­­­­#4/3 Ranked Eastern Washington Univ. "Eagles" versus #13/12 Ranked (FBS) University  of Washington "Huskies"   Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019 • 12:01 p.m. Pacific Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium (70,138) • Seattle, Wash.
TV:	Pac-12 Networks (Ted Robinson, Yogi Roth, Lewis Johnson)
Webcast:	Pac-12 Networks (CLICK HERE)
Radio:	700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area, as well as KTEL 1490-AM & 99.7-FM in Walla Walla. Larry Weir returns for his 29th season calling the play-by-play, with analysis handled by Paul Sorensen for the 17th year. Broadcasts begin one hour prior to kickoff and include an expanded post-game show.
Internet Radio:	https://tunein.com/radio/Eastern-Washington-Eagles-Sports-Network-s273711/
Radio Mobile Phone App:	Via tunein radio.
Live Stats:	http://uw.statbroadcast.com

 
For a series that was non-existent prior to 2011, the Eagles and Huskies have sure had their share of drama.
 
The Eastern Washington University football team opens its 2019 schedule this Saturday (Aug. 31) when the Eagles play Washington of the Pac-12 Conference at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Wash. Kickoff is at 12:01 p.m. Pacific time.
 
This week's game is being televised nationally on the Pac-12 Networks. Fans can also listen to the game on 700-AM ESPN, 105.3-FM, via the web at tunein.com and via mobile phone app, with pre-game coverage starting one hour prior to kickoff.
 
Eastern will enter the game ranked fourth in the STATS preseason top 25 poll for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, and were ranked third in the American Football Coaches Association poll. The Huskies, meanwhile, were ranked 13th in the Associated Press media poll and 12th by the coaches in the NCAA Bowl Subdivision.
 
"It gets tiring hitting your own teammates," said third-year Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "We're so ready to start the season and get the season going."
 
Both schools had monumental 2018 campaigns, with Eastern finishing 12-3 and as the runner-up in FCS. Washington was 10-4 overall and 7-2 in the Pac-12 North Division. Washington beat Utah 10-3 in the league championship game, then fell 28-23 to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
 
The 2019 meeting will have a similar feel to 2015 when the Eagles were ranked second in FCS and the Huskies were 25th in FBS. Eastern lost that game 59-52, just a year after the Eagles upset nationally-ranked Oregon State 49-46 on the road in 2013. In 2011, the Eagles fell at Washington by a slim 30-27 score after entering that game as the defending champions in FCS.
 
A total of 47 returning letterwinners are on EWU's roster as Best begins his third season at the helm. The Eagles return nine total starters – five on offense and four on defense – with 23 letterwinners back on offense, 24 on defense and a kicker. Best said on Aug. 24 following the team's final scrimmage of preseason practices that "it's going to take the entire season to get to where we need to be."
 
"We still have to mature as a football team," Best said. "I don't think we are as close as we need to be from a maturation standpoint. A part of that is leaning on coaches, but most of that leans on the upperclassmen who have played a lot of games.
 
"We will be in adverse situations against Washington -- I can guarantee you that," he continued. "Hopefully we have taken a step forward to be ready for those adverse situations, and to come out of those situations knowing we can make a positive out of a negative."
 
Despite missing nine players near the end of the season who had begun the season as starters – six on defense and three on offense -- the Eagles finished 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky Conference to share the league title with Weber State and UC Davis. The Eagles won their last four games of the regular season, then won three home games in the NCAA Football Championship Playoffs before falling to North Dakota State 38-24 in the title game in Frisco.
 
The Eagles wrapped up their 10th Big Sky Conference title and clinched their 13th berth in the FCS Playoffs with a dominating 74-23 victory over Portland State Nov. 16 at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Ore. It was the 12th-straight season the Eagles finished 5-3 or better in the Big Sky, with a 12th-straight winning season and 21st in the last 23 years. 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 Best.
 
However, the veteran-laden team in 2018 will see significant changes in 2019 – from both a player and coach standpoint. Besides the returning letterwinners, Eastern also has 21 redshirt freshmen competing for repetitions. Nine of those players saw action in 2018 as part of the new NCAA rule allowing freshman to play in as many as four games and still redshirt.
 
The success of 2018 resulted in four coaches moving on, and four new coaches have been with the Eagles since spring practices began. Replacements include new offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ian Shoemaker, defensive passing game coordinator/cornerbacks coach Allen Brown, wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Pat McCann and safeties coach Bryan Mills. In addition, Eti Ena was promoted to defensive coordinator.
 
The Eagles will have back four full-time starters on defense (DT Dylan Ledbetter, DE Jim Townsend, LB Chris Ojoh, S Dehonta Hayes), plus three others who received starts and significant playing time (S Tysen Prunty, S Calin Criner, Rover Kedrick Johnson). Offensively, five starters return (QB Eric Barriere, WR Andrew Boston, C Spencer Blackburn, G Kaleb Levao, T Chris Schlichting).
 
 
 

Game Notes

 
Five Players Could Make Starting Debuts at UW
 
Five players listed as starters on EWU's two-deep for the Washington game are slated to make the first starts of their careers in Seattle. Eastern returns a total of 20 players with 253 games of starting experience entering the 2019 season, including 10 players on defense with 72 starts and 10 on offense with 181 starts.
 
Just one of the new starters is on offense, as senior Will Gram is listed as the starter at left guard. He is a 2015 graduate of Troy (Idaho) High School where he played 8-man football.
 
On defense, new starters include "Buck" end Mitchell Johnson, who earned first team Freshman All-America honors as a backup a year ago to Nick Foerstel (first two games behind Keenan Williams). He is a 20017 graduate of West Linn (Ore.) HS. Nose tackle Caleb Davis is expected to start after the 2017 Bonney Lake (Wash.) HS graduate finished with 26 tackles and a sack as a redshirt freshman in 2018.
 
Eastern will also have two new starters at cornerback, and expected to start this week are sophomores Ira Branch and Darreon Moore. Branch is a 2017 graduate of Mount Tahoma HS in Tacoma, Wash., and Moore is from Pasco, Wash., and graduated the same year from Kamiakin HS. Both were backups a year ago, with Branch finishing with three tackles in seven games played, and Moore having 11 in 14 games.
 
Several players in a group of 21 redshirt freshmen are also expected to make their Eagle debuts at Washington. Those listed as backups on the two deep are tackle Brad Godwin, guard Charlie Baumann and wide receiver Anthony Stell Jr. on offense, and tackle Joshua Jerome and cornerback Darrien Sampson on defense. Jerome played last season as a true freshman and had 15 tackles in four games played.
 
On special teams, sophomore Trevor Bowens will make his debut as EWU's punter and junior Andre Slyter will take over as EWU's placekicker. Slyter has handled kickoffs previously for EWU and has kicked four extra points, but has yet to attempt a field goal. Eastern's Roldan Alcobendas was a perfect 16-of-16 a year ago, and EWU has a string of 17-straight field goals made heading into the 2019 season. In addition, Tre Weed is expected to handle punt returns as a redshirt freshman, although he did have the opportunity to return six for a 10.7 average and long of 22 in four games played last year as a true freshman.
 
 
Blackburn and Levao Get Sixth Year to Help Ease the Loss of a Huge Senior Class
 
After having only 12 seniors in 2016 and 14 in 2017, Eastern had 27 on its 2018 roster. However, two of those 27 -- All-Big Sky offensive linemen Spencer Blackburn and Kaleb Levao -- were granted a sixth year by the NCAA to complete four years of eligibility because of seasons lost because of injuries. Both will enter the 2019 season with 39 games worth of experience, and Blackburn has started 37-straight games and Levao has started 18.
 
Thus, Eastern's 25 lost seniors included 18 four-year letterwinners and another five who earned three. Combined, those 25 players had a total of 1,006 games played and 441 starts. Injuries to numerous Eagles helped give so many players opportunities to play and start.
 
A total of 23 All-Big Sky Conference honors were won by Eastern players in the 2018 season, including five on the first team. Six Eagles went on to win FCS All-America honors, with senior Roldan Alcobendas winning the Fred Mitchell Award as the top placekicker in the nation. Blackburn won second team All-America honors, while Barriere was honored as a sophomore All-American and Boston and defensive end Mitchell Johnson earned freshman All-America accolades.
 
And the Eagles did all that while combining for a 3.07 grade point average in the fall, and the entire team currently has a collective 3.06 accumulative GPA. In January, 32 Eagles were named to the Big Sky Conference Academic All-Conference team.
 
Along the way to Eastern's 13th FCS playoff berth and 10th Big Sky title in school history, Eagle Nation supported the team in droves along the way. Eastern was unbeaten with a perfect 8-0 record at Roos Field, and extended the school's consecutive regular season sell-out streak to 30 games. Then more than 4,000 fans showed up to support the Eagles in Frisco.
 
A 22-year veteran of the Eagle program, Best himself was FCS Coach of the Year in a fan vote conducted by Hero Sports, and was the Big Sky Conference co-Coach of the Year. In two years at the helm, he has compiled a 19-7 record overall (73.1 percent) and 13-3 mark in the league (81.3 percent). Both percentages currently rank as the best in school history, just ahead of the Beau Baldwin with an 85-32 overall mark (72.6 percent) in nine seasons from 2008-16, and a 58-14 league record (80.6 percent).
 
 
It Will Be a Homecoming For Eagle Players & Coaches Back in the Puget Sound
 
The Eagles have 43 players from the Puget Sound area on their 2019 roster, so it will be a homecoming as sorts when the Eagles play at Husky Stadium. There are 24 total west siders on EWU's two-deep for the UW game, including 13 on defense, seven on offense and four on special teams. One of those players is Washington transfer Jusstis Warren, who is listed as the backup at EWU's "Buck" defensive end position behind 2018 freshman All-America selection Mitchell Johnson.
 
In addition, seven Eastern coaches with Puget Sound roots will return to the Seattle area for this week's game, including head coach Aaron Best. Best graduated from Tacoma's Curtis High School in 1996, and defensive front coordinator Brian Strandley graduated from the same school in 1990. Linebackers coach Josh Fetter graduated from White River HS in 1991, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ian Shoemaker is a 1992 graduate of Orting HS; wide receivers coach Pat McCann is an 2003 Olympia HS grad, cornerbacks coach Allen Brown was a 2009 graduate of Foss HS in Tacoma; and offensive line coach Jase Butorac was a 2010 graduate of Skyline HS in Sammamish.

Best coached in both the 2011 and 2014 games versus the Huskies, and Strandley and Fetter were on the coaching staff in 2014. Brown had three tackles as an Eastern backup safety in the 2011 game, and Butorac made his Eagle debut in that contest after starting center Ashton Miller ruptured his Achilles tendon. Butorac started versus the Huskies at center in his senior season in 2014.
 
Here is the complete list of Puget Sound area players on EWU's roster, ordered alphabetically by city:
 
Charlie Baumann - Bellevue, Wash. / Newport HS '18
Simon Burkett - Bellingham, Wash. / Meridian HS '18
Spencer Blackburn - Bellingham, Wash. / Meridian HS '14
Caleb Davis - Bonney Lake, Wash. / Bonney Lake HS '17
Keith Moore - Bremerton, Wash. / Olympic HS '16
Debore'ae McClain - Bremerton, Wash. / Peninsula HS '17
Julian Houston - Burlington, Wash. / Burlington-Edison HS '18
Kellen Kranc - Enumclaw, Wash. / Enumclaw HS '19
Anfernee Gurley - Everett, Wash. / Archbishop Murphy HS '17
Nicholas Blair - Everett, Wash. / Everett HS '16
Anthany Smith - Everett, Wash. / Mariner HS '17
Soli Paleso'o - Fife, Wash. / Fife HS '19
Luke Dahlgren - Forks, Wash. / Forks HS '19
Matt Shook - Graham, Wash. / Graham-Kapowsin HS '17
Andre Slyter - Kent, Wash. / Kentwood HS '16
Trenton Harris - Kent, Wash. / Kentwood HS '16
Dean Sise - Kirkland, Wash. / Juanita HS '17
Andrew Katzenberger - Lynnwood, Wash. / Lynnwood HS '15
Keshaun King - Marysville, Wash. / Marysville Pilchuck HS '17
Isaiah Lewis - Monroe, Wash. / Monroe HS '18
Joshua Jerome - Monroe, Wash. / Monroe HS '18
Chris Schlichting - North Bend, Wash. / Mount Si HS '15
Andrew Boston - Puyallup, Wash. / Emerald Ridge HS '17
Cameron Lynch - Sammamish, Wash. / Eastlake HS '19
Chris Johnson - Sammamish, Wash. / Skyline HS '19
Anthony Stell Jr. - Seattle Wash. / Rainier Beach HS '18
Emmanuel Osuoha - Seattle, Wash. / Archbishop Murphy HS '18
Jack Sendelbach - Seattle, Wash. / Blanchet HS '15
Darnell Hogan - Seattle, Wash. / Cleveland HS '15
Freddie Roberson - Seattle, Wash. / Rainier Beach HS '18
Darrien Sampson - South Seattle, Wash. / Rainier Beach HS '18
Micah Smith - Spanaway, Wash. / Graham-Kapowsin HS '18
Tre Weed - Sumner, Wash. / Sumner HS '18
Nick Kokich - Tacoma, Wash. / Bellarmine Prep HS '19
Marlon Jones Jr. - Tacoma, Wash. / Curtis HS '19
Demetrius Crosby Jr. - Tacoma, Wash. / Foss HS '19
Cale Lindsay - Tacoma, Wash. / Lakes HS '17
Dehonta Hayes - Tacoma, Wash. / Lincoln HS '15
Jusstis Warren - Tacoma, Wash. / Lincoln HS '15
Jayson Williams - Tacoma, Wash. / Lincoln HS '15
Ira Branch - Tacoma, Wash. / Mount Tahoma HS '17
Trevor Davis Jr. - Tumwater, Wash. / Tumwater HS '15
Dylan Ledbetter - West Seattle, Wash. / O'Dea HS '15
 
 
EWU Grad Jimmy Lake Joins Junior Adams and Pete Kwiatkowski as Former EWU Coaches Now at UW
 
When Chris Petersen began as Washington's head coach in 2014, he brought with him a pair of former Eagle coaches who are still on his staff. Jimmy Lake (also a former Eagle player) is listed as Washington's Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach and Pete Kwiatkowski is the school's Co-Defensive Coordinator/Outside Linebackers Coach. In addition, Junior Adams is in his first year as the UW wide receivers coach and is a former EWU assistant.
 
Lake played for Eastern from 1995-98, and the four-year letterwinner had 160 tackles, including three sacks, in his 36-game career. Lake earned honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference honors as a strong safety during his injury-shortened (knee) senior season in 1998. As a junior in 1997 when Eastern won the Big Sky Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA "Final Four," Lake had 66 tackles for the season (22 in the playoffs) and had his only career interception in Eastern's thrilling 40-35 win at Montana. The 1997 football team he played on was inducted into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. A 1995 graduate of North Central High School in Spokane, Lake received his business administration degree from Eastern in 2000 and helped coach Eagle linebackers in the fall of 1999, then the secondary from 2000-2003. He has since gone on to coach at Washington (2004), Montana State (2005) and Boise State (2012-13) in the collegiate ranks, and Tampa Bay (2006-07, 2010-11) and Detroit (2008) in the NFL.
 
Kwiatkowski was defensive line coach at EWU from 1998-99 and Adams served at Eastern from 2009-13 as wide receivers coach. Kwiatkowski previously played at Boise State and Adams competed at Montana State, and before that at Oregon State.
 
 
Seven of EWU's 12 Games Will be on the Road in 2019
 
Eastern completed its 12-game football schedule in 2019 with the addition of a non-conference road game at Idaho on Sept. 21 and a non-conference home game versus Lindenwood on Sept. 7.
 
With the return of Idaho to the Big Sky Conference in 2018 and the departure of North Dakota, Eastern will annually play the Vandals in a league game. However, 2019 was left out as a league game because of schedules already in place. It worked out that both the Eagles and Vandals had the same open date in their schedule.
 
The Eagles will open their five-game home schedule Lindenwood, a NCAA Division II school in St. Charles, Mo., in EWU's home opener on Sept. 7. The Lions are a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
 
Eastern's second home game will be Sept. 28 versus North Dakota, which will be the last game for EWU that counts in the league standings versus the Fighting Hawks. North Dakota is in transition after leaving the Big Sky for the Missouri Valley Conference, and will begin play in that league in 2020.
 
Other home games for the Eagles are Oct. 12 versus Northern Colorado, Nov. 2 against Northern Arizona and Nov. 23 versus Portland State on Senior Day at EWU. The game versus North Dakota is Hall of Fame Day at EWU, and Homecoming is scheduled for the UNC game.
 
Eastern opens the 2019 season at Washington of the Pac-12 Conference, and will also play a non-conference road game at Jacksonville State of the Ohio Valley Conference on Sept. 14. That game is part of a home-and home series that will also include a home game for EWU at Roos Field on Sept. 11, 2021.
 
The Eagles and Idaho will play the final non-conference game against each other on Sept. 21 in Moscow. Starting in 2020, the two schools will be considered "rivals" 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.
 
Eastern plays four league road games – Oct. 5 at Sacramento State, Sept. 26 at Montana, Nov. 9 at Idaho State and Nov. 16 at Cal Poly. Because of the way the calendar falls in 2019, an additional game is allowed by the NCAA in lieu of the traditional 11-game schedule collegiate teams play. The FCS Playoffs will begin on Nov. 30.
 
Eastern's 2020 schedule is also complete, and will include Big Sky home games against the top three favorites of Eagle fans – Montana (Oct. 3), Idaho (Oct. 17) and Montana State (Nov. 7). The Eagles will also host Weber State (Oct. 24) in a league counter, and host Western Illinois (Sept. 12) and Northern Arizona (Sept. 19) in non-conference games.
 
The Big Sky Conference has already announced its league football schedules for the 2020 through 2023 seasons, and as a result the Eastern Washington University football team will play Idaho on a regular basis and Montana less regularly.
 
