 "Photo: Karl Anderson")
Having spent several seasons as a coach with Appalachian State in the 1990s, Texas Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill understands the mindset of a smaller school trying to prove something to the nation.
It happened to Michigan in 2007, and in order for it not to happen to the Red Raiders - who play Eastern Washington at 6 p.m. Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium - Tech needs to realize that the Eagles will hold nothing back, McNeill said.
"I think they're coaching hard on fundamentals," he said. "I think they'll limit and play their best football players in the game. I think Appalachian played only a handful of numbers against Michigan, I think you'll see that. I think you have to be aware of any kind of trick type stuff on all sides of the ball."
Eastern Washington, a member of the Big-Sky Conference, is no cellar dweller in the Football Championship Subdivision.
In the preseason poll of FCS schools, Eastern Washington is ranked No. 7 in the nation due to a successful 9-4 campaign in 2007 that ended with a 38-35 loss to three-time defending national champion Appalachian State in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs.
Coach Beau Baldwin returned to EWU this season as head coach after a one-year hiatus at Central Washington in 2007 steered him away from his previous position as offensive coordinator of the Eagles from 2003-2006.
Preparing for Tech, whose No. 12 ranking is the highest since the school was No. 8 in 1977, should not be too hard of a task for Baldwin, considering many of the players that are now juniors and seniors were freshman and sophomores when he was offensive coordinator in 2006.
In that season, EWU started with losses to then-No. 6 West Virginia and Oregon State by a combined score of 94-10. However, Baldwin said he believes he has a more mature team in 2008.
The game pits two potent offensive systems that have racked up plenty of yards against opposing defenses. EWU's average of 462.3 yards per game ranked fifth in FCS in total offense and was eighth in passing with 295.4 yards.
While Tech plays close to a pass-only spread offense, EWU will step away from its passing options to run the ball if necessary, Baldwin said.
EWU running back Dale Morris ran for 930 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Eagles last season.
Tech coach Mike Leach complemented the Eagles' style of play, which might as well be a distant cousin of Leach's offense.
"The similarities, I guess, is everybody is trying to use the whole field," he said, "and get it in a lot of people's hands, but they do a good job there as well. It's not an accident that they've had quite a bit of success in the past."
The question for Baldwin is whether his defense can slow down quarterback Graham Harrell and All-American Michael Crabtree in an offense that averaged 529.6 yards per game a year ago.
"It's gonna be a tremendous challenge, no matter who plays Texas Tech," Baldwin said. "Anyone in the country, it's gonna be a challenge on that defense, and you're never gonna stop those guys. They're too good. They're too talented."
Eastern Washington quarterback and 2007 Big Sky Conference MVP Matt Nichols - who threw for 3,744 yards and a school-record 34 touchdowns - said Tech is not the only team trying to win a national championship this season.
On the other hand, Nichols said after watching film on Tech's defense for two weeks, he believes safety Darcel McBath and cornerback Jamar Wall headline a defensive secondary that could make it difficult to get the ball into space.
"They're very, very, very fast," Nichols said. "Catching up to the speed of their defense, they're obviously going to be a little faster than what we see everyday in practice with scout teams and everything."
McBath said the Eagles' close loss to Appalachian State in last season's playoff proves the team can play with anybody in the nation if a few things go their way.
"Coach Leach talks about it a lot," McBath said, "and I definitely don't want to make SportsCenter for that. We can't let that happen."
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