CHENEY, Wash. — Following their first win of the season, it is back on the road for the Eastern Washington Eagles as they will head to California to face No. 15 UC Davis.
"They are a good team. They have a good offensive line and a good running back and a lot of good players. They are coached well, do not make mistakes and we are looking forward to the battle," redshirt senior defensive tackle Jacob Newsom said.
The Aggies are 2-1 on the season and their only loss came to FBS No. 14 Oregon State.
"They have a pretty good defense, there are lots of hard workers on their team, but hopefully we can work together and get the job done. If we all do our jobs, I do not know how we could lose," junior running back Justice Jackson said.
Head Coach Aaron Best believes the run games for both teams will play a major part in the outcome Saturday.
"If we can control the line of scrimmage consistently, we will have a better chance and it all starts on first down. They are going to make plays and there will be tackles for loss and third down and shorts that do not go our way, but I think if we lean hard enough on our run game, it is bound to break," Best said.
Through three weeks, the Eastern defense has played quite well. Now, Coach Best wants to see his defensive unit prioritize getting his offense the ball back.
"The number one drive this week is turnovers and getting on the plus side of things. We have not been on the plus side in turnovers in three weeks. Heading into week four, we need to get multiple turnovers on defense and keep the ball on offense," Best said.
The defense is continuing to mesh well and after Marlon Jones Jr.'s pick six clinched a win for the Eags on Saturday, the defense believes it might be the star of the show now in Cheney.
"Eastern has been such an offensive school for so long, now we are trying to shift it into being a defenisve school. We want to be the strength of the team and compete with the offense for that title," Newsom said.
The Eags and Aggies will kick it off at 7 pm on Saturday evening in Davis. You can catch the game on ESPN plus.
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