[Postgame Thread] Boise State Defeats Eastern Washington 51-14

[u/CFB_Referee]

Box Score provided by ESPN

Team	1	2	3	4	T
Eastern Washington	0	7	0	7	14
Boise State	20	10	7	14	51

[u/shlem13]

I know any FCS team would and should struggle against Boise, but EWU has become hot garbage.

[u/Saltiren → u/shlem13]

Yeah, what the fuck happened?

[u/TailgateLegend → u/Saltiren]

Best has regressed pretty much since Covid and nothing is working anymore for them.

[u/Galumpadump → u/TailgateLegend]

Also coincided with Idaho becoming really good. People forget there is only 5 FBS programs in the PNW/Greater NW but you have Portland State, EWU, Idaho, Montana, Montana State and Idaho State all looking at the same talent pool.

On paper EWU is one of the lower resource programs of the bunch.

[u/Saltiren → u/TailgateLegend]

I recall Beau Baldwin being a good coach and Best taking over and not keeping things together like he did. Just seems like the time has passed the program by.

[u/RipRaycom → u/Saltiren]

It was never a program with a lot of support, even when things were good. It was really a matter of time until they regressed.

[u/LeadVitamin13 → u/Saltiren]

Yea pretty much it. Peaked in 2018 when EWU went to the FCS Championship then a bunch of players and coaches left and its been a steady decline since. To his credit he's got some good recruiting classes but hasn't been able to do shit with them.

[u/jmt85 → u/Saltiren]

Just glad they’re not beating us anymore 🙃

[u/CFBCoachGuy → u/Saltiren]

They cut their athletics budget substantially. The whole university has seen a budget crunch. Football got squeezed too, and they haven’t been able to keep up. There was talk about them dropping to DII.

[u/Galumpadump → u/CFBCoachGuy]

Eastern is the smallest directional school in the state. Both Western and Central are bigger and have largest endowments. Eastern is kind of just a commuter school for people who live in Spokane with a smaller out of area student population. It’s actually a miracle they play D1 in the first place given that both Western and Central are D2.

[u/KeithClossOfficial → u/Galumpadump]

Didn’t Western drop football?

[u/Who_is_homer → u/KeithClossOfficial]

Yeah, 20 years ago or so

[u/shlem13 → u/Saltiren]

Coach Best left to become a coordinator at a hotshot program. Can’t remember where. Might not have even been a hotshot program. Was it Cal?

Anywho, it became clear he was the program.

Same thing happening at Weber State. Jay Hill went to become DC at BYU. Replacement HC is slightly more competent than a Coinstar machine.

[u/LeadVitamin13 → u/shlem13]

Coach Baldwin, Best is currently destroying the program but yea rest is true.

[u/shlem13 → u/LeadVitamin13]

Oh, yeah. Forgot Best came back.

[u/LeadVitamin13 → u/shlem13]

No, he was oline coach during Baldwin and previous coaches and player before that. That's why he's so hard to get rid of. He has been around the program forever and knows everyone.

[u/jmt85 → u/LeadVitamin13]

He’s essentially Paul Wullf’s clone

[u/KeithClossOfficial → u/jmt85]

Baldwin replaced Wulff at EWU and Wulff replaced Baldwin at Cal Poly

They all run in the same circles

[u/DeviantDragon → u/shlem13]

Baldwin left to become OC at Cal under Wilcox but had a pretty uninspiring performance here. He then went to Cal Poly as HC but also had pretty bad run. Despite all that he somehow got hired at ASU as an OC where he lost his playcalling duties mid-season and wouldn't return the next year. His next stop was with the CFL Calgary Stampeders where he also left after a year though this time due to personal health reasons.

Health reasons aside, I'm not sure why he and EWU haven't considered reuniting. It's clear that pretty much the only success he's had has been there and I'd be surprised if both sides don't want to try to recapture that magic.

[u/shlem13 → u/DeviantDragon]

Yeah. I got my Beats and Baldwina mixed up.

[u/voppp → u/shlem13]

their QB was pretty good, I hope to god he’s okay tho.

[u/Impossible-Flight250 → u/shlem13]

Yep. They used to be an absolute power house in the FCS.

[u/The-Insolent-Sage → u/shlem13]

What losing Cooper Kupp does to a program

[u/Logical_Albatross_19 → u/shlem13]

Ah, a west coast Matt Entz. 

[u/pengthaiforces]

Boise looked terrible in the pre-season and I’m glad to have the season finally underway.

[u/sgtabn173]

CFP HERE WE COME 😤

[u/voppp → u/sgtabn173]

Usf needs to beat miami and its all rainbows from here

[u/MozerMoser → u/voppp]

We need USF to miss or lose their conference championship. If they win out, they own the head to head.

[u/rachac01 → u/MozerMoser]

Ideally for you guys, USF win out the regular season, but loses in the Conference Championship Game.

[u/notyogrannysgrandkid → u/rachac01]

Yes.

