Eastern Washington University Athletics

After more history was made by Eastern Washington University senior Cooper Kupp, the Eagle defense established some of its own.
 
Registering its first shutout in its last 102 games, third-ranked and No. 2 seeded EWU rolled past the 12th-ranked University of Richmond Spiders 38-0 in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs Saturday (Dec. 10) at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.
 
The victory advances the 12-1 Eagles to the semifinals where it will host 11-3 Youngstown State next Saturday (Dec. 17) at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time at Roos Field. The Penguins, who defeated EWU in the semifinals of the 1997 FCS Playoffs, defeated Wofford 30-23 in two overtimes in another quarterfinal game Saturday.
 
Tickets for the game are already on sale to the general public via www.goeags.com.
 
Eastern's defense recorded its first shutout since a 16-0 victory over Northern Colorado on Sept. 19, 2009. The 205 yards Richmond had were the fewest EWU has surrendered in its last 28 games since allowing 168 in a 54-3 win over North Dakota on Nov. 1, 2014.
 
Eastern had just one turnover and forced five, equaling EWU's best performance since forcing six versus Villanova on Dec. 17, 2010, in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. Of EWU's 38 points, 17 came after miscues by the Spiders. With six sacks, Eastern had a season high by two, and EWU's most since EWU had seven versus Northern Colorado in 2014.
 
"It was a game full of guts and heart – that's the best way I can describe it," said Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin. "We knew coming out that the field was going to be a little slick and it would be a little colder than what we've played in. But our team handled all the details and little things to be at a point to play that well against a very good opponent in the playoffs. That's not easy to do. Our team was focused the entire week to get that done."
 
Senior defensive end Samson Ebukam led the way defensively with eight tackles, a pair of sacks, two other tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception he returned seven yards. Senior linebacker Miquiyah Zamora, who missed EWU's second round victory with a hamstring injury, had eight tackles and a fumble recovery.
 
Kupp finished with six catches for 128 yards and a touchdown, giving him 6,284 yards in his career to set the collegiate all-division record. He has a FCS-record 30 performances in his career with at least 100 yards, and has scored at least one  touchdown in 42 of the 51 games in his career.
 
The Spiders, making their second trip from Virginia to the West in as many weeks, had defeated Big Sky Conference co-Champion North Dakota 27-24 in the second round to advance to play Eastern. Richmond traveled 1,526 miles to knock off North Dakota, which shared the Big Sky Conference championship with Eastern. The Spiders then went 2,605 miles to face the Eagles. The games was played in 20-degree weather after four inches of snow fell in the 24 hours prior to the game.
 
 
Won-Lost Records . . .  
 
* Eastern is 12-1 overall with its 11th-straight win, and haven't lost since falling to five-time defending FCS champion North Dakota State 50-44 in overtime on Sept. 10. The Eagles finished 8-0 in the Big Sky Conference and was co-champion with North Dakota.
* The Spiders closed the year 10-4 on the season after finishing 5-3 in the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association). Richmond lost 18 players for the season with injuries this year. Among the players lost was second team All-CAA quarterback Kyle Lauletta, with sophomore Kevin Johnson coming off redshirt to replace him. The Spiders survived to win their first two playoff games – 39-10 over North Carolina A&T and then 27-24 over eighth-ranked and No. 7 seed North Dakota.
 
 
What It Means . . .
 
* Eastern advances as one of the final four teams in the NCAA Football Championship Playoffs, which conclude Jan. 7 in Frisco, Texas (9 a.m. Pacific time on ESPN2). The other three teams playing in next week's semifinals are five-time defending champion and top-seeded North Dakota State (12-1 after a 34-10 win over #8 Seed South Dakota State), #4 Seed James Madison (12-1 after  65-7 win over #5 Seed and previously unbeaten Sam Houston State), unseeded Youngstown State (11-3 after 30-23 double-overtime win over unseeded Wofford). The James Madison at NDSU game will be played on Friday (Dec. 16) at 4 p.m. Pacific time and be televised on ESPN2, and the second semifinal between EWU and Youngstown State will take place Saturday (Dec. 17) at 3:30 p.m. and be aired on ESPNU.
 
