During a season of "Leave No Doubt," the Eagles left no doubt against Portland State.
 
Jumping out to an early 14-0 lead and never looking back, the No. 4/3 Eastern Washington University football team clinched its 10th Big Sky Conference title and 13th playoff berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision with an overwhelming 74-23 victory versus Portland State Friday (Nov. 16) at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Ore.
 
With their fourth-straight dominating performance versus Big Sky competition, the Eagles rolled to 624 yards of offense while holding PSU to 304. Eastern ended the regular season with a four-game winning streak with an average score of 54-17 in those victories. The Eagles had a 4-1 turnover advantage against the Vikings with three interceptions (third-straight game with three) and a fumble recovery. Eastern is a plus nine (13-4) during the winning streak.
 
Eastern will find out Sunday (Nov. 18) where they are seeded for the FCS Playoffs, but EWU will most certainly get a bye in the first round and not play until Saturday, Dec. 1 in the second round. Ticket information will be made available to the public after the pairings are announced.
 
"I just know we have a ticket to the dance," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "Last year we were waiting on the front porch and nobody answered the door. This time we barged in. We're just proud of this bunch and this university. We'll see where it goes."
 
Sophomore quarterback Eric Barriere accounted for six touchdowns and 315 yards of offense in the win, and senior receiver Nsimba Webster had touchdowns of 68 yards receiving and 57 on a punt return in the victory. En route to becoming the first Eagle running back to go over the 1,000-yard mark in five years, senior Sam McPherson rushed for 133 yards.
 
Eastern's 74 points is the most ever versus a Big Sky Conference or FCS opponent, eclipsing the 70 EWU scored versus Cal Poly earlier this year. It was fourth-most overall, ranking only behind games played back in 1908 and 1914 and another in 1966.
 
Eastern bumped up to fourth in this week's STATS NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 poll and remained third by the coaches. Right with the Eagles are Weber State (3/4) and UC Davis (9/11). 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 9-2 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky in 2018, Eastern wrapped 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.
 
* Portland State finished its season 4-7 overall and 3-5 in the Big Sky. Coached by former Eagle player and 1987 graduate Bruce Barnum, PSU had suffered narrow losses the last two weeks to Idaho State (48-45) and North Dakota (17-10). Prior to that, the Vikings beat then 14th-ranked Montana 22-20 on Oct. 6 in Missoula, then followed with convincing wins over Northern Colorado and Sacramento State.
 
 
What It Means . . .
 
* The victory gives EWU a 10th Big Sky Conference title and a 13th appearance in the FCS Playoffs, but that won't necessarily solve who will receive the league's automatic berth. Weber State ends its season Saturday at Idaho State, and has a tiebreaker advantage for the automatic berth in the case of a two-way tie with EWU at 7-1, or in a three-way tie with EWU and UC Davis at 7-1. The Wildcats beat Eastern 14-6 on Oct. 13, and did not play UC Davis, which ends its regular season at home versus Sacramento State. If EWU ends up tied only with UC Davis for the league title, EWU wins the tiebreaker thanks to EWU's 59-20 win over the Aggies on Nov. 10.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* 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. There are 10 automatic playoff bids given to conferences, including the Big Sky, with an additional 14 teams receiving at-large bids for the playoffs. Playoffs begin with the first round on Nov. 24, the second round on Dec. 1, the quarterfinals on Dec. 7 and 8 and the semifinals on Dec. 14 and 15. The NCAA Division I Football Championship game will be played in Frisco, Texas, on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 9 a.m. Pacific time on ESPN2.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* A 66-yard touchdown rush by sophomore quarterback Eric Barriere on EWU's third offensive play set the tone for EWU. The Eagles scored on an 80-yard drive the next time they had the ball, then poured it on from there. Eastern scored 13 points in the second quarter to take a 27-14 lead at halftime, then scored 27 points in the third quarter to break it open.
 
 
Turning Point . . .
 
