Sep. 10—After suffering an apparent knee injury in Eastern Washington's 34-24 victory Saturday over Northern Iowa, redshirt junior linebacker Samarai Anderson will be out for the rest of the season, EWU head coach Aaron Best confirmed on Tuesday.
"Obviously it's very unfortunate news for anybody, but especially a captain and a guy we lean on not only on defense but as a team," Best said of Anderson, who was playing in his 30th game for the Eagles. "He'll be with us when he can be with us; he just won't be on the field. He'll bring some juice to the sidelines."
This week, the Eagles will look to replace Anderson's leadership and on-field production while facing a formidable foe: No. 11 South Dakota, a team that is 2-0 and a program that lost to Montana 52-22 in the FCS quarterfinals last season.
"They are very good," EWU offensive coordinator Marc Anderson said. "They've had a ton of success over the recent years, and they are highly ranked. You never know what that means (early in the season), but they're ranked for a reason. They're a really good team in a really good conference."
South Dakota is coming off a 38-23 victory over Northern Colorado in one of just four matchups this season between the Missouri Valley Football Conference and the Big Sky Conference.
Saturday's game — which will kick off at 11 a.m. — is the first in a home-and-home between the Eagles and Coyotes. Next season, they are scheduled to play in Cheney.
The only previous matchup between the two programs came in 2011, when the Coyotes defeated the Eagles 30-17 in a September nonleague game in Vermillion.
"I have a lot of respect for what they do in that league," South Dakota first-year head coach Matt Vitzthum said during his weekly news conference on Monday. "I know they have a lot of respect for our guys. I'm super grateful we get to go against each other in multiple weeks here."
South Dakota opened its season with a 59-20 home win over Central Connecticut State, which last season won its league, the Northeast Conference, and was its only representative in the FCS playoffs.
Redshirt freshman Austyn Modrzewski has started both games at quarterback for the Coyotes, completing 30 of 42 passes for 482 yards and eight touchdowns without an interception. He also had a 68-yard touchdown run against CCSU.
"He's a good player," EWU senior defensive end Jaden Radke said. "He's athletic, he's big, and I think he makes his reads well."
Radke stepped into the starting lineup in place of redshirt senior Dishawn Misa, who is still listed as a starter on this week's two-deep.
Redshirt junior LJ Roberts is now listed as the starter in Anderson's place at linebacker, with redshirt junior Matt Eskridge II listed as the backup. Both played last week after Anderson was injured.
Even without Anderson, Eastern's defense is heavy on upperclassmen, and as a unit they have impressed Vitzthum.
"They're a very aggressive defense. They play downhill," he said. "A lot of times you're going to see 11 defenders under 10 yards. We're going to have to play really, really well this Saturday to get a (win)."
Looking at the other side of the ball, Vitzthum said the Coyotes scout team has a tough job this week trying to simulate the Eagles' up-tempo offense, which can get defenses out of rhythm.
"Their offense is going to do some things that we don't see a ton of," he said. "They're going to spread the field out more than we're used to in the Missouri Valley."
A victory Saturday would help both teams' playoff resumes immensely, but it would be especially helpful for the Eagles, who lost their season (and Big Sky) opener to Northern Arizona. The Eagles also still have to face the University of Washington on Sept. 19 before they get back to conference games the rest of the regular season. After this matchup, South Dakota heads west to play Boise State.
Eastern hasn't had a winning record through the first three games of a season since 2021, when the Eagles won their first seven games and eventually reached the second round of the playoffs.
"It's never been easy in nonconference (games) around here," Best said Tuesday. "I've been a part of a lot of nonconference games as head coach and assistant coach where you want to play the best, and then when you get into league (games) you're playing the best. It's the best conference in the nation.
"For us to be able to play teams like South Dakota, Northern Iowa out of conference, and then the University of Washington, hopefully the competitive nature of who we are playing against helps us in the eight-game stretch of the Big Sky slate."
