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Star QB playing or not, EWU still a stout foe for Vandals

by Mark Nelke Sports Editor
| October 27, 2018 1:00 AM

With Gage Gubrud at quarterback, the Eastern Washington Eagles would be a tough test for the Idaho Vandals today at Roos Field in Cheney.

Even without Gubrud, the Eagles (5-2, 3-1 Big Sky) figure to be a load for the Vandals (3-4, 2-3).

Gubrud has missed Eastern’s last two games with a lower leg injury, and his status for today’s game is unknown — at least on the outside.

In his absence, junior Eric Barriere guided EWU to a 55-17 victory over Southern Utah on Oct. 9, passing for 233 yards and a touchdown, and rushing for 98 yards and another score. The next week, Barriere was 19 of 42 for 185 yards and two interceptions as the Eagles lost 14-6 at Weber State — the first time in 10 years Eastern has failed to score a touchdown.

The Eagles, ranked No. 5 in the STATS top 25 poll, and fourth in the coaches poll, had a bye last week.

Gubrud, a senior from McMinnville, Ore., is fourth all-time in passing years at Eastern with 9,984.

“He’s probably one of the best players in the country at his posision,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “The young guy (Barriere) did some good things against Southern Utah. Weber’s a really good defensive team. I’m sure he’s going to be a good one, but right now, it’s like replacing Tom Brady.”

Nsimba Webster, another in a long line of outstanding EWU receivers, has 38 catches for 680 yards (an average of 17.9 yards per catch) and five touchdowns.

Best, formerly the offensive line coach at EWU, has vowed to make the Eagles a threat on the ground as well under his watch. This year, Eastern is averaging 255.1 rushing yards per game.

“It all starts up front,” Petrino said. “I think we’ve got to come out of the blocks fast; we can’t let them jump out to a big lead and make us play one-dimensional.”

This will be the first time Idaho has played Eastern Washington in Cheney since 1994 — the Vandals’ next-to-last season in the Big Sky. Idaho played 22 seasons in NCAA Division I (now FBS) before dropping back down to FBS (the old I-AA) this year.

Eastern hosted Idaho at Albi Stadium in Spokane six times (1999, 1997, 1990, 1988, 1986, 1984) with a pair of wins. Idaho has won all three meetings in Cheney (1994, 1992, 1942). The Eagles trail in the all-time series 15-6, but have won the last two and three of the last five.

“This will be a first for myself, taking on Idaho in a Big Sky game and facing them in Cheney,” said Eastern head coach Aaron Best, who is in his 22nd year as a player or coach for the Eagles. It’s his second year as head coach. “This will be fun, especially when you talk about proximity, fan bases and crossing paths in recruiting. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds in the next few years, but we hope it becomes a natural rivalry again. This in the infancy of the new version of the Eastern-Idaho rivalry, and hopefully it blossoms into a very healthy and passionate game.”

Eastern has brought in additional bleachers to seat 600 more fans for this game, which will push capacity past 9,000, assuring EWU of its 29th-consecutive sellout at the red-turfed field the Eagles call “The Inferno” (a crowd in excess of 8,600).

EWU is 47-10 at home since the red turf was installed in 2010.