* After having a 63-yard TD pass from Eric Barriere to Andrew Boston wiped out because of a penalty, Eastern atoned for it on the next play. Nsimba Webster gathered in a short pass from Barriere and took it 68 yards for a score to give EWU a 33-14 lead. After a Josh Lewis interception on the next play from scrimmage, Eastern scored again on a 55-yard drive on a TD pass from Barriere to Jayce Gilder. Eastern added two more touchdowns on a 1-yard run by Antoine Custer Jr. and Webster's 57-yard punt return for a TD.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* In the seventh start of his career and sixth this season, junior Eric Barriere accounted for 315 yards of offense and six touchdowns. He had 216 passing on 15-of-27 passing with five touchdowns and an efficiency rating of 176.5. He also rushed for 99 yards and a 66-yard TD. He is now 6-1 as a starter, including 5-1 this season as an injury replacement for Gage Gubrud.
* Senior Nsimba Webster caught five passes for 96 yards and a touchdown, coming just short of his eighth 100-yard performance of his career. He also had a 57-yard punt return for a TD to finish with 156 all-purpose yards.0
* Senior running back Sam McPherson went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season, finishing with 133 yards on just six carries for an average of 22.2 per rush with a long of 74. So far this season, McPherson has 1,008 yards (91.6 per game and 7.8 per rush) and nine touchdowns. He is EWU's first 1,000-yard rusher since Quincy Forte in the 2013 season when he finished with 1,208. Taiwan Jones had 1,213 yards in 2009 and went over the 1,000-yard mark again in 2010 with 1,742 yards. In 13 of the last 24 seasons (1995-2018), Eastern has had a 1,000-yard rusher, including nine different players.
* Sophomore linebacker Chris Ojoh made the fourth start of his career and had a team-leading nine tackles.
 
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Key Stats . . .
 
* Eastern entered the game second in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense at 546.1 yards per game, and exceeded that with 624. Eastern had 246 passing and 378 on the ground, and had entered the game ninth in FCS in rushing offense (263.7), compared to 18th in passing (282.4). Eastern is the only FCS team to rank in the top 20 in all three categories. Eastern entered the game averaging 42.3 points per game to rank fifth, and EWU entered 19th in scoring defense (21.0).
 
 
Other Team Highlights . . .
 
* It doesn't really matter now what the rest of the league does on Saturday because the Eagles have followed through with their season-long mantra of "Leave No Doubt." After being denied a berth with last year's 7-4 record, the Eagles expect to host a playoff game on Dec. 1. Since 2004, Eastern has advanced to the playoffs and/or won the league title at least every other year, and hasn't had back-back-empty seasons since 2002 and 2003
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* The victory evened the all-time series with PSU 20-20-1, and EWU has won the last two, six of the last seven and eight of the last 10. It was the fourth-straight time Eastern has wrapped up league titles at PSU -- 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. The Eagles also won at home in 2013 to clinch a league title and berth.
 
* The Eagles have four players from Oregon on their roster, including injured quarterback Gage Gubrud out of McMinnville High School (2014 graduate). The others are safety Tysen Prunty (Tigard HS '15), defensive end Mitchell Johnson (West Linn HS '17) and Conner Crist (Tigard HS '16). Eight others played across the Columbia River in Washington in either Vancouver, Camas or Battle Ground. In addition, Eastern linebacker coach Josh Fetter was defensive line coach at Portland State from 2006-09.
 
* Portland State head coach Bruce Barnum played for Eastern under legendary head coach Dick Zornes, and graduated from EWU in 1987. He redshirted in 1982 and was on the roster in 1983 but didn't letter for the Eagles after coming from Columbia River High School in Vancouver, Wash. His nickname has stuck too -- in the '82 football media guide he was listed as "Barney" and the style of football played in PSU is called "Barnyball."
 
* The teams have played every year since 1990 when PSU was a member of NCAA Division II. The Vikings became a member of the Big Sky in 1996, and EWU leads the series 14-9 since then. Eastern's only other active streak of playing each year that is longer is against Montana State (1982-present). Eastern played Montana every year from 1983-2017.
 
