Even without their All-America signal caller, the Eagles didn't miss a beat.
 
Junior Eric Barriere was an injury replacement for injured starting quarterback Gage Gubrud, and he used his arm and feet to lead the Eastern Washington University football team to a 55-17 victory over defending Big Sky Conference champion Southern Utah Saturday (Oct. 6) at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.
 
Barriere made his second career start, and he completed a 48-yard pass on the first offensive play of the day for the Eagles, then later had an 85-yard rush for a touchdown – a school record for a quarterback -- to give the Eagles a 31-10 lead in the second quarter.
 
He accounted for three of EWU's seven touchdowns, rushing for 98 yards and two scores and passing for 233 and a TD.
 
"From start to finish I was a proud coach of Eric Barriere," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "He's one individual that no matter how much I yell or how much I hug him, he looks the same no matter what. He has the same unflappable personality, which is a great trait to have as a quarterback. There are going to highs and there are going to be lows, but he had a great day today at the office."
 
In the first of two-straight Big Sky Conference games versus opponents EWU lost to last season, Gubrud didn't play because of a lower leg injury suffered last week in a victory at Montana State. It was supposed to be a milestone day for the Eagle senior, who is just 16 passing yards from reaching the 10,000-yard plateau in his illustrious career.
 
Instead, Gubrud watched as the Eagles had its 12th-most yards in school history with 648 and equaled the 23rd-most points all-time. Eastern had 380 yards rushing and 268 passing, and averaged 9.4 yards per play compared to just 4.4 for the Thunderbirds.
 
Defensively, Eastern had seven passes broken up, an interception and a sack, and won the turnover battle 2-1. Eastern is now 44-0 since 2010 when it wins the turnover battle.
 
Eastern jumped out to a 14-0 lead with a pair of long scoring drives that took just eight plays to complete, but unlike a year ago, EWU poured it on from there. The Eagles scored 20 points in the second quarter and 21 in the third quarter – 31 unanswered in all -- for its fifth lopsided victory of the season. Last year, EWU jumped out to a 14-0 lead before the Thunderbirds held Eastern scoreless for a 35-minute stretch and won 46-28 in Cedar City.
 
"It's never going to be perfect – we still had some red zone mishaps,"' said Best. "We have things to work on, but we scored 55 points at home and for the third-straight game the defense has only allowed 17 points. I'm very proud of our team – it was a very gritty effort."
 
Eastern was in a tie for fourth with South Dakota State in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll this week and was fifth in the STATS poll of sportswriters, broadcasters and sports information directors. Weber State, EWU's next opponent, was ranked right behind EWU in sixth by STATS and seventh by the AFCA, with Montana (14/15) and UC Davis (16/21) also ranked in the top 25. The Eagles don't face Montana but host UC Davis on Nov. 10.
 
 
Records & Rankings . . .
 
* Now 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big Sky in 2018, Eastern closed the 2017 season with a 7-4 record overall and was 6-2 in the Big Sky Conference in the first season under head coach Aaron Best. Last season was the 11th-straight season the Eagles have finished 5-3 or better in the Big Sky, with an 11th-straight winning season and 20th in the last 22 years. But winning a 10th Big Sky title and making a 13th appearance in the FCS Playoffs is the quest for the 2018 Eagles, who are hungry to make that happen.
 
* Southern Utah had a bye last week, and is still looking for its first victory after losing three nonconference games and its first two league games. The Thunderbirds fell to North Alabama (34-30), Oregon State (48-25) and Arizona (62-31) to open the year, then began Big Sky play with a loss at Northern Arizona (31-23). The EWU game was SUU's fourth-straight road game after playing North Alabama at home.
 
 
What It Means . . .
 
