Defense stops offense on six of eight possessions to end the first full week of spring practices
There was an obligatory Cooper Kupp touchdown reception, but sophomore quarterback Gage Gubrud and the Eastern Washington University defense also stood out Saturday April 9 in the first spring practice scrimmage at Roos Field.
Gubrud completed 6-of-7 passes for 145 yards and directed the offense on both of its scoring drives in the 43-play scrimmage. But aside from a 67-yard touchdown strike to Kupp, a three-time consensus All-American and the reigning NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Player of the Year, the defense allowed only 188 yards and just two scores in eight possessions.
Gubrud, a 2014 graduate of McMinnville (Ore.) High School, is battling fellow sophomore Reilly Hennessey and senior Jordan West for the starting quarterback job. Last year’s team led the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in passing yards per game at 353.3, with the athletic Gubrud completing 7-of-13 passes for 45 yards and rushing for another 31 in limited action as EWU’s No. 3 quarterback.
“If you were to go back a year ago last spring, I really thought Gage would be right in the mix as well,” Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin said. “Then we came into fall camp, and we just felt like Jordan was going to be the starter.”
Hennessey finished the scrimmage 6-of-12 for 58 yards, and West was 4-of-9 for 46 yards an interception. Kupp finished with three catches for 94 yards, and sophomore Simba Webster had three grabs for 47 yards and a 22-yard TD from Gubrud to cap a six-play, 67-yard drive. Sophomore Stu Stiles out of Spokane’s Mt. Spokane High School also had three receptions for 37 yards.
Eastern’s defense was led by the five tackles of sophomore linebacker Alek Kacmarcik, with senior J.J. Njoku having an interception. There were four quick-whistle sacks recorded and several scrambles blown dead to avoid injury to the quarterbacks. As a result, the offense had 17 yards rushing by running backs but a net gain of just six yards on the ground.
“I thought as we went through the scrimmage it was a tale of both sides a little bit,” Baldwin said. “The defense got the better of it early in terms of some energy and that’s okay — you’re never going to come out of a scrimmage feeling like both sides dominated.
The Eagles scrimmage this Saturday at approximately 9:45 a.m. The annual Red-White game is April 23 at 2:05 p.m.
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