After all the blowouts, the Eagles needed a fourth-quarter comeback on their resume.
 
The Eastern Washington University football team rallied twice in the fourth quarter to get by UC Davis 34-29 in a rematch between Big Sky Conference teams on Saturday (Dec. 8) at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash., in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.
 
Eastern trailed 21-14 in the fourth quarter, but scored twice within a less than three minute span to pull ahead. After the Aggies regained the lead with 1:13 to play and used a two-point conversion to take a one-point lead, Eastern scored on a four-play, 75-yard drive to advance to the school's sixth semifinal in school history.
 
Eastern had defeated the Aggies 59-20 on Nov. 10 in a game that helped secure a tie of the Big Sky Conference title for EWU. The Eagles won for the sixth-straight time in the rematch, but in the previous five games had won by an average score of 52-18. Eastern also improved to 7-0 all-time versus the Aggies.
 
 "I can't say enough about this team," said EWU head coach Aaron Best, who achieved his second victory as a head coach and 17th playoff win as an Eagle. "It's incredible to be at my alma mater and do win this in front of our home fans. This was an impressive win and I'm a proud dad, friend and coach of all 105 players and our staff."
In what will be its 17th postseason home game since 2010, the third-seeded Eagles (11-2) now advance to the semifinals where they will host Maine (10-3), a 23-18 upset winner over Weber State on Friday in the quarterfinals. The game with the Black Bears will be played at 11 a.m. Pacific time on Saturday (Dec. 15) and will be televised on ESPN2.  Tickets will be available starting at noon Sunday (Dec. 9) via goeags.com/tickets, with the EWU ticket office open for telephone orders (509-359-6059) starting at 9 a.m. on Monday (Dec. 10).
 
 "It's awesome to get to play again at Roos, and I challenge everybody to come out again and bring a friend or two," Best said. "I know this – if we go 1-0 this week we'll play in January. Our mindset from the start of the season believed this could happen. It was Eag Nation, and it started within the four walls of our locker room.
 
"That's a special bunch," he continued. "I don't want this season to end because they are so precious, they are so important and they are so fun to hang around every day. We'll let it rip next week and see where it goes."
 
Sophomore quarterback Eric Barriere accounted for 278 yards of offense and four touchdowns for the Eagles, with 235 through the air and 43 on the ground. Running back Sam McPherson had 143 rushing yards, including the game-winning 35-yard run.
 
Four Eagles finished in double figures in tackles for the Eagle defense, which had three interceptions and forced a total of four turnovers. Senior linebacker Ketner Kupp led the way with a career-high 16 tackles.
 
Eastern has now won 23 games since 2010 when trailing or tied in the fourth quarter, but it was the first this season for the Eagles. Eastern had two each in the 2017, 2016 and 2015 seasons, one in 2014, two in 2013, six in 2012, two in 2011 and six during EWU's national championship season in 2010.
 
Eastern finished the regular season ranked fourth in the STATS Top 25 poll and were third in the American Football Coaches Association poll. Right with the Eagles are Weber State (3/4) and UC Davis (7/10), with Montana State also ranked (23/24) and earning a playoff berth with a 7-4 record.
 
 
Records & Rankings . . .
 
* Now 11-2 overall and finishing 7-1 in the Big Sky in 2018, Eastern captured its 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.
 
* UC Davis finished 10-3 this season, and is now 12-7 in its last 19 games under head coach Dan Hawkins -- and three of those losses have been to the Eagles. In 2017, in the first season for both schools with new head coaches, Eastern rallied for a 41-38 victory on Oct. 7 at Davis, Calif. Eastern leads the all-time series 7-0.
 
 
What It Means . . .
 
* Eastern, making its 13th tournament appearance to rank 12th in FCS history, now have a 18-11 record all-time to rank 11th in wins. Eastern hasn't played a true playoff road game since 2009 when it fell at Stephen F. Austin in the first round, and has gone 12-4 in 16 home games since then with playoff berths in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018. Eastern won the 2010 NCAA Division I title on a neutral field in Frisco, Texas.
 
