Get to know an Oregon Ducks opponent: Eastern Washington – OregonLive.com
In the run-up to the 2015 college football season, The Oregonian is previewing each of the opponents the Oregon Ducks will meet this fall.
Today, it’s the Eastern Washington Eagles, who play in the season opener on Sept. 5.
Coach: Beau Baldwin (eighth year, 67-25 record at school)
2014 record: 11-3
For Oregon To Win … It can’t let Vernon Adams Jr.’s successor do his best Adams impression and strike fear into the heart of Pac-12 school. Jordan West has the best chance; he was 3-1 as starter last season while Adams recovered from a mid-season injury and no other EWU quarterback has significant experience.
When Adams and the Eagles beat Oregon State in 2013 and came within a touchdown of beating Washington in 2014, they made each defense look foolish defending the spread offense. Adams was a special talent and replacing a three-year starter is never easy for any program, but Oregon will be rolling out its new, largely inexperienced secondary after losing three 2014 starters to graduation.
The Offensive Player You Should Know: Cooper Kupp, junior receiver. Kupp has 2,704 receiving yards and 34 touchdowns in his first two seasons and is the receiver Adams has said is the best he’s ever met. He averages a touchdown every 4.4 receptions and was the FCS Jerry Rice Award winner in 2013, given to the best freshman in FCS. Cooper, a native Washingtonian, is excellent at making one-handed catches in traffic and gets separation easily. He won’t be afraid of a FBS defense: Last year, against Washington’s defense that produced two NFL first-round draft picks, Kupp caught eight passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns.
The Defender You Should Know: Miquiyah Zamora, sophomore linebacker. Zamora, who had 102 tackles in 2014, will be a key piece in how Eastern tries to replace the production of departed linebackers Ronnie Hamlin, the Big Sky Conference’s all-time leading tackler, and Cody McCarthy. With uncertainty at quarterback and a stocked running back corps, it figures Oregon might lean on its running game early against the Eagles, and Zamora will be asked to fill the gaps. Also, you should know that Baldwin shook up his staff and appointed Jeff Schmeddling, EWU’s special teams coordinator since 2008, as the new defensive coordinator in the offseason. He has a big, complicated job after losing Hamlin and All-American safety Tevin McDonald while inheriting a defense that allowed 442 yards per game and was a sieve inside its own 20-yard line, allowing opponents to score 89 percent of the time. According to Spokesman-Review beat reporter Jim Allen, Schmeddling will run a base 4-2-5 defense, rather than his predecessor’s 4-3.
Last Year Against The Ducks: This is the first meeting between the schools. However, the Eagles have won their last five games against schools from Oregon.
Quotable: “If it was tomorrow, Jordan West would start, but the game isn’t tomorrow. … Jordan may have had the lowest percentage completion-wise, but he may have graded out the highest.” — Baldwin, after the Eastern Washington spring game.
— Andrew Greif
[email protected]
503-221-8100
@andrewgreif
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