All 13 Big Sky teams will continue to play eight conference games with four at home and four on the road. Each team will have two "rivals" it will play each season. Over the course of the four years, each Big Sky team will play each other a minimum of two times.
 
Montana, EWU's former rival prior to the return of Idaho, is now in the rotation with the other 10 league schools. Thus, EWU will host Montana just once in that four-year span (on Oct. 3, 2020), while going to UM on Oct. 8, 2022, and not playing 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.
 
On the positive side, Eastern's 2020 schedule is an anomaly, with the Eagles hosting Idaho, Montana and Montana State in the same year – the first time in EWU history that will have taken place. Eastern also hosts Montana State in 2023 and plays in Bozeman in 2021, but does not play the Bobcats in the 2022 season.
 
Complete schedules for 2019 and 2020 are available at http://goeags.com.
 
 
 
 

Preseason Honors

 
Barriere and Blackburn Earn Variety of Preseason All-America Honors
 
Eastern's "battery" of junior quarterback Eric Barriere and sixth-year center Spencer Blackburn led the way in preseason honors given to EWU players entering the 2019 season. Barriere earned recognition as a first team All-American by Hero Sports, and was a listed as a FCS Player of the Year candidate by three media outlets. Blackburn was on four All-America squads, including first team accolades as one of just 24 players honored by Athlon.
 
In addition, Blackburn and Barriere were among the nine Eastern players selected to Phil Steele's All-Big Sky Conference squad. Blackburn joined defensive end Mitchell Johnson as first team selections, with offensive tackle Chris Schlichting, offensive guard Kaleb Levao and defensive tackle Dylan Ledbetter earning second team honors. Named to the third team were Barriere, running back Antoine Custer Jr., offensive tackle Tristen Taylor and linebacker Chris Ojoh.
 
 
Barriere Selected to Walter Payton Award Watch List
 
Junior quarterback Eric Barriere was selected by STATS on July 31 as one of 25 players in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision to be selected to the Walter Payton Award Watch List. Barriere was also selected to the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) FCS National Performer of the Year Trophy Watch List and was the FCS Fans Nation choice to be the division's Offensive Player of the Year. In addition, he received first team preseason All-America recognition by Hero Sports, and third team honors on the Phil Steele All-Big Sky team.
 
Barriere took over as EWU's starter midway through the 2018 season and helped lead the Eagles to the cusp of the NCAA Division I title, going 8-1 as a starter before EWU fell in the title game. He passed for 24 touchdowns and rushed for another eight in a total of 14 games played as a sophomore.
 
He is joined on this year's watch list by fellow Big Sky Conference players Troy Andersen (Montana State), Case Cookus (Northern Arizona), Jake Maier (UC Davis) and Charlie Taumoepeau (Portland State). The Eagles don't play MSU or UC Davis in the regular season, but will host Northern Arizona on Nov. 2 and Portland State three weeks later.
 
Also on the list were a pair of players from Jacksonville State, which EWU plays on Sept. 14 at Jacksonville, Ala. Junior quarterback Zerrick Cooper passed for JSU school records of 3,416 yards and 32 touchdowns in 2018, and senior wide receiver Josh Pearson was the FCS co-leader and set the school record with 17 touchdown receptions in 2018. Both players were first team All-Ohio Valley Conference performers last season.
 
Eastern has previously had three Walter Payton Award Winners – wide receiver Cooper Kupp in 2015, quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell in 2011 and quarterback Erik Meyer in 2005. The Eagles are the only FCS program with three Payton winners since 2000.
 
In 2016, Kupp and Gage Gubrud were second and third, respectively, in the voting. Gubrud, who was an All-American in 2016 and a starter in both 2017 and 2018, was on the preseason watch list the past two seasons. In both 2013 and 2014, Vernon Adams Jr. was the runner-up for the Payton Award.
 
In June, Barriere earned first team honors on the Hero Sports Preseason FCS All-America team. In 2018, Gubrud suffered a foot injury five games into the season and Barriere took his place for the final 10 contests. EWU won eight of those games to finish 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky Conference to share the league title with Weber State and UC Davis.
 
Barriere was extremely productive throwing the ball, finishing 13th in FCS in passing efficiency (146.9), 29th for passing yards overall (2,450) and 13th in touchdown passes with 24 after setting school and FCS Playoff records with seven versus Maine on Dec. 15. He was ninth with 198 total points responsible for and was 26th in average per game (14.14).
 
He also finished 45th in total offense per game (218.8). Barriere averaged 6.2 per carry and finished with 613 yards on the ground to break the school record of 606 set by Gage Gubrud in 2016.
 
In his 19-game career (9-2 as a starter), Barriere has completed 60.8 percent of his passes (205-of-337) for 2,588 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and has rushed 117 times for 661 yards and nine more TDs. He had a passing efficiency rating of 146.9 as a sophomore and a 143.9 mark in his career to rank fifth-best in school history.
 
Eastern finished as the only school to rank in the top 20 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense, rushing and passing. The Eagles averaged 528.2 yards on offense to rank third in FCS, including 255.9 rushing (10th) and 272.3 passing (20th). Eastern was also ranked fourth in scoring (43.1). The Eagles as a team finished the 2018 season with a school-record 6.62 average per rush on the season to break the previous record of 6.41 set in 2001. The Eagles set team records for rushing yards (3,839) and rushing touchdowns (41).
 
In addition, earlier this year Barriere was productive in his first spring as the starter, completing 63.3 percent of his passes (31-of-49) for 451 yards and four touchdowns in three spring scrimmages. He was the quarterback for five of the 11 touchdowns the offense scored.
 
 
Spencer Blackburn Among Elite Group of 28 Players Recognized on Athlon Preseason A-A Team
 
The center position is crowded when it comes to NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-America honors, let alone Big Sky Conference honors. Sixth-year center Spencer Blackburn was selected as one of just 28 players nationally to be honored on the Athlon 2019 Preseason NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-America Team announced June 11.
 
It was one of four preseason All-America honors Blackburn earned this summer, as he also earned second team preseason All-America honors from STATS, Hero Sports and Phil Steele. Blackburn was listed as an offensive lineman on the Athlon team, with Zach Larsen from Southern Utah listed as the center. Larsen also earned first team honors from the other three outlets.
 
Larsen and Blackburn are the two best centers in the Big Sky Conference as evidenced by all-league teams. Larsen has been the first team All-BSC center each of the last two seasons while Blackburn has earned second team accolades in each of the last three years. In 2016 when Blackburn was a sophomore and started his current string of 37-straight starts, Joey Kuperman from Cal Poly earned first team honors.
 
Blackburn will be a sixth-year senior in 2019 after he received approval from the Big Sky Conference and the NCAA for their hardship waiver requests to receive a sixth year to complete four years of eligibility.  Blackburn is a 2014 graduate of Meridian High School in Bellingham, Wash. He redshirted in 2014, but couldn't play in 2015 because of a thumb injury. In 2018 he earned NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-America honors by Associated Press (second team) and STATS (third team).
 
Blackburn has started 37 of the 39 games he has played as an Eagle, including the last 37. In addition, Blackburn was a team co-captain in 2018 – and again in 2019 -- and was named in November to the Google Cloud Academic All-District 8 Football Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He has also earned three Big Sky All-Academic honors, and has a 3.69 GPA in professional accounting. He was the 2017 recipient of the Larry Hattemer Offensive Lineman Scholarship.
 
Eastern finished as the only school to rank in the top 20 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense, rushing and passing. The Eagles averaged 528.2 yards on offense to rank third in FCS, including 255.9 rushing (10th) and 272.3 passing (20th). Eastern was also ranked fourth in scoring (43.1). The Eagles as a team finished the 2018 season with a school-record 6.62 average per rush on the season to break the previous record of 6.41 set in 2001. The Eagles set team records for rushing yards (3,839) and rushing touchdowns (41).
 
 
Chris Schlichting is Lone Eagle on Preseason All-Big Sky Team
 
On a team of worthy candidates, senior offensive tackle Chris Schlichting was the lone Eastern Washington University football player picked to the 2019 Big Sky Conference Preseason All-Conference Team announced July 15 by the league.
 
The 2015 graduate of Mount Si High School in North Bend, Wash., has started all 40 games he has played as an Eagle. He was a second team All-Big Sky Conference selection in 2018, and is one of nine Eagles returning who have previously received Big Sky accolades. Included were fellow offensive linemen Spencer Blackburn (center) and Kaleb Levao (guard), who also earned second team honors in 2018.
 
The 6-foot-5, 295-pound Schlichting started all 14 games as a redshirt freshman in 2016, all 11 in 2017 and all 15 in 2018 when EWU won a share of the Big Sky Conference championship and lost to North Dakota State 38-24 in the NCAA Division I Championship game.
 
He helped Eastern rank second in FCS in total offense with an average of 529.6 yards per game, trailing only Sam Houston State at 547.3 per outing. Eastern was the FCS leader in passing offense (401.0 yards per game), and was third in third down conversions (52.1 percent), third in completion percentage (.679), third in scoring offense (42.4), and third in passing efficiency (168.2). Eastern quarterbacks were sacked only 24 times in 620 passing attempts (one sack per 25.8 attempts).
 
In 2017, he helped Eastern rank fifth in FCS in total offense (476.7 per game), and was also eighth in passing (320.5), 14th in scoring (34.5) and 11th in third down conversions (46.1 percent).
 
In 2016, Schlichting made his debut as an Eagle starter versus Washington State (9/3/16) in EWU's thrilling 45-42 win. He helped Eastern rank second in FCS in total offense with an average of 529.6 yards per game, trailing only Sam Houston State at 547.3 per outing. Eastern was the FCS leader in passing offense (401.0 yards per game), and was third in third down conversions (52.1 percent), third in completion percentage (.679), third in scoring offense (42.4), and third in passing efficiency (168.2).


 
 

Preseason Team Notes

 
Defense Stands Out in Last Scrimmage Before UW Game
 
The Eastern defense had a banner day in the final scrimmage of preseason practices, holding a shorthanded offense to 196 yards in a 65-play scrimmage Aug. 24 at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.
 
The defense had eight passes broken up and five quick-whistle sacks in holding EWU offensive units to 28 yards on the ground and 168 through the air. The offense played without Walter Payton Award candidate Eric Barriere, as well as a quartet of All-Big Sky Conference offensive linemen, but did have a clean afternoon with no turnovers.
 
In 17 possessions, the offense scored only twice – an 11-yard touchdown pass from Gunner Talkington to Johnny Edwards IV, and a 37-yard field goal by Andre Slyter. Eastern's new placekicker in 2019, Slyter made field goals of 45 and 43 yards in a scrimmage on Aug. 17.
 
The first six possessions were a sign of things to come, as the defense allowed just 78 yards and two first downs on 24 plays (3.3 per play). The offense followed with a three-play, 63-yard touchdown drive, helped by a pair of defensive penalties for 25 yards. Slyter's field goal came on a seven-play, 41-yard drive that included a 29-yard pass – the longest play of the day for the offense – from true freshman Kellen Kranc to redshirt freshman Terence Norman.
 
Hometown product Ty Graham, who will redshirt the 2019 season, paved the way with eight tackles, including a sack. The safety is a transfer from the University of Idaho and 2016 graduate of Cheney (Wash.) High School.
 
Safeties Tysen Prunty and Dehonta Hayes each had three tackles and a pass broken up, and linebacker Justin Patterson had four tackles with a sack.
 
With Barriere out, Talkington, Krance and true freshman Trey Turner combined to complete 16-of-31 passes for 168 yards. Minus five sacks for 29 yards in losses, EWU rushed for 57 yards. Redshirt freshman Isaiah Lewis had 21 yards on 11 carries and senior Dennis Merritt added 15 on five. Four receivers had at least two catches, including senior Dre' Sonte Dorton (17 yards), junior Talolo Limu-Jones (30) and redshirt freshmen Anthony Stell Jr. (27) and Freddie Roberson (11).
 
 
Talkington Handed the Reins and Leads Offense to 425-Yard Effort
 
Sophomore quarterback Gunner Talkington led the Eastern Washington University offensive units to a quick start, but the defense took over from there as the Eagle football team concluded its first two weeks of preseason practices with an 85-play scrimmage on Aug. 17 at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.
 
The offense had 425 yards of offense, including 307 through the air. Talkington completed 7-of-14 passes for 154 yards, hitting Dre' Sonte Dorton for an 83-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass, as well as leading another eight-play, 79-yard drive. He also added 31 yards rushing as the offensive units scored three touchdowns in the first six possessions of the scrimmage, despite starting quarterback and Walter Payton Award candidate Eric Barriere sitting out.
 
The defense took over after that, and held the offense to a pair of field goals in the final 13 possessions. But those field goals were impressive kicks of 45 and 43 yards by junior Andre Slyter. The defense finished the day with four turnovers forced – two on fumbles and a pair on interceptions by Anthany Smith and Demetrius Crosby Jr.
 
Eastern's running game was productive throughout the scrimmage, with Dennis Merritt leading the way with 49 yards on seven carries and a 10-yard touchdown run, to go along with three catches for another 25 yards. Micah Smith rushed for 30 yards on 12 carries, and starter Antoine Custer Jr. had 27 on just five rushes. The running backs alone averaged 4.2 yards per carry.
 
Several true freshmen got a chance to play significantly in the scrimmage, including quarterbacks Trey Turner and Kellen Kranc. They combined to go 16-of-28 for 153 yards, with Jakobie James catching five passes for 59 yards.
 
Safeties Joe Lang and Tamir Hill each had six tackles to lead the defense, which also had seven quick-whistle sacks. One of the fumble recoveries was by Jusstis Warren, who returned it 25 yards for a touchdown.


Coaches Pick Eagles Third in Preseason FCS Poll
 
Picking the Eagles one spot higher than the media did, the Eastern Washington University football team was selected third in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 Poll released on Aug. 19. Two weeks earlier, EWU was ranked fourth in the STATS preseason media poll.
 
North Dakota State, which has won seven of eight NCAA Division I titles since EWU won it in 2010, was a unanimous No. 1 pick by the coaches. James Madison was ranked second, followed by EWU in third. South Dakota State was fourth, a year after JMU bowed out of the FCS Playoffs in the second round and SDSU advanced to the semifinals where is lost to NDSU. Eastern fell to the Bison 38-24 in the NCAA Division I Championship Game.
 
The Bison had 644 points and received 23 first-place votes, but only 218 votes separated second through fourth. Eastern received two first-place votes and had 588 total votes, while JMU picked up one No. 1 vote and had 597 votes. South Dakota State received 579 votes.
 
Jacksonville State is the only team EWU will play in 2019 who are ranked in the top 25 of the preseason poll. Jacksonville State from the Ohio Valley Conference is No. 6, and EWU plays against the Gamecocks in Jacksonville, Ala., on Sept. 14. Montana received enough votes to rank 26th, and Eastern takes on the Griz in Missoula on Oct. 26.
 
Other ranked teams from the Big Sky include No. 5 UC Davis, No. 9 Weber State and No. 15 Montana State. The Eagles shared the league title a year ago with the Aggies and Wildcats. Other notable ranked teams include Maine (No. 7) and Nicholls (No. 11), a pair of teams EWU beat in the 2018 playoffs, along with UC Davis.
 
 
Eagles Fourth in Preseason STATS Poll
 
Besides its No. 3 ranking from the coaches, EWU was ranked as the No. 4 team STATS FCS Preseason Top 25 poll was released on Aug. 5. North Dakota State was a unanimous No. 1 pick. James Madison was ranked second and South Dakota State was third, a year after JMU bowed out of the FCS Playoffs in the second round and SDSU advanced to the semifinals where is lost to NDSU. Eastern fell to the Bison 38-24 in the title game.
 
The Eagles have been ranked in the last 41 polls by STATS for a collective total of 98 of the last 99 polls. Eastern was ranked in the top 25 in 57 consecutive polls until being unranked in the season-ending rankings in 2015 when EWU lost its final three games of the regular season and missed the playoffs.
 
Eastern finished ranked second in the final STATS poll (and coaches poll as well) in 2018, and none of EWU's scheduled Big Sky Conference foes were ranked in that poll. However, Eastern starts a non-conference home-and-home series at Jacksonville State, which finished the 2018 season 9-4 and were ranked 10th in the final poll after losing 55-27 to Maine in the first round of the playoffs. The Eagles open the 2019 season at the University of Washington, which finished the year ranked 13th in both FBS polls (Associated Press and coaches).
 
While NDSU had 3,971 points and received 142 first-place votes, only 41 votes separated second through fourth. Eastern received three first-place votes, while JMU had 14 and SDSU one.
 
Jacksonville State and Montana are the only teams EWU will play in 2019 who are ranked in the preseason poll. Jacksonville State from the Ohio Valley Conference is No. 6, and EWU plays against the Gamecocks in Jacksonville, Ala., on Sept. 14. Montana is ranked 25th, and Eastern takes on the Griz in Missoula on Oct. 26.
 
Other ranked teams from the Big Sky include No. 5 UC Davis, No. 8 Weber State and No. 14 Montana State. The Eagles shared the league title a year ago with the Aggies and Wildcats. Other notable ranked teams include Maine (No. 7) and Nicholls (No. 12), a pair of teams EWU beat in the 2018 playoffs, along with UC Davis.
 
 
For Second-Straight Year, Eastern Picked to Win Title
 
The Eagles proved the prognosticators right in 2018, so they'll try to do the same thing again in 2019.
 
For the second-straight year, the Eastern Washington University football team has been picked to win the 2019 league title by both the coaches and media as the picks were released July 15 at the Big Sky Conference Football Kickoff in Spokane. The Eagles are the defending NCAA Football Championship Subdivision runner-up after sharing the Big Sky Conference title with UC Davis and Weber State.
 
It's the third time since 2014 the Eagles have been picked No. 1 in both polls, and in 2015 EWU was selected first by the media. In 2016 the Eagles were fourth by the coaches and third by the media, and in 2017 Eastern was second in both. In 2013, EWU was second in both as well.
 
