The one thing the Eagles and Aggies could agree upon is that to be the best you have to beat the best.
 
The No. 5/3 Eastern Washington University football team scored 59 of the game's last 69 points to blow past No. 4/7 UC Davis 59-20 in a Big Sky Conference showdown of teams ranked in the top five nationally on Senior Day and Military Appreciation Day on Saturday (Nov. 10) at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.
 
The victory moves EWU into a first-place tie in the league, and Eastern is one win away – next Friday at Portland State -- from the school's 10th Big Sky Conference title and a 13th berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.
 
"All-in-all it was awesome," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "After game 10 we're 8-2 and have a chance this week to leave no doubt."
 
Eastern finished with a dominating 669-395 advantage in total offense after spotting the Aggies the first 10 points of the game. Sophomore quarterback Eric Barriere accounted for 345 of the yards with 285 passing and 60 on the ground. He had a touchdown pass, but EWU rushed for six TDs and 372 yards – the fifth time the Eagles have had at least 300 this season.
 
It was just the seventh time Eastern has played a top 5 matchup in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, including just three in the regular season. It came on a cold and foggy 30-degree day at sold-out Roos Field. A crowd of 8,789 were on hand for EWU's 30th-consecutive sellout and 42nd in school history.
 
 "We have to embrace the challenges, and that's what sports are all about," Best said. "You want to play the best to see if you can become the best. And we did that today. Everybody outside of Eagle Nation didn't give us a chance – and we love it. We are a complete team and we've showed that for 10 weeks. I'm going to continue to beat our drum – this team is selfless and they showed today how well they can execute."
 
The offensive total was the sixth-best in school history, and EWU scored at least 50 points for the 59th time in school history and the fourth time this season. Eastern had just one turnover and forced five, including interceptions by seniors Josh Lewis and Nzuzi Webster, and one on the last play of the game by junior Brad Alexander. Webster returned his 45 yards for a key touchdown in the third quarter, and his twin brother Nsimba Webster was EWU's leading receiver with three catches for 103 yards.
 
It was a fitting send-off for 27 Eagle seniors in their final regular season game at Roos Field. Aside from two long touchdown runs of 46 and 69 yards, the Eagle defense allowed UCD into the red zone just once all day, and the Aggies had to settle for a field goal. Eastern's defense finished with 13 passes broken up, five quarterback hurries and six tackles for loss.
 
Eastern remained fifth in this week's STATS NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 poll, but moved up a notch to third by the coaches. Right with the Eagles are Weber State (3/4) and UC Davis (4/7). Earlier this season Eastern had its highest rankings in four years when it was fourth by STATS and third by the coaches prior to falling at Weber State.
 
 
Records & Rankings . . .
 
* Now 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the Big Sky in 2018, Eastern needs a win next week at Portland State to wrap-up a 10th Big Sky title and a 13th appearance in the FCS Playoffs. 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. This is the 12th-straight season the Eagles will have finished 5-3 or better in the Big Sky, with a 12th-straight winning season and 21st in the last 23 years guaranteed.
 
* The Aggies are no longer the lone undefeated team in the league, and are now 6-1 and 8-2 overall.
 
 
What It Means . . .
 