* In what some circles are calling the "EWU revenge tour," the Eagles took on one of the two FCS teams they lost to in the 2017 season. Eastern had a five-game winning streak overall and a 12-game Big Sky Conference victory streak going a year ago when it lost to the Thunderbirds 46-28 on the road. The following week, the Eagles fell at home to Weber State 28-20. Although EWU finished 7-4 overall and 6-2 in the Big Sky, the Eagles were passed over for the postseason while SUU, WSU and Northern Arizona all advanced to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* In a match-up of two Big Sky Conference heavyweights, Eastern travels to Ogden, Utah, to face a Weber State team on a roll with a league championship and deep playoff run on its resume. Kickoff on Oct. 13 is 3:05 p.m. Pacific time in the second of two-straight Big Sky Conference games versus opponents EWU lost to last season. Besides sharing the Big Sky title with Southern Utah last season, the Wildcats beat Western Illinois (21-19) and Southern Utah (30-13) in the FCS Playoffs, then narrowly lost to eventual FCS runner-up James Madison (31-28) in the quarterfinals. Thus, Weber State has won eight of its last 10 games (heading into today's game versus Northern Arizona) while making steady progress under fifth-year head coach Jay Hill. Weber State was 2-10 overall/2-6 Big Sky in his first year, then 6-5/5-3, 7-5/6-2 and 11-3/7-1 in subsequent years.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* With 14 points on touchdown drives of 74 and 69 yards in the first quarter, Eastern jumped out to leads of 14-0 and 24-3 and never looked back. The Eagles scored 31 unanswered points, holding Southern Utah scoreless for a 22:13 stretch as EWU opened a 55-10 lead. The Eagles have now won their five games this season by an average of 31.6 points per game. Eastern won its first two games by a combined 50 points – 58-13 over Central Washington and 31-26 one week later at Northern Arizona. Eastern then blasted Cal Poly 70-17 on Sept. 22 and beat Montana State 34-17. While Eastern was picked by both the coaches and media to win the league title, Montana State was slated to finish eighth in both.
 
 
Turning Point . . .
 
* Southern Utah pulled to within 24-10 in the second quarter, but on the next play from scrimmage, Eric Barriere broke free for an 85-yard touchdown. Bolstered by a big block by wide receiver Jayson Williams, Barriere's run equaled the ninth-longest in school history and was the longest ever by an Eastern quarterback. His previous long pass in his previous eight games as an Eagle was 20 yards. He also had a 48-yard pass to redshirt freshman Andrew Boston on the first play of the game, as his previous career-high pass was 18 yards.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* In the second start of his career, junior Eric Barriere passed for 233 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another 98 and two more TDs in just three quarters of action. He completed 13-of-21 passes and had his rushing yardage on five carries with no sacks. His previous career highs in a game were 130 passing and 55 rushing, both coming in his previous start at North Dakota in 2017 when EWU won 21-14.
* Senior Nsimba Webster led all EWU receivers with six catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. He had his sixth 100-yard performance of his career – third this season – and now has five TDs this season and 12 in his career.
* Senior running back Sam McPherson had 85 yards and a touchdown on just four carries, with a non-scoring long rush of 64 yards.
* Junior running back Antoine Custer Jr. chipped in 77 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 14 carries, and Tamarick Pierce had another 54 yards on seven attempts.
* Junior safety Dehonta Hayes, who was coming off a career-high six tackles at Montana State on Sept. 29, made the first start of his career against SUU and finished with 11 tackles.
* Senior safety Mitch Fettig had nine tackles.
* Senior nose tackle Jay-Tee Tiuli combined with senior linebacker Kurt Calhoun on a sack, and recovered a fumble for a touchdown in the second quarter.
* Redshirt freshman defensive end Mitchell Johnson had a pass interception and a pass broken up.
* Sixth-year senior kicker Roldan Alcobendas made field goals of 32 and 19 yards to remain perfect on the season at 7-for-7. He also converted all seven of his extra points, and punted four times for a 44.0 average with a long of 50. Two of his punts were downed inside the MSU 20-yard line.
 
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Key Stats . . .
 
* The Eagles continued their offensive assault on the ground and through the air, finishing with 380 yards rushing and 268 passing for a total of 648 (12th most in EWU history). Through five games this season, Eastern ranked fourth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense at 554.6 yards per game. The Eagles are 10th in rushing offense (268.8), compared to 22nd in passing (285.8). The offensive assault has led to an average of 43.4 points per game to rank sixth, and EWU is a respectable 43rd in scoring defense (26.4). Aside from a loss at Washington State, Eastern has outscored its five other opponents 248-90 for an average score of 50-18 and margin of 31.6 points per game.
 
 
Other Team Highlights . . .
 
