#1 Eastern Washington Eagles (6-1, 5-0 BSC) AT Southern Utah Thunderbirds (3-5, 2-3 BSC)
Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 • Noon Pacific
Eccles Coliseum (8,500) • Cedar City, Utah
Last Meeting: EWU won 31-24 (Cheney)
TV: None.
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http://goeags.com/sports/m-footbl/2012- ... uthernUtah" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;Two years later and the Eastern Washington University football team has its work cut out for it again against Southern Utah and Brad Sorensen.
The highly-regarded Thunderbird quarterback will try to lead his team to an upset victory against the top-ranked Eagles when EWU travels to Cedar City, Utah, for a Big Sky Conference game that starts at noon Pacific time. Southern Utah enters the game 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the Big Sky, while the league-leading Eagles are riding a five-game winning streak and are 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the league.
“It will be an extremely tough game,” said Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin. “They have one of the best, if not the best, quarterbacks in the nation. He can really throw it from the pocket and he’s consistent. They do some great things and this road game will be a huge challenge for us.”
Two years ago, during Eastern’s march to the NCAA Division I title, Sorensen completed 34-of-53 passes for 434 yards and two touchdowns, and he had his team primed for an upset against the then fifth-ranked Eagles. In the third quarter alone, Eastern was out-gained 161-4 and the game was tied at 24 in the fourth quarter.
But thanks to a pair of interceptions by Eastern’s Jesse Hoffman on SUU’s final two possessions, the Eagles were able to prevail 31-24. Eastern won the turnover battle 4-1 against a team that had only had eight turnovers in its first 10 games of the season. And Eastern recorded six sacks and had 11 passes broken up.
That was one of 10 games Eastern has won the last three seasons when trailing or tied in the fourth quarter.
Last week, Sorensen completed 33-of-47 passes for 320 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but SUU’s rally came up short and the Thunderbirds fell at home to previously winless Weber State, 24-22. Southern Utah, which converted just 3-of-14 third down conversions, trailed 21-6 before scoring 16 of its points in the final 21:49. The Thunderbirds missed on a potential game-tying two-point conversion with 54 seconds left.
Earlier this season, the Thunderbirds lost by just seven points to Montana State and knocked off Montana 30-20.
“They are very solid at what they do,” said Baldwin. “They understand their schemes and what they do best. Their offense plays fast because of that. They are a very good football team.”
Eastern, meanwhile, held off Sacramento State for a 31-28 victory at home at Roos Field, further improving Eastern’s best-ever Big Sky start. Eastern survived in its first outing since reaching the top spot in the Sports Network NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 poll.
“The Big Sky Conference, apparently, is nothing but nailbiters,” said Eastern quarterback Kyle Padron, who transferred to EWU from Southern Methodist. “So we’ll take the victory – a win’s a win. We’re 5-0 in the conference and it’s on to next week.”
The Eagles have made close victories commonplace thus far, and their only loss came in a narrow 24-20 setback at Washington State on Sept. 8 when EWU had a chance to win on the game’s final play. Despite having a 454-288 advantage in total offense against Sacramento State, the Eagles have now won their last two Big Sky games by three points, and two other league outings by six.
“There is such a fine line in the league when it comes to wins and losses,” added Baldwin. “Southern Utah is right there with the great teams in the conference we’ve played.”
Eastern remains the top team in the Sports Network NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 poll, with a 27-24 victory over then second-ranked Montana State catapulting the Eagles from sixth to the top spot. It’s the third-straight year Eastern has been ranked No. 1 at one point in the season.
“Like Coach (Beau) Baldwin says, every game is a playoff game,” said starting quarterback Vernon Adams. “We just want to keep winning games and get to the national championship – that’s our goal.”
