LA GRANDE, Ore. – On a cool day on the Oregon range, Azusa Pacific met it’s match, at least defensively.

The NAIA’s No. 6-ranked Cougars squandered 2 golden scoring opportunities in the final 3 minutes of the game and as a result suffered their first road loss of the season, falling to upstart Eastern Oregon, 14-10. While the setback is not fatal to the Cougars’ playoff hopes, it nonetheless puts a serious crimp in their desire to host any postseason play.

At the outset, Azusa Pacific appeared to be headed toward its fourth straight road win and its fifth of year, moving out a 10-2 lead by early in the second quarter. However, the Mountaineer defense wasn’t about to take a back seat to Azusa Pacific’s nationally-rated defense, and kept Azusa Pacific out of the end zone over its final 9 drives, forcing crucial turnovers insides its own 25-yard line on the final 2 Cougar possessions.

Meanwhile, the Mountaineers mustered just enough offense to post the upset. Eastern Oregon’s only touchdown of the day came on a fake end-around in which Mountaineer wide out Jacoby Fox connected with TaShawn Dickerson on a 30-yard TD pass to give EOU its first lead of the day at 11-10 less than 3 minutes into the second half. Cody Boom then added his second field goal of the day, a 30-yarder with just over 5 minutes left in the game to force Azusa Pacific to go for TDs on its final 2 possessions.

On the ensuing drive, Azusa Pacific drove to the Mountaineer 27 before tight end Ricky Burgan fumbled away a 19-yard reception with 2:22 left in the game. Three plays later though, EOU quarterback Scott Jensen gave it back when he dropped a wet ball that Cougar LB Jacob Fisher fell on at the Mountaineer 34 with 2:06 remaining.

Azusa Pacific QB Eric McClenahan then hit a streaking Jon Miller for a 22-yard pass on the first play to give the Cougars first-and-10 at the EOU 12-yard line. However, the drive stalled. After a 2-yard run by RB Alex Peltier, McClenahan, who was making his first-ever collegiate start in place of the injured Sean Davis misfired on his next 2 pass attempts, and then on fourth down, under heavy pressure, threw an interception in the end zone to secure Eastern Oregon’s upset victory.

Azusa Pacific struggled on offense all day. In fact, through 2-and-a-half quarters, the Cougars mustered just 86 yards worth of total offense. They finished with 202 on the day while EOU managed 191 yards of total offense. The Cougars converted just 2 of 13 third-down plays.

With the loss, Azusa Pacific falls to 7-2 on the season while Eastern Oregon improves to 5-3.