* In Eastern's last eight games dating back to the 2017 season, the Eagles have rushed 309 times for 2,253 yards and 23 touchdowns, with averages of 281.6 per game and 7.3 per rush. By contrast, Eastern has attempted 248 passes for 2,269 yards and 21 touchdowns, with averages of 283.6 per game and 9.1 per play. In total, Eastern is averaging 565.3 yards per game and 8.1 per play with 44 total offensive touchdowns.
 
* The Eagles had 50 points or more for the third time this season and the 58th time in school history, and are now 55-3 in those games. The point total equaled EWU's 23rd-most. Earlier this season, EWU scored the fourth-most in school history – a record versus a FCS opponent -- in a 70-17 win over Cal Poly
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* The Eagles have been impressive – if not dominant – in the league in the last 11+ years, winning 80 percent of their games (73-18) and five titles. In that span, Eastern has had no league finish below 5-3 and five of them have included 7-1 or 8-0 records.
 
* After winning its first two homes games in 2018, Eastern is now 47-10 overall at Roos Field since 2010. Eastern has lost just six regular season games at "The Inferno" – 37-6 (86.0 percent), plus are 10-4 in playoff games. The only regular season losses at home for EWU since then are to conference foes Montana State (2011), Portland State (2011 and 2015), Northern Arizona (2015) and Weber State (2017), as well as North Dakota State.
 
* Eastern now has 28 consecutive sell-outs and 40 total in school history (crowds of 8,600 or more) after 8,887 fans were on hand for the SUU game. The Eagles had 8,658 fans in EWU's 2018 opener versus Central Washington, then 9,156 were on hand for EWU's game versus Cal Poly on Sept. 22.
 
* Eastern leads the all-time series against SUU 7-3 with a 4-0 mark in Cheney, but is just 3-3 in Cedar City. Eastern's three previous home victories came in 2003 (49-21), 2010 (31-24) and 2013 (34-10). The Eagles lost on the road versus the Thunderbirds by a 43-21 score in the first-ever meeting in 1998, but then won there in 2002 (49-14) and 2009 (41-28) before falling in 2012 (30-27). Eastern won there again in 2014 (42-30) and lost in Cedar City in 2017 (46-28).
 
 
Head Coach Aaron Best Comments . . .
 
On Barriere: "He brings a little something different to that position. Gage has a ton of experience and he's a very witty and cat-like type of quarterback. Eric is kind of new and kind of green, and he's going to take some shots every once in a while and pull the ball every once in a while. At the end of the day, you take what they give you and try to do more right than wrong."
 
On Sticking with the Playbook: "We have to be able to run what we run. We can't condense the playbook because one person doesn't have the ability to function in what we ask them to do. There are always things we put in play, but very seldom are we going to take anything out of play. It was an all-around effort by those 11 players who were on the field the entire day."
 
On 5-1 Start: "We are over the halfway point of the season, and right now we are firing on some good cylinders. And if that means No. 3 or No. 8 is our guy moving forward next week, we all believe in both players and we know what they can do and are capable of. They all trust each other in the process."
 
On Defense: "It's a commendable effort by (defensive coordinator) Jeff Schmedding and his assistant coaches. They do a marvelous job. When you believe in something, it may not happen the next minute or the next day, but it's going to be believed over time. We have enough talent, commitment and dedication, and coaches who coach their tails off and know what they are doing."
 
On Experience Helping Win Column: "We are playing some pretty good football. We're feeding off each other and the players are hungry. Remember how many seniors we have – that doesn't hurt the process. When you rely upon the guys who have been in experiences and battles over the years, there is a lot to be drawn from. When we have players replacing others, we aren't going to hang our heads and say woe is us. We have to put 11 players out there every play, and we have to get players ready – that''s our duty and responsibility."
 
On Loss Last Year to SUU: "This wasn't revenge and to get over a loss in Cedar City. You are presented different situations and we've been very good and solid with the situation we've been presented so far."
 
On Scoring: "When you add special teams and defensive points, that just makes the engine a little more oiled. Defensive touchdowns are bonus points and momentum changers in a game – especially at home when you have the ability to start putting people away with defensive scores and pressure. You start getting opponents playing a little bit more tense on the opposite side of the ball."