 
What's Next . . .

* Tickets are on sale now at www.goeags.com for Eastern's second-ever meeting versus Youngstown State (11-3) in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. The game will be played at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash., on Saturday (Dec. 17) at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time and be aired on ESPNU.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* The Eagles scored 17 points off five Richmond turnovers, including EWU's first touchdown of the day. That came after Mitch Fettig forced a fumble that was recovered by Josh Lewis at the Richmond 45-yard line. An eight-play, 45-yard drive followed, capped by a 7-yard touchdown pass from Gage Gubrud to Nsimba Webster. In the second quarter, after EWU's Samson Ebukam recovered a bad Richmond snap at the EWU 24, the Eagles drove 75 yards on nine plays to take a 28-0 lead on a 20-yard touchdown run by Jabari Wilson. In the second half, an interception by Ebukam led to a 53-yard scoring drive on 11 plays that was capped by a 27-yard field goal by Roldan Alcobendas.
 
 
Turning Point . . .

* Ahead just 7-0 and backed up at its own 8-yard line after a Richmond punt, Gage Gubrud avoided a sack for a safety and found Cooper Kupp for a 68-yard pass play – the 36th of his career of at least 40 yards. Three plays later, Gubrud hit Kupp for a 20-yard touchdown to complete the five-play, 92-yard drive and give the Eagles a 14-0 advantage.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Sophomore Gage Gubrud completed 21-of-32 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns. He completed passes to 10 different receivers. He is now just 187 passing yards and 194 yards of total offense from EWU single season records set by Vernon Adams Jr. in 2013. Gubrud has a current total of 4,807 yards this season and 5,365 total yards of offense, compared to marks of 4,994 and 5,559 by Adams.   
* Playing in his 51st career game, senior Cooper Kupp had six catches for 128 yards and a touchdown. He now has at least one TD in 42 of the 51 games he has played (all as a starter).
* Senior Shaq Hill, playing in his 10th postseason game, had three catches for 35 yards and had a 23-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.
* True freshman Antoine Custer Jr. rushed for 50 yards on 10 carries, and helped cap the win with a 9-yard TD run on a nine-play, 82-yard drive early in the fourth quarter.
* Senior defensive end Samson Ebukam led the way defensively with eight tackles, a pair of sacks, two other tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception he returned seven yards.
* Senior linebacker Miquiyah Zamora, who missed EWU's second round victory with a hamstring injury, had eight tackles and a fumble recovery.
* Sophomore linebacker Ketner Kupp, starting in place of injured sophomore Alek Kacmarcik (lower leg), had seven tackles. A week earlier as a replacement for Miquiyah Zamora, he had eight stops.
* Junior defensive end Albert Havili had a pair of sacks and finished with five tackles and a quarterback hurry.
* Senior rover J.J. Njoku and Dylan Ledbetter each had sacks for the Eagles.
 
 
Key Stats . . .
 
* Richmond had a 77-71 advantage in offense in the first quarter, but after that the Eagles had advantages of 135-7, 135-50 and 110-71 – a collective total of 380-128 over the last three quarters. For the game, Eastern had a 451-205 advantage, including 154-48 in rushing and 297-157 in passing.
 
 
Team Highlights . . .
 
* The Eagles have won their last seven games by an average of 22.4 points per game, led by a defense which has allowed just 113 points (16.1 per game) in those seven victories (Eastern's offense has scored 270 for an average of 38.6). Eastern's defense allowed only 24.4 points per game (195 total, second-best in the league) during its 8-0 Big Sky Conference start after allowing 40.7 against three challenging non-conference opponents. Eastern out-scored opponents by an average of 21.0 points per game in eight league games (45.4 to 24.4, total of 363-195).
 
 
Milestones & Records . . .
 