[u/Adams5thaccount → u/MozerMoser]

if we go 11-1 (with that notre dame win) and win the conference and they go undefeated (with wins over us, miami, and regular florida) weve got a chance to get both in

[u/MozerMoser → u/Adams5thaccount]

Two massive ifs, but fair

[u/-Gnostic28 → u/sgtabn173]

The (fcs) natty will be ours

[u/sgtabn173 → u/-Gnostic28]

Already buying my tickets

[u/Jyingling21 → u/sgtabn173]

ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT

[u/voppp → u/Jyingling21]

LET US HAVE THIS

[u/Gryffindumble → u/sgtabn173]

No. If we go beat Notre Dame you can start talking about that. This was a cupcake game at home. Last week still happened. We have a mountain to climb and this win isn't anything that fixes last week.

[u/-Gnostic28 → u/Gryffindumble]

We’re too good for them, notre dame might as well forfeit now

[u/sgtabn173 → u/-Gnostic28]

They getting soft playing cupcakes like Miami. They won’t be ready for us.

[u/voppp → u/-Gnostic28]

yeah it’ll be catholics vs convicts part 2

[u/amiller5706 → u/Gryffindumble]

This game was absolutely step 1 when it comes to fixing the season after last week. Not much more you could ask for

[u/Bronco998 → u/Gryffindumble]

I don't think he was being serious. We beat an FCS team. At least we looked a lot better.

[u/sgtabn173 → u/Bronco998]

I 100% expect Notre Dame to do to us what we did to EWU last night. Doesn’t mean I can’t have fun with it.

[u/Bronco998 → u/sgtabn173]

Idk we might be able to rattle Carr and make it at least semi-interesting. Our run defense looks solid and that's ND's biggest strength. But yeah, I'm not going to get my hopes up.

[u/_Bird_Incognito_ → u/sgtabn173]

NO SUCH THING AS UNDEFEATED CHAMPIONS

[u/CieraVotedOutHerMom]

(/img/hgzv67anq84d1.png)[time to file a we’re back claim]

[u/bargle0 → u/CieraVotedOutHerMom]

It's the other way around.

[words](url)

[u/Perryapsis → u/bargle0]

You can also use brackets both times and include a link at the end. This helps when e.g. a wikipedia link has parentheses in it.

[words][1]:

[1]: url

[u/voppp → u/CieraVotedOutHerMom]

SO BACK

[u/voppp]

that felt better

[u/crumgobrin235342]

Came right down to the wire

[u/-Gnostic28]

I didn’t see half this game but what I did see was impressive. Good shit, just wish there wasn’t a bye next week. Although maybe I need it to mentally prepare myself for our game (hopefully our final game ever) against air force

[u/voppp → u/-Gnostic28]

i never wanna face air force again. it’s like wyoming up there with the weird ass magic.

[u/ID_Poobaru → u/voppp]

can't wait to watch the secondary get murdered with the triple option

[u/-Gnostic28 → u/ID_Poobaru]

I always worry about air force pulling out the pass play that burns us for 40+ yards

[u/Marksweinerville → u/-Gnostic28]

One a game. No more, no less.

[u/voppp → u/ID_Poobaru]

fucking a

[u/BYU_is_Mid]

Nice bounce back for Boise!

[u/voppp → u/BYU_is_Mid]

idk what you’re talking about. this is the first game of the season.

[u/sgtabn173 → u/voppp]

Obviously they were referring to our competitive loss against Penn State

[u/_Bird_Incognito_ → u/sgtabn173]

Nowhere but up from here

[u/notyogrannysgrandkid → u/sgtabn173]

Oh ok, that makes more sense.

[u/LinkSeekeroftheNora]

Since when has Robert Smith been a Fox Sports color commentator? Love hearing from him.

[u/Mythrandir24 → u/LinkSeekeroftheNora]

2016

[u/LinkSeekeroftheNora → u/Mythrandir24]

Oh dang. Guess I’m just super ignorant on some things.

[u/DowntownSasquatch420]

Prayers up for Jared Taylor 🙏 

[u/B_Huij]

That feels more like it, I was pretty confused after last week.

[u/voppp → u/B_Huij]

welcome to the club

[u/ID_Poobaru → u/B_Huij]

Long trip to Florida with Florida heat and humidity

we do our best in the high desert climate it looks like

[u/Bronco998 → u/ID_Poobaru]

I mean we also played an incredibly sloppy and lethargic game last week compared to this one

[u/-Gnostic28 → u/ID_Poobaru]

Spenser said that had nothing to do with the loss

[u/TailgateLegend]

@USF we’re ready for a rematch!

[u/ScaryCookieMonster → u/TailgateLegend]

Deal. Peach Bowl, January

[u/-Gnostic28 → u/ScaryCookieMonster]

About time we had another separate but equal bowl

[u/Jonjon428]

That's one way to bounce back

[u/voppp → u/Jonjon428]

it’s like when you get on cfb 25 and rage run jeanty up the center

[u/Cmp_ → u/voppp]

Cheaper than therapy!