* The game was EWU's 10th appearance in the quarterfinals in 13 playoff appearances, with Eastern advancing to the semifinals five previous times (1-4 record). While the Eagles played in their 29th game in the FCS playoffs all-time and 21st at home, the Aggies played in their first FCS postseason game on Dec. 1 and the game at EWU was their first road game in the playoffs.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* The FCS Playoffs are down to four teams, and the third-seeded Eagles advance to the semifinals against Maine. No. 2 seed Weber State was upset by the Black Bears 23-18 in quarterfinal game on Friday. On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded North Dakota State eliminated Colgate 35-0, and fifth-seeded South Dakota State knocked off No. 4 seed Kennesaw State 27-17. North Dakota State will host SDSU on Friday (Dec. 14) at 5 p.m. Pacific time, and EWU will host Maine on Saturday (Dec. 15) at 11 a.m. Pacific time. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
 
 * The Eagles have never played Maine, but are 3-1 versus current members of the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association), with all of those meetings coming in the FCS Playoffs. Eastern beat Villanova (41-31) in the 2010 semifinals, Delaware (20-19) in the 2010 championship game and Richmond (38-0) in the 2016 quarterfinals, but also fell to Towson (35-31) in the 2013 semifinals.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* Eastern forced UC Davis to punt on five-straight possessions late in the game, and during that time held the Aggies to 1-of-6 on third down. Trailing 21-14 entering the fourth quarter, Eastern went on an eight-play, 82-yard drive that was capped by a 5-yard TD run by Eric Barriere, and featured a 33-yard pass by Sam McPherson to Dennis Merritt. Eastern took a 28-21 lead on a 7-yard TD pass from Barriere to Nsimba Webster to cap a two-play, 62-yard drive. The first play was a 55-yard TD pass from Barriere to Andrew Boston.
 
 
Turning Point . . .
 
* After UC Davis went on a seven-play, 42-yard drive to pull within one, the Aggies took a 29-28 lead with a successful two-point conversion with 1:13 left. Eastern, though, needed just four plays to take the lead back, starting with a 29-yard run by Eric Barriere. A pass for 10 yards to Nsimba Webster gave EWU another first down, then Sam McPherson went around the left end for the final 35 and a TD with 26 seconds to play. Eastern clinched the win on a sack by Jim Townsend that was recovered by Chris Ojoh with 15 seconds left.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Senior running back Sam McPherson rushed 24 times for 143 yards and the game-winning touchdown, giving him six 100-yard performances in his career and five this season. He now has 1,288 yards this season, moving into fifth in single season school history. He also completed a pass for 33 yards to set-up a game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter, making his 6-of-6 in his career for 155 yards and a trio of touchdowns.
* In the ninth start of his career and eighth this season, junior Eric Barriere accounted for 278 yards of offense. He was 21-of-25 through the air for 235 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed 13 times for 43 yards and a score despite being sacked five times. He is now 8-1 as a starter, including 7-1 this season as an injury replacement for Gage Gubrud. Eastern is 7-0 when he's rushed for at least 20 yards this season.
* Tight end Henderson Belk had a career-high five catches for 73 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown in the second quarter. His previous high was three catches against Idaho on Oct. 27, good for a career-high 78 yards.
* Redshirt freshman Andrew Boston had three grabs for 66 yards, including a 55-yarder to set-up a score in the fourth quarter.
* Senior Ketner Kupp had his eighth career double-figure tackling game, finishing with a career-high 16 tackles. His previous high was 12 on two previous occasions, including EWU's second-round playoff win over Nicholls on Dec. 1.
* Redshirt freshman Calin Criner had 12 tackles, eclipsing his previous high of 11 earlier versus Weber State earlier this season on Oct. 13.
* Sophomore linebacker Chris Ojoh made the seventh start of his career and had 10 tackles.
* Sophomore Kedrick Johnson had a career-high 11 tackles for the Eagles. Johnson was making the second start of his career at rover, and had seven tackles in his first game as a starter versus Nicholls on Dec. 1.
* Sixth-year senior kicker Roldan Alcobendas didn't attempt any field goals, and remains as the only player in FCS to be perfect on the season at 15-for-15. He converted all four of his extra points to improve to 62-of-63 for the season (last 61 consecutively) and punted seven times for a 42.9 average, with one downed inside the UC Davis 20-yard line. He now has 107 kick scoring points in 2018 to break the record set by Josh Atwood in 1997. Alcobendas has a school-record 308 career points which is seventh in Big Sky history.
 
 
Key Stats . . .
 
* The Eagles had a slight edge in total offense 482-469, with nearly identical numbers rushing and passing. Eastern rushed for 214 while UCD had 191, and the Aggies had a 278-268 advantage in passing yards. Although Eastern didn't turn any of them into points, the Eagles did win the turnover battle 4-1.
 
