``Remember 1994!''
``I couldn't believe they did that,'' said UW-L defensive tackle Ivey. ``It wasn't very smart. Talk about stoking the fire.''
UW-L refused to revisit the debacle of 1994, using a strong-armed defense and a sometimes impressive, sometimes AWOL offense to thump UW-Eau Claire 28-6 Saturday before 2,746 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Fans who braved a 30 degree temperature ð which dipped much lower with the wind chill ð would not see a repeat of Eau Claire's stunning 13-8 victory in 1994.
Instead, UW-L moved to 6-0 in the WSUC, clinching at least a share of the conference title. The Eagles could lock up their second consecutive WSUC title, and fifth in the last six years, by beating Whitewater next week at Whitewater.
UW-L, 8-0 overall, also extended the nation's longest college football winning streak to 22 games. Eau Claire fell to 3-3, 5-4.
``We have a lot of high expectations on this team,'' said Eagle linebacker Chris Woreck, who stepped in for injured Andy Alvis at middle linebacker and recorded three tackles.
``Like Travis DeFlorian was saying, we're not real good at sharing. We don't want to share the title with anyone.''
UW-L's defense again carried the team, holding high-powered Eau Claire to 181 total yards ð 243 below their average. Eau Claire, which came into the game averaging 190 yards rushing, was held to 72. The Blugolds also committed four turnovers, all on interceptions.
``You have to give a lot of credit to our linebackers. Guys like Chris Woreck really stepped up,'' Ivey said. ``Right away we wanted to establish the line of scrimmage (as ours), and we did that.''
The Eagles' offense took advantage of great field position and turnovers at times, while other times it looked out of sync. After failing to seize a perfect scoring chance just nine seconds into the game on a Chad Hoiska fumble at the Eau Claire 27 yard line, UW-L used a 24-yard punt return by Mike Bechtel to set up its first TD.
Quarterback Jeff Baker made a nice fake to the fullback, then dumped a 2-yard scoring pass to Dave Nagel for a 6-0 lead with 8 minutes, 57 seconds left in the first half. Thad Dugan's PAT kick deflected off the right upright, leaving the score unchanged.
``We tried to exploit the middle. It was so wide open,'' said Baker, who was 12 of 23 for 152 yards with two TD strikes. ``It was like throwing at the broad side of a barn. You can't miss.''
UW-L made it 12-0 when Mike Bechtel ran a sweep to the right side, and reached the end zone after an 8-yard run. Baker then hit Toby Krause with the two-point conversion pass, making it 14-0 with 5:19 left in the first quarter.
Then, almost in a repeat of last week when it took a 14-0 first-quarter lead against Stout, UW-L's offense went into a funk. UW-L went 27 minutes, 39 seconds ð and 39 plays ð before it scored again.
``We played well enough to win,'' UW-L coach Roger Harring said. ``The defense played solid again. We knew we could shut down their offense.''
Eau Claire despite a lackluster first half where it gained just 66 yards and was intercepted four times, was only two scores down at halftime because UW-L simply did not take advantage offensively.
``We gave them good field position time after time. We threw the ball away too much. We can't throw the ball away five or six times against a bad team and expect to win. Here we are doing it against the No. 1 team in the country,'' Eau Claire coach Bob Nielson said.
``I was pleased with our defense. We played our best defensive game of the year.''
And that was enough to keep it close in the first half. In the second half, UW-L's offense showed what it is capable of doing, piecing together a 15-play, 73-yard drive where the Eagles converted four third-down plays. Former Logan standout Ryan Shaver capped the 7-minute, 20-second drive with a 2-yard TD run.
Dugan's PAT kick made it 21-0, UW-L.
``I was pleased the way we came out and pushed the ball down the field in the second half,'' Harring said. ``Baker, when he steps up and throws, made a couple of critical passes in that drive.''
If that Eagle drive didn't take the sting out of Eau Claire, a 14-play, 80-yard drive to open the fourth quarter did. Once again Baker capped the drive with a 4-yard scoring pass to Nagel.
``Sometimes I think the offense is trying too hard or trying to do too much,'' Woreck said. ``We know they can do it.''
Eau Claire scored on a 6-yard run by reserve quarterback Eric Ostmoe with 4:25 left, but it was too little too late.
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