Since winning the league and NCAA Division I titles in 2010, Eastern has won Big Sky championships in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018, giving the Eagles a total of 10 league titles. Despite losing 25 seniors from last year's squad that finished 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the league, Eastern has another veteran squad with 22 seniors and 48 total letter winners back.
 
The Eagles received 25 first-place votes and 536 total points among the 43 ballots cast by the media, and received 10 of the 13 first-place tallies and 140 total votes by the league's 14 coaches (coaches don't vote on their own teams). UC Davis was second in both polls with 510 votes by the media and 127 from the coaches, followed closely by Weber State (472, 124). Montana and Montana State flip-flopped the next two places – the Grizzlies were picked fourth by the coaches and fifth by the media, and the Bobcats were fourth in the media poll and fifth in the rankings of coaches.
 
Interestingly, Eastern plays just one of the teams picked from No. 2 to No. 5, playing at Montana on Oct. 26. Besides the game versus the Griz and a Sept. 28 game versus Big Sky defector North Dakota, EWU's league games are versus Sacramento State (11th coaches/12th media), Northern Colorado (13th/13th), Northern Arizona (6th/6th), Idaho State (7th/7th), Cal Poly (9th/9th) and Portland State (10th/10th). Eastern plays Idaho (8th/8th) in a non-conference road game on Sept. 21.
  
 
Eti Ena Takes Over as EWU Defensive Coordinator
 
Eastern and Inchelium (Wash.) High School graduate Eti Ena has been elevated to defensive coordinator, Eagle head coach Aaron Best announced Jan. 23. Ena takes the place of Jeff Schmedding, who left after 15 years at EWU to become outside linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator at Boise State, and was eventually elevated to defensive coordinator as well.
 
"I am so excited for this opportunity," said Ena. "I love this program and the people we have here at EWU.  I want to thank the coaches I get to work with and the players for all their hard work and dedication. We have made strides defensively the last couple years and now it's time to Advance The Standard even further."
 
Best said Ena will retain his associate head coach title and continue to coach defensive ends.
 
"Coach Ena is a true and natural leader," said Best. "He loves to mold young men and now he gets to do that from another chair. Eti is a true EKG (Eastern Kind of Guy) in our program."
 
A year after allowing 33.4 points per game, the Eagles allowed just 22.7 in 2018 for the team's best performance since 1997. Eastern's nine games of allowing 20 points for fewer in 2018 equals the school record also set in 1997, 1981, 1964 and 1949. In eight Big Sky Conference games, Eastern allowed the fewest points per game (16.9) while ranking second in total defense (346.6), second in passing defense (185.4) and second in rushing defense (161.2).
 
"We're excited and eager for Coach Ena," Best added. "We made great strides on that side of the football this past year and his fingerprints and voice will only enhance the progress we have made. We couldn't be happier for his wife and family to announce this opportunity."
 
Ena's name is pronounced "eh-tee" "en-nuh."
 
 
Eagles Add Four Coaches, Including Ian Shoemaker to Guide Eagle Offense
 
Former Central Washington University head coach Ian Shoemaker was among four new Eastern coaches announced by Eagle head coach Aaron Best in February and March.
 
Shoemaker was CWU's head coach for the past five seasons, compiling a 38-16 record and winning Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships in 2017 and 2018. In those 54 games, Central averaged 37.3 points per game and 447.3 yards of total offense.
 
He replaces Bodie Reeder, who left after two seasons to become offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of North Texas.
 
"We are very fortunate and excited to bring a coach of Ian's caliber into our program," said Best. "He has a proven track record at multiple levels of football and we are privileged to get him on board this late in the game. His Washington roots, head coaching experience, and entire knowledge of the game are all great additions to our program, and allows us to continue to Advance The Standard."
 
"I am very excited to be coming to EWU as offensive coordinator," Shoemaker said. "From growing up in the state of Washington to having a younger brother play for the Eagles (Javid Shoemaker), I have always considered EWU as an elite university and football program.  I am so proud that Coach Best trusts me to do this job and look forward to working with the great coaching staff and players already in Cheney."  
 
In the 2018 season, the Wildcats opened the year by falling to Eastern 58-13, but won eight of their next nine. The Wildcats finished as the co-champions in the GNAC with Azusa Pacific, which beat the Wildcats 42-35 to end the regular season. Azusa Pacific was selected for the NCAA Division II Playoffs, as CWU finished 8-3 overall and 7-1 in the GNAC.
 
Shoemaker's quarterback the past two seasons was former Eagle Reilly Hennessey. He earned unanimous first team All-GNAC honors in 2018 and was the GNAC Offensive Player of the Year.  Hennessey threw for 2,705 yards and 21 touchdowns. The senior signal caller added another 477 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.  Hennessey was named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year in 2017, as well as being a first team All-GNAC selection.
 
Central's offense in 2018 finished fourth in Division II in scoring (47.7 points per game) and was second in total offense (540.9). The Wildcats ranked 10th in rushing at 272.64 yards per game, and had two 1,000-yard rushers. A total of 11 players earned first team All-GNAC accolades for the Wildcats in 2018.
 
In 2017, the Wildcats were 11-1 on the season and 8-0 in GNAC play, and advanced to the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Shoemaker was selected as the 2017 Don Hansen Super Region 3 Coach of the Year, GNAC Coach of the year, and placed seven players on all-region squads.
 
"I have loved my time at CWU and have made great friendships and memories," Shoemaker added. "I look forward to making that same type of personal investment in EWU and the community of Cheney."
 
A native of Graham, Wash., Shoemaker graduated from Orting High School. The 1996 Grinnell College (Iowa) graduate was a four-year starter in both football and baseball, and earned a degree in psychology.  He was the school's most valuable player and offensive back of the year in football, and set school records for home runs in a season and career in baseball.
 
Shoemaker's brother, Javid, played safety for Eastern Washington from 2001-04 after graduating from Bethel High School in Graham, Wash., in 2000.
 
 
Former Eagle Safety Allen Brown Returns as Coach
 
An Eagle for six seasons from 2009-14, Allen Brown will return to the Eastern football program to become EWU's new cornerbacks coach and defensive passing game coordinator.
 
After concluding his playing career at EWU, Brown was a strength and conditioning intern at EWU in 2014 and also assisted with the secondary. Brown then spent the past four seasons from 2015-18 at Cal Poly as coach of the team's cornerbacks.
 
"We are so pumped and excited to get Allen coming full circle to wear the Eagle logo and a whistle," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "It is with great pleasure and excitement to introduce Allen's skill set and coaching ability to our staff as a whole and specifically on the defensive side of the ball. Allen is a motivated worker that certainly demonstrates what the standard is here and will continue to advance that standard as the cornerback & defensive passing game coordinator role."
 
Brown redshirted in 2009, then was part of EWU's national championship team in 2010 and NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoff semifinal appearances in 2012 and 2013. In his four years on the field as an Eagle, Brown helped EWU compile a 42-13 record overall and 27-5 mark in the Big Sky Conference.
 
The Eagles won three league titles and advanced to the FCS Playoffs in three of the four seasons he lettered at EWU from 2010-13. He then spent the 2014 season as a strength and conditioning intern at EWU, which advanced to the quarterfinals of the playoffs that year.
 
He earned second team All-Big Sky honors in 2012 and honorable mention in 2013. He was also team captain as a senior and recorded 237 total tackles to currently rank 21st in school history. He also intercepted four passes and broke up 15 passes during his 52-game career.
 
He finished with 56 tackles, two interceptions and three passes broken up in 12 games played as a senior in 2013 when EWU finished 12-3 and won the Big Sky title with a perfect 8-0 record. As a junior in 2012, Brown notched 91 tackles and broke up seven passes. Eastern was 11-3 overall, 7-1 in the Big Sky and made the first of two-straight appearances in the semifinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.
 
He had 39 tackles and one interception as a freshman and 51 more tackles and another interception as a sophomore. The 2010 Eagles captured the NCAA Division I title and finished 13-2 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky, then was 6-5/5-3 in 2011. Brown recorded double-digit tackles in six games, including a career-high 11 against Montana in 2012 and 10 more against Cal Poly in 2011.
 
"Winning a national championship and donning the No. 4 jersey as a player are just two of the notable accomplishments Allen has earned over his time as an Eagle," added Best. "He has a bright future as a coach, and anytime you can bring our own Eagles back to the nest that is a huge victory."
 
A native of Anchorage, Alaska, Brown graduated from Eastern Washington in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He is a 2009 graduate of Foss High School in Tacoma, Wash., where he was a wide receiver and defensive back in football and also competed in basketball and track and field. His high school and EWU teammate Nicholas Edwards is currently running backs coach at Cal.
 
 
Pat McCann Returns to Home State to Coach EWU Receivers
 
Pat McCann has returned to his home state to coach wide receivers for the Eagles, and also serves as EWU's new recruiting coordinator as well.
 
Formerly from Olympia, Wash., McCann comes to EWU from Northern Iowa where he was wide receivers coach in 2017 and 2018. McCann, a 2009 graduate of Western Washington University, spent four previous seasons at EWU's fellow Big Sky Conference member UC Davis. 
 
"My family and I could not be any more excited to be joining Coach Best and the Eastern Washington program," said McCann. "This was the right move at the right time for us as a family, and I look forward to working to continuing to advance the standard of EWU Football. Eastern is the 'Wide Receiver U" of FCS Football, and I'm excited about the challenge of upholding that tradition."
 
"Pat is someone I have watched from afar for some time now," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "His work speaks for itself and we are fortunate to be able to bring Pat aboard. He has done a tremendous job coaching receivers, has coached on both coasts and has some play-calling experience as well. His experience in the Big Sky Conference will only enhance our ability to advance the standard."
 
Interestingly, McCann faced his former team in 2018 while he was coaching UNI – with a twist. A family matter sidelined Panthers offensive coordinator John Bond at the end of the season, and McCann filled in. He debut calling plays came in a 37-0 win over Missouri State, then UNI edged Lamar 16-13 in the first round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs. However, the Panthers lost 23-16 to the UC Davis Aggies, who would go on to lose to Eastern 34-29 in the quarterfinals. Northern Iowa finished 7-6 in 2018 and were 8-5 in 2017.
 
While receiver coach at UC Davis, McCann was integral in helping All-Big Sky second team selection Keelan Doss receive sophomore All-America honors from Hero Sports in 2016.
 
McCann played football at Western Washington from 2007-2008, earning first team All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference honors as a wide receiver in 2008. As a senior, he caught 58 passes for 1,057 yards and 11 touchdowns, then Western discontinued its football program following the season.
 
"Having many connections and being from Washington, we felt Pat is a great fit to excel in the recruiting coordinator role as well," added Best. "We welcome Pat with open arms to the Eagle family."
 
He graduated from Western Washington with a bachelor's degree in exercise and sport science with a sport psychology emphasis in 2009 and went on to earn his master's in leadership studies in 2011 from Grand Canyon University.
 
He also spent time playing at the College of the Canyons from 2003-05, leading his team to a Junior College National Championship in 2004. Prior to that, he graduated from Olympia (Wash.) High School where he earned first team All-Narrows League honors as a senior when he had 26 catches for 460 yards and nine touchdowns.
 
 
Eastern Elevates Bryan Mills to Coaching Position
 
Bryan Mills, a defensive analyst for the Eastern football team the past two seasons, has been elevated by head coach Aaron Best into a position as safeties coach for the Eagles after working with the defense in 2017 and 2018.
 
"Over the past two years here as an analyst I've grown to love everything about this program, and what it means to be a true EKG (Eastern Kind of Guy)," said Mils. "It is an honor to coach the safeties and be a part of the Eagle family." 
 
"The addition of Bryan to our defensive staff as secondary coach is something he has worked for, and now he gets the opportunity to show his abilities," said Best. "Bryan is a hard working individual who gets his first shot at coaching Division I football here at Eastern. He will be surrounded by a ton of experience (coaches and players) so the transition will be smoother. Continuity is a key to long term success and filling the safeties position with an individual familiar with our defensive scheme was pivotal."
 
Mills received his bachelor's degree in education with a minor in sociology from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore., in 2014. He worked toward his master's degree in business administration while serving as defensive backs coach at Eastern Oregon in the 2016 season. The Mounties in 2016 earned their first berth in the NAIA Playoffs in school history and advanced to the semifinals. They beat defending national champion and top-ranked Marian 17-0 in the quarterfinals.
 
Prior to EOU, Mills coached for his alma mater at Pacific and served as the safeties coach for two seasons. Mills helped the Boxers share the 2014 Northwest Conference (NWC) regular season title. On the gridiron, Mills was a standout safety for the Boxers and led the NWC in pass breakups during the 2012 season. He won honorable mention All-NWC honors twice before snagging second team all-conference accolades his senior year. In 2013, Mills finished second in the league in interceptions with four. Mills was a four-year starter for the Boxers, beginning in 2010 when the school reinstated the football program.
 
 
After Championship Game Appearance, Aaron Best Agrees on Two-Year Extension
 
A lot can happen in the coaching world, but Aaron Best is expected to be a fixture in Cheney, Wash., for several more years to come. The Eastern head coach agreed to terms for a new two-year extension to his contract it was announced on Jan. 10, 2019. The extension runs through 2024.
 
Best, who has spent 22 seasons as a player or coach for the Eagles, was the Big Sky Conference co-Coach of the Year in 2018 after guiding Eastern to a league co-championship and an appearance in the NCAA Division I Championship Game. He was also voted by fans nationwide as the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Coach of the Year by Hero Sports.
 
"I am certainly grateful and humbled at the opportunity to be the head football coach for the foreseeable future," said Best. "EWU and Cheney are special to our family."
 
"We are thrilled to be able to provide Aaron this extension and keep him at Eastern for years to come," said Hickey. "We appreciate his leadership and success of our football program, and Eagle Nation was excited to see the 2018 season end in Frisco, Texas, at the championship game. We know Aaron has big expectations for the future and we are anxious to see how that unfolds."
 
The Eagles, who finished 12-3 in Best's second year at the helm, fell 38-24 to North Dakota State on Jan. 5, 2019, in Frisco, Texas, for the NCAA Division I Championship. Eastern won the title in 2010 and NDSU has now won seven of the eight years since.
 
In two years at the helm, he has compiled a 19-7 record overall (73.1 percent) and 13-3 mark in the league (81.3 percent). Both percentages currently rank as the best in school history, just ahead of Beau Baldwin with an 85-32 overall mark (72.6 percent) in nine seasons from 2008-16, and a 58-14 league record (80.6 percent).
 
In addition, EWU annually leads the Big Sky Conference in Academic All-Conference honors won. Eastern's football players combined for a 3.07 grade point average in the 2018 fall quarter, and the team has a 3.06 accumulative GPA overall.
 
"This is home for our family and with the support of our administration -- Dr. Cullinan, Mary Voves, and Lynn Hickey -- we will continue to compete in pushing the academic standard along with competing for championships on the field as well," Best added. "Eagle Nation can be assured we will continue to have high expectations of our program as a staff. We thank everybody involved for this continued opportunity."

 
 

Series Notes

Since the early 1980's when it began the move to become a member of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (in 1984), Eastern is now 10-25 all-time versus Football Bowl Subdivision teams. Against current Pac-12 Conference members, EWU is now 2-9 (2-11 including losses to Washington State in 1907 and 1908), including a 49-46 upset of 25th-ranked Oregon State in 2013 and a 45-42 win over Washington State in 2016. Eastern has won three of its last nine games versus FBS foes. A 35-17 win over Connecticut on Sept. 8, 2001, snapped a five-game losing streak versus FBS foes, then a 20-3 win at Idaho in 2012 snapped a 10-game skid.
 
 
Looking Back to 2014 . . . Washington 59, Eastern Washington 52
 
A year after beating Oregon State of the Pac-12 Conference, junior quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. helped EWU light up the scoreboard with 475 passing yards and a school-record seven touchdown tosses before the Eagles narrowly fell to Washington of the Pac-12 Conference 59-52 on Sept. 6, 2014, at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Wash.
 
The Eagles rallied from a 21-0 deficit to take leads of 38-37 and 45-44 in the second half. Eastern lost the turnover battle 2-0, with both miscues leading to UW touchdowns. The 475 yards by Adams were the second-most in school history, ranking behind the 486 Todd Bernett had versus Montana in 1994. The yardage total was two more than Bo Levi Mitchell had in 2011 in the first-ever meeting between EWU and Washington. The seven TD's Adams finished with eclipsed the school record set five times previously, including twice by himself.
 
Both teams combined for 1,110 yards of offense in just the second-ever meeting for EWU against the Huskies. The Eagles entered ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. The Pac-12 Conference foe, meanwhile, was ranked 25th in the preseason Associated Press poll of NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision schools before dropping out after a 17-16 win over Hawaii in its opener. A year earlier, Adams had a school-record 518 yards of offense (411 passing) in a 49-46 victory at Oregon State. That victory was just the fourth time an FCS school has defeated a ranked FBS team.
 
Cooper Kupp, then a sophomore, finished with eight catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns versus UW, where his grandfather, Jake, played before joining the NFL. Senior Quincy Forte was a workhorse for the Eagles, gaining 68 yards on 15 carries and catching five passes for 43 more yards. He also returned a pair of kickoffs for 39 yards, giving him a team-leading 150 all-purpose yards on the day. Sophomore wide receiver Kendrick Bourne made his first career start versus UW, and finished with eight catches for 114 yards. Sixth-year senior Ronnie Hamlin led the way for Eastern's defense with 13 tackles.
 
Eastern finished with 573 yards of offense, but allowed the Huskies to gain 536. The two teams combined for 673 yards in total offense in the first half, with EWU finishing the half with 337 to 336 for the Huskies. UW had a 145 to minus-4 advantage in the first 7:13 as the Eagles fell behind 21-0, but Eastern outgained the Huskies 341-191 in offense over the final 22:47 of the half.
 
With EWU trailing 52-45 in the fourth quarter, Eastern fumbled at the UW 16-yard line after a 16-yard reception. The ensuing 13-play, 65-yard drive gave Washington a 14-point lead with 7:45 left. The Huskies converted both EWU turnovers into touchdowns, while the Huskies finished the game without a turnover.
 
