UNI football opponent breakdown: Eastern Washington

Northern Iowa returns to Cedar Falls for its home opener for 2015, welcoming No. 7 Eastern Washington to the UNI-Dome for a 1 p.m. kickoff. The Eagles lost to Oregon in their season-opener, 61-42, and were FCS quarterfinalists last season — losing to eventual national runner-up Illinois State.

Each week we'll have the Panthers' opponents schedule and results, its offensive and defensive outlook, highlight key players and offer a prediction with the help of a beat writer for the opposing team. This week it's Jim Allen, who covers Eastern Washington for the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash.

OPPONENT SCHEDULE/RESULTS

Sept. 5 at Oregon, L 61-42

Sept. 12 at UNI

Sept. 19 vs Montana State

Sept. 26 at Sacramento State

Oct. 10 vs Cal Poly

Oct. 17 at Idaho State

Oct. 24 at Northern Colorado

Oct. 31 vs Weber State

Nov. 7 vs Northern Arizona

Nov. 14 at Montana

Nov. 21 vs Portland State

OFFENSIVE OUTLOOK

Eastern Washington employs a creative, fast and most importantly an efficient offense. That much was obvious last year, averaging 44 points per game, and last weekend in putting up 42 on Oregon. The fashionable up-tempo spread offense is operated beautifully by quarterback Jordan West, who was 23 of 34 for 293 yards and three touchdowns against the Ducks in the opener. He has a myriad weapons at his disposal, and uses them.

Receivers Cooper Kupp, Kendrick Bourne and Shaq Hill had 104, 52 and 52 catches respectively last season and are all back and producing again. In the opener, Kupp had 15 catches for 246 yards and three touchdowns. Bourne had five catches for 60 yards, Hill had four for 49 and both had one touchdown. It's as talented of a group as what UNI just faced in Iowa State, so the Panthers' secondary has another firm test. The run game is not heavily relied upon — Jabari Wilson was the leading rusher with 10 carries for 43 yards — so UNI will most often be pass-defense situations.

The offensive line is solid and experienced and they too have experience and some depth. The Eagles are not afraid to gamble and can make a defensive coordinator insane.

From Allen on Eastern Washington's offensive outlook:

'It shouldn't surprise people that the Eagles hung 42 points on FBS power Oregon. They've been doing this for years (49 at Oregon State in 2013, 52 at Washington last year) and they have the talent to do it again. Quarterback Jordan West can make every throw, and he's protected by an all-senior line anchored by left guard Aaron Neary. Running backs Jabari Wilson and Malcolm Williams aren't going to scare UNI, but the receiving corps could be the best in FCS. Last week, two-time FCS All-American Cooper Kupp had 15 catches for 246 yards, both personal bests and Autzen Stadium records. Wideouts Kendrick Bourne and Shaq Hill are legit deep threats, and the tight ends are capable of making the big play.'

DEFENSIVE OUTLOOK

By contrast to Eastern Washington's highflying offense, the Eagles' defense has not struck fear into anyone recently. EWU lines up in a base defense that mirrors the Nickel package most base 4-3 defensive schemes deploy. UNI had success when Aaron Bailey broke containment, and Oregon much more of the same type of success against Eastern Washington.

The edges are filled by Jonah Jordan and Samson Ebukham and the pair combined for six tackles — one of which was a sack. The defense overall had just three total tackles for loss in the game and that one sack. Granted, Oregon was the No. 7 team in FBS coming into last weekend and has one of the best offenses in the country, but EWU struggled mightily being spread out and forcing its defenders to make tackles in space. The idea behind running the Nickel defense is to counteract the speed of high-octane offenses, but the Eagles have come up short dating back to last season.

Overall it's a fairly young defense, of which it will be important for UNI to take advantage.

From Allen on Eastern Washington's defensive outlook:

'The rebuilding began on the ashes of the 59-46 FCS quarterfinal loss to Illinois State. In that game, the Eagles gave up scores on ISU's nine drives. A new defensive coordinator, Jeff Schmedding, was promoted to make some changes. Schmedding instilled a 4-2-5 that puts more speed on the field in a reaction to all the spread offenses out there. Senior roverback Todd Raynes is the key player in this scheme, and he can help in run support. The d-line is smallish, but 310-pound Matthew Sommer is a presence inside. Linebacker Miquiyah Zamora, a junior, is probably the best player on the defense. The secondary is inexperienced, with first-time starters at boundary corner and free safety. Eastern is starting six underclassmen on defense this week.'

KEY PLAYERS

Cooper Kupp, WR — UNI Coach Mark Farley compared Kupp to Iowa State's Allen Lazard at Farley's weekly press luncheon. Kupp is just a tad smaller at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, but he's every bit as fast and has proved himself to be one of the most productive wide receivers in the country. His gigantic aforementioned season-opener follows in line with what he's done for his career. He's a single game into his junior season and already has 212 catches for 3,368 yards and 40 touchdowns. He will have another big day against the Panthers, but just how big that is will go a long way to determining if UNI can keep up.

Miquiyah Zamora, LB — With Bailey still the starter and with his ability (see: tendency) to scramble and make plays with his feet, Zamora is going to have the chief responsibility of spying No. 15 and directing the defense on the field. The junior, as Allen said, is likely the Eagles' best defender. He had five tackles last week and was second on the team last season with 102 total tackles, five for loss, 1.5 sacks and one interception. His awareness and experience will be important, especially if Sawyer Kollmorgen sees time for UNI.

PREDICTION

From Allen: Eastern Washington 38, Northern Iowa 31.

What UNI did well against Iowa State should be available to do well on Saturday, given what EWU lacks on defense and what the Panthers excel at on defense. If the Panthers can get a pass rush on West and force him into hurried throws or away from his desired location, it could mitigate the effect of the Eagles' offense. Attacking an inexperienced EWU secondary will be important, but UNI has not proved it can do so yet. In the end, it's going to be which offense can be more efficient, and that's clearly the Eagles. Eastern Washington 31, Northern Iowa 27.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com