#5 Illinois State at #4 Eastern Washington, Saturday, 4:00
The Montana Grizzlies did what they wanted to do against Eastern Washington, but it was not enough to get past the Eagles on the road. EWU was held to just 13 points in the first half and Montana was hanging around. However, a trio of turnovers doomed Montana and Eastern Washington advanced with a 37-20 victory. Vernon Adams threw for just 182 yards and that may not be enough to get past an Illinois State with an offense that can hang around with EWU blow for blow.
Illinois State got revenge against Northern Iowa, who was the only team to beat them during the regular season. The Redbirds wasted no time getting on top of UNI and never looked back, cruising to a 41-21 win. Tre Roberson threw for 382 yards and four touchdowns and Marshaun Coprich rushed for 148 yards. Roberson had time in the pocket and picked apart the Panthers secondary. He made a few plays with his feet, but really did not need to scramble all that often.
Illinois State dominated the time of possession against Northern Iowa and they will need to do that again against Eastern Washington. Keeping Vernon Adams off of the field has been everybody’s game plan against the Eagles, but Illinois State may actually be able to do it. Coprich will be key in that regard. If Illinois State can work through Coprich, move the chains and occasionally finish in the red zone, this will be a very interesting game. And Coprich has certainly done that against some very talented defenses this year, including last week against Northern Iowa. The Eastern Washington defense is not a dominating group and they will have some trouble stopping both Coprich and Roberson. But that is always the case with Eastern Washington and they will simply outscore you. And Adams and company can quickly drop 50 points on Illinois State.
Projected Score: Eastern Washington 42, Illinois State 35
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