The 52 points EWU scored equaled the most in a loss since falling 63-59 to Weber State in 1991, and the 111 the Huskies and Eagles scored were the most combined points in an Eastern game since that outing. The Eagles lost 55-52 to Idaho State in double-overtime in 2003. Eastern also equaled the most points allowed since allowing 63 in back-to-back games in 1995, having given up 59 to Cal in a 59-7 drubbing in 2009.
 
The crowd of 62,861 was the second-largest EWU has ever played in front of, just behind the 64,522 when the Eagles played at Brigham Young on Oct. 20, 2007, and fell 42-7.
 
 
 
Looking Back to 2011 . . . Washington 30, Eastern Washington 27
 
In the only other previous meeting versus the Eagles and Huskies, a historic matchup came one play from being a memorable one for Eastern. The defending NCAA Division champions narrowly fell to Washington 30-27 on Sept. 3, 2011, despite Eagle quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell having the second-best passing performance in Eagle history at the time with 473 yards. His potential game-winning pass was intercepted in the end zone with 29 ticks of the clock remaining in a game in which the Eagles outgained the Huskies 504-250 in total offense.
 
A crowd of 58,088 witnessed the first-ever meeting – at the time the third-largest crowd to witness an Eastern game (now fifth). Junior All-America receiver Brandon Kaufman had 10 catches for 140 yards, Nicholas Edwards had 12 grabs for 108 yards and a touchdown and Greg Herd had seven catches for 87 yards and a TD. Ronnie Hamlin had a team-leading eight tackles.
 
 
 

More Team Notes

 
Eagles Rank in the Top 12 in Both Playoff Appearances and Victories
 
The Eagles made their 13th appearance in the FCS Playoffs in 2018 to rank 12th in history, and have a 19-12 record all-time to rank eighth in wins. Head coach Aaron Best and his team had the mantra all season of "Leave No Doubt" after the team was denied a berth in 2017  after finishing 7-4 overall and 5-2 in the league.
 
"The standard around here are Big Sky championships and playoff berths, so when we don't do that it hurts," he explained. "I've been here 20-plus years and have been a part of a lot of victories, so it hurt when I couldn't tell those players in 2017 why we didn't get in. The natural response is we didn't do enough on our resume to get in, but in 2018 we didn't want to put it anybody else's hands. We weren't going to let a committee or people decide our fate. We decided our own fate."
 
 
Eastern Now 50-0 Since 2010 When Winning the TO Battle
 
In the last 10+ seasons (2008-18), the Eagles are now 59-1 when they've won the turnover battle, 24-6 when they've been tied and 21-32 when they've lost (total of 104-39). 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 50-0 since 2010 when they've won the turnover battle, 21-5 when they've been tied and 19-25 when they've lost. That's a collective record of 90-30 (75.0 percent), with 25 of those 30 losses (83 percent) coming in games EWU has lost the turnover battle and 56 percent of EWU's wins coming when they've won the turnover battle (79 percent when including ties).
 
In the final 12 games of the 2018 season, Eastern had a plus-16 turnover advantage (32 takeaways and 16 giveaways), but in the first three the Eagles were a negative six (two takeaways and eight giveaways). For the season, Eastern was second in turnovers gained with 34, was third with 22 interceptions and ranked 16th overall in turnover margin (34 takeaways, 24 giveaways, +0.67 per game).
 
Eastern opened the 2018 season by losing the turnover battle against Central Washington 3-1, but winning on the scoreboard 58-13. The Eagles were tied 1-1 against NAU in turnovers, but prevailed 31-26. Washington State scored 24 points on four Eastern turnovers, with the Eagles failing to register a takeaway. Eastern won the turnover battle 2-1 in its 70-17 romp past Cal Poly, 2-1 at Montana State in a 34-17 win and 2-1 at home against Southern Utah. Eastern lost the turnover battle 2-1 in a 14-6 loss at Weber State when the Eagles threw two fourth-quarter interceptions.
 
During its seven-game winning streak, Eastern had a 23-8 advantage in turnovers forced. The Eagles won the battle 1-0 in beating Idaho 38-14 and 3-2 in defeating Northern Colorado 48-13. Eastern forced five turnovers – equaling its most since 2010 – and had only one giveaway in a 59-20 victory over UC Davis on Nov. 10. The Aggies had entered the game with a plus-12 margin, ranking them fifth in FCS. Eastern ended the regular season with a 4-1 advantage over Portland State, including EWU's third-straight game with three interceptions, the first time EWU has accomplished that feat since joining the Big Sky Conference in 1987. In the FCS Playoffs against Nicholls, EWU tied 2-2, then had a 4-1 advantage over both UC Davis and Maine in the quarterfinals. Eastern then lost the turnover battle 3-2 against North Dakota State in the NCAA Division I Championship Game.
 
In 2018, Eastern was 9-0 it when it won the turnover battle, 1-3 when it had more turnovers and 2-0 when tied. In 2017, EWU was 3-0 when it won the turnover battle, 3-3 when it lost and 1-1 when it was tied. Eastern finished the 2017 season at minus 10 turnovers for the season, ranking EWU 105th out of 123 FCS schools in turnover margin (-0.91 per game), 90th in turnovers lost (23) and 105th in turnovers gained (13).
 

70 Percent of EWU's Roster are from Washington in 2019
 
The Eagles have 102 players in their program in 2018, and 71 of them – 70 percent – are from the state of Washington. Eastern's coaching staff is Washington-based as well, with nine of the team's 11 full-time coaches (82 percent) hailing from the Evergreen State. Head coach Aaron Best is a 1996 graduate of Curtis High School in Tacoma, Wash., and shares the same alma mater with Brian Strandley (1990).
 
 
Eastern is 30-16 Since 2010 Versus Ranked Opponents, Including 2-8 All-Time Versus No. 1
 
Eastern was 5-2 versus ranked opponents in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in 2018, and have now won 65 percent of its games (30-16) versus ranked teams since 2010. Eastern is 59-70 in 129 games overall against ranked teams since becoming a member of that classification in 1983 (then known as I-AA). Since 1983, Eastern is 1-6 versus ranked FBS foes, and Washington in 2019 will be the eight ranked foe faced.
 
Eastern also beat the No. 9 team in NCAA Division II at the time when EWU blasted Central Washington 58-13 to open the season. The Eagles then defeated a ranked opponent for the first time since 2016 when the Eagles beat Northern Arizona 31-26 on Sept. 8. Northern Arizona had entered the game ranked 18th in the STATS Top 25 poll, and the win snapped a three-game losing streak in games versus ranked foes. The last win came over No. 12 Richmond 38-0 on Dec. 10, 2016, in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs.
 
Eastern, however, fell 14-6 to No. 13 Weber State on Oct. 13, 2018, in Ogden, Utah, in another game versus a ranked foe, then registered victories over No. 4 UC Davis (59-20), No. 15 Nicholls (42-21), No. 7 UC Davis (34-29) and No. 12 Maine (50-19), with the latter three wins coming in the FCS Playoffs. The Eagles then fell to top-ranked North Dakota State 38-24 in the NCAA Division I Championship Game in Frisco, Texas.
 
Overall, EWU has faced the No. 1 team in FCS 10 times, winning twice -- 35-31 in 2004 over Southern Illinois in the FCS Playoffs and 30-21 in 2002 over Montana at Albi Stadium in Spokane, Wash. One of the losses was in 2016 in Fargo, N.D., when North Dakota State beat No. 8 Eastern 50-44 in overtime. The following season, EWU was ranked seventh and lost 40-13 to second-ranked NDSU in Cheney. Eastern lost a third time to the top-ranked Bison by a 38-24 score on Jan. 5, 2019, in the NCAA Division I Championship Game.
 
The Eagles are 9-35 all-time versus top 5 opponents (4-7 since 2010), including 2-8 versus No. 1 (0-2 since 2010). Eastern is also 10-8 versus top 10 foes since 2010, including a 5-3 mark in the regular season and 5-5 in the playoffs Eastern is 19-43 in 62 games all-time versus top 10 opponents.
 
 
Eagles Continue Big Sky Success With Impressive Consistency
 
Consistency has been a cornerstone of EWU Football, and the Eagles have cemented a 15-year run of winning the league title and/or advancing to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs at least every other year. 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.
 
In 2018, Eastern secured its 10th Big Sky title and 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 rebounded for victories over Idaho (38-14), Northern Colorado (48-13), UC Davis (59-20) and Portland State (74-23). A crowd of 8,789 was on hand for the UC Davis game – the 30th-straight sellout at Roos Field (crowd of 8,600 or more) and 42nd in history. 


Winningest FCS Teams Since 2010 (entering 2019 season)
 
By victories . . . 1. North Dakota State 121; 2. Sam Houston State 92; 3. Eastern Washington 90; 5. Jacksonville State 85; 6. James Madison 82; 7. Kennesaw State 79; 8. San Diego 77; 9. South Dakota State 75; 10. New Hampshire 74. 
 
By percentage . . . 1. North Dakota State .903 (121-13); 2. Harvard .778 (70-20); 3. Kennesaw State .7524 (79-26); 4. Jacksonville State .7522 (85-28); 5. Eastern Washington .750 (90-30); 6. Sam Houston State .742 (92-32); 7. San Diego .740 (77-27); 8. James Madison .713 (82-33); 9. Bethune-Cookman .696 (71-31); 10. North Carolina A&T .680 (70-53).
 
 
Eagles Now 52-10 on The Red Turf, Including 13-4 in the Playoffs
 
After winning all five of its regular season home games in 2018 and a trio of playoff games to extend its current home winning streak to nine, Eastern is now 52-10 (83.9 percent) overall at Roos Field since 2010. Eastern has lost just six regular season games at "The Inferno" – 39-6 (86.7 percent), plus are 13-4 (76.5 percent) 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.
 
The stadium has been known as "Roos Field" since 2010 when a new red synthetic Sprinturf surface made its debut. Eastern finished a perfect 8-0 in its debut season at "The Inferno," including three playoff victories. Eastern has won 83.9 percent of its games since the red turf was installed in 2010 – including a 4-0 record versus rival Montana.
 
The North Dakota State game on Sept. 9, 2017, was the 50th at Roos Field since the red turf surface was installed in 2010. In 2016, Eastern finished 7-1 in the 50th season of football at EWU's current stadium location, which opened in 1967. Eastern has a 165-65 record (71.7 percent) in 230 games at Roos Field (formerly Woodward Field) since 1967, with the Eagles utilizing Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane as the school's main home field from 1983-89.
 
 

Eagles Have Impressive 53-9 Big Sky Record Since 0-2 Start in 2011
 
The Eagles have won 53 of their last 62 Big Sky games since a 0-2 start in 2011. Included is a current stretch of 43 victories in the last 50 games (including two at the end of the 2012 season). Including three wins at the end of the 2009 season, Eastern has a 63-12 record in league games since then.
 
Including four non-conference victories (two versus MSU, and one each against Cal Poly and Northern Arizona) and two playoff wins (Montana and UC Davis), the Eagles are 59-9 since the 0-2 start in 2011 and 49-7 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 55-year history of the league was Montana, which won 50 of 55 games from 1995-2002 and 46 of 51 from 2003-2009.
 
What is perhaps most impressive is Eastern's ability to consistently win on the road versus conference foes, with records of 23-5 on the road, 25-3 at home and 48-8 overall in the last seven seasons since 2012. Since then, Eastern has defeated every Big Sky team on the road at least once, including former Big Sky member North Dakota and a 2012 non-league road victory at Idaho, which re-joined the league in 2018. Until losing at Southern Utah in October of 2017, the Eagles had won their previous road game versus all 13 other league members. Eastern also lost at Weber State in 2018.
 
 
Eagles Continue Stretch of Success in FCS Statistics in Passing and Total Offense
 
In EWU's last 15 seasons (2004-2018), EWU has ranked in the top 10 in passing 12 times, total offense on 11 occasions and scoring six times. In school history, EWU has won two FCS titles for total offense (2001, 1997), as well as three passing offense titles (2016, 2015, 2011) and two for scoring offense (2014, 2001).
 

 Four Eagles Make NFL Rosters in 2018, Two as Starters With Rams
 
Four former Eagles were in uniform when the NFL regular season began in September of 2018, including a pair of starters with the Los Angeles Rams. In 2019, there are nine Eagles in NFL training camps hoping to secure a roster spot with NFL teams. They include Jay-Tee Tiuli with Seattle, Kendrick Bourne with San Francisco, Jake Rodgers with Denver and Taiwan Jones with Houston, as well as five with the Los Angeles Rams – Cooper Kupp, Ketner Kupp, Samson Ebukam, Aaron Neary, and Nsimba Webster.
 
Cooper Kupp was a starting receiver for the Rams in 2018 after bursting onto the scene in 2017 with 62 catches for 869 yards and five touchdowns to earn All-Rookie honors by the Pro Football Writers Association. His second season was cut short with a knee injury, and he missed the team's march to the Super Bowl. Before he was injured, he and his wife, Anna, and their newborn son, Cooper Jamison, actually attended the MSU game on Sept. 29, 2018, to watch his brother Ketner Kupp play. Cooper returned to a venue he caught nine passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns as a sophomore in 2014, and 13 for 154 and a score in his senior year in 2016. In all, Kupp caught 42 passes for 617 yards and seven touchdowns in four victories versus the Bobcats. It was the first time in two years with the Rams that Kupp was able to see the Eagles play. Just two days prior to attending the EWU-MSU game, he caught nine passes for a career-high 162 yards and had the first two-touchdown day of his career versus Minnesota. He had a 70-yard TD reception in the 38-31 victory, giving him 24 catches for 348 yards and four touchdowns in the first four games – all wins – for the Rams. After his injury, he, Anna and Cooper Jr. (nicknamed "June") watched Ketner play his final collegiate game on Jan. 5, 2019, at the NCAA Division I Championship Game in Frisco, Texas.
 
Ebukam was a starter at outside linebacker in the 2018 season after finishing with 31 tackles, a pair of sacks and a forced fumble in 16 games (two as a starter) as a rookie. Kendrick Bourne, also a rookie in 2017, is a backup wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers and had his first regular season touchdown in the NFL on Sept. 16, 2018. He had 16 receptions for 257 yards as a rookie, all coming in the last eight games of the season. Veteran running back Taiwan Jones remains on the Buffalo Bills roster and played in his eighth season in the NFL in 2018.
 
Aaron Neary had spent his rookie season with the Rams, even starting once at center in the regular season, but was cut at the end of training camp in 2018. He was then with the Cleveland Browns for less than a week until being released before the team's regular season opener, then was picked back up by the Rams for their practice squad. He, Ebukam and Kupp all were with the Rams when they fell to the New England Patriots 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII.
 
Veteran Jake Rodgers, who last played for EWU in 2014, was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and rookie Albert Havili was released by the Bills after starting the preseason with the San Diego Chargers. Later in the 2018 season, Rodgers joined the practice squad of the Baltimore Ravens.
 
With Kupp, Ebukam, Bourne and Neary, Eastern had four rookies play in the regular season in the NFL in 2017 – certainly extremely rare if not unprecedented by a FCS school. As NFL 53-man rosters were announced for 2018, STATS reported there were 157 players from 71 different FCS schools on regular season rosters, but Eastern is the only Big Sky school with more than two. Eastern has the sixth-most in FCS, trailing only Harvard (8), North Dakota State (6), James Madison (6), Illinois State (6) and Delaware (6).
 
Eastern also has five Eagles active in the Canadian Football League in 2019, including quarterbacks Bo Levi Mitchell (Calgary), Matt Nichols (Winnipeg) and Vernon Adams Jr. (Montreal). Defensive backs T.J. Lee III and Victor Gamboa both play for British Columbia. D'londo Tucker and Albert Havili were also both with British Columbia but didn't make the team.
 
Mitchell led the Calgary to the 2018 Grey Cup title after leading the Stampeders to the title back in 2014. He was the CFL's Most Outstanding Player in 2018 after throwing a league-best 35 touchdowns passes. He was 24-of-36 passing for 253 yards and two TDs in a 27-16 victory over Ottawa in the Grey Cup on Nov. 25 in Edmonton, Alberta. J.C. Sherritt, a veteran of eight CFL seasons, announced his retirement on Jan. 16, 2019.
  
 

Preseason Player Notes

 
 
Eagles Get Two Offensive Linemen Back as Sixth-Year Seniors
 
Eagle All-America center Spencer Blackburn and All-Big Sky offensive guard Kaleb Levao will return for the 2019 football season after their hardship waiver requests to receive a sixth year to complete four years of eligibility were approved by the Big Sky Conference and the NCAA. That gives EWU four starters back on the offensive line with a collective 146 games of experience, including 123 starts.
 
Honored the past three years as a second team All-Big Sky Conference selection, Blackburn is a 2014 graduate of Meridian High School in Bellingham, Wash. He redshirted in 2014, but couldn't play in 2015 because of a thumb injury. In 2018 he earned NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-America honors by Associated Press (second team) and STATS (third team).
 
"It means a ton to be able to come back and be a part of another year with such a special program," said Blackburn. "This team has the experience and structure to further advance the standard we set this last season all the way to January. Go Eags!"
 
Blackburn has started 37 of the 39 games he has played as an Eagle, including the last 37. The Eagles finished 12-3 overall in 2018 after winning a share of the Big Sky Conference title, then won three FCS Playoff games at home to advance to the NCAA Division I Championship game. Blackburn started all 15 games for the Eagles.
 
In addition, Blackburn was a team co-captain in 2018 and was named in November to the Google Cloud Academic All-District 8 Football Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He has also earned three Big Sky All-Academic honors, and has a 3.69 GPA in professional accounting. He was the 2017 recipient of the Larry Hattemer Offensive Lineman Scholarship.
 
"We're excited and eager for Spencer to be back with us again in 2019," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "We're happy that he will continue to be a leader and example for his brothers on and off the field for one more season."
 