* The game featured two offenses ranked in the top eight in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. In the first meeting, Eastern finished with a dominating 669-395 advantage in total offense. The Aggies entered the rematch eighth in total offense at 490.6 per game, third in passing (326.6) and seventh in scoring (40.6). Eastern entered as the only school to rank in the top 20 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense, rushing and passing. The Eagles are averaging 543.0 yards on offense to rank second in FCS, broken down with 271.0 rushing (10th) and 272.0 passing (20th). While UC Davis was seventh in scoring offense (40.6) and 51st in scoring defense (26.8), the Eagles were ranked fourth (44.9) and 18th (21.2) in those two categories.
 
 
EWU Highlights . . .
 
* The Eagles have now won their 11 games this season by an average of 30 points per game – 543-210 for an average score of 49-19. Prior to the five-point win over UC Davis, the closest victories were 21 points versus Nicholls and 24 against Idaho, and the largest was a 53-point romp over Cal Poly. That was the biggest winning margin for EWU in a Big Sky game, and third-largest overall as a member of FCS.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* Eastern entered the quarterfinal round riding a five-game winning streak which included a 261-91 advantage on the scoreboard – an average score of 52-18. Most notably, Eastern was averaging 569.6 yards of offense, compared to 341.4 for opponents, including a 293.2 to 149.6 advantage in rushing. Eastern has nearly doubled its opponents in rushing yards (1,466-748) and has a big advantage in turnovers forced (15-6).
 
* The league rematch is rare in the 41-year history of the FCS Playoffs (formerly known as I-AA), but it's becoming more commonplace since 2013 when the tournament increased to 24 teams. In 2014, in a very similar situation to 2018, the Eagles beat Montana 36-26 on Nov. 8 at Roos Field. Less than a month later, they met again in the second round of the playoffs and Eastern picked up a 37-20 home win over the Grizzlies to advance to the quarterfinals. In 1985, when EWU was a FCS (then I-AA) independent, the Eagles fell at Idaho 42-21 on Nov. 2 and then returned on Nov. 30 for a 42-38 win over the Vandals in a first-round game.
 
* After winning all five of its regular season home games in 2018 and now two postseason contests, Eastern is now 51-10 overall at Roos Field since 2010. Eastern has lost just six regular season games at "The Inferno" – 40-6 (87.0 percent), plus are 11-4 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.
 
* In the last 10+ seasons (2008-18), the Eagles are now 58-1 when they've won the turnover battle, 24-6 when they've been tied and 21-31 when they've lost (total of 103-38). 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 49-0 since 2010 when they've won the turnover battle, 21-5 when they've been tied and 19-24 when they've lost.
 
* Including a 59-20 Eagle victory on Nov. 10 and the playoff victory, the Eagles have won all eight of the all-time meetings against the Aggies, including the notorious "Fog Bowl" in the first meeting in 2005. That 24-7 game at fog-shrouded Roos Field (then Woodward Field) featured near-zero visibility from the pressbox. Although a non-conference game, that day EWU clinched the Big Sky Conference co-championship with Montana and Montana State, and secured the automatic berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (then known as I-AA). The Bobcats upset Montana 16-6 in Bozeman that same day, opening the door for the Eagles to garner its second-straight league title and playoff berth. The Eagles found out the outcome of the MSU-UM game in the second quarter, then rested many of its starters in the second half. In the other meetings, Eastern won in Cheney in 2007 by a 41-31 score, and then prevailed 31-28 in a Big Sky Conference game in 2012. In 2014, Eastern won at UC Davis 37-14, and romped 63-30 in 2016 in Cheney. The Eagles also had come-from-behind 41-38 victory at UC Davis in 2017.
 
 
Head Coach Aaron Best Comments . . .
 
On Game-Winning Drive: "That was some last drive. I challenged our team to get us a field goal attempt – we had three timeouts to make it happen. It just shows you what kind of player Eric Barriere is. He wasn't on for most of the night, but when we needed it most he showed up and made some big plays. We've been around enough to know that nothing is ever perfect. We embrace adversity, we fight adversity and we are better for facing adverse situations."
 
On Beating UC Davis a Second Time: "I couldn't be prouder – we fight to the bitter end. This was a rejuvenated UC Davis team, and we knew weren't going to see the same outfit we saw in November. They were ready to go and we made a ton of plays on defense, but we couldn't capitalized on the turnovers. We got the ball out of their hands, but we just couldn't muster a lot on offense. Give a credit to their defense for doing different things to us. They moved their front a little bit and brought more pressure than we anticipated. We knew they would do something different, but we made enough plays at the end."
 