* The month of November has long been a successful month for Eastern, and they have continued that in 2017 and 2018. 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 35-7 and a current five-game winning streak in the month.
 
* In the last 10+ seasons (2008-18), the Eagles are now 57-1 when they've won the turnover battle, 22-6 when they've been tied and 21-31 when they've lost (total of 99-38). 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 48-0 since 2010 when they've won the turnover battle, 20-5 when they've been tied and 19-24 when they've lost. That's a collective record of 87-29 (75.0 percent).
 
* A 219-70 advantage on the scoreboard – an average score of 54-17 – only scratches the surface of how dominating the Eagles have been during their three-game winning streak. Most notably, Eastern is averaging 604.3 yards of offense, compared to 331.5 for opponents, including a 307.2 to 128.3 advantage in rushing.
 
* The Eagles have now won their nine games this season by an average of 34.1 points per game – 467-160 for an average score of 51-17. Eastern's defensive effort in league play is unprecedented – Eastern has never held Big Sky opponents to 23 points or less in eight-straight games until now, which is a span of 32 seasons and 246 games. In 1997 and 2008 the Eagles had a stretch of four-straight league games, and overall EWU had six in a row to begin the 1997 campaign. The overall record came in 1981 when EWU held its last nine opponents to 14 or less and allowed only 97 points for the season (9.7 per game).
 
* The Eagles had 50 points or more for the fifth time this season and the 60th time in school history, and are now 57-3 in those games. Earlier this season, EWU scored what was then the fourth-most in school history – a record versus a FCS opponent -- in a 70-17 win over Cal Poly. Eastern has had 22 50-point games in the last 6+ seasons (including three in 2017 and five thus far in 2018), with one in 2015, six in 2014, three in 2017 and two each in 2013 and 2012.
 
* Eastern won its 10th Big Sky title and will make its 13th appearance in the FCS Playoffs in what is now 35 years as a member of the FCS (formerly I-AA). Since 2010 when EWU won the NCAA Division I title, the Eagles have won league titles six times (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018) and advanced to the playoffs all six of those seasons. From 2004 to 2009 Eastern advanced to the playoffs four times (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009), and won the league title twice (2004, 2005). Eastern has three other playoff berths in school history (1985, 1992, 1997) and two other titles (1992, 1997), and has only had two multi-year stretches in which they accomplished neither. Those were both six-year stretches from between 1986-1991 and 1998-2003.
 
* The Eagles have been impressive – if not dominant – in the league in the last 12 years (2007-2018), winning 80 percent of their games (77-19) and six 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. Eastern got the 2018 league season off to a great start on Sept. 22 with a 70-17 victory over Cal Poly, followed by wins over Montana State (34-17) and Southern Utah (50-17). After a 14-6 loss at Weber State, Eastern has rebounded for victories over Idaho (38-14), Northern Colorado (48-13) and UC Davis (59-20). A crowd of 8,789 was on hand for the Idaho game – the 30th-straight sellout at Roos Field (crowd of 8,600 or more) and 42nd in history.
 
 
Head Coach Aaron Best Comments . . .
 
On Big Sky Title: "It's awesome and it's earned. It hasn't just been the journey of 11 games, but it's been 11 months. It started in January when we needed to gain weight as a team -- be bigger, be stronger and be stouter -- and we've done that. It's hard to put into words – it's incredible who I get to work around and work with. We're all blessed and it's great. Eastern is a unique place and very special, and we have a lot of support and it showed here tonight. We had 2,000 fans here and that's awesome. At halftime I felt like we were kind of down a little bit, but they were screaming as we were coming off the field. It's nice to win it for them – it would have been awesome to win it at home, but we're still champs."
 
On Game: "We kind of got things rolling. We didn't do a very good job defensively of owning the line of scrimmage, but we put the barricade up in the second half and the rest is history. It's been a long journey – it wasn't just this game."