Oct. 2—Following Eastern Washington's 31-27 loss against Cal Poly last week, head coach Aaron Best was pretty pointed in his criticism of the Eagles' offense, which managed just 87 rushing yards on 43 carries.
Heading into this Saturday's game at 16th-ranked UC Davis (3-2, 1-1 Big Sky), redshirt sophomore running back Kevin Allen III offered a straightforward solution to the team's struggles running the ball.
"Break more tackles," Allen said. "That's point blank, period. That's something we've been saying over and over in film. We've got to turn those four- or five-yard gains into eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, however far we can maximize it. Whatever the offensive line gives us, we have to capitalize on that."
Eastern's inability to run the football isn't for a lack of trying. Only one Big Sky team (Southern Utah with 215) has attempted more rushes than the Eagles have (192), yet just two teams have been less efficient than the Eagles, at 3.2 yards per carry.
That has contributed to an overall offensive effort that is the third-least efficient in the Big Sky at 4.9 yards per play. Some of that is due to Eastern's league-high 14 sacks allowed.
Eastern's defense has mostly kept the Eagles in games, with six interceptions and nine sacks. Both rank among the top third in the conference.
But it's probably going to take a better overall performance for the Eagles (1-4, 0-2) to beat the Aggies in Davis.
Here are three aspects of the game to watch for as the Eagles pursue their second victory of the season:
1. How good is Treynor Cleeland? Caden Pinnick threw for 3,206 yards as a redshirt freshman for the Aggies last season, which was a big reason why he left through the transfer portal and ended up at Washington State. UC Davis replaced him with Treynor Cleeland, a sophomore who was a three-star recruit out of Jesuit High School in Portland.
Cleeland had a big game against San Diego on Sept. 5, throwing for 294 yards and five touchdowns while completing 22 of 31 passes. He also threw for 331 yards against Stetson two weeks ago.
But he struggled against SMU (11 for 26 for 83 yards) and against Montana (18 for 33 for 194 yards), and through five career starts — all this season — Cleeland is 99-of-166 (59.6%) for 1,189 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Eastern's pass defense has been opportunistic, picking off six passes. But it ranks second-to-last in the league in yards allowed per pass (8.9), even if its overall yards allowed per game (251.4) ranks in the middle of the league.
2. How well does Nate Bell play? The Eagles redshirt junior quarterback put together his best two performances in the first two games of the season, with 307 passing yards at Northern Arizona and 257 at home against Northern Iowa.
In the three games since, Bell has completed 56 of 97 passes for 620 yards, and he has struggled to find room in the running game, amassing just 35 yards on 40 carries (figures that exclude the 12 times he has been sacked over that span).
Davis has been stout against the run this season: its 4.6 yards allowed per carry ranks fourth-best in the Big Sky. But it also hasn't faced an offense that is as committed as the Eagles are to the quarterback run game.
Notably, Bell should have his top three targets available at wide receiver, with redshirt senior Wesley Garrett (19 catches, 256 yards) expected back alongside redshirt sophomore Drew Carlson (17 for 169) and sophomore Rylin Lang (14 for 147). Redshirt sophomore Jaxon Branch is expected to miss his second-straight game with an injury; redshirt senior Cole Pruett, a presumptive starter in the preseason, is still using a scooter as he recovers from a lower-body injury.
3. How effective are the kickers? Best was critical of the Eagles' field-goal units, which failed to convert on two field goals and an extra point against Cal Poly.
On the extra point, Best said redshirt senior Soren McKee failed to kick high enough to avoid a block. But he blamed A-gap protection for the field goal McKee pulled wide left and the other one that was blocked.
Had any one of those kicks been made, it would have changed the game.
On the season, though, McKee has been far more reliable (6 of 8) than UC Davis sophomore Robert Meyer, who is 2-for-4 with a long made kick of 33 yards.
Eastern also has looked better in the punting game, where it has the best net average per punt (40.4) yards in the league; UC Davis' net average is 35.1, ninth in the Big Sky.
