Over the past few decades, Eastern Washington has developed a reputation built around offenses that, if not unstoppable, were at least capable of keeping the team in virtually every football game.

The program produced a handful of CFL quarterbacks, as well as a few NFL receivers. One of them, Cooper Kupp, was later named Super Bowl MVP for the Los Angeles Rams.

After the 2010 season, on an offense that produced 397 yards per game, the Eagles won an FCS national championship, the only one claimed by a Big Sky team since Montana, Eastern’s opponent Saturday night in Cheney, won a national title in 2001.

In the fourteen years since, Eastern has produced some of the most productive offenses in college football, including the 2021 squad that averaged 44 points and 555 yards of offense per game. That team, which finished 10-3, also produced four of the 12 highest single-game yardage totals in program history.

All of that sets an exceptionally high bar for any Eastern Washington team.

But it also makes what Eastern Washington’s offense has done — or struggled to do — through four games this season historically remarkable, because the Eagles’ offense barely resembles those high-powered units of the past two decades.

Eastern is 1-3 heading into this weekend’s Big Sky opener at Roos Field. In the three games since the lone win, 42-27 over Monmouth (New Jersey), the Eagles’ offense has failed to gain 400 yards in a single game.

The last time the Eagles failed to cross that threshold in three consecutive games was 2017. During that three-game stretch, the Eagles lost to Southern Utah, defeated Weber State and lost to North Dakota. They finished 7-4 overall and 6-2 in Big Sky play and were left out of the FCS playoffs.

The Eagles have taken care of the football this season by turning the ball over just twice, and they have run the ball successfully, averaging 4.5 yards per carry, better than last year’s season average of 4.1 .

But the passing game just hasn’t kept up.

“If we can become more explosive through the air, not just in the short and medium game, that opens a lot of doors for us,” EWU head coach Aaron Best said during Tuesday’s media availability, “because I consistently think (on offense) we have being able to run the ball for the better part of four games.”

The Eagles have played one FBS opponent (Nevada, last week) and three FCS teams in non-conference play. They averaged 403 yards per game, exactly what the 2010 national title team averaged (Taiwan Jones averaged 160 of those yards per game).

But that 2010 team also held opponents to 378 yards per game; this year’s squad has allowed an average of 443.

Eastern hasn’t thrown the ball particularly often this season either, with 117 passing attempts and 163 rushing attempts, belying its reputation as a throw-first program.

What Best said he would like to see are more explosive plays, noting that if the Eagles could score three or four more long runs against Montana, that would help their play-action and RPO play.

Through four games, the passing attack hasn’t produced much of that explosive play, and the Eagles haven’t seemed to try to throw the ball deep as much either.

“Everyone wants to complete a few balls down the field and stretch the defense vertically,” said Marc Anderson, EWU’s head coach and passing game coordinator. “We certainly have the capabilities to do that. We have the players to do that. We have all the pieces. … Those things will come if we continue to defend and execute.”

One reason for the Eagles’ lack of deep passing is undoubtedly the absence of senior Nolan Ulm, who has played little since the season opener when he caught five passes for 40 yards and a touchdown.

Junior Noah Cronquist has returned for touchdowns of 40+ yards in each of the past two games. One of those came on a double pass from quarterback Michael Wortham, who was in the backfield during the play.

Starting quarterback Kekoa Visperas has attempted all but 13 of Eastern’s passes this season.

He has been remarkably efficient, completing 82 of 104 attempts, the best completion percentage (78.8) in the Big Sky.

But he’s also averaging 203 yards per game, 72 fewer than last year.

One obvious explanation is that Visperas has shared photos with Wortham and with redshirt junior Jared Taylor, who has 139 rushing yards on 27 carries this season. His presence has made the Eagles’ offense more versatile and versatile, forcing opponents to consider the varied skill sets of all three quarterbacks. For example, Wortham has rushed for 101 yards, thrown for 44 yards and caught passes for another 47.

While Anderson has heard concerns that Visperas’ rhythm could be disrupted by switching in and out, he said they are overblown.

“Everyone seems to be talking about that except the quarterbacks and the guys on offense,” Anderson said. “It doesn’t seem to affect them. They don’t flinch when they fall away.”

Still, the Eagles face a tough stretch of Big Sky games in which their next five opponents are all ranked in the FCS Stats Perform Top 25. If there’s a time for the Eagles’ offense to explode and look as explosive as it has done so many times over the past two decades, this is it.

“Things haven’t gone our way in the last few games, but that doesn’t matter,” Visperas said during Tuesday’s media presence.

“My belief in the team is that we are a very good, championship-quality team, and we will continue to swing no matter what.”