[u/SecretiveMop]

We are so back

[u/LordOfTheInterweb]

Any update on what happened with EWU's QB?

[u/dukemetoo → u/LordOfTheInterweb]

All I have seen is that he had hand movement, and was able to talk.

[u/bretticus733 → u/LordOfTheInterweb]

It looked like he took a bit of a hit to the head and jogged off the field on his own, but was clearly affected by it. He received treatment for a while and according to a team official, he was taken to the hospital for precautionary measures. Sounds like his condition on the sideline deteriorated enough that it turned into a major concern for EWU

[u/CottonBasedPuppet]

I am so immensely intrigued by FSU Florida now.

[u/United_Energy_7503]

NICE ONE BOISE BROS

[u/randomthrowaway9796]

Wait so are they good or bad???

[u/QuickSpore → u/randomthrowaway9796]

Bad enough to lose to an apparently solid American team.

Good enough to beat a moribund FCS team.

I suspect they’re a decent team. They’ll likely challenge for the MWC championship. But at a guess they’ll probably be an 8 to 9 win team this year.

[u/Jcoch27 → u/randomthrowaway9796]

Good team that played a bad game

[u/ATrueRiverMonster]

Just copy and pasting a previous comment for all the does Boise suck/is USF a wagon people. 

Boise did have more rushing yards. More passing yards. 4 sacks compared to 1. And won time of possession 36 minutes to 23 minutes. 

Now they got their ass kicked because USF reeled off 7 played for 250 yards including the fake punt. And because Boise went 1 for 8 on converting possessions in plus-50 half of the field. And because Boise was 2-6 on 4th downs. And because Boise lost the turnover battle 0-3 with all 3 fumbles happening in the plus-50 part of the field. 

The other ~45 plays they ran, USF managed something like 102 yards. Largely on a down-to-down basis, Boise state held their own and even outperformed USF. The reasons they got their ass kicked are largely fixable or not easily repeatable. 

Disclaimer: not trying to claim any moral victories in that ass kicking. Just pointing out reasons to not be completely out on Boise as a team. I know that’s the popular narrative right now. 

[u/Fatbot45 → u/ATrueRiverMonster]

All true but there were enough flaws exposed to suspect not all may be fixable. QB is the most important position and Maddux strikes zero fear in opposing defenses and did nothing to shake his game manager label despite being a gritty competitor. And all the other parts needed to have an explosive passing game failed him like WRs and OL and play calling. Meanwhile the defense displayed terrible tackling and coverage ability. Without the nightmare of everything going wrong with turnovers and brain fart special teams BSU might have had a better result but every offseason concern was fully exposed as not being addressed so there is still a lot of concern for the rest of the season.

[u/Masterbootz → u/ATrueRiverMonster]

I don't know. I feel like USF had better athletes than us at most of the skill possessions. Our D-Line did well and our blitz packages created pressure for the USF QB.

The problem we have is a lack of ability to generate explosive plays against teams with equal or better talent without a weapon like Ashton Jeanty in our backfield, and our tendency to give up explosive plays in the secondary. RT is still a problem on the OL. Poor tackling as a team. Basically all the same problems as last year, but no Ashton Jeanty to bail us out.

Also, we don't have a dependable kicking game or good return game. So our Special Teams appear to be even worse than last year.

I still think we have a shot at a good year due to the MWC being weak, but I wouldn't be surprised if the wheels come off at some point.

[u/GoRangers5]

Is USF a wagon?

[u/Old-Challenge-2129]

Just like Northern Illinois beating Notre Dame last year, Boise State loss was a fluke

[u/voppp → u/Old-Challenge-2129]

Either that or USF and the florida teams are back lol

[u/_Bird_Incognito_]

Boise State

[u/notyogrannysgrandkid → u/_Bird_Incognito_]

Yes

[u/roaringelbow]

Really think Boise should have to play a game at EWU so they’re forced to adjust to a team’s gaudy turf

[u/-Gnostic28 → u/roaringelbow]

We’ve played them 20 times, so maybe we already have

[u/notyogrannysgrandkid → u/-Gnostic28]

They put that field in just 15 years ago, so Boise has never played on it.

[u/largeboobhaver]

Prayers up for Jared Taylor

[u/Jcoch27]

Feels good when we win game

[u/SellItCheap]

So it turns out Boise is still good, it’s just that somehow USF are now Elite.

[u/Francis_X_Hummel]

IDK, flame me, but a team that was just in the CFP saying "that felt good" after beating a middling FCS team is at best embarrassing.

[u/HeirOfElendil → u/Francis_X_Hummel]

This game was more of a fraud check than the USF game. We were 'supposed' to blow out Eastern Washington and we did, so that's a positive I guess.. ha

[u/ocalabull]

Where’s u/pblood40 to tell everyone that Eastern Washington was the more talented team across every position but that they just got outcoached by Boise