* With a pair of early catches in the first quarter, Cooper Kupp set the all-division collegiate record for career reception yards. Now with 6,284 yards, he surpassed the NAIA record of 6,177 by Chris George of Glenville State from 1991-94 after surpassing NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III records earlier this season. Kupp has broken 15 FCS, 10 Big Sky and 25 EWU records in his illustrious 51-game Eastern career, with FCS records of 418 receptions and 71 touchdown receptions to go along with his yardage total.
 
* Senior Miquiyah Zamora became the 10th Eagle in school history to have 300 tackles in his career earlier this season, and now has a current total of 349 to rank fourth all-time at EWU. With eight tackles against Richmond, he passed Matt Johnson with 341 (2008-11), Derek Strey with 346 (1994-97) and Jason Marsh with 347 (1991-93). In third with 399 is Greg Belzer (1997-00). Zamora missed Eastern's first playoff game against Central Arkansas with a hamstring injury.
 
* With pair of catches for 31 yards versus the Spiders, senior Kendrick Bourne now has 208 career receptions for 3,011 yards and 26 touchdowns, to rank in the top seven in all three categories in school history. A second team All-Big Sky selection in 2016, his touchdowns ranks seventh and his receptions are seventh, with Tony Davis (213 from 2006-09) and his wide receivers coach Nicholas Edwards (215 from 2009-12) the next players to catch. Bourne is now sixth in yards, moving past the total of 2,634 by Edwards against Montana on Oct. 29, and is two yards from fifth (3,013, Tony Brooks, 1990-93).
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* At 12-1, the Eagles are one victory away from the school record of 13 victories set in 2010. This is Eastern's seventh 10-win season in 108 seasons of football at Eastern. The first was in 1967 when Eastern was 11-0 before losing in the NAIA Championship game. Since then, the 10-win seasons include 1997 (12-2), 2010 (13-2), 2012 (11-3), 2013 (12-3), 2014 (11-3) and 2016 (11-1). This year's team equaled the 1997 squad with the best regular season finish in 33 seasons as a member of FCS with a 10-1 mark.
 
* In eight-plus seasons (­2008-present) under head coach Beau Baldwin, the Eagles are 47-1 when they've won the turnover battle, 21-5 when they've been tied and 17-25 when they've lost (total of 85-31). The last time EWU lost when it won the turnover battle came in the 2009 FCS Playoffs at Stephen F. Austin when EWU had two miscues and forced four in the 44-33 loss. Thus, EWU is 38-0 since 2010 when they've won the turnover battle, 18-4 when they've been tied and 15-18 when they've lost. That's a collective record of 71-22 (76 percent), with 18 of those 22 losses (82 percent) coming in games EWU has lost the turnover battle and 53 percent of EWU's wins coming when they've won the turnover battle (79 percent when including ties).
 
* In November and beyond since 2004, the Eagles are now 43-13, including a 13-7 record in the FCS Playoffs. Since 2010, Eastern is 28-6 overall in November and beyond, with the lone setbacks coming in 2015 to Portland State, Montana and Northern Arizona, and in the FCS Playoffs to Illinois State in 2014 (quarterfinals), Towson in 2013 (semifinals) and Sam Houston State in 2012 (semifinals). Until losing to Northern Arizona on Nov. 7, 2015, Eastern had won its last 19 regular season games in November, dating back to a 15-13 loss to Sacramento State on Nov. 1, 2008. Since 2004, EWU has lost just six regular season games in November (NAU, Portland State and Montana in 2015; Sac State and Weber State in 2006; and Cal Poly in 2005), with an overall record of 32-6.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
* Since 2010, EWU has now hosted 13 playoff games at Roos Field, winning 10 of them. The Eagles were the 2010 NCAA Division I Champions after winning three home games in the playoffs and then defeating Delaware 20-19 for the title in Frisco, Texas. Eastern also hosted three games in 2012 and 2013, but lost in the semifinals both seasons. Eastern hosted two more playoff games in 2014, falling in the quarterfinal round. The 12th game was EWU's 31-14 victory over Central Arkansas in 2016 and the 13th was a 38-0 shutout over Richmond in the 2016 quarterfinals.
 
