EWU opens FCS playoffs today
CHENEY — The team that plays its games at “The Stripes” gets to play at its distant relative, “The Inferno.”
The 14th-ranked Central Arkansas Bears, home of the purple and white striped field in Conway, Ark., visits the red turf of Roos Field to play third-ranked Eastern Washington today (1 p.m., ESPN3, ESPN 700, 105.3 FM) in the second round of the NCAA FCS playoffs.
Central Arkansas is 10-2 and finished as the runner-up in the Southland Conference with an 8-1 mark. The Bears advanced to play the Eagles with a 31-24 victory over Illinois State last Saturday. Down 17-7 in the third quarter, UCA scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to pull out the win over the Missouri Valley Conference foe.
“Their overall athleticism and playmaking ability really stood out,” said Eastern coach Beau Baldwin, whose team’s last playoff game was a 59-46 loss in to Illinois State in the 2014 quarterfinals. “They make plays downfield, on special teams and their return units. They are athletes and they are aggressive too. There is an explosiveness to their football team that will make it tough on us. That’s why they’ve won 10 games this year.”
The UCA-ISU game was played at Estes Stadium, which in 2011 was adorned with a purple and white striped field — hence the nickname “The Stripes.” The Bears won their first 12 games on the new turf, and last Saturday’s win made them 29-6 in six seasons there.
Eastern, meanwhile installed its red turf field in 2010 and re-named the stadium from Woodward Field to Roos Field after $500,000 was donated to the project by former Eagle and 10-year Tennessee Titan offensive lineman Michael Roos and his wife Katherine. Eastern was a perfect 8-0 in the debut season, and EWU went on to win the 2010 NCAA Division I title. The Eagles have won 85 percent of their games there since 2010 with a collective record of 39-7 and a 5-0 record this season.
Eastern enters this year’s playoffs 10-1 and as the No. 2 seed overall to guarantee the Eagles will host games up to the National Championship game on Jan. 7 in Frisco, Texas.
The Eagles have never played Central Arkansas, which features an offense and defense both ranked in the top 20 in FCS in yards and points. The Bears are 15th in scoring defense (20.9) and 14th in total defense (320.1 yards per game), with the second-best defense against the run (72.8). Offensively, the Bears are averaging 34.7 points to rank 14th and 439.4 yards to rank 19th.
“We are in for a very, very big battle Saturday,” Baldwin said. “They have some guys up front on defense that are not only big and are good players, but they are active and have playmaking ability. They are impressive, and anytime you only give up about 70 yards rushing the ball, it starts with the D-line. They are very athletic behind them too. They can make some plays and cover in man-to-man.”
The Bears are making their third appearance in the FCS playoffs, and were a NAIA power before moving to NCAA Division II and eventually NCAA Division I. They won NAIA titles in 1984, 1985 and 1991, and their path to the ’84 championship included a 44-6 trouncing of Central Washington. Interestingly, they tied for national titles in 1984 and 1985 — the same result Central would have in 1995 when Baldwin was an assistant coach for CWU.