The Eastern Washington University defense had a banner day in the final scrimmage of preseason practices, holding a shorthanded offense to 196 yards in a 65-play scrimmage Saturday (Aug. 24) at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.
 
The defense had eight passes broken up and five quick-whistle sacks in holding EWU offensive units to 28 yards on the ground and 168 through the air. The offense played without Walter Payton Award candidate Eric Barriere, as well as a quartet of All-Big Sky Conference offensive linemen, but did have a clean afternoon with no turnovers.
 
"Everything we do we can get something out of, but it wasn't as crisp as we wanted," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "A part of that is we held a lot of our starters out, which most people do a week before the first game. But you like those guys who do play to compete."
 
In 17 possessions, the offense scored only twice – an 11-yard touchdown pass from Gunner Talkington to Johnny Edwards IV, and a 37-yard field goal by Andre Slyter. Eastern's new placekicker in 2019, Slyter made field goals of 45 and 43 yards in a scrimmage on Aug. 17.
 
The first six possessions were a sign of things to come, as the defense allowed just 78 yards and two first downs on 24 plays (3.3 per play). The offense followed with a three-play, 63-yard touchdown drive, helped by a pair of defensive penalties for 25 yards. Slyter's field goal came on a seven-play, 41-yard drive that included a 29-yard pass – the longest play of the day for the offense – from true freshman Kellen Kranc to redshirt freshman Terence Norman.
 
Hometown product Ty Graham, who will redshirt the 2019 season, paved the way with eight tackles, including a sack. The safety is a transfer from the University of Idaho and 2016 graduate of Cheney (Wash.) High School.
 
Safeties Tysen Prunty and Dehonta Hayes each had three tackles and a pass broken up, and linebacker Justin Patterson had four tackles with a sack.
 
With Barriere out, Talkington, Krance and true freshman Trey Turner combined to complete 16-of-31 passes for 168 yards. Minus five sacks for 29 yards in losses, EWU rushed for 57 yards. Redshirt freshman Isaiah Lewis had 21 yards on 11 carries and senior Dennis Merritt added 15 on five. Four receivers had at least two catches, including senior Dre' Sonte Dorton (17 yards), junior Talolo Limu-Jones (30) and redshirt freshmen Anthony Stell Jr. (27) and Freddie Roberson (11).
 
The Eagles open their season at Washington on Aug. 31 and then will have its home opener versus Lindenwood on Sept. 7. The Eagles lost 25 seniors from last year's team, but do return 47 letterwinners with five starters back on offense and six on defense.
 
"It's not official until Sunday," said Best on the season and game week being upon the defending Big Sky Conference champions and NCAA Division I runner-up. "Unofficially official I think we are prepared mentally. We are going to continue to progress and create our own identity throughout the course of the year. It's not going to happen over a week or a month -- it's going to happen over the course of the year."
 
 

Scrimmage Statistics

 
Scoring Plays 
Johnny Edwards IV 11 pass from Gunner Talkington (Seth Harrison kick)
FG Andre Slyter 38
 
Rushing: Isaiah Lewis 11-21, Dennis Merritt 5-15, Tamarick Pierce 5-0, Gunner Talkington 1-3, Antoine Custer Jr. 1-8, Trey Turner 8-minus-11, Kellen Kranc 3-minus-8, Totals 34-28 (29-57 not including seven quick-whistle sacks and one bad snap)
 
Passing: Gunner Talkington 5-of-11 37 1td, Trey Turner 6-of-10 57, Kellen Kranc 5-of-10 74, Totals 16-of-31 168 1td.

Receiving: Talolo Limu-Jones 2-30, Anthony Stell Jr. 2-27, Freddie Roberson 2-19, Dre' Sonte Dorton 2-17, Terence Norman 1-29, Johnny Edwards IV 1-11 1td, Tamarick Pierce 1-8, Isaiah Lewis 1-6, Andrew Boston 1-5, Dennis Merritt 1-4, Michael Taras 1-1, Blake Gobel 1-11, Totals 23-307 1td.
 