* This is the sixth time head coach Beau Baldwin has taken the Eagles to the playoffs as head coach (2009-10-12-13-14-16), plus two more as an assistant (2004-05). He has coached in a total of 28 postseason playoff games (12 appearances) with a record of 18-9-1, including eight appearances in the FCS Playoffs and two at both the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels when he was at Central Washington.
 
* Eastern is making its 12th appearance in the playoffs in 2016, becoming just the 15th team in FCS to have 12 or more appearances. The other appearances for the Eagles came in 1985, 1992, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. With a 6-5 record during an injury-ravaged season in 2011, Eastern fell a victory shy of making its first back-to-back-to-back appearances, but accomplished that feat in 2012-13-14. The Eagles were also 6-5 in 2015 and missed the postseason.
 
 
Head Coach Beau Baldwin Comments . . .
 
On Peaking at the Right Time: "You want to keep doing the same things we've done all year, but you want to keep peaking and growing as a team. When you are doing that, it gives you the best opportunity. It's excited to see us doing well in certain areas, but there are plenty of things we need to improve, but in certain areas to be playing at such a high level is a great feeling."
 
On Defense: "My hat is off to our guys on defense – coach Jeff Schmedding and more than anything, the men that are out there on the field battling. I don't think I've been a part of a playoff shutout in my life, let alone thinking that we've had seven quarters of scoreless football by our defense. In college football these days that doesn't happen. They've earned that and I'm so happy for them."
 
On Offense: "Offensively it was a day where it was tough, but we were executing and taking care of the football. We were grinding out drives when we needed to and hit plays when we needed to. Sometimes when you are up 21-0 it can be easy to just wait for the game to finish, but our team went right down and scored on the first drive of the second half. We played together as a team the whole day. That's what I loved about it."
 
On Semifinals: "It will keep getting tougher – we know that. Our players are ready to attack the week – not just Friday or Saturday – they are going to attack the week. It's an amazing group to coach and they've done some amazing things. I know one thing, both teams are 0-0 going into this week. We're excited for that challenge."
 
On Sacks: "It was a combination of things. Our coaches put together a great plan each week, but you can only do so much with a plan if you don't have the guys to go out there and execute it. We study how we are going to get a pass rush and affect the quarterback, even if we don't get a lot of sacks. They are able to let it go on Saturday because they've prepared so well in how we are going to get to the quarterback. We know exactly going into the game what we are going to do in situations, and they are ready to execute it on Saturday."
 
On Weather: "It's who handles any situation better. If it is a factor, it's a factor, but who is going to handle it better? It will never be something where I'll come back and say the weather cost us a game. I'll say they handled the weather better than us. We need to decide who is going to handle it better and not make it a factor. This was actually the nicest day we've had all year in terms of throwing the ball – we've had wind every week. It was a calm, clear day and didn't affect any kicks. This was a nice day."
 
On 68-Yard Gubrud to Kupp Pass: "It was a huge play. We felt like there were going to be some moments where we can buy time, but that one he actually had to get out of something. He's been doing that all year by extending plays. When you can keep your eyes downfield in those situations all the way to the last second and hit the line of scrimmage still making throws, that's tough on a defense. That's the type of plays Gage has made all year long."
 
On 2016 Eagles: "This team has something special. In my opinion, you could see it even before we played a game. You could see something special back in January – something different the way they were going to push the standard. There was something different in how they were going to come back from a 6-5 year. They took 6-5 as being unacceptable. The seniors led that charge and it trickles down. It is special."
 
On Richmond: "I congratulate Richmond on its season. I know sometimes a game doesn't go exactly as you like, and I've been on that end. But for them to overcome the injuries and a quarterback coming off redshirt, I was impressed. That was a special group we went up against and I commend them on an amazing season."