Levao, who played just two games out of 11 in 2017, started 14 of EWU's 15 games in 2018 alongside Blackburn. That means EWU will have three returning starters along the offensive line (tackle Chris Schlichting is the other), while also having back tackle Tristen Taylor who played in just three games in 2018 before being lost with a season-ending knee injury.
 
That leaves 2014 Spokane High School graduates Jack Hunter (Gonzaga Prep; 27 starts in 40 career games at guard) and Beau Byus (Central Valley; 11 starts in 37 career games as a tackle and tight end) as the lone seniors lost from the 2018 squad.
 
Eastern finished as the only school to rank in the top 20 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense, rushing and passing. The Eagles averaged 528.2 yards on offense to rank third in FCS, including 255.9 rushing (10th) and 272.3 passing (20th). Eastern was also ranked fourth in scoring (43.1).
 
En route to a 12-3 finish overall and runner-up finish in the NCAA Division I Championship Game, the Eagles as a team finished the 2018 season with a school-record 6.62 average per rush on the season to break the previous record of 6.41 set in 2001. The Eagles set team records for rushing yards (3,839) and rushing touchdowns (41).
 
"It's very good and fortunate news to hear of the NCAA granting Kaleb a sixth fall," said Best. "He was one of our most consistent offensive linemen on our run to the national championship game. Having the RG and C tandem intact for another run will be exciting as we watch them write more chapters to their already incredible stories."
 
Levao has started 18 of the 39 games he's played as an Eagle, including one as a defensive lineman. He had 14 tackles as a redshirt freshman in 2015 before moving over to the offensive line after that season. He started twice as a sophomore in 2016, both games in 2017 prior to his injury and 14 of 15 in 2018. The 2014 graduate of Aberdeen (Wash.) High School had four tackles and a sack versus Montana on Nov. 14, 2015.
 
 
Six Eagles Receive All-America Recognition, Including Four Returning in 2019
 
Among Eastern's six players to earn All-America honors in the 2018 season, four are slated to return in the 2019 season. They include Spencer Blackburn, who earned his first All-America honors after earning second team All-Big Sky Conference honors for three-straight seasons from 2016-18.  The other three were honored as All-Americans in their respective classes – quarterback Eric Barriere as a sophomore All-American (honorable mention by Hero Sports) and defensive end Mitchell Johnson and wide receiver Andrew Boston as Freshman All-Americans.
 
Blackburn was on the Associated Press second team and the STATS third squad. The Eagles have now had 23 offensive linemen earn All-America accolades in 35 years in FCS (1984-2018), including 14 first team All-Americans. They have combined for 73 honors (37 first team, 19 second team, 5 third team and 12 honorable mention).
 
Sixth-year senior kicker Roldan Alcobendas was honored on seven NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-America teams as a first team selection. He was honored by the American Football Coaches Association, the FCS Athletics Directors Association, Associated Press, STATS, Hero Sports, Athlon Sports and Phil Steele Publications. In being honored for his perfect season kicking field goals, he was one of just 11 players nationwide to be honored on the FCS ADA All-America squad. In addition, he was also named on Dec. 9 as the winner of the Fred Mitchell Award as the top placekicker among FCS, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and NJCAA schools.
 
Alcobendas is only the third All-America kicker in EWU's history as a member of FCS, and the first since Jimmy Pavel was honored as a first team All-American in 2012. The 2013 graduate of Camas (Wash.) High School earned first team All-Big Sky Conference honors as both a kicker and punter in the 2018 season.
 
Jay-Tee Tiuli, a senior nose tackle, was a second team All-America selection by both STATS and Associated Press, and a third team pick by Phil Steele. Tiuli was the Big Sky Conference Defensive MVP in 2018 and earned first team All-Big Sky honors. He is the first interior defensive lineman (not including defensive ends) to earn All-America honors for the Eagles since Renard Williams earned honorable mention in 2011 and first team accolades in 2010.
 

Freshman All-America Accolades Awarded to Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Boston
 
In a big year for the defense at Eastern, redshirt freshman Mitchell Johnson was awarded first team Freshman All-America honors in 2018 from Hero Sports. In addition, fellow redshirt freshman Andrew Boston earned honorable mention as a wide receiver. In addition, Johnson received first team honors from Phil Steele Publications and Boston was on the third team.
 
Mitchell burst on the scene in 2018 and responded with 31 tackles, a team-leading 4 1/2 sacks, a pair of interceptions, two passes broken up, a pair of quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble. Johnson earned second-team All-Big Sky honors in his first season as an Eagle.
 
A 2017 graduate of West Linn (Ore.) High School, Johnson was EWU's Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year when he redshirted in 2017. He played in all 15 games as a backup in 2018, and had season highs of four tackles in three different games. He had four of his sacks in consecutive games versus Northern Arizona, Washington State and Cal Poly. Two of them came against the Cougars, and he also had a half-sack versus Maine on Dec. 15 to advance EWU to the NCAA Division I Championship Game on Jan. 5 in Frisco, Texas. Mitchell also had interceptions against Southern Utah in the regular season and UC Davis in the playoffs. His fumble recovery came against Weber State on Oct. 13 – Eastern's last setback until losing to North Dakota State in Frisco. He also had a sack and forced fumble against Cal Poly on Sept. 22 which was returned 62 yards for a touchdown by teammate Jim Townsend.
 
Boston finished the season second on the team with 43 receptions for 531 yards (12.3 per catch) and four touchdowns. He had a career-high nine catches versus Idaho on Oct. 27, and had five grabs for a season-high 89 yards and a TD against Nicholls in the first round of the FCS Playoffs on Dec. 1. He scored a touchdown versus Maine in the semifinals, and had scores against Washington State and Cal Poly in back-to-back games early in the season. He is from Puyallup, Wash., and is a 2017 graduate of Emerald Ridge High School. He was the 2017 co-Scout Team Offensive Player of the Year.

 
Nine Eagles Return After Earning All-Big Sky Conference Honors
 
A total of 21 EWU players were recognized with a total of 23 honors on the All-Big Sky Conference football team in 2018, and seven of them return for the 2019 season. Plus, two other injured players who have been honored previously will be back.
 
Center Spencer Blackburn earned second team honors for the third-straight year, and was joined by offensive tackle Chris Schlichting, offensive guard Kaleb Levao and defensive end Mitchell Johnson. On the third team was quarterback Eric Barriere, and receiving honorable mention were running back Antoine Custer Jr. and defensive tackle Dylan Ledbetter. In addition, offensive tackle Tristen Taylor was honorable mention in 2016 and 2017 and safety Anfernee Gurley received honorable mention as a freshman in 2017 for his play on special teams.
 
Blackburn, a second-team All-Big Sky choice the last two seasons, has started 37 of the 39 games he has played as an Eagle, including the last 37. Schlichting has started all 40 games he has played and Levao has started 18 of 39. Taylor had started all 28 he played until being sidelined with a knee injury in 2018. Thus, EWU has four starters back on the offensive line with a collective 146 games of experience, including 123 starts.
 
In addition, Hunter started 27 of 40 games played and Byus 11 of 37, giving EWU a total 133 starts and 194 games played among that quintet (average of 26/38). And that doesn't even account for the contributions of Belk, who started 13 of 45 games thus far in his career.
 
Ledbetter has 8 1/2 sacks in his 40-game career (21 as a starter), with totals of 119 tackles, five passes broken up and four blocked kicks. His blocks in 2018 came against Northern Arizona, Weber State and Nicholls in the FCS Playoffs. After falling behind 14-3 against Nicholls, sophomore Kedrick Johnson returned a blocked field goal by Ledbetter for a touchdown and start a run of 39 unanswered points in the 42-21 win. Ledbetter's father, Mark, played as a linebacker at Washington State and lettered from 1986-89. He played in the Aloha Bowl on Dec. 25, 1988 and had eight tackles with a sack. He went on the play in the World League after signing a free agent contract with New Orleans in the NFL, and then played in the Canadian Football League for Sacramento, Birmingham and Calgary.
 
 
Barriere Leads EWU to Trio of Postseason Wins and is Now 8-2 as a Starter
 
Quarterback Eric Barriere took over as EWU's starter from the injured Gage Gubrud in Eastern's sixth game of the 2018 season, and led EWU on a seven-game winning streak with a trio of playoff wins. Barriere finished 8-2 as a starter in his sophomore campaign and is now 9-2 in his career, and was selected on Dec. 18 as an honorable mention Sophomore All-America selection by Hero Sports.
 
He steadily climbed the national rankings despite playing in three of EWU's first five games of the season as a backup to Gubrud. He finished 13th in FCS in passing efficiency (146.9), 29th for passing yards overall (2,450) and 13th in touchdown passes with 24 after setting school and FCS Playoff records with seven versus Maine on Dec. 15. He was ninth with 198 total points responsible for and was 26th in average per game (14.14). He finished 45th in total offense per game (218.8).
 
During the seven-game winning streak he directed from Oct. 27 to Dec. 15, the Eagles out-scored opponents 345-139 for an average score of 49-20 and a winning margin of 29.4 points. In 14 games played in 2018, Barriere completed 190-of-311 passes (61.1 percent) for 2,450 yards and 24 touchdowns, with 99 rushes for 613 yards (6.2 per carry) and eight scores. He broke Gubrud's single season record for rushing yards by a quarterback of 606 in 2016.
 
In his first postseason start against Nicholls on Dec. 1, Barriere accounted for 216 yards of offense. He was 17-of-29 passing for 162 yards and a touchdown, and added 54 yards on the ground. He followed that with a 21-of-25 (84.0 percent) passing performance against UC Davis and 278 total yards (235 passing, 43 rushing). His 29-yard scramble was the first play of a game-winning 75-yard driving in the final minute for the Eagles in the 34-29 quarterfinal victory.
 
His third playoff game featured a career-high 405 yards of total offense, with 352 passing and 53 rushing. He had seven touchdown passes to set new school and FCS Playoff records. He tied the EWU record of seven set by Vernon Adams Jr. versus Washington on Sept. 6, 2014, and broke the previous FCS Playoffs record of six held by five former players, including Eagles Kyle Padron and Adams in 2012.
 
Barriere certainly had the Midas touch to end the regular season on Nov. 16 in Hillsboro, Ore., and as a result earned a pair of player of the week honors. He was not only the Big Sky Conference co-Offensive Player of the week, but College Football Performance Awards named Barriere as its FCS National Player of the Week. He accounted for 40 points and 315 yards of offense in EWU's 74-23 victory at Portland State in directing EWU to its 10th Big Sky Conference football title in school history.
 
Barriere scored on a 66-yard touchdown on the game's third offensive play, setting the stage for what was to come for the Eagles. Including his six rushes for 99 yards and 15 pass completions for 216, he averaged 15.0 yards on those plays. with a touchdown every 3.5 times he rushed or completed a pass. He completed 15-of-27 passes for a career-high five touchdowns and an efficiency rating of 176.5. Including his rushing touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversion passes, he accounted for 40 points for the Eagles.
 
In his 19-game career, he has completed 60.8 percent of his passes (205-of-337) for 2,588 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and has rushed 117 times for 661 yards and nine more TDs. He had a passing efficiency rating of 146.9 as a sophomore and a 143.9 mark in his career to rank fifth-best in school history.
 
Gubrud started for the Eagles in the first five games before suffering a season-ending foot injury against Montana State on Sept. 29. Barriere took the reins in the 10 games after that, and they produced nearly identical total offense averages as starters. Gubrud averaged 283.2 passing and 33.8 rushing for a total of 317.0 per game; Barriere averaged 243.7 passing and 56.9 rushing for a 300.6 average. Gubrud accounted for 17 touchdowns (13 passing, 2 rushing), and Barriere had 32 (24 passing, eight rushing).
 
"He came here because we win and he wanted to be a part of a highly-productive, quarter-back driven football team," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "He just got the opportunity to have the keys thrown up to him a little sooner than expected. Why wouldn't you rev that thing up? We tell him to go warm-up the car and drive it."
 
Barriere guided a 59-20 victory over fourth-ranked UC Davis on Nov. 10, in which EWU scored 21-straight points to take the lead for good in the first half. In the sixth start of his career, Barriere completed 16-of-30 passes for 285 yards and a score against UCD, and finished with 60 yards rushing to give him 345 yards of total offense.
 
He also engineered a 48-13 win at Northern Colorado on Nov. 3 in a game the Eagles took a 20-0 halftime line. Versus UNC, Barriere accounted for 309 yards of total offense for EWU – 245 passing and 64 rushing. He completed 24-of-36 passes and TD passes of 4 and 19 yards, plus he scored runs of on 9 and 15 yards.
 
One game earlier, he led the Eagles to a 31-0 halftime lead and 38-14 victory over Idaho on Oct. 27. Against the Vandals, he completed 29-of-42 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns in his first 300-yard passing performance of his career. He also rushed for 70 yards and a TD, giving him what was then a career-high 396 yards of total offense. His previous high was 331 versus Southern Utah on Oct. 6 in a 55-17 Eagle win. Barriere and the Eagles had a near-perfect first half versus UI, scoring 31 points and having a 364-129 advantage in total offense.
 
In a 55-17 win over Southern Utah on Oct. 6 in his first start of the 2018 season, he passed for 233 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another 98 and two more TDs in just three quarters of action. He completed 13-of-21 passes and had his rushing yardage on five carries with no sacks. Making just his second career start, he completed a 48-yard pass on the first offensive play of the day for the Eagles, then later had an 85-yard rush for a touchdown – a school record for a quarterback and ninth-longest overall all-time -- to give the Eagles a 31-10 lead in the second quarter. He accounted for three of EWU's seven touchdowns, rushing for two scores and passing for another.
 
However, in a 14-6 loss at Weber State on Oct. 13, Eastern was held without a touchdown for the first time in 10 years. Barriere completed 19-of-42 passes for 185 yards and was intercepted twice in the fourth quarter to squelch Eagle drives. He had a net rushing gain of 18 yards despite getting sacked four times.
 
Barriere was also thrown to the fire during his redshirt freshman season when he made the first start of his career against North Dakota on Nov. 11, 2017, and led the Eagles to a 21-14 win. The 2016 graduate of La Habra (Calif.) High School had 185 yards of total offense, had a touchdown pass and scored once on the ground on a fourth down play to end the first half. He completed 13-of-23 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown, and rushed 15 times for 55 yards. He was sacked only once and had no turnovers. He rushed for a pair of first downs, and passed for another eight. Barriere helped Eastern to a turnoverless game, but had to recover his own fumble late in the game that was followed by a key 67-yard punt by Jordan Dascalo that was downed at the UND 3-yard line. Had Barriere not recovered the fumble, UND would have taken over at the EWU 31 trailing just 21-14.
 
By contrast, Vernon Adams Jr. – a former Eagle who Barriere draws comparisons to – had 75 yards passing (7-of-12) and 62 rushing (five carries) in his starting debut in 2012 at Weber State in a 32-26 victory. Before the UND game, Barriere had appeared in three games in 2017 and was 1-of-2 for 13 yards and an interception, all coming against Texas Tech on Sept. 2.
 
 
Senior Chris Schlichting Has Started All 40 Games in His Career
 
Second-team All-Big Sky senior offensive tackle Chris Schlichting has started in each of EWU's 40 games in his last two-plus seasons for the Eagles. He started all 14 games as a redshirt freshman in 2016, all 11 in 2017 and all 15 in 2018. Senior center Spencer Blackburn has a streak of 37 consecutive starts since taking over the position in the fourth game of the 2016 season. He's earned second-team All-Big Sky honors in each of the last three seasons.
 
Senior offensive tackle Tristen Taylor had started 28-of-28 games as an Eagle until a season-ending knee injury kept him out of the lineup on Sept. 22 versus Cal Poly. A total of 16 players on the 2018 roster started at least 18 games. Among them, running back Antoine Custer Jr. returns for his senior season in 2019 with 21 starts in 35 games played.
 
 
Four Current Eagles Have Completed Coursework Toward Degrees
 
Four seniors have already completed requirements toward their bachelor's degree, and another seven are on track to finish by the end of the fall quarter, which begins on Sept. 24.
 
Linebacker Jack Sendelbach graduated following spring quarter in marketing, and is now in a graduate program for sport and recreation administration. Safety Dehonta Hayes will graduate with a communications studies degree at the end of summer quarter and enroll in CMST graduate school fall quarter. Center Spencer Blackburn has completed his economics major, but won't graduate until he finishes his second major in accounting this fall. Wide receiver Jayson Williams completed his marketing major, but won't graduate until winter with a double major in finance.
 
The student-athletes who can complete requirements toward their degrees this fall are Bradley Alexander (business management), Conner Crist (communication studies), Darnell Hogan (communication studies), Andrew Katzenberger (business management), Tysen Prunty (communication studies), Jim Townsend (biology) and Kaleb Levao (communication studies).
 
In fall quarter of 2018, Eastern's players had a combined 3.07 grade point average, and the accumulative average GPA of the Eagles is 3.06. 

 
Eastern Has 20 Players With Combined 253 Career Starts Returning in 2019
 
A total of 20 players with a 253 games of starting experience will return for the 2019 season – 10 players on defense with 72 starts and 10 players on offense with 181 starts.
 
The Eagles ended 2018 with 41 total players with a total of 694 games of starting experience – 22 players on defense, 19 players on offense and 347 starts on both sides of the ball. Thus, Eastern loses 21 players with 441 games of starting experience, including 12 on defense (275) and nine on offense (166). The Eagles lost a total of 25 seniors and two other letterwinners from the 2018 squad.
 
Nine players made starting debuts in 2018, including Jim Townsend at defensive end and Andrew Boston at wide receiver versus Central Washington in EWU's opener. Senior Nick Foerstel made his first start at Washington State at defensive end, then senior offensive tackle Beau Byus, junior linebacker Andrew Katzenberger and sophomore linebacker Chris Ojoh made their starting debuts versus Cal Poly. Against Southern Utah on Oct. 6, Dehonta Hayes made the first start of his career and finished with a career-high 11 tackles.
 
