Eastern is 20 less scholarships and two less coaches playing FCS football in the Big Sky. Definitely a D1 cupcake with a granite frosting.
I don't get this Eastern is a cupcake bullshit AT ALL. I was in the stands in 2011 when Eastern kicked the huskys up and down the field, dominated on both sides of the ball. Give the home team credit for cashing in on some stupid mistakes of Eastern's, like fumbling a punt return.
If you don't get it then you don't get football which even in the collegiate game is more attitude and hard work in preparation, both physically and mentally, than it is talent or means such as number of scholarships and size of coaching staff. I was on site in husky stadium gagging at that EWU-UW game in 2011 which we won only because Trufant with his talent, experience, and football smarts saved the day. He knew where the EWU QB was going to throw the ball to the back corner of the end-zone and he run the route better than the receiver to intercept the pass.
I'm convinced that without Trufant we lose and suffer the worst, most ignoble, greatest embarrassment in the history of Husky Football. I'm also convinced that EWU's aerial circus success that day was the result of another game when a Holt managed Husky defense simply didn't show up with any kind of game plan or preparation to stop the opponent's passing offense in any way. The competitor in Trufant learned enough through 59 minutes of being schooled by a Big Sky FCS passing attack to outsmart the EWU QB and finally make one decisive defensive play.
How can any football team not be ready to play on Saturday against an inferior opponent? How can they go through a week of preparation by not working hard and/or not entering the game with a winning game plan? There's a lot of football coaches in college ball who say they don't have the answer to those questions while claiming that if their kids for any reason choose not to work hard and seriously without distraction, there's little or nothing they as coaches can do to change their attitude in time for kickoff. Many years ago, Don James had great difficulty motivating his Huskies into working hard to prepare for the AC. It was the last game of the season and it often meant little to beat the coogs while of course it was always an embarrassment to lose. The Dawgfather's solution was to spend an inordinate amount of his time publically fluffing up the cooglosers as worthy opponents during the week prior to kick-off.
Football is still just a game where BCS Pac-12 student-athletes, be they UW Huskies or OSU Beavers, for the most part don't appreciate the opportunity to beat-up on FCS Big Sky EWU. In football, lack of respect can easily equate to lax attitude and unpreparedness. The EWU Eagles, most of whom are instate kids passed over by the Pac-12, conversely have zero problem being amply motivated for a trip to Husky Stadium. It's their only shot at a bigtime bowl game.
It will be interesting to see what Petersen does to motivate his Huskies for playing a game that shouldn't even count in the win column. This will be a new situation for Coach Pete in that at Boise State, his Broncos always had to win every game with no exceptions no matter what kind of opponent was scheduled if they were to go undefeated and possibly get invited to a BCS bowl. The alternative was typically another trip to the Maaco bowl in Las Vegas which was motivation enough to not lose.