In this game, time of possession could be thrown out the window. And thankfully, two late Eagle turnovers.
 
The Eastern Washington University football team scored its first six touchdowns on drives that took just nine minutes, and went on to win on the road for a second-straight week by holding on for a 42-41 victory at Cal Poly Saturday (Nov. 16) at Alex G. Spanos Stadium in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
 
Eastern had two late fumbles that both led the Mustang touchdowns and nearly cost the Eagles the win. Cal Poly had a chance to take the lead with 4:58 to play, but failed on a two-point conversion. Then, after the second EWU turnover, the Mustangs missed a field goal with 1:02 left that could have won it.
 
In a rematch of EWU's 53-point blowout victory in Cheney a year ago, Eastern had the ball for just 16:53 compared to 43:07 for the Mustangs. But Eastern made their possessions count, scoring those first six touchdowns on just 31 plays for 450 yards and 9:01 off the clock – averages of 14.5 yards per play and 1:30 per possession.
 
"It was a game between two gutsy teams and we ended up a point better," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "When you give up turnovers on your last two possessions, that usually doesn't equate to victories. But our guys were resilient – our energy is zapped. It took every ounce of energy to get to this point and we ended up on top. I proud of how scrappy we were today."
 
Senior running back Antoine Custer Jr. scored four touchdowns on the ground and had 107 rushing yards total, as he went over the 1,000 yard mark for the season and had his 11th 100-yard game. Junior quarterback Eric Barriere had a career-high 164 yards on the ground, finishing with one TD rushing and one passing. He also had 176 yards through the air, but EWU did most of its damage in the rushing category with 320 yards.
 
Eastern's third-straight victory came against the triple-option attack of the Mustangs, who rushed for 367 yards. Cal Poly had an 88-54 advantage in total plays with an offense that has given EWU fits in the past.  In fact, in the last three meetings alone, Cal Poly had averaged 417.7 yards on the ground per game.
 
Four Eagles finished in double figures in tackles, led by the 14 of rover Kedrick Johnson. Linebackers Jack Sendelbach and Andrew Katzenberger each had 11, and Jim Townsend finished with 10. Dylan Ledbetter added nine.
 
The Eagles won for the seventh-straight time over Cal Poly. In 2018, on its way to an appearance in the NCAA Division I Championship Game, Eastern won handily at home 70-17 and the 53-point margin was the largest ever in a Big Sky Conference game for EWU, and the third-largest overall. Eastern is 9-2 all-time versus Cal Poly – 5-0 at home and 4-2 on the road.
 
A week after snapping a five-game losing streak on the road, Eastern extended its streak of 26-straight seasons with at least two wins away from Roos Field, where EWU has a current school-record 13-game winning streak. A 48-5 win at Idaho State on Nov. 9 extended EWU's current streak of seasons with at least one road win to 51.
 
The victory also helps Eastern toward its goal of extending its school-record streak of consecutive winning seasons to 13 (4-0 this season), having not had a losing season since 2006 when the Eagles were 3-8. The Eagles close the regular season at home on Nov. 23 versus Portland State on Senior Day at Roos Field.
 
Eastern scored its first four touchdowns in the first half on a collective total of just 19 plays for 284 yards and just 5:27 in time of possession.
 
Starting the game in a three tight end set, a 25-yard run by Talolo Limu-Jones led to a 40-yard touchdown run by Custer, then Jones caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Barriere to give EWU a 14-0 lead just eight minutes into the game. Eastern's second score, a three-play, 77-yard drive, was set-up when Eastern's defense stopped Cal Poly on downs.
 
Eastern scored again in the second quarter on a 38-yard run by Custer, then ended the half with a six-play, 75-yard drive that took just 1:18 off the clock. The Eagles led 28-14 at halftime, with Cal Poly scoring one of its TDs after a muffed Eastern punt return.
 
Cal Poly pulled to within 28-21 and EWU had a kickoff return for a touchdown by Anthony Stell Jr. called back because of a penalty, but EWU scored again anyway. A seven-play, 91-yard drive took just 2:11 of the clock as Barriere scored on a 37-yard run.
 