* By beating the Aggies, Eastern ensured that it will be playing next week for at least a share of the league title and a berth in the FCS Playoffs. Eastern and UC Davis are now both 6-1 in the Big Sky and 8-2 overall, and are one of four teams with one loss or less in the standings entering today. Other one-loss teams in the league are Idaho State (5-1 and 6-3 overall entering today's game at Cal Poly) and Weber State (5-1 and 7-2 overall entering today's game at Southern Utah). Weber State plays at Idaho State on Nov. 17 in another key game, and UC Davis closes the regular season at home versus Sacramento State.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* The Eagles close the regular season on Nov. 16 at 7:05 p.m. at Hillsboro Stadium versus Portland State (4-6/3-4 after today's 17-10 loss at North Dakota). Eastern is 19-20-1 against Portland State, but have won the last two, five of the last six and seven of the last nine versus the Vikings
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* The pairings for the 24-team NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time by ESPNU. Eastern is chasing its 10th Big Sky title and 13th appearance in the FCS Playoffs in school history. Since 2010 when EWU won the NCAA Division I title, the Eagles have won league titles five times (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016) and advanced to the playoffs all five of those seasons. There are 10 automatic playoff bids given to conferences, including the Big Sky, with an additional 14 teams receiving at-large bids.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* After giving up 10 early points to the Aggies, Eastern gave up just 78 yards on the next 25 plays and EWU's offense scored 21 unanswered points to take a 21-10 lead. The Eagles then scored 38 second-half points, including seven on a defensive touchdown. Eastern has now allowed 20 or less points in all seven Big Sky games this season, and have scored at least 48 in five of 10 outings on the season thus far.
 
 
Turning Point . . .
 
* With EWU leading just 21-17 early in the third quarter, Eagle linebacker Chris Ojoh hurried a throw by UC Davis quarterback Jake Maier. Senior cornerback Nzuzi Webster stepped in front of an Aggie receiver to intercept the pass and return it 45 yards for a score. It was Webster's third career interception, and just the fifth of the season for Maier. Maier would throw his sixth interception later in the half to EWU senior Josh Lewis.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* In the sixth start of his career, junior Eric Barriere completed 16-of-30 passes for 285 yards and a score. He is now 5-1 as a starter, including 4-1 this season as an injury replacement for Gage Gubrud.
* Senior Nsimba Webster caught three passes for 103 yards, including grabs of 32, 35 and 36 yards. It was the seventh 100-yard performance of his career.
* Junior running back Antoine Custer Jr. had the sixth 100-yard performance of his career, finishing with 100 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 30 yards.
* Senior running back Sam McPherson and junior running back Tamarick Pierce also had two touchdowns apiece, with McPherson finishing with 95 yards on 21 carries and Pierce adding 75 on eight rushes.
* Sophomore linebacker Chris Ojoh made the third start of his career and had a career-high 10 tackles with a forced fumble and quarterback hurry.
* Senior Ketner Kupp also finished with 10 tackles, giving him seven double-figure tackling performances in his career. He also had two passes broken up
* Senior safety Mitch Fettig had seven tackles and was credited with three passes broken up.
* Sixth-year senior kicker Roldan Alcobendas kicked a 24-yard field goal to remain perfect on the season at 13-for-13. He also converted all eight of his extra points and punted five times for a 39.8 average with four of his punts downed inside the UCD 20-yard line.
 
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Key Stats . . .
 
* Eastern's offense had its second-best performance of the season with 669 total yards after entering the game leading the nation in total offense at 532.4 yards per game. But Eastern's defense was most impressive, holding UCD to 195 through the air and 200 rushing for a total of 395. The Aggies were just 7-of-17 on third down and 0-of-1 on fourth down. The UC Davis offense entered the game ranked fourth in FCS in passing (326.2), fifth in scoring (43.1) and eighth in total offense (485.0). The Aggies feature quarterback Jake Maier who entered fifth nationally in passing (301.6) and second with 27 touchdown passes, and receiver Keelan Doss who ranked second nationally with an average of 8.8 catches per game (79 total for 779 yards and seven TDs). Doss finished with just five catches for 70 yards and no touchdowns, while Maier was 23-of-42 and had no touchdowns for only the second time this season. The other came in the other loss for the Aggies this season at Stanford.
 
 
Other Team Highlights . . .
 
* Eastern scored 21 unanswered points in the first half to overcome an early 10-0 deficit. The Eagles scored on drives of  75 yards (six plays), 83 (12 plays) and 73 (six plays), with short touchdown runs by Antoine Custer Jr., Sam McPherson and Tamarick Pierce. Eastern's defense was impressive during a 25-play stretch in which they allowed the Aggies just 78 yards of offense. But in their first 14 plays they had 111 yards and scored 10 points, then had a 69-yard TD run on their final play of the first half to pull within 21-17 at halftime. Eastern had a 324-258 advantage in total offense.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* Saturday was Senior Day for the Eagles, as 27 EWU players and their families were honored in pre-game introductions. Between them, those seniors entered with nearly 1,000 games and more than 400 starts worth of experience -- 967 and 411 to be exact for an average of 36 games and 15 starts per player.
 