The other two starts came in the secondary in the FCS Playoffs against Nicholls when sophomore Kedrick Johnson and sophomore safety Calin Criner made their starting debuts. After falling behind 14-3, Johnson returned a blocked field goal by junior Dylan Ledbetter for a touchdown and start a run of 39-straight points in the 42-21 Eagle win. It was the first blocked field goal returned for a touchdown since Alvin Tolliver returned one 67 yards for a scorer versus, Montana State on Oct. 7, 2000. Johnson finished with a career-high seven tackles and a sack, and also recovered a fumble. Criner also had seven tackles and forced a fumble. Johnson and Criner also started against Maine in the FCS Playoffs when EWU had nine new starters in the lineup for that game than what they had in their second game of the season versus Northern Arizona.
 
Although the Eagles adhere to the "next man up" mentality when dealing with injuries, EWU played the Nicholls, UC Davis and Maine playoff games without three senior defensive starters (Mitch Fettig, Keenan Williams, Cole Karstetter) out with injuries. Coupled with one other senior defensive starter lost for the season (Kurt Calhoun), two senior offensive starters (Gage Gubrud, Zach Eagle) and one junior offensive starter lost for the year (Tristen Taylor), those seven players combined for 241 games played and 182 starts in their careers. Karstetter was the only one of those seven players to return to play in the NCAA Division Championship Game on Jan. 5, 2019.
 
The Eagles entered the 2018 season with 32 total players returning with a total of 364 games of starting experience (182 on each side), including 15 on defense and 17 on offense. Of the players lost from the 2017 team, four had at least 20 starts and they collectively had 128 starts, including 98 on defense and 26 on offense.
 
Current Starts on Defense (72 starts by 10 players): Dylan Ledbetter 21, Tysen Prunty 10, Jim Townsend 10, Dehonta Hayes 10, Chris Ojoh 8, Jack Sendelbach 4, Calin Criner 4, Kedrick Johnson 3, Andrew Katzenberger 1, Anfernee Gurley 1.
 
Current Starts on Offense (181 starts by 10 players): Chris Schlichting 40, Spencer Blackburn 37, Tristen Taylor 28, Antoine Custer Jr. 21, Kaleb Levao 18 (including 1 as defensive lineman), Andrew Boston 14, Eric Barriere 11, Jayce Gilder 6, Jayson Williams 4, Johnny Edwards IV 2.
  

Nine Eagles See Action and Still Redshirt in First Year of NCAA Legislation
 
The days of four years of eligibility are a thing of the past – now it's 4 1/2. The NCAA Division I Council passed a proposal in June of 2018 that allows players to participate in any four games in a season and still use a redshirt that year. The change, not retroactive, took effect in 2018 and EWU capitalized by having nine of its redshirts play.
 
Eagle head coach Aaron Best and his coaching staff made decisions on a game-by-game basis in 2018 on which, if any, of the team's 23 true freshmen would play. The team allowed selected "Eagle-Shirts" to suit up and potentially play, but the No. 1 focus was on making sure those players were physically and mentally ready to play Division I football. In Eastern's first two games, Tre Weed was the only true freshman among the 65 players who saw action. On Sept. 15, tight end Aiden Nellor saw action on special teams. Nellor played again on Sept. 22, and was joined by defensive lineman Joshua Jerome and running back Isaiah Lewis. Jerome had nine tackles in his debut, and Davis carried once for five yards. Weed, Nellor, Jerome and Lewis all played versus Southern Utah on Oct. 6. No true freshmen played at Weber State on Oct. 13, but Anthony Stell Jr. played in four-straight games from Nov. 3 against Northern Colorado to Dec. 1 versus Nicholls. Weed and Nellor played in their fourth games versus UC Davis in the regular season, and Jerome played in his fourth against Idaho. Zion Fa'aopega made his Eagle debut on Nov. 16 versus Portland State and saw action in the first two playoff games, and Darrien Sampson and Justin Patterson made their debuts versus Nicholls in the FCS Playoffs. Sampson and Lewis both played versus UC Davis in the playoffs, and Sampson also played against Maine. Emmanuel Osuoha was the ninth freshman to see action and played against Maine.
 
 
Four of Five Running Backs Return After Helping EWU Set a Trio of School Rushing Records
 
Eastern's running game was a mainstay in the 2018 season, setting records for most yards (3,839) and rushing touchdowns (41) in a single season. The previous records were 3,130 yards set in 10 games in 1950 (313.0 average) and 32 TDs in 2014.
 
Much of the same could be in store again in 2019, with three senior running backs – Antoine Custer Jr., Tamarick Pierce and Dennis Merritt -- combining for 3,126 yards and 42 touchdowns in their careers entering 2019. They've played a collective total of 98 games, and also have 79 catches for 750 yards and four more scores. Add junior quarterback Eric Barriere, and that quartet has 3,787 yards and 51 touchdowns rushing with a total of 117 games played. Plus, four returning starters on the offensive line enter the 2019 season with a collective 146 games of experience and 123 starts between them.
 
Eastern averaged 6.62 yards per carry to rank second in FCS, compared to a 4.0 average for opponents. Only Davidson's 7.44 average per rush was better in FCS, and the Eagles broke the previous school record of 6.4. The Eagles averaged 528.4 yards on offense to rank third in FCS, including 255.9 rushing to rank 10th.
 
All five EWU running backs averaged at least 6.4 per carry – senior Sam McPherson was at 7.40 to rank fourth in FCS. In addition, Custer averaged 6.4, Pierce was at 7.857, Merritt had a 7.864 average and true freshman Isaiah Lewis finished at 7.4 during a redshirt season that saw him play in three games. The school record is 7.88 set by Taiwan Jones in 2010, with Merritt ranking No. 2 and Pierce No. 3. On the career lists, Pierce enters 2019 ranked fifth (5.94) and Barriere is seventh (5.65)
 
Barriere averaged 6.2 per carry in 2018, which included yardage on sacks (total of 155 yards in losses). He still managed to finish with 613 yards on the ground and break the school record of 606 set by Gage Gubrud in 2016. Barriere had a career-high 99 yards versus Portland State on Nov. 16, including a 66-yard TD on the game's third play. Versus Southern Utah, he finished with 98 yards on the ground after recording the longest run in school history by a quarterback (ninth-longest overall) with an 85-yard touchdown run.
 
Eastern averaged 7.4 per offensive play and just missed breaking school records for total offense per game and total offensive yards (7,913 in 2018). As a member of FCS, the record for average rushing yards per game is 225.4 set in 2001 when Jesse Chatman averaged 190.5 single handedly. The EWU season record for average yards per play of 7.7 was set in 2013. Eastern's records for total offense came in 2013 when it averaged 533.5 and had 8,002 total. Eastern has never averaged more rushing yards than passing yards in a single season as a member of FCS, and the last time it happened overall was in 1981 (226.5 rushing and 145.0 passing). Eastern's balanced attack averaged 255.9 rushing and 272.3 passing, with balanced yardage totals of 3,839 and 4,084, respectively.
 
Custer finished his junior season with 613 and eight scores in 11 games played (56.8/6.4); Pierce had 550 yards (39.3/7.9) and seven TDs; Merritt had 345 (23.1/7.9) with a trio of scores; and Lewis has 52 (26.0/7.4). Barriere added 613 yards on the ground (43.8/6.2) with seven scores, and Gubrud had 169 (33.8/5.5) and a pair of touchdowns.
 
Custer, an honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference selection in 2018, was a second team all-league pick in 2017 when he rushed for 776 yards and 10 touchdowns. He now has 1,817 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns in his 35-game career (21 as a starter) and also has 556 receiving yards on 64 catches and 499 on kickoff returns for a total of 2,872 all-purpose yards (82.1 per game). His career 23.8 average returning kickoffs is currently 11th in school history and he's scored a total of 27 touchdowns as an Eagle.
 
Pierce has rushed for 837 yards and 15 touchdowns in 35 games with 11 catches for 104 yards; Merritt has 472 yards and four touchdowns rushing, and another three catches for 90 yards and a score in 28 games; and Barriere has 661 rushing yards with nine scores in 19 games.
 
Eastern finished with 378 yards on the ground versus Portland State, including a 14.0 average per rush. It was EWU's fifth performance in 2018 with at least 300 rushing yards, a mark EWU has achieved just 11 other times since 1987 when EWU became a member of the Big Sky Conference. Only twice in that span – 1999 and 2001 – has EWU had two performances of at least 300 in the regular season. The Eagles had 626 total yards versus the Vikings for an average of 10.8 per play. One game earlier, Eastern ended with 669 yards of total offense – sixth-most in school history – against UC Davis on Nov. 10, including 372 on the ground and 297 through the air.
 
Eastern had eight rushing performances of at least 235 yards in 2018, with 380 versus Southern Utah on Oct. 6 and two weeks earlier having the second-most rushing yards in school history with 441 versus Cal Poly on Sept. 22 (the record is 456 versus Cal State Northridge in 1999). In the milestone performance against Cal Poly, Custer had 133 and two touchdowns on just eight carries (16.6 per rush). Merritt had 92 with an 81-yard touchdown run; McPherson had 84 on eight carries; Pierce added 52 on five rushes; and Gubrud even had 50 yards on four totes.
 
In EWU's 2018 opener versus Central Washington, the 328 rushing yards were the most Eastern has had in its last 147 games dating back to a 331-yard performance in a 47-22 win over Idaho State on Sept. 25, 2004. The EWU running game has come a long way since 2016 when quarterback Gage Gubrud led the Eagles in rushing as a sophomore in 2016. That same season, Eastern led the Big Sky in passing (401.0 per game) but was 12th in rushing (128.6).
 
In Eastern's last 17 games (14-3 record) dating back to the 2017 season, the Eagles have rushed 673 times for 4,368 yards and 46 touchdowns, with averages of 256.9 per game and 6.5 per rush. By contrast, Eastern has attempted 546 passes for 4,656 yards and 44 touchdowns, with averages of 273.9 per game and 8.5 per play. In total, Eastern is averaging 530.8 yards per game and 7.4 per play with 90 total offensive touchdowns.
 
McPherson was 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. McPherson rushed for 2,159 yards and 16 touchdowns in his 45-game career (11 as a starter), with 626 receiving on 66 catches and a total of 2,947 all-purpose yards (65.5 per game). He scored 22 TDs in his EWU career, and was even a perfect 6-of-6 passing for 155 yards, three touchdowns and a passing efficiency rating of 482.0.
 
McPherson had four 100-yard rushing performances in his last five games, including 158 with a 75-yard touchdown run against North Dakota State in the NCAA Division I Championship Game. Two games earlier in the quarterfinals, he had 143 and a game-winning 35-yard touchdown run with 26 seconds remaining versus UC Davis on Dec. 8. He also had 137 rushing yards and two touchdowns in EWU's playoff win over Nicholls on Dec. 1, and had seven 100-yard performances in his career and six as a senior. The second team All-Big Sky Conference performer finished with 1,510 yards to move into fourth in single season school history. He ranked fourth in FCS for average per carry (7.40), was 20th with an average of 100.7 yards per game, 10th with 13 rushing touchdowns and third in total rushing yards. He handled the bulk of the rushing load in EWU's first three games, with Custer making his 2018 debut versus Cal Poly after suffering a preseason hamstring injury.
 


 

2018 Season Recap Notes

 
 
Always striving for perfection has been a cornerstone of the Eastern Football program. But despite his team coming a victory short of a second national title, Eastern head coach Aaron Best knows the accomplishments and resiliency of his 2018 team will long be remembered.
 
"I wish we could have been a little bit better, but we are not going to hang our heads too long," Best said two days after his team lost 38-24 to North Dakota State in the NCAA Division I Championship Game on Jan. 5, 2019, in Frisco, Texas. "It was a great ride and a great run, and we made some great memories along the way."
 
Despite missing nine players near the end of the season who had begun the season as starters – six on defense and three on offense -- the Eagles finished 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the Big Sky Conference to share the league title with Weber State and UC Davis. The Eagles won their last four games of the regular season, then hosted three fellow conference champions in the FCS Playoffs – knocking off Nicholls, UC Davis and Maine to advance to the championship game.
 
Eastern lost 25 lost seniors included 18 four-year letterwinners and another five who earned three. Combined, those 25 players had a total of 1,006 games played and 441 starts. Originally the number was 27, but two of them received were granted a sixth year by the NCAA to complete four years of eligibility.
 
"Players stepped up when opportunity knocked, and they opened the door as fast as they could," said Best. "As a team we took advantage of the opportunities to host three home games in the playoffs and advance to play in the national championship where they held their own against one of the better teams of the decade."
 
A total of 23 All-Big Sky Conference honors were won by Eastern players in the 2018 season, including five on the first team. Six Eagles went on to win FCS All-America honors, with Roldan Alcobendas winning the Fred Mitchell Award as the top placekicker in the nation.
 
And the Eagles did all that while combining for a 3.07 grade point average in the fall, and the entire team currently has a collective 3.06 accumulative GPA. Later in January, a record 33 Eagles will be named to the Big Sky Conference Academic All-Conference team.
 
Along the way to Eastern's 13th FCS playoff berth and 10th Big Sky title in school history, Eagle Nation supported the team in droves along the way. Eastern was unbeaten with a perfect 8-0 record at Roos Field, and extended the school's consecutive regular season sell-out streak to 30 games. Then more than 4,000 fans showed up to support the Eagles in Frisco.
 
A 22-year veteran of the Eagle program, Best himself was FCS Coach of the Year in a fan vote conducted by Hero Sports, and was the Big Sky Conference co-Coach of the Year. In two years at the helm, he has compiled a 19-7 record overall (73.1 percent) and 13-3 mark in the league (81.3 percent). Both percentages currently rank as the best in school history, just ahead of the Beau Baldwin with an 85-32 overall mark (72.6 percent) in nine seasons from 2008-16, and a 58-14 league record (80.6 percent).
 
 
EWU Records Broken
 
A variety of individual and school records were broken when the dust cleared from EWU's 38-24 loss to North Dakota State on Jan. 5, 2019, as the Bison wrapped up their seventh title in the last eight years since EWU won in its first try in 2010. Among others, the Eagles set school records in 2018 offensively for total points (647) and most games of 50 points or more (6, tied with the 2014 team), and defensively have tied a school record with nine games of allowing 20 points or fewer (also in 1997, 1981, 1964 and 1949).
 
Amazingly, the Eagles did that without the services of a bevy of players lost because of injuries. In fact, EWU's starting lineup from its second game of the season versus Northern Arizona was minus nine players -- three on offense and six on defense -- versus Maine in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. Eight of them were missing in the title game.
 
Kicker Roldan Alcobendas closed his illustrious career with a NCAA Football Championship Subdivision record and a variety of other school marks. Eastern's running game, led by senior Sam McPherson and sophomore quarterback Eric Barriere, also broke a variety of records as well.
 
McPherson closed his career with 158 yards on 18 carries versus the Bison, including a 75-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He finished with 1,510 yards on the season to rank fourth in single season school history and his 2,159 career yards ranks 11th.
 
Eastern as a team averaged 4.8 per rush against NDSU to finish with a school-record 6.62 on the season and break the previous record of 6.41 set in 2001. The Eagles also added to previous team records they broke for rushing yards (3,839) and rushing touchdowns (41).
 
Barriere had just 10 rushing yards against NDSU – scoring on a 5-yard run -- but that was enough for him to finish the season with 613 rushing yards and break the previous record for a quarterback of 606 set by Gage Gubrud in 2016. Barriere is now 9-2 as a starter, including 8-2 in the 2018 season as an injury replacement for Gubrud. Eastern was 8-0 when he rushed for at least 20 yards in his sophomore season.
 
A 40-yard field goal in the second quarter by Alcobendas helped him set the record for the best perfect record of field goals made in the history of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. He finished the year as the only player in FCS to be perfect on the season, finishing 16-of-16 to break the previous record of 15-of-15 set by Jon Scifres of Missouri State in 2004.
 
He also converted all three of his extra points and punted five times for a 45.2 average with a long of 58 and one downed inside the NDSU 20-yard line. That punting performance helped him establish new EWU season and school records for punting average – both at 44.9 per kick.
 
He finished with a school-record 119 kick scoring points in 2018 after having previously broken the record of 103 set by Josh Atwood in 1997. The 119 points ranks second in Big Sky history, and were just three from the league record of 122. Alcobendas finished with a school-record 320 career points which is sixth in Big Sky history. His streak of 70-straight extra points broke his own single season record of 63 consecutive in 2016. He set the career record for extra points in a row with 85 from 2016-17.
 
Senior wide receiver Nsimba Webster closed his career with four catches for 92 yards against NDSU. He finished his career with eight 100-yard performances, and ended with 156 catches to rank 15th in school history and with 2,233 yards to rank 17th. His 18 career TD receptions ranks 16th.
 
Senior linebacker Ketner Kupp and sophomore linebacker Chris Ojoh each had 11 tackles in the NCAA Division I Championship Game. Kupp finished his career with 10 career games in double figures in tackles and a total of 267 to rank 14th in school history. His team-leading 115 tackles in 2018 ranks as the 13th-most in school history. Ojoh, who was making just the eighth start of his career, has four performances with at least 10 tackles, including two with a career-high 11. Ojoh had a sack versus North Dakota State and finished the season with 105 tackles to rank 27th all-time at EWU.
 
Gubrud finished his career as the owner of 21 school records, eight Big Sky Conference marks and three in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, most coming in a sensational sophomore campaign in 2016. With 11,026 yards of total offense in his career, Gubrud averaged 344.6 yards of total offense per game to rank third all-time in FCS and break the Big Sky record of 328.9 set by Dave Dickenson of Montana with 11,513 yards in 35 games from 1992-95. Gubrud went over the 10,000-yard mark in his career for total offense on Sept. 8 at Northern Arizona to become the fourth Eagle in school history to achieve that feat. He finished just 16 yards from joining those same three players (Matt Nichols, Vernon Adams Jr., and Erik Meyer) in the 10,000-yard passing club, with a total of 9,984 in his career. His average of 312.0 per game was a school record, and ranks third in Big Sky history and 20th in FCS. His 11,026 yards of total offense ranks third in EWU history and 12th all-time in the Big Sky Conference. Finishing 21-7 in 28 games as a starter, Gubrud had a school-record 10 400-yard passing performances in his career and owns school records with 13 performances of at least 400 yards of total offense and six with at least 500.
 
