Sports: Eagles Fall to Ducks

Eastern looks to bounce back following next week’s bye after a 70-14 loss

Box Score The Eastern Washington University football team took on the Oregon Ducks in Eugene, Ore., at Autzen Stadium today (Sept. 10) where they lost 70-14. Following the deficit, EWU drops to 1-1 (0-0 Big Sky Conference) on the year while Oregon improves to 1-1 (0-0 Pac-12).
 
"There are a ton of things to work on. I thought that the defense was out there too long,

we couldn't get the run game going, and the pass game wasn't in sync. There were too many miscues against a good ball club. They were angry, and we weren't angry. I put this on me, this team wasn't ready, and I take full responsibility" said head coach Aaron Best. "At the end of the day, when you punt more times than you have first downs, that's never good. Stats don't tell everything but they tell a lot of things. We punted more than we moved the chains during the course of a four-quarter game, that's not who we are and it's not who we're going to be, but it's who we were today. Again, I take full responsibility, this team wasn't ready and I put that on my shoulders."
 
Oregon scored on its first four drives of the game and would wind up scoring 10 touchdowns in the game, opening up a 28-0 lead. Eastern found the scoreboard with 6:03 left in the half on a seven-yard strike from Gunner Talkington to Jett Carpenter for his first career touchdown in his home state. The Ducks took a 42-7 lead into the half.
 
Oregon opened a 63-7 lead over the Eagles when Talkington found Freddie Roberson through traffic in the endzone on a 15-yard reception for his first touchdown of the season and the 11^th of his career. The Ducks would add two more scores, resulting in the 70-14 deficit.
 
Talkington completed 12 of his 21 pass attempts for 87 yards, adding 22-yards on the ground and threw two interceptions. Kekoa Visperas made his Eagle debut as well, throwing two pass attempts.
 
Micah Smith led the team in rushing yards with 27 on seven carries, and Freddie Roberson led the team in receiving for the second-straight week, hauling in 33 yards on three catches. Ely Doyle, Marlon Jones Jr., and Keshaun King led the team with seven tackles, while five other Eagles recorded six tackles each.
 
Oregon amassed 604 yards of total offense on 89 plays, totaling 263 on the ground and 341 through the air. Eastern Washington had 187 yards of total offense on 51 plays, compiling 100 rushing yards with the other 87 coming through the air.
 
"It's always a good time for a bye. Our kids played their absolute hearts out, the defense was out there for forty minutes. We did a lot of things better on a ground perspective better than we did last week. We got to the ball carrier, we just allowed some really, really, good ball players to get out of our grasp and extend plays. We just couldn't get off the field and then put the defense back on the field with a lot of three-and-outs," added Best. "It's always a good time for a bye week. It's never easy after a loss, this has to fester for two weeks instead of one. The schedule is what it is. We played two and have a bye, and then we'll start out league slate with Montana State. The product that we put out on the field in Cheney in two weeks has to be better than this."  
 
Eastern Washington now has a bye week and will resume action on Saturday, Sept. 24 when it welcomes the Bobcats of Montana State to town for the Big Sky Conference opener. Kickoff is set for 1:02 p.m. at Roos Field.
 
Scoring Summary
 
Oregon got on the board first on its first drive of the game, finding the endzone on a 13-yard reception. The score capped a nine-play, 45-yard opening drive that took 4:09 off of the clock for a 7-0 lead.
 
On the Ducks' second drive of the game, they scored on a five-yard rushing touchdown to end a 72-yard, nine-play drive, to pull ahead 14-0.
 
At the end of the first quarter, Oregon led 14-0 but quickly extended the lead to 21-0 on the first play of the second quarter on a 19-yard receiving touchdown.
 
With 10:10 left to play in the half, Oregon took advantage of an interception and found the endzone once again on a one-yard rushing. The drive lasted for 3:40 and consisted of nine plays and 44 yards.
 
Eastern Washington found the endzone for the first time with 6:03 left to play in the half. Gunner Talkington found Jett Carpenter for a seven-yard strike, capping a nine-play, 38-yard drive that took 3:56 off the clock and cutting the deficit to 28-7. It was the first career touchdown for Carpenter, a Medford, Ore., native.
 
Oregon would pull ahead 35-7 on the next drive on a 13-yard receiving touchdown. The Ducks would score once more as time expired to end a 65-yard, eight-play drive, taking a 42-7 lead into the half. The Ducks did not punt the entire first half.
 
The Ducks would score three times in the third quarter on a two-yard receiving touchdown, and again following an interception. The third score came on a 10-yard rushing touchdown that capped a nine play, 78-yard drive, taking a 63-14 lead into the fourth.
 
The fourth saw the Ducks score once more on a six-yard rushing touchdown.
 
Additional Comment from Head Coach Aaron Best:
"I congratulate Coach Lanning on his first win, it's always memorable, your first win as head coach. They have a hell of a team and got a raw deal going from number 11 in the country to out of the top-25 against a good Georgia team. Kudos to them, congrats to them, but we didn't do ourselves any favors at the same time. Congrats to the Ducks and Coach (Junior) Adams tonight, we coached together for a long time at Eastern and I have a lot of respect for this program. We just didn't do much right today and they did a ton right. Congrats to them."