The checklist for the week doesn't include a game, but it's still an important time for the Eastern Washington University football team.
 
Coming off a 40-0 start to an overwhelming 54-21 home victory over Northern Colorado last Saturday (Oct. 12), the Eagles get a much-needed week off before playing Montana on Oct. 26 in Missoula, Mont.
 
Eastern has played games in seven consecutive weeks and started practices in early August, so the grind and injuries have taken a bit of a toll. The win-loss record stands at 3-4 – a perfect 3-0 at home and 0-4 on the road – and EWU couldn't have asked for a better time for a bye.
 
"During the bye week we focus on family, friends and academics," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "Those are the three things we'll associate ourselves with, coaches included.
 
"The bye comes at a good time after playing seven weeks in a row, and we're hanging on by a thread in a few spots," he continued. "Our special teams are a little bit thin and limited, especially when you go on the road and are limited to 64 players. We'll take this week and fine-tune some things, and we'll get in the training room too."
 
The team will practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week, then will re-group on Sunday to begin preparations for the Grizzlies. Meanwhile, Eastern's coaching staff will take advantage of the open weekend for recruiting purposes. Eastern won't play at home again until Nov. 2 when the Eagles put their school-record 12-game winning streak on the line versus Northern Arizona.
 
"We'll take a peek on the recruiting road and try to find some stones that maybe are unturned," Best added. "We'll get out to some schools and spread our wings."
 
While EWU is unranked again this week, UM is fifth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision poll by STATS and sixth in the American Football Coaches Association poll. Montana is 5-1 and plays Oct. 19 at No. 15/17 Sacramento State, which on back-to-back weeks knocked off Eastern (48-27 on Oct. 5 in Sacramento) and Montana State (34-21 on Oct. 12 in Bozeman).
 
In this week's FCS statistics, Eastern has climbed to third in the FCS in total offense (497.6), eighth in passing (326.3), 43rd in rushing (171.3) and 14th in scoring (37.3). Defensively, Eastern is 52nd in rushing defense (149.1), 103rd in passing defense (274.4), 83rd in total defense (423.6) and 101st in scoring defense (35.9) among 116 FCS schools. Eastern also has the third-most first downs in FCS with 173, is 27th in third down conversions (43.8 percent) and eighth in blocked kicks (two field goals and one punt). Eastern is also 15th in turnovers gained (14) and 24th in turnover margin (plus 0.71 per game, with 14 takeaways and nine giveaways).
 
Individually, Eastern's Eric Barriere is third in FCS in total offense per game (350.3) and sixth in passing (319.9), and is second with 20 touchdown passes and fifth in points responsible for (21.4 per game with 20 TDs passing and five rushing). Running back Antoine Custer Jr., who has had a pair of 100-yard performances this season, is 34th nationally in rushing (81.6) and 24th in rushing touchdowns (six). Talolo Limu-Jones is 22nd with five touchdown catches, Dre' Sonte Dorton is 75th in receiving yards (68.1 per game) and Andrew Boston is 60th in receptions (5.0 per game; 30 total). Dehonta Hayes is ninth in tackles (10.4 per game; 73 total), and Dylan Ledbetter is second in FCS with two blocked kicks and is fifth with two fumble recoveries.
 
Montana, meanwhile, joins EWU in the top 10 in both total offense (fourth, 496.2) and passing (sixth, 330.0), but have been more efficient on third down (ninth, 51.2 percent) and in scoring (fourth, 41.0). The Grizzlies also boast a defense which has allowed only 22.7 points per game (29th), and are 30th in rushing defense (124.5) and 80th in total defense (420.7). Individually, quarterback Dalton Snead is fourth in total offense (346.3) and seventh in passing (313.2), as well as 11th in points responsible for (19.3 per game with 15 passing touchdowns to rank 13th). He's completed 67.9 percent of his passes to rank ninth,
 
 

A Look Ahead to the Montana Game . . .

 
The "annual" part of the rivalry ended last season, but a highly-anticipated Eagle-Griz match-up will take place on Saturday, Oct. 26 in the 46th meeting between the two fierce rivals. Kickoff is just after 11 a.m. Pacific time at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in a game broadcast regionally by ROOT Sports and nationally via the DirecTV Audience Network.
 
Last year was the first time since 1982 the two teams didn't play each season on the football gridiron -- the end result of the shuffling of teams and "rivals" in the Big Sky Conference. The Eagles will get a chance to host the Grizzlies in 2020, but that will be the lone Cheney meeting between the two schools in a seven-year span from 2017 to 2023.
 
Eastern is 6-15-1 in Missoula, winning in Missoula in 1990, then again in 1992, 1997, 2005, 2013 and 2017 when EWU would go on to win Big Sky Conference titles. Head coach Aaron Best has been a part of EWU teams which have registered wins in Missoula in 1997, 2005, 2013 and 2017 (his first season as head coach), and losses in 1999, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2015.
 
Eastern has come out on top in six of the last seven meetings with the Griz, and seven of the last nine. In fact, the Eagles are 13-1 since 2012 against its rivals from the Treasure State – UM (6-1) and Montana State (7-0). The lone loss was EWU's venture to Missoula in 2015 which yielded a 57-16 thumping at the hands of the Griz.
 
Just one year after that humbling 41-point setback, the Eagle defense allowed just 16 points in the rematch in 2016 at Roos Field in EWU's 35-16 victory. The 16 points for the Griz was their lowest total in the last 33 games in the series dating back 32 years to a 14-14 tie in 1984. The two teams combined for 995 yards of offense, with EWU winning despite a 540-455 yardage advantage for Montana.
 
Eastern then won 48-41 in Montana in 2017, before the addition of Idaho to the league in 2018 resulted in EWU and Montana not playing each other that season for the first time since 1982. Idaho -- and no longer Montana – is now considered to be EWU's "rival" by the league and will play each other every season. Portland State is EWU's other "rival," while Idaho will face Montana every year starting in 2020.
 
The result is that Montana is now in the schedule rotation for EWU with the other 10 league schools, and Eastern will host Montana just once in a four-year span (on Oct. 3, 2020). Eastern goes to UM on Oct. 8, 2022, but doesn't play the Griz in both 2021 and 2023. Thus, unless a non-conference game is scheduled, EWU will have played Montana at Roos Field just once in a seven-year span from 2017 to 2023.
 
Montana leads the all-time series 27-17-1, with the first meeting coming in 1938. Eastern became a member of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in 1983 and beat the Griz that year 27-26 at Spokane's Albi Stadium. Eastern became a member of the Big Sky Conference in 1987 and fell to the Griz 22-3 in Spokane. Three years later, Eastern registered its first victory in nine tries in Missoula when it scored the final 19 points in the fourth quarter to win 36-35 after Trailing 35-17 with 11:03 left in the game.