Eastern had a chance to go up by three scores, but were forced to punt. Custer scored on a 13-yard run to put EWU up by 14, but Cal Poly scored twice to pull within 42-41 with 4:58 left. However, the Mustangs attempted a two-point conversion after their second score, and pressure by end Mitchell Johnson resulted in a tackle by Joshua Jerome well short of the end zone.
 
The Eagles then coughed the ball up again with 3:05 play, but a 35-yard field goal attempt with 1:02 left was wide, and EWU was able to go into victory formation to secure the win.
 
 
Records & Rankings . . .
 
* Eastern is 6-5 overall and 5-2 in the Big Sky, and has a three-game winning streak. Eastern beat Northern Arizona 66-38 on Nov. 2 in Cheney, Wash., and that came after a 34-17 loss for the Eagles at rival Montana after owning a 17-10 lead in the third quarter. The Eagles are a perfect 4-0 at home and 2-5 on the road this season.
 
* Eastern was coming off a 48-5 victory over Idaho State after leading 20-2 at halftime. It was the first time in 37 games that EWU hasn't allowed a touchdown since beating Richmond 38-0 in the FCS Playoffs in 2016. It had been 40 Big Sky Conference games since the Eagles held a league opponent out of the end zone, dating back to a 54-3 win over North Dakota in 2014. Eastern had a 3-0 advantage in turnovers forced, and held ISU to 4-of-17 on third down and 0-of-4 on fourth.
 
* Cal Poly had a bye on Nov. 9, and is now 2-8 overall and 1-6 in the Big Sky Conference. The Mustangs won their league opener 24-21 at Southern Utah on Sept. 28, but haven't won since and enter Saturday's action with a five-game losing streak. In that streak, the Mustangs have played three nationally-ranked teams – Montana State (34-28 in overtime), UC Davis (48-24) and Sacramento State (38-14). During the losing skid Cal Poly has also fallen to North Dakota at home (30-26) and Idaho on the road (21-9) in its most recent game on Nov. 2.
 
* The Mustangs entered the game averaging 225.7 yards on the ground to rank 11th in FCS, with three players with at least 232 yards on the season. Duy Tran Sampson entered with 813 yards and four touchdowns, and Jalen Hamler had 424 and eight scores. Hamler had also passed for 1,052 yards and nine touchdowns, and J.J. Koski entered with 36 receptions for 781 yards and five scores. The Mustangs were surrendering 460.6 yards per game – 211.8 rushing and 248.8 passing – while also getting outscored 312-208 (average score of 34-23) in their first nine games.
 
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* Eastern tries for its 13th-straight winning season and remain unbeaten at home when it hosts Portland State Saturday (Nov. 23) at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash. Kickoff is 1:06 p.m. in a game in which 20 Eagle seniors will be honored in ceremonies prior to the game. Eastern has a school-record 13-game winning streak at Roos Field.
 
* The all-time series against PSU is knotted 20-20-1, but Eastern has won the last three meetings, six of the last seven and eight of the last 10. Coached by former Eagle player and 1987 graduate Bruce Barnum, PSU opened the season 5-3 and 3-1 in the Big Sky, but has dropped its last three. The Vikings, who had a bye last week, lost consecutive games to Northern Arizona (31-29), Montana (38-23) and UC Davis (45-28) to fall to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in the Big Sky.
 
 
Key Stats . . .
 
* The Eagles had 496 yards of offense, including 176 passing and 320 rushing. Eastern entered the Cal Poly game as the FCS leader in total offense (524.3), with 1,395 yards in its previous two games. Eastern had 706 versus Northern Arizona on Nov. 2 to rank fifth in school history, and 689 at Idaho State on Nov. 9 to rank seventh all-time. Eastern has also had a school-record 769 this season versus Lindenwood, and 637 against Northern Colorado on Oct. 12 to rank as the 19th most in EWU history.
 
• With senior Antoine Custer Jr. getting his first career 1,000 yard season, EWU has now had a 1,000 yard rusher – including 10 different players – in 14 of the last 25 seasons (1995-2019), Sam McPherson had 1,510 in 2018, and he was the first 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.
 
 
EWU Highlights . . .
 