Tackles Leaders: Ty Graham 8, Justin Patterson 4, Anthany Smith 4, Tysen Prunty 3, Dehonta Hayes 3, Sebastian Gomez  3, Soli Paleso'o 3, Bradley Alexander 2, Trevor Davis Jr. 2, Joshua Jerome 2, Rudolph Mataia Jr. 2, Jacob Newsom 2, Brock Harrison 2.
 
Interceptions: None.
 
Passes Broken Up: Darreon Moore 1, Tysen Prunty 1, Dehonta Hayes 1, Bradley Alexander 1, Joe Lang 1, Tamir Hill 1, Cale Lindsay 1, Jacob Newsom 1.
 
Sacks: Ty Graham, Justin Patterson, Sebastian Gomez, Warren Hardin, Soli Paleso'o.
 
Forced Fumble: None.
 
Fumble Recovery: None.
 
 
 

More Comments from Head Coach Aaron Best . . .

 
On Scrimmage: "I thought that we would be more consistent on offense. We would like those twos who are acting as ones and those threes who are acting as twos to be more consistent. You really hope that there is a lot of energy and a lot of made plays on both sides of the ball. They are at the end of camp -- we have all been there, coaches included. They know the last team meeting of camp is tonight and we start to prepare for the Huskies tomorrow. Some of that, whether we like it or not, starts to creep in, especially with the older guys that have been there and done that with multiple camps."
 
On Turning the Page to Game Week: "We still have to mature as a football team. I don't think we are as close as we need to be from a maturation stand point. A part of that is leaning on coaches, but most of that leans on the upper classmen who have played a lot of games. We will be in adverse situations a week from now -- I can guarantee you that. Hopefully we have taken a step forward to be ready for those adverse situations, and to come out of those situations knowing we can make a positive out of a negative."
 
On Solidness of Two-Deep: "I don't know, after today it's like playing the lotto. We will have to look at film, but I don't think there was a ton of cleanliness, especially in the white jerseys. The reads weren't awesome, the snaps weren't awesome, the blocks weren't awesome, the holes that were there weren't hit awesome. It doesn't mean that we have bad players -- that is far from the truth. We just had a bad day at the office. That can be due to lack of energy, lack of focus, or the lack of time preparing for ourselves and now preparing for someone else. We will look at it, but I don't know how much we will be able to take from this. I'd like to see some guys step up into situations that we haven't seen before. We might see from the film, and go, 'ah-ha we found a guy that's making the trip.' There may be guys that make the trip west with us or there could be guys that fell based on some situations. We will see after we take a look at the film, but there wasn't a ton of plays made by the white jerseys all day long."
 
On Eric Barriere Not Scrimmaging Being Precautionary in Nature: "It is, and he's had a ton of reps in practice. Gunner Talkington has progressed, and the more he can get with the ones the better. As we all know, Barriere was a 10-game starter by default after Gage went down. He has 10 under his belt, so to me it's preparing the next player at his position. We will get Eric into the game plan as we move into next week. Some of them are the coach's decisions and some of those are other people's decisions. In this situation it was the coach's decision, and I chose to keep him out and see it form a different perspective two weeks in a row."
 
On Freshmen in Scrimmage: "I think that the guys who made breakthroughs late in the scrimmage will probably be in Cheney next Saturday. I mean that literally. Most of those guys are 18 years old who just got their high school diploma in June. Some of the guys who made plays were high schoolers. Our No. 1 offensive line didn't even suit up today. So our twos became ones and our threes became twos. In some of those situations it's great to get repetitions and get experience. The majority of those guys made it look like we were running a screen every play when we were actually trying to drop back and pass. It's frustrating for the black shirts (quarterbacks) when they can't get the ball out. That doesn't mean that when you get a legitimate offensive line in front of you that it will be the case. A lot of those players who allowed a lot of those pressures and the hurries will be redshirting this year."
 
