Fall 2021 - Week 3 - vs Eastern Washington

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ST_Lawson
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Date/Time: Saturday, September 18 at 3 PM
Location: Hanson Field, Macomb, IL
Weather Forecast at Kickoff (as of 9/14): 83 and clear, 0% chance of rain, ~7 mph wind

WIU Radio: Mixlr, Q98.1 (Cuba, IL), I also heard a promo on Classic 103 (102.7 in Macomb) saying they were the home of Leatherneck Football, so I wonder if that means they'll be on there now too
EWU Radio: 700AM/105.3FM ESPN Radio (Spokane, WA)
TV/Video Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: https://goleathernecks.com/sidearmstats ... ll/summary
Game Notes: Western Illinois, Eastern Washington

Gameday Protocols

Well, our first Big Sky matchup this year was not what we had hoped, but hopefully we can end up with a better result this time around. Two games into the season, our offense is averaging 294 yards per game (79th in the FCS) with 239 ypg through the air (32nd) and 55 ypg on the ground (105 of 114 FCS teams). We held the ball for 29:13 in the game against Montana, putting our average on the season at 30:08 (58th in the FCS). Defensively, we allowed 242 yards and 1 TD on the ground and 276 yards and 5 TDs through the air for a total of 518 yards. We're sitting at 28th in the FCS in turnover margin, with a net of +1 per game. Other stats we're doing well in are intercepted passes, where we're 15th in the FCS with 3 so far including one for TD against Montana. In last weekend's game, we had 8 penalties for 85 yards.
Individually, DB Michael Lawson is #3 in the FCS in solo tackles with 8.5/game, and WR Dennis Houston is 3rd in receiving yards with 280 and 10th in receiving TDs with 2.
You can view our full ranking summary here.

Eastern Washington is currently 2-0 on the season, having won their opener at FBS UNLV, 35-33 in 2 OT, then hosting DII Central Washington and rolling them 63-14. They are currently ranked #7 in the STATS FCS poll and #6 in the AnyGivenSaturday.com Poll. Like us, EWU has a strong passing offense, putting up 348 ypg (7th in the FCS) through the air, but they also have a solid ground game, tallying 210 ypg so far (18th). QB Eric Barriere (pronounced Bare-E-A"...like Perrier) has practically lived on the Walter Payton Watch List over the last 3-4 years and is included on the preseason watch list again this year (he finished second last year). He averages 319 yards per game passing with 6 TDs (both put him at 6th in the FCS currently) and overall they have the 5th best scoring offense, putting up 49 points per game. Obviously some of that is skewed by playing a DII team, but the last full season they played (2019) they put up over 40 points per game, so that number is not out of the "norm" for EWU lately. In general, it looks like he spreads things out quite a bit, with the top receiver averaging 80 ypg and 5 different receivers all getting over 30 ypg. On defense, the Eagles allow 23.5 ppg (41st in FCS) and 286.5 ypg (20th) and are led by Senior LB Ty Graham, who has 20 tackles this season (10 solo) including 3.5 for loss and 1 interception. DL Joshua Jerome is another one to watch, with 8 tackles including 4 for loss (2 sacks) and a forced fumble.
The full stat rankings for Eastern Washington is here.

This game will probably be a bit more of an offensive shootout than the Montana game. EWU has a decent defense that is fairly strong against the pass, but they're not like Montana's defense. I don't have a lot of hope that we'll be able to slow down the Eagles air attack, but maybe finally getting a chance to play at home will make a bit of difference. Our best hope in this game is that our offense is able to put together a huge game themselves and we can keep pace with Barriere and his receivers. Either way, this is the longest I've gone without going to a WIU football game since before 1996, so it'll be nice to be back to in-person football again.

Predictions:
Massey Ratings gives us a 39% chance of victory, with a predicted score of 33-28. This is actually a higher chance of victory than we currently have against anyone else we play this year except Indiana State and Illinois State.
Jeff Sagarin Ratings lists us as the 180th best DI team and Eastern Washington sits at 118th.
 
 
 
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sealhall74
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My wife and I will be making the trip in from Davenport.  Will be her first time on campus.  I am just hoping for a competitive game into 4th quarter.  A win would be nice but getting some confidence, even with a tough loss, knowing you can compete with the top FCS teams, more important.  I could see us winning at least 2 of next 3 after this one.  Then things get really tough.
 
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leatherneckcountry
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This game may very well come down to endurance as this might be one of the warmest games I've gone to.
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sealhall74
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My wife just called from her dental office all excited.  A little about the upcoming game but more about maybe getting to meet and take XRays of Skubie Mageza's teeth this week before he leaves KWQC for ESPN.   ;)
 
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Necks2003
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Hoping that I am wrong....but this has the feeling of a dumpster fire beginning if we get blown out once again.
letsgonecks
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Necks2003 wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 2:46 pm Hoping that I am wrong....but this has the feeling of a dumpster fire beginning if we get blown out once again.

 
I feel ya here.  This team has way too much talent to not be a .500 team.  That's a tall task with this schedule, as I wouldn't say anyone at this point is a gimme, but will be very disappointing.  I'm hoping the Montana game was simply playing the best team in the FCS and on the road to boot.  Something similar to 2010 and getting our asses handed to us by App State.  We had a very talented team, just no match playing the best team on the road.  Think we would have faired better without the snow in that game, but clearly out match.  
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sealhall74
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Question.  I know the Union food shops are available but can I indulge in a pre-game meal at one of the residence hall cafeterias?
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GV Dad
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I think this is gonna be a track meet. Guessing both teams will score in the high 30s if not 40s. 
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ST_Lawson
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sealhall74 wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 8:23 am Question.  I know the Union food shops are available but can I indulge in a pre-game meal at one of the residence hall cafeterias?


 
It looks like both Thompson Hall and Corbin-Olson dining centers do brunch on Saturdays from 11 AM to 1:30 PM (and dinner from 5:15 to 6:30). I have heard that anyone can stop by and eat there, but if you want to be sure, you can ask Sodexo Campus Services here: http://www.wiu.edu/student_services/din ... /index.php

None of the places in the union are open on Saturdays though (their hours are here: www.wiu.edu/student_services/dining/Locations/union.php)
 
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sealhall74
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ST_Lawson wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:02 am
sealhall74 wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 8:23 am Question.  I know the Union food shops are available but can I indulge in a pre-game meal at one of the residence hall cafeterias?



 
It looks like both Thompson Hall and Corbin-Olson dining centers do brunch on Saturdays from 11 AM to 1:30 PM (and dinner from 5:15 to 6:30). I have heard that anyone can stop by and eat there, but if you want to be sure, you can ask Sodexo Campus Services here: http://www.wiu.edu/student_services/din ... /index.php

None of the places in the union are open on Saturdays though (their hours are here: www.wiu.edu/student_services/dining/Locations/union.php)
 

 
Not open on the weekend, Is that a new covid thing?  Never was like that in my memory.  Also, no re-entry to Hanson during the game - that is a head-scratcher too.  Going to Union at half-time to take a leak or whatever was always on my agenda. 
 
Embrace the pace of the race.
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