Slow motion

SUU offense stalls again in 49-14
loss to Eastern Washington

By DAVID DeMILLE
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

The Thunderbirds fell to an impressive opponent, 49-14 to Eastern Washington Saturday.
SUU was in the game after a third-quarter touchdown made it 21-7, but 28 points in the final quarter by the Eagles made it a blowout.
The ’Birds had trouble moving the ball on offense once again, allowing the explosive EWU offense to take advantage of plenty of opportunities.
Against a team that had scored over 50 points in each of its last two games, SUU needed to produce offensively, but was unable, going three-and-out four times and punting ten times.
“When we block it right it goes right,” head coach C. Ray Gregory said. “If we don’t, it’s just bad. (EWU) ran just about everything exactly how we thought, and we had prepared for them all week. We just aren’t getting it done.”
The ’Birds were getting it done occasionally, but only in stretches, and the Eagles always had a response.
At one point in the third quarter the Thunderbirds gave themselves a chance when defensive tackle Tonga Mounga recovered a fumbled snap at midfield.
The pumped-up ’Birds then scored on a 35-yard run by Chris Williams after quarterback Dustin Randolph used a great spin move to break free and ran for 29 yards down the sideline.
After that 2-play drive the T-Bird defense held, and the offense had another chance to score, but stalled when Randolph had to leave a few plays after taking a big hit.
“I thought we’d caught a chance there,” Gregory said. “We had some momentum and were getting things going, but something always got in the way.”
The inability of the offense to move the football was apparent for the third straight week.
Despite some success with the passing game late, the team finished with only 237 yards, far less than the Thunderbirds are used to.
“As a receiver, I just block my outside guy,” wideout Wes Patterson said. “I don’t know if we’re missing our blocks or just not getting our assignments down, but something’s not right.”
Patterson and fellow receivers Nick Ervin and Matt Hammer found openings in the Eagle defense, but Randolph was often too busy scrambling to find any open receivers.
“We had some chances to throw,” Patterson said. “But Dustin faces so much pressure back there that when he does have chances to pass, he’s usually in scramble mode and it’s hard for him to find people.”
Fullback Jay Gaynor tacked on a touchdown late with a 9-yard run, and Dave Pretzer’s successful extra point moved him into a tie for the school’s all-time record with 111.
He should pass Herkey Marxen for the record in the Thunderbirds’ next game.