On Big Plays in the Game: "One of the biggest plays was Anthany Smith coming in for Dehonta Hayes, and then he gets an interception. Eric Barriere's scramble late in the game put us in at least shouting distance of a field goal. Andre Slyter kicked the ball out of the end zone, knowing that they have to go 75 yards with 26 seconds left with one timeout. Then we ended the game with a sack/fumble by Jim Townsend. And you have to mention Sam McPherson on the touchdown. It's a total body of work by our entire team who are willing to do whatever they can do to help this team win."
 
On Season Ending for Loser: "It was unfortunate that somebody had to lose. The worst thing about this situation is that you wish both teams could advance. It was a very energy-driven game, especially by the fans. We felt it on the field and we thank them immensely."
 
  
Eastern Washington Player Quotes . . .
 
Ketner Kupp:
 
On the Emotional Rollercoaster of a Game: "It's playoff football, that's kind of how you expect it to go and that's how it went tonight. I'm glad to come out on top."
 
On Winning a Game That Wasn't a Blowout: "It shows the character of our team. Our guys remained together and the entire time we talked about how we knew what we needed to do and we thrived under pressure instead of crumbling. We rallied together and it was cool seeing the whole team respond that way."
 
Eric Barriere:
 
On Winning the Game: "I thought we got off to a rough start, especially offensively. Things weren't going our way and we had a lot of three and outs, it was frustrating. Towards the end, we all rallied together and we came out victorious."
 
On Putting Together the Game-Winning Drives: "We all believed in each other. Before, we huddled up and told everyone what they were supposed to do. We knew if we executed, it would turn out okay. Everyone believed in each other, did our job and we came out on top."
 
Reaction to Sam's Touchdown: "I felt relieved and happy for Sam and the team. That was huge for us because it was after the two-point conversion and everybody was feeling a little down. We had belief and once he got in, we all felt relieved."
 
On His Efficiency and Maintaining Composure: "I had belief, you can't get rattled. As a quarterback, things don't always go the way you expect so you have to keep your composure and keep the team composed. You never know, one big play can happen to spark the whole team. I just want to help the team with whatever I can do."
 

Dan Hawkins Comments . . .
 
Opening Statement: "They're good. They have a good quarterback with an experienced team and are solid on defense. It was a back and forth, close, game."
 
On Any Two-Point Conversion Hesitation: "No, there was no hesitation. We knew we had a good play and I think part of it is our style, we play to win, not to lose. We wanted to get on the attack and we felt good of it. Part of it was strategy and part was philosophy, and it came together."
 
"We turned the ball over a lot in the second half, I don't care what sport it is, that's hard. Momentum is a big thing and sometimes it's hard to counteract momentum. I give them credit, they played hard, that's what it's about this time of year. It's a long playoff, it's physically and mentally draining so I give them credit."
 
On Ulonzo's Run Game: "He's patient and has great vision. I thought our offensive line did a great job, a few wrinkles scheme wise, but they were good. He's a good player."
 
On Keelan Doss' Play: "He's uber talented and a great kid, he's tough to handle one on one. For everything you all see physically, he's three-times that intangibly. He came back and had faith in me, the program, UC Davis and our guys, it says a lot. Somebody will be lucky to get him next year, he adds a lot on the field and in the locker room."
 

Jake Maier Comments . . .
 
On the Two-Point Conversion Hesitation: "There was no hesitation. We have a play that we like a lot and being on the road you don't get very many opportunities to try and put the game away, so that was the plan. We had a great play and were confident in it."
 
On the Season as a Whole: "We're really proud. It's tough to put it in to words right now, it's just so soon. We're really proud and when you experience failures like this it just motivates you to work even harder. We had the same feeling last year when we ended it with a loss and that really jump started us into our offseason. We will learn from this because it's all you can do with failure. Coach told us earlier about how this UC Davis team is one of the best teams to ever go through this university and that means a lot to us."
 

Keelan Doss Comments . . .
 
Down 28-21 with the Ball: "My mindset was the same thing it's always been, just play our game. We knew we had the opportunity and if we just executed we would score some points. We were able to do that against a great defense."
 
When Eastern Scored the Final Touchdown: "I thought it was time to go, we didn't have any other choice but to bounce back and see what we could do on offense in the next series. They are a great team and they made plays when they needed to."
 

Ulonzo Gilliam Comments . . .
 
On Play in the Second Quarter: "Our offensive line did their thing today. They opened the holes for me and I did my job."