By Dan Thompson The Spokesman-Review
Saturday’s game at Weber State might not be a home game for Eastern Washington’s football team, but redshirt senior Noah Cronquist should expect to hear plenty of cheers.
Cronquist, the Eagles leader in receiving yards and return yards, estimated on Tuesday that he will have about 50 family members and friends in attendance at Stewart Stadium in Ogden, Utah, when the Eagles and Wildcats kick off at noon (Pacific time).
Like the rest of the Eagles players, Cronquist is aiming to finally, in a fifth try this season, get a road victory.
“It’s just a game,” he said on Tuesday during media availability. “We need to go out there and have fun and play with joy. … It’s the same game, the same team. Now it’s just going and doing that in Utah and not in front of a home fan base.”
Eastern (3-4, 2-1 Big Sky) has a chance to earn a fourth victory by the end of October, something the program last did in 2021. Another Big Sky victory would also match the Eagles’ total last season and would give them their first three-game winning streak in conference play since that 10-3 season in 2021.
They will line up against a Weber State team (3-4, 1-2) that has a daunting November in front of it, with matchups against Montana, Montana State, Idaho State and Northern Arizona on the back half of its Big Sky schedule.
Riding high from a victory over the Idaho Vandals, Eastern is playing better defensively than it has in four years. That’s one aspect to watch in this matchup. Here are three more:
**1\. Controlling the red zone.** Eastern’s offense has scored touchdowns on 12 of 20 red-zone trips this season, better than the rate at which Weber State’s offense (14 of 26) has done the same. The Eagles also have been better in red-zone defense, holding opponents to a touchdown rate of 57.1% (16 of 28) compared to Weber State’s rate of 71.9% (23 of 32).
Dig deeper and Eastern’s defense in the red zone looks even better. In those 28 red-zone situations, the Eagles have forced four turnovers (including three on downs), and against them teams have made 5-of-8 red-zone field-goal attempts. Among Big Sky teams, only Idaho State has as many red-zone stops (seven) as the Eagles do.
Forcing the Wildcats to kick field goals in the red zone could be crucial, just as crucial as it could be that the Eagles score touchdowns in the red zone themselves.
**2\. Turnovers and special-teams shenanigans.** Under previous coach Jay Hill, Weber State developed a reputation for fake punts and other special teams surprises. Three years ago, for example, the Wildcats executed a surprise onside kick, a fake punt and a fake field goal against the Eagles, all in the same game.
Now with Mickey Mental as head coach, trickery is still in the Wildcats’ DNA: Last month against McNeese State, for example, Weber State kicker Sloan Calder ran for a 10-yard touchdown on a fake field goal. The Wildcats won that game, 42-41.
Turnovers, too, were something EWU head coach Aaron Best emphasized this week, and understandably. The Eagles’ turnover ratio this year is minus-5, tied for 107th in the 126-team FCS and worse than every other Big Sky team except Portland State (-8). Six of those turnovers have come on interceptions by starting quarterback Nate Bell.
The Wildcats are even on the season in the turnover ratio, mostly because they forced five (and gave away just one) last week against Portland State.
**3\. The players in the backfield with Nate Bell.** Of the Eagles’ 234 rushing attempts this season, 95 of them belong to the redshirt sophomore Bell. Redshirt junior running back Marceese Yetts is next with 48, followed by redshirt senior Jared Taylor (39) and redshirt freshman running back Kevin Allen III (25).
Those carries mean that the 5-foot-10 quarterback is potentially taking more hits, a risk any offense takes when it designs quarterback runs to exploit the plus-1 advantage in the running game.
But a big game from an Eagles running back would ease the pressure on Bell significantly, and the Wildcats have allowed the second-most rushing yards (1,544) in the Big Sky. If there was ever a week for the Eagles to see what their running backs can do, this is it.