In a game the Eagles seemed to have the upper hand in most of the way, the Penguins found a way to deliver the fatal blow.
 
Youngstown State scored a touchdown with one second to play and ended an incredible season for second-seeded Eastern Washington University in the semifinal round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs Saturday (Dec. 17) at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.
 
Eastern had taken a 38-34 lead with 4:24 to play after an 80-yard drive, but the Eagles allowed YSU its sixth long scoring drive of the day, going 58 yards on 11 plays for the winning score with a 5-yard TD pass from Hunter Wells to Kevin Rader. The catch came as the ball was jammed against the shoulder pad of Eastern's Ketner Kupp, and Rader managed to maintain possession as they fell to the ground. A series of laterals on the ensuing kickoff ended at the Eastern 23-yard line for the Eagles.
 
"We'll hold our heads high and be very proud of what this team accomplished, especially this senior group," said Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin of the team's 12-2 final record that featured 12 highly-productive seniors who combined for 317 starts. "It's a special group that is going to leave a legacy and definitely a great example for the next crew as we get going in January."
 
Despite record-breaking days by sophomore quarterback Gage Gubrud – who set a single season FCS record for passing yards -- and senior wide receiver Cooper Kupp, the Penguins had 506 yards of total offense against the Eagles, who had allowed just 449 yards in its first two playoff games combined. Youngstown State had scoring drives against the Eagles of 62, 69, 79, 68, 56 and 58 yards.
 
Gubrud finished the season with 5,160 yards passing and 5,766 yards of total offense, breaking the previous Big Sky records were set by Vernon Adams Jr. in 2013 with marks of 4,994 and 5,559. The FCS record was 5,076 passing yards set by Old Dominon's Tyler Heinicke in 2012. Gubrud came 33 yards from the record of 5,799 offensive yards by Steve McNair of Alcorn set in 1994.
 
Kupp broke his own Big Sky and EWU record for single season catches with 117, moving into sixth in FCS history. He also moved into fourth in FCS history in yards. He broke the record of 115 last season, and his 1,700 yards were just 150 behind the FCS record of 1,850 set by Eastern's Brandon Kaufman in 2012.
 
Kupp finished the game with 10 catches for 180 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He concluded his illustrious career with 428 catches for 6,464 yards and 73 touchdown receptions – all FCS records.
 
Eastern has advanced to the semifinals five times now in school history, but the lone victory came in 2010 en route to the NCAA Division I title. Youngstown State is now 7-1 all-time in the semis, and has gone on to win four previous titles. Youngstown State will play James Madison in this year's NCAA Division I National Championship game on Jan. 7 in Frisco, Texas (9 a.m. Pacific time on ESPN2).
 
The Eagles had entered Saturday having scored 69 unanswered points in the playoffs in defeats of 31-14 over Central Arkansas and 38-0 over Richmond.
 
 
Won-Lost Records . . .  
 
* Eastern is 12-2 overall and had its 11-game winning streak ended by the Penguins. EWU hadn'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. Eastern was the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs and ranked third in the final regular season STATS FCS Top 25 poll.
* Youngstown State is 12-3 and was ranked 13th to end the regular season. Besides last week's 30-23 victory over Wofford in the quarterfinals, the Penguins blasted third-seeded and No. 2 ranked Jacksonville State 40-24 in the second round.
 
 
What It Means . . .
 
* Youngstown State advances to the NCAA Division Championship Game on Jan. 7 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas (9 a.m. Pacific time on ESPN2). The Penguins will play #4 Seed James Madison (13-1 after  a 27-17 win over #1 Seed and five-time defending champion North Dakota State).
 
 
What's Next . . .
* Eastern opens the 2017 season at Texas Tech on Sept. 2, followed by the home opener for the Eagles on Sept. 9 against North Dakota State.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* Eastern had 478 yards of offense, but was out-gained 276-152 in the second half after having a 326-230 advantage in the first half. Gubrud, who passed for 353 yards and had 411 yards of total offense, broke the EWU and Big Sky Conference records for passing yards and total offense in the first half, and then broke the FCS passing record in the second half.
 
 
Turning Point . . .
 