 
Eagles Finish Third in FCS in Total Offense in 2018, Plus in Top 20 in Rushing and Passing
 
Eastern finished the 2018 season as the only school to rank in the top 20 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense, rushing and passing. The Eagles averaged 528.2 yards on offense to rank third in FCS, trailing only Davidson with an average of 561.9 and Princeton at 536.8. Broken down, EWU averaged 255.9 rushing (10th) and 272.3 passing (20th). Defensively, Eastern allowed 392.5 per game to rank 68th, including 165.6 on the ground (53rd) and 226.9 through the air (81st). The Eagles were ranked fourth in scoring (43.1) and 27th in scoring defense (22.7).
 
In EWU's last 15 seasons (2004-2018), EWU has ranked in the top 10 in passing 12 times, total offense on 11 occasions and scoring six times. The Eagles have led FCS in total offense twice (2001, 1997), as well as three times in passing (2016, 2015, 2011) and twice for scoring (2014, 2001).
 
In addition, EWU led FCS with six defensive touchdowns, and nearly had a seventh when Josh Lewis returned an interception to the Maine 1-yard line on Dec. 15 in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. Eastern was second in turnovers gained with 34, was third with 22 interceptions and ranked 16th overall in turnover margin (34 takeaways, 24 giveaways, +0.67 per game). In addition, EWU had the most first downs in FCS with 353, was second with an average per rush of 6.62 yards, was 14th in passing efficiency (151.63) and ranked 21st in third-down conversion percentage (.425). The Eagles were 10th in net punting as well (38.52 per punt).
 
Quarterback Eric Barriere steadily climbed the national rankings despite playing in three of EWU's first five games of the season as a backup to Gage Gubrud. He finished 13th in FCS in passing efficiency (146.9), 29th for passing yards overall (2,450) and 13th in touchdown passes with 24 after setting school and FCS Playoff records with seven versus Maine on Dec. 15. He was ninth with 198 total points responsible for and was 26th in average per game (14.14). He finished 45th in total offense per game (218.8).
 
Receiver Nsimba Webster was third in FCS receiving yards (1,379 to rank eighth in school history), 19th in receiving yards per game (91.9) and 27th in catches (5.67 per game with a total of 84 to rank as the ninth-most in all-time at EWU). Running back Sam McPherson finished fourth in FCS for average per carry (7.40), 20th with an average of 100.7 yards per game, 10th with 13 rushing touchdowns and third with 1,510 total rushing yards to rank as the fourth-most all-time at EWU.
 
Kicker Roldan Alcobendas was the only player in FCS (minimum of one attempt per game) to be perfect kicking field goals (16-of-16), and set a FCS record for the best perfect single season performance. Alcobendas was 13th in FCS in scoring overall and fourth in kick scoring (8.5 per game), and was 31st with an average of 1.14 field goals per game. His 44.9 punting average was second nationally, ranking only behind a punter who plays for a school in Florida (Chris Faddoul, Florida A&M, 46.8). The season (44.9) average for Alcobendas tied a school record, and his career average (44.9) broke the all-time EWU mark (previous career record was 43.8).  His 119 kick-scoring points in 2018 broke the school record of 103 and ranks second in Big Sky history (just three points from the record). His 320 career points were also a school record and rank sixth all-time in the league. His second extra point of the season was blocked, but he made all 70 since then for a season total of 71-of-72 to break his own single season consecutive makes record of 63 set in 2016. He also owns the career record with 85-straight from 2016-2017. 
  

One Year Later, Eagles Go From 21st to 2nd in Final Rankings
 
The rise and climb by the Eagles was fast and swift – and was a year in the making. A full season after not even ranking in the top 20 in the national rankings, Eastern ended the 2018 postseason second in a pair of final NCAA Football Championship Subdivision polls announced Jan. 7, 2019.
 
On their way to a 12-3 finish that included a 38-24 loss to North Dakota State in NCAA Division I Championship Game, the Eagles finished second behind the Bison in the STATS Top 25 Poll of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries. In the American Football Coaches Association (AFCS) Poll, Eastern was also fourth.
 
In 2017, after finishing 7-4 and not being awarded a berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs, the Eagles were 21st in the final STATS poll and were ranked 22nd by the coaches.
 
Overall, it was the 15th time Eastern has finished the season nationally ranked, including 11 times since 2004. The other seasons were in 1985, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017. Besides being 21st/22nd in 2017, the Eagles were fourth in 2016, fourth in 2014, third in 2013, fourth in 2012 and first in 2010 after winning the NCAA Division I title.
 
It was the seventh time in school history EWU has finished in the top four, including six of the last nine seasons. In 1997, Eastern finished fourth in The Sports Network poll as well as the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. In 1997, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016 and again in 2018, Eastern advanced to the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. Besides its 2018 runner-up finish, EWU won the national title in 2010. In 2014, Eastern advanced to the quarterfinals.
 
Eastern finished 5-2 in 2018 versus ranked teams at the time the Eagles played them. Versus teams in the final 2018 STATS poll, Eastern was also 5-2. Victories included a pair of wins over No. 7 UC Davis (59-20 in the regular season and 34-29 in the playoffs), as well as wins over No. 4 Maine (50-19 in the semifinals of the playoffs), No. 14 Nicholls (42-21 in the second round of the playoffs) and No. 17 Montana State (34-17 in the regular season).
 
The losses versus ranked foes came to top-ranked North Dakota State and No. 6 Weber State (14-6). Eastern also won 31-26 at Northern Arizona, which at the time was ranked 18th by STATS. Montana State wasn't ranked at the time EWU played the Bobcats.
 
Eastern's other loss in 2018 was 59-24 at Washington State, which finished 11-2 and set a school record for victories. The Cougars were ranked as high as seventh by Associated Press and seventh by the coaches in 2018 in the two NCAA Football Bowl Division polls, and were rated 10th in both when the final polls were released on Jan. 8, 2019.
 
Until the final rankings, Eastern reached its highest rankings of the regular season on Oct. 8 and again on Nov. 5, 12 and 19 when EWU was ranked fourth by STATS and third by the coaches. Prior to that, the Eagles hadn't been ranked third in the coaches poll since 2016, when EWU was also as high as third in the STATS rankings (to end the regular season). Eastern was as high as fourth in both polls in 2015, but in 2014 were ranked second for nine weeks in the coaches poll, plus were second for eight weeks by STATS after entering the preseason with the No. 1 ranking. Eastern also spent at least one week in the top spot in the STATS poll in 2012 and 2011, as well as in 2010 when EWU finished first in both polls after winning the NCAA Division I championship.
 
The Eastern and Weber State game on Oct. 13 was picked in the preseason by STATS as the most important Big Sky game of the season on its list of Pivotal FCS Conference Games in 2018. The Eagles were seventh and the Wildcats were eighth in the AFCA preseason poll, and WSU was one slot better than EWU in the STATS preseason poll (8th/9th). Eastern was picked to win the Big Sky Conference title by the league's head coaches and media with WSU second.
 
Eastern ranked as high as fourth nationally in rankings released by a trio of preseason publications. Hero Sports pegged the Eagles as the No. 4 team in FCS, ranking behind defending champion NDSU, JMU and Kennesaw State. Eastern was sixth in the Athlon Sports rankings, and was the top-ranked Big Sky team in both polls. Eastern was 14th in the Street & Smith's top 25.
 
 
EWU's Season-Ending National FCS/I-AA Rankings

1985 – 11th (NCAA Division I-AA Poll)
1992 – 14th (NCAA Division I-AA Poll)
1993 – 20th (The Sports Network)
1997 – 4th (The Sports Network) & 4th (ESPN/USA Today)
2004 – 8th (The Sports Network) & 7th (ESPN/USA Today)
2005 – 13th (The Sports Network) & 13th (ESPN/USA Today)
2007 – 8th (The Sports Network) & 8th (Coaches)
2009 – 13th (The Sports Network) & 13th (Coaches)
2010 – 1st (The Sports Network) & 1st (Coaches)
2012 – 4th (The Sports Network) & 4th (Coaches)
2013 – 3rd (The Sports Network) & 3rd (Coaches)
2014 – 4th (The Sports Network) & 4th (Coaches)
2016 – 4th (STATS) & 4th (Coaches)
2018 – 2nd (STATS) & 2nd (Coaches)
 
 
2018 Polls
 
STATS (Final): 1. North Dakota State; 2. Eastern Washington; 3. South Dakota State; 4. Maine; 5. Kennesaw State; 6. Weber State; 7. UC Davis; 10. Jacksonville State; 14. Nicholls; 17. Montana State.
American Football Coaches Association (Final): 1. North Dakota State; 2. Eastern Washington; 3. South Dakota State; 4. Kennesaw State; 5. Maine; 6. Weber State; 8. UC Davis; 13. Jacksonville State; 14. Nicholls; 17. Montana State.
 
 
EWU in the 2018 STATS Top 25 Poll
 
Jan. 7 (final): 2nd (#1 North Dakota State; #4 Maine, #6 Weber State; #7 UC Davis, #10 Jacksonville State, #14 Nicholls, #17 Montana State). Nov. 19 (final regular season): 4th (#1 North Dakota State; #3 Weber State; #7 UC Davis, #23 Montana State). Nov. 12: 4th (#1 NDSU; #3 WSU; #7 UCD, #25 MSU). Nov. 5: 5th (#1 NDSU; #3 WSU; #4 UCD, #25 Idaho State). Oct. 29: 5th (#1 NDSU; #4 WSU; #6 UCD). Oct. 22: 5th (#1 NDSU; #4 WSU; #6 UCD, #22 North Dakota). Oct. 15: 9th (#1 NDSU; #7 WSU; #10 UCD). Oct. 8: 4th (#1 NDSU; #13 WSU; #14 UCD; #22 Montana). Oct. 1: 5th (#1 NDSU; #6 WSU; #14 UM; #16 UCD).Sept. 24: 5th (#1 NDSU; #6 WSU; #17 UM; #19 UCD, #26 Montana State).Sept. 17: 6th (#1 NDSU; #7 WSU; #19 UM; #21 UCD; #22 UND).Sept. 10: 6th (#1 NDSU; #11 WSU; #15 UM; #20 Northern Arizona; #23 UCD).Sept. 3: 6th (#1 NDSU; #10 WSU; #14 UM; #18 NAU). Preseason: 9th (#1 NDSU; #8 WSU; #24 UM).
 
 
Eagles Play Four-Straight Conference Champions in the Postseason
 
The Bison, who won the FCS title for the seventh time in the last eight years since EWU won in 2010, were the fourth-straight conference champion the Eagles faced to end the year. Eastern opened the playoffs with a 42-21 victory over Southland Conference champ Nicholls, then rallied in the fourth quarter to beat fellow Big Sky Conference co-champion UC Davis 34-29 on Dec. 8. Maine was the outright champion in the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) and EWU trounced the Bears 50-19.
 
A 345-139 advantage on the scoreboard – an average score of 49-20 and winning margin of 29.4 points – only scratches the surface of how dominating the Eagles were during their seven-game winning streak following a 5-2 start to the season. Most notably, Eastern averaged 556.9 yards of offense during the winning streak, compared to 379.3 for opponents, including a 270.9 to 156.1 advantage in rushing. Eastern had a big advantage in turnovers forced (23-8) with 15 interceptions.
 
Eastern won 12 games for just the fifth time in school history, with the record coming during EWU's national championship season in 2010 when the Eagles were victorious 13 times. Eastern won 12 games in 1997, 2013 and 2016, and had 11 in 2012, 2014 and 1967. Thus, this is the sixth time in the last nine seasons (2010-2018) that Eastern has been victorious at least 11 times.
 
The Eagles won their 12 games in 2018 by an average of 30.3 points per game – 593-229 for an average score of 49-19. Until rallying for a 34-29 win over UC Davis in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs, the closest victories for EWU were 21 points versus Nicholls and 24 against Idaho. The largest was a 53-point romp over Cal Pol, which was the biggest winning margin for EWU in a Big Sky game and the third-largest overall as a member of FCS.
 
"That's a special bunch," Best said of his team. "I didn't want the season to end because they are so precious, they are so important and they are so fun to hang around every day."
 
The Eagles wrapped up their 10th Big Sky Conference title and clinched their 13th berth in the FCS Playoffs with a dominating 74-23 victory over Portland State Nov. 16 at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Ore. It was 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. 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 Best. But the Eagles were denied a playoff berth and had the mantra throughout the off-season and 2018 campaign of "Leave No Doubt."
 
The standard in FCS are the Bison, who have won 121 of 134 games since 2010, and have won all seven times they have advanced to the championship game since then (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018). Eastern won in 2010 in its only title game appearance, and knocked off NDSU in the quarterfinals 38-31 in overtime that season in Cheney. The Eagles are 90-30 since 2010, a percentage of .750 that trails only the Bison at .903 and three other FCS teams.
 
North Dakota State finished unbeaten at 15-0, was the overall No. 1 seed in the playoffs and was the unanimous top-ranked team throughout the season in the STATS Top 25 poll and American Football Coaches Association polls. Eastern, which lost regular season games in 2016 (50-44 in Fargo in overtime) and 2017 (40-13 in Cheney) to drop to 1-2 all-time against the Bison, finished 12-3 and a season-high No. 2 in both polls. Eastern finished the regular season ranked fourth by STATS and third by the coaches, and entered the playoffs at the No. 3 seed overall.
 
Both teams are playoff tested as well, highlighted by NDSU's incredible run of 30 victories in its last 31 playoff games (32-2 overall since 2010). Eastern is 14-5 in that same time frame in the playoffs – with 17 games at home in Cheney and two in Frisco -- but lost in the semifinals in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016. Eastern got over the hump on Dec. 15, 2018, by trouncing Maine 50-19, a day after NDSU advanced with a 44-21 romp over Missouri Valley Conference rival South Dakota State. While the Eagles have played 17 games at home in Cheney, nearly all of NDSU's postseason games have been played in the Fargodome. That has translated to a very pro-Bison crowd each year in Frisco.
 
 

Matching Its Second-Best Win Total in School History, Average Score in 12 Victories Was 49-19
 
Eastern won 12 games for just the fifth time in school history, with the record coming during EWU's national championship season in 2010 when the Eagles were victorious 13 times. Eastern won 12 games in 1997, 2013 and 2016, and had 11 in 2012, 2014 and 1967. Thus, this is the sixth time in the last nine seasons (2010-2018) that Eastern has been victorious at least 11 times.
 
The Eagles won their 12 games by an average of 30.3 points per game – 593-229 for an average score of 49-19. That was nearly identical to EWU's 50-19 victory in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs against Maine. Until rallying for a 34-29 win over UC Davis in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs, the closest victories for EWU were 21 points versus Nicholls and 24 against Idaho. The largest was a 53-point romp over Cal Poly, which was the biggest winning margin for EWU in a Big Sky game and the third-largest overall as a member of FCS.
 
Eastern's defensive effort in league play was unprecedented – Eastern had never held Big Sky opponents to 23 points or less in eight-straight games until the 2018 season, which is a span of 32 seasons and 246 games. In 1997 and 2008 the Eagles had a stretch of four-straight league games in holding opponents to 23 points or fewer, 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).
 
In beating Maine 50-19 on Dec. 15, the Eagles had 50 points or more for the sixth time in 2018 and the 61st time in school history, and are now 58-3 in those games. Earlier in the 2018 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 seven seasons, with six in 2018 and 2014, three in 2017, two each in 2016, 2013 and 2012 and one in 2015.
 
 
Defense Allows Just 16.9 Points in League, With 22.7 Average Overall the Lowest Since 1997
 
You have to go back more than 20 years to find a defense that has been stingier than the 2018 team. A year after allowing 33.4 points per game, the Eagles allowed just 22.7 in 2018 for the team's best performance since 1997. That season, on their way to a semifinal appearance in the FCS Playoffs (then I-AA), Eastern allowed just 17.4 points per game. Eastern's nine games of allowing 20 points for fewer in 2018 equals the school record also set in 1997, 1981, 1964 and 1949.
 
Eastern led FCS with six defensive touchdowns, and nearly had a seventh when Josh Lewis returned an interception to the Maine 1-yard line on Dec. 15 in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. Eastern was second in turnovers gained with 34, was third with 22 interceptions and ranked 16th overall in turnover margin (34 takeaways, 24 giveaways, +0.67 per game). Eastern set a school record with 70 passes broken up, breaking the previous record of 67 set in the 2010 season.
 
Eastern's defense was particularly impressive during league play, with EWU allowing only 135 points for a league-leading 16.9 average per game – with seven of those points coming on a punt return touchdown. Included was an 89:52 stretch of not allowing a point, spanning two games. The school record for fewest average points in a Big Sky season came in 1992 when the Eagles surrendered just 16.4 per game (115 total) in seven league games (6-1 record).
 
Eastern had three interceptions in each of the last three regular season games, the first time that has happened since 1987 when EWU joined the league. The Eagles forced a season-high five turnovers (three interceptions and two fumbles) against UC Davis in a 59-20 win on Nov. 10, equaling the most since forcing six (four fumbles, two interceptions) in a 41-31 victory over Villanova on Dec. 18, 2010, in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. It was Eastern's third five-turnover performance in league play since forcing six (four fumbles and two interceptions) in a 36-27 victory over Montana on Sept. 18, 2010, in the inaugural game on EWU's red turf at Roos Field. In addition, the Eagles finished with 13 passes broken up versus UCD – the second-most in school history behind the school-record 14 EWU had in 1984 versus Montana State.
 
Eastern allowed 40 points in the first quarter of its eight Big Sky games, 35 in the second, 44 in the third and 16 in the fourth. Eastern pitched a shutout in 14 of 32 quarters, and had a stretch of five-straight goose eggs ended in the third quarter versus Idaho on Oct. 27. It would have been 15, but the Eagles gave up a defensive two-point conversion in the fourth quarter of EWU's finale versus Portland State. In the game versus the Vandals, the Eagles as a team recorded five sacks, six quarterback hurries and broke up five passes in holding Idaho to 204 yards passing and 159 on the ground.
 
