern, and that was with 4 minutes left in the game. They only had 70 yards going into the fourth.

I’m predicting a low-scoring game. Best will put the running QB game plan back in since we can’t seem to throw the ball. WIU looks to give up big run plays, and Bell looks to be a game breaker with his legs. The offense will have fewer three-and-outs, and the EWU D does enough to squeak out a win.

24–17 EWU
 
E-Wu Tang Clan said:
Yea I don't know why you guys are talking about, Eastern has been giving up a ton of yards. 463 and 495 versus gaining 290 and 276 respectively.

I left out Boise State cause they're FBS but the announcer said during the game Boise State hasn't gotten that my offensive yards since 2018.

Western Illinois beat Valparaiso 51 to 30. Eastern hasn't scored 51 points total all season. Valparaiso gained 287 yards to Western Illinois's 507. That's with Western Illinois giving up two turnovers.

So Eastern probably gets 270 to 290 offensive yards, Western Illinois gets 500+ yards.

Western Illinois wins 38 to 24. My only hope is Eastern tends to have more energy playing at home.
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As we have seen in both of our FCS games, giving up tons of yards doesn't always equal giving up tons of points. Say what you will about this defense, they've gotten key stops and TO's when it's mattered. They've put the offense in position to win games late, and the offense simply hasn't gotten it done. That's not to say this defense is great (it isn't), but from what I have seen through 3 games they're miles better than what we trotted onto the field the past couple of seasons.
 
Bloodeagle said:
EWU offense used to put up video game like numbers. Shoot, that’s been since the late 90’s EWU was doing that…salanoa, Blankenship, Meyer, Nichols, BLM, Adams, EB3… the list goes on and on. We knew we could outscore anybody, and shoot outs always puts butts in seats. But 88th now?!
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Yup. Completely unacceptable. It seems like we only recruit mobile QB's these days and rely less on the vertical passing game. I cannot understand it at all. If you're going to be a running team you need to be able to run the ball well.
 
Eagle Talon said:
As we have seen in both of our FCS games, giving up tons of yards doesn't always equal giving up tons of points. Say what you will about this defense, they've gotten key stops and TO's when it's mattered. They've put the offense in position to win games late, and the offense simply hasn't gotten it done. That's not to say this defense is great (it isn't), but from what I have seen through 3 games they're miles better than what we trotted onto the field the past couple of seasons.
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Yea I was going to point out the turn overs probably stopped Northern Iowa from pulling away score wise so I will give you that. I just don't think turn overs are that reliable.

I think we're better up front. We're 84th in the FCS for rushing defense but 116th, 4 from last, for passing yards allowed. Had Derek Ganter not transferred and Armani Orange and Kentrell Williams not quit the team the secondary would probably be better.
 
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