* The Eagles held the lead for 39 minutes from the start of the second quarter through the middle of the fourth quarter. But Youngstown State put together two touchdown drives to take a 34-31 advantage with 6:30 left in the game, and scored three total TDs in the final stanza.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Sophomore Gage Gubrud completed 18-of-33 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns – his EWU record 11th game with at least 300 yards passing. He also rushed for 48 yards, finishing the season with a school-record 606 yards rushing by a quarterback. The old record was 605 set by Vernon Adams in 2013.
* Playing in his 52nd and last game of his career, senior Cooper Kupp caught 10 passes for 180 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was his FCS record 31st game with at least 100 yards, and his 16th performance with at least 10 catches. The four-time first team All-American had a TD catch in 43 of the 51 games he has played (all as a starter).
* Senior Shaq Hill, playing in his 11th postseason game, had a pair of catches for 45 yards and a TD, and also had three rushes for 22 yards and a touchdown.
* Senior linebacker Miquiyah Zamora concluded his Eastern career with a career-high 17 tackles, giving him 366 to rank fourth all-time at EWU. Zamora closed his career with 11 double-digit performances in his career..
* Senior Zach Bruce also had a career-high with 13 tackles, registering the sixth performance of his career with at least 10.
 
 
Key Stats . . .
 
* Eastern had just 56 offensive plays to 80 for the Penguins, who had a 39:20 to 20:40 advantage in time of possession. Youngstown State won the turnover battle 2-1, and converted 7-of-14 times on third down, compared to a 3-of-9 performance for EWU. The game was a match-up of Eastern's FCS-leading passing offense (411.0 per game) against one of the nation's top defenses. Youngstown State entered allowing only 18.1 points per game to rank seventh in FCS, and was 11th in total defense (313.4). The Penguins were 20th in passing yards allowed (182.9) and 28th in passing efficiency defense (117.32).
 
 
Team Highlights . . .
 
* At 12-2, the Eagles finished 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.
 
* 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 29 postseason playoff games (12 appearances) with a record of 18-10-1, including eight appearances in the FCS Playoffs and two at both the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels when he was at Central Washington.
 
 
Milestones & Records . . .
 
* With 5,233 fans on hand, the Eagle-Penguin game tied the record for coldest game EWU has played in – 12 degrees -- based on temperature at kickoff from recorded games. A crowd of 6,127 hearty souls attended the EWU-South Dakota State game on Dec. 12, 2013, also with a temperature of 12 degrees to shatter Eastern's record for coldest temperature at kickoff. The previous coldest game in recorded school history was 28 degrees on Dec. 6, 1997, versus Youngstown State in the FCS Playoffs in Spokane, and 28 in a Big Sky Conference game at Montana on Nov. 15, 2003. Eastern's game versus Central Arkansas on Dec. 3 had a temperature of 43 degrees at kickoff, and the Richmond game a week later was at 20 degrees to now rank as the second-coldest.
12 degrees – 12/17/16 – Youngstown State – (Semifinals/Cheney)
12 degrees – 12/12/13 – South Dakota State – W, 41-17 (Second Round/Cheney)
20 degrees – 12/10/16 – Richmond – W, 38-0 (Quarterfinals/Cheney) – Snowed 4 inches in 24 hours prior
21 degrees – 12/21/13 – Towson – L, 31-35 (Semifinals/Cheney)
28 degrees – 12/6/97 - Western Kentucky - W, 38-21 (Quarterfinals/Spokane)
28 degrees – 11/15/03 – at Montana – L, 41-10 (regular season game/Missoula)
29 degrees – 12/4/10 - Southeast Missouri State - W, 37-17 (Second Round/Cheney)
29 degrees – 12/13/97 - Youngstown State - L, 14-25 (Semifinals/Spokane)
31 degrees – 12/18/10 - Villanova - W, 41-31 (Semifinals/Cheney)
32 degrees – 12/15/12 – Sam Houston State – L, 42-45 (Semifinals/Cheney)
32 degrees – 12/5/04 - Sam Houston State - L, 34-35 (Quarterfinals/Cheney)
33 degrees – 12/8/12 - Illinois State – W, 51-35 (Quarterfinals/Cheney)
34 degrees – 12/13/14 – Illinois State – L, 46-59 (Quarterfinals/Cheney)
34 degrees – 11/23/13 – Portland State – W, 42-41 (regular season game/Cheney)
35 degrees – 12/11/10 - North Dakota State - W, 38-31 in OT (Quarterfinals/Cheney) – Snowed in second half
 
* Cooper Kupp broke 15 FCS, 10 Big Sky and 25 EWU records in his illustrious 52-game Eastern career, finishing with FCS records of 428 catches for 6,464 yards and 73 touchdown receptions. A week earlier against Richmond, he set the all-division collegiate record for career reception 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.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* Since 2010, EWU has hosted 14 playoff games at Roos Field since 2010, 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, the 13th was a 34-0 quarterfinal victory over Richmond and the 14th was EWU's game versus YSU. The other home playoff games were in 2004 (loss to Sam Houston State) and three in 1997 (2-1 record) at Albi Stadium in Spokane, Wash.
 