* The game versus UC Davis was the seventh occasion all-time that Eastern has played a fellow top 5 opponent, and EWU is now 4-3 in those games. The last time it happened was in 2013 when No. 3 EWU lost to No. 5 Towson 35-31 in the semifinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs. The Eagles had two other top 5 matchups that year. It was also the 16th time in school history EWU has played a matchup of top 10 teams in FCS, including the third-straight season. Eastern is now 8-8, including a 4-4 mark in the regular season and 4-4 in the playoffs. Eastern is now 56-69 in 125 games against ranked teams in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision since becoming a member of that classification in 1983 (then known as I-AA). Since 2010, though, the Eagles are 27-15 overall.
 
* The Eagles have won their eight games this season by an average of 32.0 points per game and an average score of 49-17.
 
* The Eagles have won all seven of the all-time meetings against the Aggies, including the notorious "Fog Bowl" in the first meeting in 2005 which helped clinch the Big Sky Conference co-championship with Montana and Montana State, and clinch EWU the automatic berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (then known as I-AA). Eastern had a come-from-behind 41-38 victory at UC Davis in 2017, but the Aggies had won 10 of 14 games since then until Saturday.
 
* Since 2004, EWU has lost just seven regular season games in November (Weber State in 2017; NAU, Portland State and Montana in 2015; Sac State and Weber State in 2006; and Cal Poly in 2005), with an overall record of 34-7.
 
* The Eagles will play the rest of the season without All-America quarterback Gage Gubrud (lower leg injury), and EWU thus far is 4-1 with sophomore Eric Barriere as the starter.
 
* The Eagles have been impressive – if not dominant – in the league in the last 11+ years, winning 80 percent of their games (76-19) 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. A crowd of 8,789 was on hand for the UC Davis game – the 30th-straight sellout at Roos Field (crowd of 8,600 or more).
 
* Eastern had a 5-1 edge in turnovers forced versus the Aggies. In the last 10+ seasons (2008-18), the Eagles are now 56-1 when they've won the turnover battle, 22-6 when they've been tied and 21-31 when they've lost (total of 98-38). 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 47-0 since 2010 when they've won the turnover battle, 20-5 when they've been tied and 19-24 when they've lost.
 
* After winning its first five homes games in 2018, Eastern is now 49-10 overall at Roos Field since 2010. Eastern has lost just six regular season games at "The Inferno" – 39-6 (86.7 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.
 
 
Head Coach Aaron Best Comments . . .
 
On Game: "They got out to a 10-0 lead, and we outscored them 59-10 after that. Games are 60 minutes long and I love to talk about our team win, lose or draw. I thought our team played hard, we were very efficient and we played smart. They caught us on third down with two long runs and we weren't very gap sound. We are always striving to get better and a few plays stung us, but I was proud of this senior bunch and our team as a whole. We played four full quarters of football."
 
On Defense: "Our defense was good and they've been good from game one. Here we are heading into game 11 and they are actually getting better week-to-week. We aren't with all of our starters and we continue to make strides. When you create turnovers, are decent on third down and when you stop a team and make them one-dimensional, it bodes well for us. And to be at home made for a ruckus environment, even though it was a little chilly, the advantage went to us. We did what we were capable of doing, and I'm proud of each and every player on our team. Everybody was prepared and focused, and for the most part executed the way they are supposed to."
 
On Offense: "We were better on third-and-short situations, our running backs ran extremely hard and the offensive line was jazzed up in front of them blocking. They guys up front in the running game owned the day. Eric Barriere made enough plays and we moved the pocket enough to move him out of harm's way. He found guys downfield or used his legs to move the sticks."