Swogger may be in for a surprise

Eastern Washington's record is bad, but Eagles have talent on defense

Don't be surprised if the University of Montana-Eastern Washington football game on Saturday is closer than expected.

The kickoff is at 3:05 p.m. MST from EWU's Woodward Field in Cheney, Wash.

Sure, Eastern has lost twice at home to two lowly teams: Division II Central Washington and Sacramento State. But the notion is the Eagles over looked Sac State last week in letting the Hornets rally for a 21-20 victory.

"They looked right past last week's game and it cost them," UM coach Bobby Hauck said. "They'll be geared up for us."

The Eagles are 1-4 and off to their worst start since 1983. But two of the losses are to I-A programs.

"They're certainly better than their record," Hauck said. "Our staff has done some figuring and if you throw out the Oregon State and West Virginia games, they ar third in the conference in defense."

UM senior quarterback Josh Swogger is off to an awesome start and has accomplished more than what was advertised when he transferred from Washington State University. Only one of his 19 passes hit the turf last week in Portland. True, he had two interceptions. But he finished 16-for-19 for 203 yards and a touchdown as well as rushing for 47 yards. He has received a lot of publicity for his 38-yard run in the Grizzlies' final drive that set up a field goal against Portland State.

"I don't know what happened, actually," Swogger said. "I just kind of started running and my legs took over, I guess. You probably won't see that too often."

Not only did the Spokesman-Review do a story on Swogger, but he has given the Griz enough value to vault the team into tied for first in the I-AA.org Gridiron Power Index, which is a composite of six different computer rankings, with top-ranked New Hampshire.

In three games, Swogger has completed 46 of 75 passes (61.3 percent) for 547 yards and five touchdowns. He has rushed for 74 yards.

But the Eagles have good talent on defense.

Second-team all-Big Sky safety Brandon Keeler (6-3, 215) and first-team all-Big Sky free safety Bryan Jarrett lead the way.

"Our safety position is the best it's ever been at this university," EWU coach Paul Wulff said. "We have some great players there. We feel very comfortable with one cornerback and need to develop another, but our safeties are outstanding."

Keeler leads the team in tackles with senior linebacker David Eneberg. Jarrett hasn't played in two weeks because of an ankle injury. Outside linebacker Nick Denbeigh is a second-team all-Big Sky selection who is now playing safety with a broken hand. Defensive tackle Keith Grennan and defensive end Greg Peach are the team's third- and fourth-leading tacklers.

On offense, the Eagles are going through changes, which was to be expected with Walter Payton Award-winning QB Erik Meyer and All-American WR Eric Kimble graduating.

But redshirt freshman QB Matt Nichols took over the starting QB job early from junior Chris Peerboom, who suffered a concussion. The Eagles went to a four-wide receiver offense last week and Nichols threw for 329 yards.

"I like their quarterback," Hauck said. "He runs around pretty well and throws downfield really well."

The Eagles have two all-conference linemen, but starting all-conference RB Ryan Cole is being outplayed by freshman Toke Kefu, who Wulff wanted to redshirt this season. He has 191 yards on 52 carries in two games.

"We expect to see Cole at running back along with the Kefu kid," Hauck said. "He (Cole) is healthy and he's a good player. We have a high regard for his ability. We thought he would be the next-best runner in the league after Lex (Hilliard)."