IS EWU legit?

[El_Gato]

Picked up some EWU/SJSU stats over on egriz:

In 2004, SJSU was #113 in IA.

Yesterday, EWU's defense yielded 290 passing yards and 253 rushing yards DESPITE the fact that SJSU turned it over 3 times.

Yes, Meyer, Kimble & Co. are going to be a challenge for all Big Sky teams, but they are going to have a very slim margin for error if their D is as bad as it looked yesterday...

[CelticCat]

I think SJSU isn't getting enough credit this year. They have a pretty good QB, and a new coach in town. But yes, I think EWUs defense may present problems for them.

[SonomaCat]

I guess I should chime in on this one, as I now finally have some time to post.

During the first quarter of the game yesterday, I really thought that EWU was going to run away with it. SJSU couldn't stop EWU's offense, especially the passing game. Meyer is awesome -- there's not much else to say. And Ryan Cole (the OSU transfer that we were in the hunt for) is the real deal as well. They dropped very few balls (except for one sure touchdown on the first drive that led to a punt), and they can run the ball well. The BSC defenses are in for a real challenge all season.

The EWU defense didn't make a lot of big plays (although they did get two strips for fumbles when the SJSU smallish RB's refused to go down and the pile was still moving and there was one impressive INT ... along with two that were dropped). They had a hard time getting any pressure on the SJSU QB, and the SJSU running game wore them out towards the end. This could be a statement about the strength of the SJSU offensive line, which was big and looked pretty good.

This was a game that could have gone either way, but one minute of the game was all the difference. At the start of the third quarter, with EWU still up, EWU had third and long inside their own 20. Meyer's pass was tipped high into the air, a D lineman intercepted and rolled in the endzone. EWU down by 4. Meyer is hurt on the play (couldn't tell if it was just cramps or something in the ankle/knee). Next series, first snap, the backup QB fumbles the snap. SJSU recovers and scores almost immediately. EWU down by 11. They exchanged TDs and the game ended up that way.

It should also be noted that Meyer did come back for the series that EWU scored on, but then he was knocked out again early in the 4th quarter. The backup just didn't have the firepower without him. Had he still been in, and if EWU had been able to come up with a stop on D, they might have been able to come back. I just think the D got worn out, as one would expect.

SJSU isn't really all that bad, and their new coach (blanking on his name right now) is a coaching legend, and will certainly improve them. There's a lot of excitement (relatively speaking) around the stadium for SJSU football, and several people in the ticket line mentioned that they couldn't remember seeing that many people show up for just a SJSU football game (meaning not the exhibition games featuring a HBCU band) in nonconference. I didn't see the attendance (and the SJSU games don't announce attendance, other scores, stats, or anything for that matter, and they don't have a replay screen of any kind to give any info), but it was probably around 15,000 which is excellent for them.

I think SJSU will be much improved this season, and will win a handful of games.

There were about 400 EWU fans (UM translation = 3,000) there as well, and were quite vocal.

In summary, EWU looked scary good to me at times, and just killed themselves with big turnovers and penalties. If Meyer stays healthy, the offense in almost unstopable. The D wasn't dominant by any stretch, but had moments where they did look good. If a team can run the ball against them, though, they show some weakness. Their dbs are small, but appear to usually cover well. I think they will be right in the mix for the conference this year, along with MSU and UM and probably PSU. Of course, somebody else will throw in an upset or two, so it's anybody's conference.

[SonomaCat]

I just checked the attendance for the SJSU game -- it was just under 12,000. That's above their average by quite a bit, but still pretty bad.

This ties into something funny I noticed yesterday that I forgot to mention. The ticket prices were: GA $10 and Reserved $25. BUT, they had in big signs everywhere (and presumably part of their "It's a new day in San Jose" football campaign) they noted that all tickets were "2 for 1."

So even when offering $5 tickets, hiring a hall of fame coach, apparently showing a lot of progress over their crowds from last season, and having about 6,000,000 people within 50 miles of their stadium, they still only drew 12,000. I guess that should make us appreciate the attendance and support that MSU and UM receive within sparsely populated Montana even more than we do!

[grizbeer]

Thanks for the info, i was expecting EWU to win this game and from the early reports it looked like they would, your report helps explain what happened.

SJSU isn't really all that bad, and their new coach (blanking on his name right now) is a coaching legend, and will certainly improve them.

Dick Tomey, former HC at Hawaii and Arizona, lead Arizona to a #4 ranking in 1998 and several bowl games.

There were about 400 EWU fans (UM translation = 3,000) there as well, and were quite vocal.

Now was that necessary? And you wonder where the term "Griz Envy" comes from.

[SonomaCat]

grizbeer: There's a lot more detail for that particular line over on the EWU thread on egriz. It's a simple algorithm I came up with, actually, and it will probably put me right up there with Pythagorus in terms of the development of math theory.