Gage Gubrud and Nsimba Webster made plenty of plays on offense again, but it was a nail-biter right down to the finish with the nail in the coffin provided by Sam McPherson.
 
In a battle of nationally-ranked NCAA Football Championship Subdivision powerhouses, the Eastern Washington University football team edged Northern Arizona 31-26 Saturday (Sept. 8) in a non-conference game at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Ariz. Earlier in the week, the match-up was selected by STATS as the FCS Game of the Week.
 
Gubrud passed for 322 yards and four touchdowns, and rushed for 80, and found Webster through the air seven times for 176 yards. Webster scored twice, and almost a third before his fumble was alertly recovered for a TD by Dre' Sonte Dorton with 18 minutes left in the game.
 
Eastern used a six-minute scoring drive to open an 11-point lead with 6:10 to play, only to see NAU score with 1:51 to play. But the two-point pass conversion fell incomplete, thanks to a quarterback hurry on a blitz by Eagle rover Cole Karstetter.
 
With that slim five-point lead, Eastern ended up with the ball at its own 4-yard line on the ensuing kickoff, but a 94-yard rush by Sam McPherson – the third-longest in school history behind runs of 96 and 95 yards – gave EWU the ball at the NAU 2. After a pair of NAU timeouts, a knee-down ended the game for EWU as McPherson finished with 161 yards on the ground to help the Eagles out-gain NAU 570-411 in total offense.
 
"This was a game against a playoff team from last year, and we got a win on their home field, in a playoff-like atmosphere, all in a non-league game against a non-league opponent." said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "Our team did a great job stopping the two-point play late. We prepared for 7,000 feet and we had a 94-yard run by Sam McPherson to put the game on ice. We're really proud that we played dogfight football against a great opponent. And the last two minutes we buckled down and made enough plays."
 
The game was an intriguing match-up between a pair of teams which finished 6-2 in the league last season and 7-4 overall in the regular season, and had solid cases to receive berths in the NCAA Football Championship Playoffs. But the Lumberjacks were chosen and the Eagles were not, and NAU went on to lose at home 41-10 to San Diego in the first round.
 
The Eagles entered this week's game ranked fifth in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll for NCAA Football Championship Subdivision teams, while NAU was ranked 20th. Eastern was also sixth in the STATS poll of sportswriters, broadcasters and sports information directors, with the Lumberjacks coming in at No. 18.
 
 
Records . . .
 
* Now 2-0 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.
 
* Northern Arizona is now 1-1. Both the Eagles and Lumberjacks are coming off resounding victories in their openers on Sept. 1 – Eastern 58-13 over NCAA Division II Central Washington, and NAU 30-10 over NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision member UTEP. The Eagles opened a 20-0 lead and had a 677-321 advantage in total offense, while NAU led 17-0 and out-gained the Miners 318-229.
 
 
What It Means . . .
 
* Although it was a non-conference meeting and won't count in the league standings, Big Sky matchups such as this Eagles versus Lumberjacks showdown can actually be used in a tiebreaker situation at the end of the year. The first tiebreaker, head-to-head competition, applies to not only league games, but non-conference games played between conference members. The second tiebreaker is record against common conference opponents, then record against common non-conference opponents. Sagarin ratings will be used as the final tiebreaker, or, in the unlikely event of a tie, a coin toss.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* Eastern travels to Pullman, Wash., next Saturday (Sept. 15) to play Pac-12 Conference member Washington State at Martin Stadium. Kickoff is 5:05 p.m. Pacific time in the fifth varsity meeting between the school schools, which are located less than 100 miles apart. The game will be televised live nationally via the Pac-12 Networks. The game versus the Cougars is a rematch of a 45-42 Eagle upset to open the 2016 season on Sept. 3, 2016. In the first start of his Eagle career, Gage Gubrud had what was then a school-record 551 yards of total offense, passing for 474 yards and five touchdowns, and rushing for another 77 and a game-clinching score.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* Eastern got off to a quick start for the second-straight game, scoring two touchdowns just 4:45 into the game on only nine plays. Eastern's defense opened the game with a three-and-out, then the Eagles scored on a four-play, 53-yard drive capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass from Gage Gubrud to Jayce Gilder. After an interception by D'londo Tucker, EWU scored again on a five-play, 82-yard drive that included a 62-yard TD from Gubrud to Nsimba Webster. One game earlier versus Central Washington, Eastern took a 20-0 lead just 10:49 into the contest. The Eagles led 21-10 at halftime, with Gubrud hitting Webster again for a 46-yard TD to end a three-play, 69-yard drive.
 
 
Turning Point . . .
 