* This was the second meeting between EWU and Youngstown State, with the previous meeting also taking place in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (then known as I-AA). The Penguins triumphed 25-14 on their way to the national title, taking advantage of five Eagle turnovers despite EWU having a 331-311 advantage in offense. That team was coached by the legendary Jim Tressel, who is now YSU's school president.
 
* The Eagles are 5-12 all-time versus current members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, including a 34-30 home win over Northern Iowa on Sept. 17 and a 50-44 overtime loss to North Dakota State the previous week. Both the Eagles and Penguins defeated the Panthers and lost to the Bison this year.
 
* Coached by former Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, the Penguins are now 6-2 against ranked opponents this season, including last week's 30-23 quarterfinal victory in double-overtime against Wofford. Youngstown State finished its season 6-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference, losing only to nationally-ranked North Dakota State (24-3) and South Dakota State (24-10). Its five victories over ranked opponents came versus Illinois State (20-6) and Northern Iowa (14-10) during league play, and Samford (38-24), Jacksonville State (40-24) and Wofford (30-23) in the playoffs. Eastern finished 6-2 versus ranked opponents this season.
 
 
Head Coach Beau Baldwin Comments . . .
 
On Team: "I was proud of them before we even kicked off this football game. I'm proud of the way they handled so many situations coming into this season and how they approached and attacked the off-season. One play doesn't define the effort, the heart, the comradery and the culture that this team carried all the way through the season. That's how I feel."
 
On Seniors & Influence Moving Forward: "The players will grow and learn from the approach these seniors led and pushed through the entire off-season. That's what we have to remember. We have to attack this January like we attacked last January. We have to do it coming off what is considered a very successful season, and sometimes that's harder to do than when you get kicked in the mouth at the end of the year like we did in '15."
 
On 2016 Eagles: "It's such an amazing group and gave us so many memories. It was a resilient bunch the entire year and they played the toughest schedule in school history. They handled it to the level of regularly getting double-digit wins, going undefeated in the league, beating a Pac-12 team going to a bowl game and taking North Dakota State right down to the wire. The senior group got us to that level of consistency week-in and week-out so we could compete at that type of level."
 
On Toughest Part of Season Ending: "The toughest thing is knowing we don't get three more weeks together – laugh and do our thing. If it doesn't hurt that you don't have that time together, then it probably wasn't as meaningful as you really wanted it to be. The fact it hurts so bad to go our separate ways and move on for the seniors, that means our comradery was strong. Those seniors will be back – you'll see them on the sideline and they will always be Eagles for life and will push for whatever our program does moving forward."
 
On Close Game: "Give Youngstown State a lot of credit, it was a tough, hard-fought game. Whether we came out on top or didn't, I would say the same thing about the way both teams played. It was a battle to the very end and they were able to make one last play. But it never had anything to do with our will, our heart and our desire. We stayed together throughout the entire game. I'm very appreciative for this entire group, the fans, the Spokane-Cheney area, our administration and everything that is Eastern Football. I felt it coming off the field today and I felt it in the locker room after a tough loss."
 
On Offense in Second Half: "They might have changed a few things, and I felt like they were getting decent pressure so sometimes it was a little tougher to let some things develop. We ran only so many plays too in the second half so there weren't as many opportunities. We were still able to get a two-score lead going into the fourth quarter. We were able to score again late. The thing that affects your rhythm most – and we affected their rhythm too – is the fact you have two great football teams playing each other. We're down to four teams in the country, and things are going to be tougher. It's going to be harder to put up points and harder to stop guys, and that's why it came down to one play at the end of the game. At the end of the day, it's a play here or there that makes the difference."
 
On Game-Winning Catch: "The officials ruled it a catch and they reviewed it and ruled it a catch. I couldn't tell – I couldn't call it from my vantage point, put it that way."