Finally got the chance to watch some more eagle tape and I'm feeling pretty darn good about this match up. My honest assessment is that they are a smaller and weaker version of sdsu if you want a comparison to a previous opponent.
I said earlier that their 2 best players on defense are the linebackers #40(Kupp) and #58. Both have good speed and pursue great on lateral running plays but they don't fair near so well when they have blockers coming at them. They also blitz these two on obvious passing downs for pressure and they are good blitzers. I'm surprised that #99 Jay-Tee Tiuli was the defensive player of the year in the conference. He's big and heavy and pretty nimble for a guy his size but he's certainly not dominant. Not worried about him against our O-line. Their d-line doesn't rush the passer all that well either including Tiuli.
Bottom line is that we should be able to run right at them between the tackles with all of our tailbacks and have success. Mix in play action and we should be scoring a lot of points if we don't make bad/stupid mistakes because we have ewu out-gunned up front.
Eastern will have to score a lot of points to beat the Bison. I'm most impressed with the tailback #20. He's a north/south runner who just has a knack for finding a hole to run through. You consistently see him sprint through small seems and turns them into big chunk plays. Their oline doesn't drive block as much as they try to move guys laterally and create empty gaps with zone blocking. Barriere like to run the ball on zone reads, too, so the defense has to account for him on run plays. He also LOVES to scramble around on pass plays and extend the play. That is probably where he is most dangerous is on the run, if the defense breaks contain can take off for 30+ yards so Entz probably has QB spy plays ready to go. Barriere is not all that dangerous as a drop back passer, though. They have good receivers as usual, but Barriere has a propensity to force bad throws from the pocket so I'm thinking we will get a couple interceptions off of him.
So...the Bison run the ball, the Bison stop the run and we win. Go Bison!