It was Eastern Washington's time to be in the spotlight. With James Madison going down the week prior and South Dakota State needing overtime to knock off Indiana State, the Eagles were looked at as a Top 4 team in the FCS. All-American quarterback Gage Gubrud was out with a foot injury, but EWU didn't miss a beat the previous week with Eric Barriere leading the Eagles to a 55-17 win against Southern Utah.
Things were going good as EWU looks to return to being a national power.
Then Weber State's defense stepped on the field. All the momentum was put to a halt Saturday. The Wildcats dominated once again defensively in a 14-6 home win to improve to 4-2 and knock EWU down to 5-2 in a game with a ton of postseason implications.
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Weber is playing some of the best defense in the FCS right now. And even with an anemic offense, this team showed it can beat anyone in the country, like it almost did last year in the quarterfinals against top-seeded James Madison.
EWU has one of the best offenses in the Big Sky. The last time the Eagles were held below 10 points was in 2010 versus Montana State. On Saturday, EWU managed just 247 total yards with 62 on the ground. Barriere, who combined for three touchdowns the week before to go with 233 passing yards and 98 yards rushing, was held to 18 yards rushing on 14 attempts and 185 yards passing with two interceptions. EWU did not score a touchdown and Barriere was sacked four times.
Full highlights of tonight's win over No. 3 Eastern Washington!#WeAreWeber #BigSkyFB pic.twitter.com/J7EVzZo4mN
— Weber State Football ???? (@weberstatefb) October 14, 2018
The level of defense Weber is playing makes them a serious threat come playoff time. The unit will be able to keep the Wildcats in any game. Couple that with a special teams unit as good as there is in the country, and this is a team no one wants to face.
The one area of concern (and everyone within the Weber program is probably sick of hearing about) is the offense. It's a legitimate thing to pick at because the offensive line is big and physical. The running back room is very talented with Josh Davis playing like the best freshman in the FCS and last year's starter Treshawn Garrett back from injury.
But scoring only 14 points on EWU, one being a 75-yard punt return by Davis, is a problem with all that talent on offense. The Eagles have made a lot of improvements defensively, but it's still not a great unit and allows 23.3 points per game.
Quarterback Jake Constantine, who started his career at Boise State and played at Ventura College in 2017, hasn't been consistent. The sophomore has only one game where his completion percentage was above 60 percent. His season-high for passing yards is 168 against Northern Colorado while two games have been below 100 yards. His touchdown-to-interception ratio is OK at 6-3.
Defense and special teams can take you a long way. But at some point, especially in the playoffs where the Wildcats have high aspirations after almost upsetting the eventual national runner-ups, you're going to need your quarterback to make plays and the offense to give the defense some cushion.
Weber is a tough out for anyone in the country and no one will want to see the Wildcats in the postseason. If the offense can get better, look out. This team might just play spoiler like it almost did in 2017.
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