* After NAU cut EWU's' lead to 28-20 in the fourth quarter, Eastern used four big plays – two on third-and-long – to put together a 12 play, 57-yard scoring drive that took 6:10 off the clock. After Gage Gubrud completions of 12 yards to Terence Grady, 14 to Zach Eagle and 27 to Henderson Belk – plus a 15-yard run by Sam McPherson – the drive ended with a 40-yard field goal by Roldan Alcobendas to give EWU an 11-point lead with 6:10 to play.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Senior quarterback Gage Gubrud had 402 yards of total offense – 322 passing and 80 rushing -- to finish with the 18th 300-yard passing performance of his 29-game career. He had four touchdown passes, giving him 83 in his career (fourth in school history, just one from third).
* Senior wide receiver Nsimba Webster had the fifth 100-yard receiving game of his career, finishing with seven catches for 176 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Webster now has 89 career grabs for 1,242 yards and 11 scores, including 17 catches for 388 yards and four TDs this season alone.
* Senior running back Sam McPherson had his third 100-yard rushing game of his career, finishing with 161 on 22 carries. He now has 346 this season alone. His 94-yard run late in the game was the longest non-scoring rush in school history and the third-longest overall behind the record of 96 set by Taiwan Jones against Idaho State on Oct. 3, 2009, and a 95-yarder by John Ditz versus Lewis & Clark on Nov. 24, 1954.
* Senior safety Mitch Fettig, defensive tackle Dylan Ledbetter and cornerback Josh Lewis each had seven tackles for the Eagles. Lewis also has a pass broken up and Ledbetter also had a sack as Eastern finished with five for the day.
* Senior linebackers Kurt Calhoun and Ketner Kupp each had six tackles, while sacks were recorded by Tysen Prunty, Mitchell Johnson, Trevor Davis Jr. and Andrew Katzenberger.
* Sixth-year senior kicker Roldan Alcobendas kicked a 40-yard field goal and made all four of his extra points to finish with seven total points. That gives him 218 in his career to rank third in school history, just 13 from second and 18 from the school record of 236. He is also EWU's new punter, and punted five times for a 45.6 average. Eastern didn't punt in its season opener versus Central Washington.
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Key Stats . . .
 
* The game was also a match-up of two of the most prolific quarterbacks in Big Sky Conference history and candidates for the Walter Payton Award given to the top quarterback in FCS Football. Eastern's Gage Gubrud passed for 322 and rushed for another 80. Northern Arizona's Case Cookus was injured in the first half and didn't return after completing 5-of-8 passes for 54 yards. Gubrud is a three-year senior starter, and has thrown for 79 touchdowns and 8,905 yards in 28 career games, with 9,786 yards of total offense, a .655 completion percentage and 158.3 passing efficiency rating. He's 18-6 in 24 games as a starter and was the Big Sky Conference co-MVP in 2016. Cookus was the 2015 Jerry Rice Award winner as the Freshman of the Year, then was an injury redshirt in 2016 after playing in four games. As a sophomore in 2017 he was the first team All-Big Sky quarterback (Gubrud was second team). He is 16-12 as a starter, and has thrown for 7,914 yards and has 8,150 yards of total offense in 28 career games. He has thrown for 74 touchdowns and has a 157.1 efficiency rating while completing 63.3 percent of his passes.
 
* Lumberjack senior receiver Emmanuel Butler was also a focal point in Saturday's game. He returned in 2018 after an injury redshirt year in 2017, and was a 2015 All-American and first team All-Big Sky selection in both 2015 and 2016. He hadd 158 career catches for 2,679 yards and 28 touchdowns entering the EWU game, and finished with four for 76 against the Eagles.
 
 
Other Team Highlights . . .
 
* Eastern stubbed its toe in the third quarter when Gage Gubrud fumbled on the NAU 12-yard line, resulting in an NAU drive and field goal to cut EWU's lead to 28-13. But Gubrud's 29-yard scramble on EWU's next possession put the ball in Lumberjack territory, setting up the Eagles for a clutch TD. One play after Gubrud found Nsimba Webster for a 15-yard gain, he found him for another 26 before Webster lost the handle and fumbled into the end zone. But Dre' Sonte Dorton was alertly trailing the play and pounced on the ball for the touchdown to give EWU a 28-13 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* Saturday's game was the first non-conference match-up between the two schools since 1986. Eastern won three of the first four meetings between 1982-86 before the Eagles joined the Big Sky in 1987. Eastern leads the all-time series 21-12 but each team has won two of the last four.
 
* For the first time since last Nov. 4, Eastern played a ranked opponent in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. However, the win over NAU snapped a three-game losing streak, and was EWU's first over a ranked foe since beating No. 12 Richmond 38-0 on Dec. 10, 2016. The Eagles have now played 123 games against ranked teams in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision since becoming a member of that classification in 1983 (then known as I-AA). Eastern is 55-68  in those games, including a 17-42 mark versus top 10 foes. Since 2010, though, the Eagles are 26-14 overall and 8-7 versus top 10 teams.
 
* To battle the near 7,000-feet elevation of Flagstaff, Eastern once again used the majority of its 60-man travel roster versus NAU. A total of 55 of the 59 Eagles who suited up played, including all 55 in the first quarter alone. In 2016, the last time the Eagles traveled to Flagstaff, 57 of 60 players saw action, including 53 in the first quarter. A total of 64 Eagles played in EWU's opener versus Central Washington, including 16 players making their debuts in an Eastern uniform. Of the newbies, redshirt freshman Andrew Boston received the first start of his career in his first game, and Tre Weed was the only true freshman to see action for the Eagles.
 
* Eastern leads the all-time series against NAU 21-12, including an 11-7 mark in Flagstaff that also included a 50-35 victory there in 2016. The Eagles have won nine of the last 12 meetings overall, and had a five-game winning streak snapped in 2014. Eastern is 8-4 all-time against NAU in Cheney, 2-1 in Spokane and 11-7 in Flagstaff. In the previous nine meetings in Flagstaff, the two teams have scored 647 points – an average of 71.8 per game.
 
 
Head Coach Aaron Best Comments . . .
 
On Game: "We used and needed all of our players. Whatever their role was, we told them to do as well in that role as they could and not be complacent in your role. These games are going to come down to the fourth quarter as they should. It's exciting for us as coaches, for fans and for people to ask questions about the decisions that are made in opportunistic moments."
 
On Road Victory: "It was a great team win and we shot everything we had at them from start to finish. It was just enough today. We'll go back and look at things and get prepared for Washington State. Traveling down here is hard and traveling anywhere is never easy. But our team traveled well and they played well. I'm very appreciative of that and I'm proud to be a part of this operation and victory."