On Trey Turner's Status as No. 3 Quarterback?: "To be determined -- it will be interesting how that third one works out. Obviously you don't like to play a third quarterback in any season, much less a freshman that ends up being in that situation. So we will see how Trey and Simon (Burkett), along with Kellen (Kranc) kind of progress and see things. The games a little fast for those guys, but I do think you see how he kind of extends plays out here and enough to be able to get out of harm's way at times. Ideally you don't want to ever have to play your third quarterback in his true freshman season. But if he gets some seasoning, sees it from the sideline and gets to experience some of those stadiums and Saturdays -- all while redshirting -- I think we all benefit from that. "
 
On Belief He Has in The Team's Mature, Experienced Players: "Tons! You believe in the ones you love, and I love that whole locker room. I love those guys but they don't always make me happy nor do I always make them happy. It's just one of those deals where sometimes we aren't always going to see eye to eye -- maybe they're going to think the played better than they did, or I thought they played better than they thought they did. So it's a back and forth. There's enough maturity in that room to put our arms around people and go okay. Now we can actually get into what are game plan will be and what we are going to employ next. I'm not concerned at all about the maturation of this team. I'd rather have it sooner rather than later but it's going to take the entire season to get to where we need to be."
 
On Positives from Preseason Practices: "I think the cornerback position will be interesting to see. I think we found some guys that were maybe a little further along than we thought they were going to be coming in with losing our top four corners. I think our health has been pretty good across the board.  Our offensive line is going to be just fine. We're still trying to find just a couple playmakers like we talked about last week in the receiver room. We have a good hunch who our top 4 or 5 guys are but we are usually traveling seven, sometimes eight. We want them to be pivotal on special teams and/or going to function on offense. I think once we get a game or two under our belts seeing those guys in live action will give us more data and a better evaluation as far as that goes. We are only a year older and your experience doesn't make you better just because you're a year older as a human. As a bottle of wine – and I'm not a wine drinker -- I think the older you are the better you are. We will see how this unfolds but I have a lot of confidence in this team and a few of those positions are a pleasant surprise."
 
On Andre Slyter's Improved Consistency: "He has! He has a stronger leg than Roldan (Alcobnedas). Slyter can hit them, but he can get down on himself, which can play some minds games on you sometimes. He can thump the ball, so it's just a matter of doing the Roldan thing and crafting that ball in between the pipes. But he's been consistent the last two weeks with people in the stands, so the better he is the better we are."
 
On Starting Punter: "It might be me. We are going to use some things and employ some things, so maybe it will be (true freshman) Nick Kokich for all we know. Andre is concentrated solely on kickoffs and field goals right now. So whether it's Trevor Bowens, Seth Harrison, Anthany Smith, or Nick Kokich., we will see. So, maybe by committee, which is not ideal but we have to do what's best for the team."
 
 
 

Tentative Schedule of Remaining EWU Practices

Times and locations are tentative and subject to change. Practices usually last for two hours. Media interviews need to be coordinated and approved in advance with Dave Cook/text via 509-280-2502, but typically take place 20-30 minutes before the practice time listed or after scrimmages. Days available for media availability with assistance from EWU Sports Information staff are marked below with ***. Be sure to always confirm practice times and locations prior to departure for campus. No interviews after Wednesday before games, with Tuesday afternoon before practice the typical pre-game interview day (could be afterwards depending on time practice begins). Preseason practices are scheduled to take place at the EWU Sports and Recreation Center practice fields through Aug. 13 and then at Roos Field after that and during the season.
Sunday, Aug. 25 – No Practice
Monday, Aug. 26 – 1 p.m.
***Tuesday, Aug. 27 – 1 p.m. -- Media Availability before practice
Wednesday, Aug. 28 – 1 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 29 – 1 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 30 – Walk-through at UW
Saturday, Aug. 31 –Opener at UW, Noon Pacific time on the Pac-12 Networks