* True freshman Blake Gobel made the first start of his young career when EWU started the game in a three tight end formation. He helped block for a 25-yard run by Talolo Limu-Jones on the first play of the game, leading to an Eagle touchdown and early lead.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* A year ago, in EWU's 70-17 rout in Cheney, the Eagles actually outgained the Mustangs on the ground 441-378, and EWU set a school and Big Sky Conference record with an average of 14.7 yards per rush. But the last time the two teams had met in Cheney in 2015, the Eagles needed overtime and a failed 2-point conversion by Cal Poly to prevail 42-41 in a game in which Eastern trailed by 15 in the fourth quarter. Cal Poly had 503 rushing yards in that game. A year later in San Luis Obispo in a 42-21 Eastern victory, Cal Poly had 372 yards rushing as a team.
 
* The Eagles have won 18 of their last 19 matchups against NCAA Football Championship Subdivision opponents from California. In addition, until the Eagles lost at Sacramento State on Oct. 5, it had been 14 years since Eastern had lost to FCS in California – an 8-0 record starting back to 2008. Eastern was 2-0 versus Sacramento State, 3-0 against Cal Poly and 2-0 at UC Davis in that span, with the last road loss to those three teams a 40-35 setback at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo on Nov. 5, 2005. The Eagles did lose to California of the Pac-12 Conference 59-7 on Sept. 12, 2009, in Berkeley, Calif. The Sac State loss ended a 17-game streak versus FCS foes from California dating back to a 15-13 home loss to Sacramento State on Nov. 1, 2008. During that streak, EWU was 5-0 versus Sac State and 6-0 against both Cal Poly and UC Davis. Overall, the Eagles are now 36-7 against those three foes (83.7 percent), but are better on the road (18-3 for 85.7 percent) than at home (18-4 for 81.8 percent). Eastern is now 12-1 at Sacramento State (19-5 overall), 2-0 at UC Davis (8-0 overall) and 4-2 at Cal Poly (9-2 overall).
 
* A 50-year streak was extended to 51 when Eastern Washington won its first road game at Idaho State on Nov. 9 in Pocatello, Idaho. That streak now includes all 36 seasons Eastern has been a member of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA). The last time Eastern was winless on the road was 1969 when the then-Savages were 0-4 away from home and finished 4-5 on the season. In fact, since then, Eastern has had at least two road wins in all but six seasons (1974, 1975, 1976, 1988, 1989, 1994), a current streak of 26-straight seasons with at least a pair. Eastern extended that from 25 to 26 against Cal Poly on Nov. 16.
 
* The Eagles have won 58 of their last 69 Big Sky games since a 0-2 start in 2011. Included are current stretches of 47 victories in the last 56 games (including two at the end of the 2012 season) and 26 of the last 31 (since 2016). Including three wins at the end of the 2009 season, Eastern has a 68-14 record in league games since then. Including four non-conference victories (two versus MSU, and one each against Cal Poly and Northern Arizona), two playoff wins (Montana and UC Davis) and one loss (Idaho), the Eagles are 64-12 since the 0-2 start in 2011 and 54-9 since the end of the 2012 campaign.  At one point the Eagles had won 44 of 50 league games, and the only Big Sky school which has come close to that in the 56-year history of the league was Montana, which won 50 of 55 games from 1995-2002 and 46 of 51 from 2003-2009.
 
* Eastern has had 21 winning seasons in the last 23 years (1996-2018), including a current school record string of 12-straight (2007-18) and another stretch of seven straight (1999-2005). The last time Eastern had that many winning seasons in a row came 75 years earlier in the Red Reese era when Eastern had a string of 11-straight winning seasons from 1931-1941. Since 1996, the only losing seasons for the Eagles came in 1998 under Mike Kramer (5-6) and 2006 under Paul Wulff (3-8).
 
 
Head Coach Aaron Best Comments . . .
 
On Winning Close Game: "We found a way to win a close game late, which is what we haven't been able to do very much this season. We're 6-5 with one left to go to see where we go from there."
 
On Roller-Coaster Game: "We overcame some turnovers and some inefficiencies at times, and we couldn't get off the field on defense at times. We just weren't married at times offensively and defensively. Credit Cal Poly – they were fresher going into this game, but we found a way to score one more point and we hung on."