In the next game versus Northern Colorado on Nov. 3, Eastern's had a rare occurrence of three interceptions and six sacks. In fact, that many of each in the same game has not happened since 1985 when EWU had three picks and seven sacks in a 31-19 win over Weber State. The six sacks versus UNC were the most in a league game since Oct. 19, 2014, when EWU had seven versus Northern Colorado, and overall, EWU had 10 versus Fordham in 2017 and six against Richmond in 2016. Only six times since 2005 has EWU had at least six sacks in a game. The three interceptions were the most in a league game since EWU had five versus Portland State in 2009. Eastern has had three on eight occasions since then. The two interceptions by D'londo Tucker was the first time EWU has had a player have two in the same game since 2014 when a trio of players accomplished that feat.
 
In eight league games, Eastern allowed the fewest points per game (16.9) while ranking second in total defense (346.6), second in passing defense (185.4) and second in rushing defense (161.2). Eastern held Idaho scoreless for the first 38:27 of the game. One game earlier in a 14-6 loss at Weber State, Eastern's defense held the Wildcats to just one offensive touchdown and scoreless for the final 51:25 of the contest. The Eagles held Weber State to 166 first-half yards and just 109 in the second half to keep the game within striking distance. The Eagles allowed just 159 yards through the air and 116 on the ground, and held Weber State to just 4-of-15 on third down. Weber State's average per rush was just 2.6 yards and the Eagles recorded six three-and-outs, and forced and recovered a fumble on another WSU possession.
 

Alcobendas Wins Fred Mitchell Award as Top Placekicker in the Nation
 
A national player of the year award was probably the furthest thing on the mind of Roldan Alcobendas when he was laying on a high school soccer field in the spring of 2013 and on the turf at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Mont., a year-and-a-half later.
 
But after two knee surgeries and more rehabilitation work than most people can endure, the sixth-year senior has been recognized for his perseverance and accuracy as the 2018 recipient of the Fred Mitchell Award. The announcement was made on Monday (Dec. 10), just a few days after Mitchell notified him he had won the award, presented for excellence on the football field and in the community.
 
"I'm a loss of words and was honestly speechless when Mr. Mitchell let me know," said Alcobendas, a 2013 graduate of Camas (Wash.) High School. "I'm very honored to be recognized with this award."
 
Alcobendas received the award in February at the National Football Foundation Chicago Metro Chapter Awards Ceremony at Halas Hall. The honor has been awarded since 2009, and is presented to the nation's top placekicker in FCS, Division II, Division III, NAIA, and NJCAA for excellence on the football field and in the community. Over 750 placekickers are eligible. The honor has been awarded since 2009, and is presented to the nation's top placekicker in FCS, Division II, Division III, NAIA, and NJCAA for excellence on the football field and in the community. Over 750 placekickers are eligible.
 
A 40-yard field goal in the second quarter by Alcobendas in the NCAA Division I Championship Game helped him set the record for the best perfect record of field goals made in the history of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. He finished the year as the only player in FCS to be perfect on the season, finishing 16-of-16 to break the previous record of 15-of-15 set by Jon Scifres of Missouri State in 2004.
 
He also converted all three of his extra points and punted five times for a 45.2 average with a long of 58 and one downed inside the NDSU 20-yard line. That punting performance helped him establish new EWU season and school records for punting average – both at 44.9 per kick.
 
He finished with a school-record 119 kick scoring points in 2018 after having previously broken the record of 103 set by Josh Atwood in 1997. The 119 points ranks second in Big Sky history, just three from the league record of 122. Alcobendas finished with a school-record 320 career points which is sixth in Big Sky history. His second extra point of the season was blocked, but he made his last 70 since then for a season total of 71-of-72 to break his own single season consecutive makes record of 63 set in 2016. He also owns the career record with 85-straight from 2016-2017.
 
"It's incredible, absolutely incredible," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "He came in wounded and worked his way back on the football field. He hurt his knee again in 2014 in Bozeman and came back again from that. The evaluative measure for a kicker is putting it between the pipes – it doesn't matter how long or how pretty, it matters if it gets done. Roldan got it done."
 
The Award is named for Fred Mitchell, an All-America placekicker from Wittenberg University and 41-year sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Said Mitchell: "Roldan Alcobendas checks all the boxes when it comes to fulfilling the criteria for being the 2018 Fred Mitchell Award winner. His perseverance following a pair of devastating knee injuries has been remarkable.  And his commitment to community service is what we are all about.  We are proud to add him to our family of distinguished winners."
 
 "I give all the credit to all 11 guys," he said. "Coach Best always says what matters is for everybody to do their job to make this operation work. I honestly wouldn't have been able to do this without them, including Curtis Billen who has been our snapper for the last four years. And I've had a few holders, but I have full trust that they are going to execute their job just like they think I'm going to execute mine."
 
As a bonus for his past suffering, Alcobendas received a sixth year to complete four years of eligibility because of injuries that cost him a pair of seasons. Alcobendas had to sit out both the 2013 and 2015 seasons because of knee injuries – one suffered while playing in his senior year of soccer.
 
"It was a very humbling experience," he said of the rehabilitation after the surgeries. "I took the 2018 season to really work on my craft. I'm very blessed to be in this situation."
 
Besides being the only player in FCS (minimum of one attempt per game) to be perfect kicking field goals (16-of-16), Alcobendas finished 13th in FCS in scoring overall and was fourth in kick scoring (8.5 per game). He was 31st with an average of 1.14 field goals per game. His 44.9 punting average was second nationally, ranking only behind a punter who plays for a school in Florida (Chris Faddoul, Florida A&M, 46.8). His season average (44.9) tied the school record of 44.9 set by Jake Miller in 2014, and his career average (44.9) broke Miller's record of 43.8 from 2011-14.
 
"It's a testament of how much hard work and effort I've put in to this point," he said of his accuracy. "Those previous years weren't up to my standards, so I truly took the time to improve."
 
The Eastern football program participate in numerous community service projects during the year, and Alcobendas participated in youth clinics, Cheney "Clean-Sweep" campus pick-up days, Special Olympics and the "Light the Way Dinner Auction" to help raise funds for the American Childhood Cancer Organization of the Inland Northwest.
 
Alcobendas earned Big Sky All-Academic honors in 2016 and 2017, and has a 3.27 GPA as a business administration marketing major with a minor in communications. He recently concluded coursework for his degree.
 
"He's a better person than he is a player," added Best. "He's persevered and come back, and had to have thoughts of whether this was really for him. He got his sixth year, and to he not only kicked and punted for us, but he was the best in the league in both. Now he is being recognized as best in the nation for what he does, both on and off the field. He has great parents and great structure, and I'm just proud and privileged to have been a part of his journey. I couldn't see a more deserving individual earning this award."
 
Earlier in 2018, Alcobendas moved past Troy Griggs (231 from 1998-01) and Mike Jarrett (236 from 2008-11) for the all-time EWU lead for kick scoring. Alcobendas also established EWU career records for extra points made (212) and attempted (218), breaking the previous records held by Jarrett (2009-11) with 143 makes and 150 attempts. Alcobendas made 36-of-47 field goals in his career to rank third in school history for field goals made and fifth in attempts. In his career, he had 109 kickoffs for a 57.4 average (6,253 total yards) with 17 touchbacks.
 
Alcobendas was rewarded three times in 2018 (four in his career) with ROOT Sports Big Sky Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors. His most recent honor came when he scored 11 points for the Eagles – just two from his career high – in EWU's 59-20 win over UC Davis on Nov. 10. He kicked a 24-yard field goal to remain perfect on the season at 13-for-13. He also converted all eight of his extra points and punted five times for a 39.8 average with four of his punts downed inside the UCD 20-yard line – three inside the 10. The average field position for UC Davis after his punts was their own 15-yard line, including the 5, 7, 9 and 19. Aside from two long touchdown runs of 46 and 69 yards, UCD got to EWU's red zone just once all day, and the Aggies had to settle for a field goal.
 
He also earned the honor after he kicked a pair of field goals in EWU's 14-6 loss at 13th-ranked Weber State on Oct. 13, and also added a punting record to his resume. He averaged 60.3 yards on seven punts in Eastern's defensive battle, including a school-record 78 yarder with the wind in the second quarter and another of 72 yards with the wind in the third. He also had a wind-aided punt of 63 yards, and a punt into the wind of 60. Two of his punts were downed inside the 10-yard line of Weber State. He now owns two of the top three punts in school history, with the previous record set by Jake Miller against Washington State on Sept. 8, 2012, with a punt of 74 yards. The 60.3 average for Alcobendas versus the Wildcats nearly broke the Big Sky record of 61.5 set by Eddie Johnson of Idaho State in 2002 versus Cal Poly. He kicked a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter and a 27-yarder in the third quarter to remain perfect on the season.
 
He originally broke the school record for career kick scoring against Montana State on Sept. 29 and received his second career ROOT Sports Big Sky Conference Special Teams Player award on Oct. 1 as a result. He suffered a knee injury in 2014 at Bobcat Stadium, then returned two years later and won his first Big Sky POW honor in 2016 after a performance in Bozeman. He scored 11 points in 2016 and had 10 more in a 34-17 victory in 2018. In 2018, he converted field goals of 24 and 25 yards versus the Bobcats, converted four extra points and punted four times for a 46.8 average with a long of 60. Three of his punts were downed inside the MSU 20-yard line, including a key 59-yarder in the fourth quarter. In all, the average field position for MSU after his punts was the 14-yard line.
 
"It was a proud, proud moment to watch him put the ball through the pipes and get the record," Best said of his 24-yarder that gave EWU a 17-10 second-quarter lead versus the Bobcats. "We didn't mention it before or during the game, but after the game we talked about that. What an accomplishment for him after everything he's overcome in six years here, but it feels like about 10 years."
 
 He finished the 2016 season 9-of-15 kicking field goals and made 73-of-74 extra points. He made his last 63 extra points in a row in 2016 to shatter the previous season record of 47. His 73 total extra points made in 2016 were one behind the Big Sky Conference record of 74 set by former Eagle Kevin Miller in 2013. He also averaged 54.6 yards on 44 kickoffs with seven touchbacks.
 
He missed his first extra point attempt of the game against UC Davis on Oct. 7, 2017, ending his school-record string of consecutive career extra points made at 85. In the 2017 season, he made 46-of-47 extra point attempts and 10-of-14 field goals. He also handled kickoff duties much of the season, and averaged 59.8 yards on 39 kicks in 2017 with seven touchbacks.
 
Returning to the venue he suffered a season-ending knee injury in 2014, Alcobendas made field goals of 48 and 31 yards and had a career-high 11 total points in EWU's 41-17 victory over Montana State in 2016 to earn Big Sky Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors. His 48-yarder was the best of his career, and equals the 23rd-longest in school history. He also had a 31-yarder blocked and made all five of his extra point attempts to account for 11 of EWU's points. In addition, he averaged 64.0 yards in three kickoffs, including one touchback.
 
 
Aaron Best is Fan Choice as FCS Coach of the Year to Go Along With Big Sky Conference co-Coach of the Year Accolades
 
The fans spoke, and for guiding the Eastern football team to the NCAA Division I Championship game, they voted Best as the best in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.
 
With a late push of votes from Eagle Nation, EWU head coach Aaron Best was declared by Hero Sports as the FCS Coach of the Year in voting which concluded Dec. 21. Best received nearly 40 percent of the total votes cast, with a total of 2,078 to out-distance North Dakota State's Chris Klieman with 1,127.
 
In two years at the helm, he has compiled a 19-7 record overall (73.1 percent) and 13-3 mark in the league (81.3 percent). Both percentages currently rank as the best in school history, just ahead of the Beau Baldwin with an 85-32 overall mark (72.6 percent) in nine seasons from 2008-16, and a 58-14 league record (80.6 percent).
 
The Eagles – which finished 12-3 in Best's second year at the helm – fell 38-24 to North Dakota State on Jan. 5, 2019, in Frisco, Texas, for the NCAA Division I Championship EWU won in 2010 and NDSU has now won seven of the eight years since. His team advanced to Frisco with a 50-19 win over Maine on Dec. 15, and Best was quick to praise the EWU's fans for such a monumental achievement in Best's 22nd year as either an Eastern player or coach.
 
"The crowd was amazing – thank you all for coming out," he said in his post-game press conference. "There was a lot of support and people buying extra tickets to help others get into the stadium. It helped, and it's always helps this time of year when school is not in session and there aren't as many students. But it sounded like a mid-season game. I can't say enough."
 
Becoming the fifth different Eastern football head coach to win the honor, Best was selected on Nov. 21 as the Big Sky Conference co-Coach of the Year as selected by his peers in the league, sharing the honor with UC Davis head coach Dan Hawkins. Best guided Eastern to a 9-2 regular season record overall and 7-1 mark in the Big Sky to share the league title with UC Davis and Weber State.
 
"This has everything to do with the people we are surrounded with daily, and the resources available to us," said Best. "I can't be happier for our 10 assistants and the people behind the scenes who are able to make the days happy and productive. You are only as good as your staff members and your supporting cast."
 
Beau Baldwin, Paul Wulff, Mike Kramer and Dick Zornes are the four coaches who came before him, and all were honored at least once. Best played for Kramer, who won in 1997, and then served as an assistant coach under Paul Wulff (2001, 2004, 2005) and Beau Baldwin (2012, 2013).
 
"I'm happy and thrilled for Aaron," said Baldwin, who left EWU two years ago to become offensive coordinator at Cal. "He's very deserving, and it's amazing what he's done after the change that occurred from 2016 to 2017 with the coaching staff. He still was able to do a great job in 2017 and back that up in 2018. It says a lot about his leadership and the guys 100 percent buying in."
 
"To be mentioned in the same breath as Coach B, Coach Wulff, Coach Kramer and Coach Zornes, there are very few words to be able to describe that," Best said. "I've never envisioned this. Obviously, you want your team to have success, and this is a coaching staff award that comes as a result."
 
Wulff also won the honor in his second year at the helm, while Kramer won in his fourth. Best's conference winning percentage of .813 is currently slightly better than Baldwin (.806), who won his first coach of the year honor in his fifth season at the helm. Overall, Best (.731) is just ahead of Baldwin (.726) and Dave Holmes (.719), who coached five seasons from 1963-67. Zornes, who coached 15 seasons from 1979-93, won his honor in EWU's sixth year in the league after joining the Big Sky in 1987. Zornes and Best are both graduates of Eastern as well.
 
"The award means a ton, but team awards and individual player awards trump the coach of the year award," Best added. "It's humbling to be recognized by your peers in anything, but especially as intense as college football head coaching is. I've only found that out in two years."
 
Best led guided Eastern to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Football Championships -- his first playoff appearance as a head coach, but 10th overall. He was a player in 1997, then coached in 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and now 2018. The Eagles won three home playoff games to advance to the NCAA Division I Championship Game on Jan. 5, 2019, in Frisco, Texas.
 
"We are very proud of Coach Best for his leadership of our football program," praised EWU Director of Athletics Lynn Hickey. "He is a person of impact with his students, on our campus as a whole, and within the entire Cheney/Spokane community. He is an outstanding coach with a tireless work ethic -- but most importantly is a really good person who stands by his values.  He guided his staff and team through a lot of adversity due to injuries, but inspired them to move forward and leave no doubt that they were champions.  This is a very well-deserved honor for coach personally, but also for the excellent staff he has surrounded himself with."
 
The Eagles set school records offensively for total points (623) and most games of 50 points or more (6, tied with the 2014 team), and defensively tied a school record with nine games of allowing 20 points or fewer (also in 1997, 1981, 1964 and 1949). Amazingly, the Eagles did that without the services of a bevy of players lost because of injuries. In fact, EWU's starting lineup from its second game of the season versus Northern Arizona was minus nine players -- three on offense and six on defense -- versus Maine in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs.
 
What the Eagles accomplished in 2018 was not lost on Kramer himself, a former veteran coach in the Big Sky and now retired. Eastern lost All-America quarterback Gage Gubrud at mid-season, but went on a seven-game winning streak while out-scoring opponents 345-139 for an average score of 49-20 and a winning margin of 29.4 points.
 
"Aaron and his staff weathered the loss of one of the iconic players in Big Sky history," said Kramer, who was also head coach at Montana State and Idaho State. "That is leadership. They never wavered."
 
"It's a sign of a very senior-laden team, and guys who don't flinch because they've experienced a ton of rocks on the windshield along their journey," explained Best. "It's great to connect and integrate former Eagles with our current Eagles, and coach Kramer talked to our team last summer. We are all connected in some way and know how special this place is, and he told the team three words that I'll never forget: 'Take the Candy.' He's had some very special teams along the way, and he felt like a couple of those teams didn't take the candy in terms of understanding how privileged they are, how well-equipped they are and how talented they are. Our team did that in 2018 – they did take the candy."
 
Best has now been a part of 26 playoff games (17-9), with 22 as a coach (15-8) and three as a player (2-1). He has been involved in 21 of those games at home (15-6), just three on the road (1-2) and two in Frisco, Texas (1-1). He was offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in 2010 when the Eagles won the NCAA Division I title with a 20-19 victory over Delaware on a neutral field in Frisco, Texas.
 
 Best himself is a product from the state of Washington, and that has long been a trademark of the Eagle program as "Washington's Team." The Eagles have 105 players in their program, and 82 of them – 78 percent – are from the state of Washington. Eastern's coaching staff is Washington-based as well, with eight of the team's 11 full-time coaches (73 percent) hailing from the Evergreen State. Best is a 1996 graduate of Curtis High School in Tacoma, Wash., and shares the same alma mater with Brian Strandley (1990).
 
Best made his head coaching debut versus Texas Tech in a 56-10 loss on Sept. 2, 2017 in Lubbock, Texas. It came versus the same team Baldwin made his EWU head coaching debut against back on Aug. 30, 2008, in a 49-24 Red Raider victory. Interestingly, Baldwin also graduated from Curtis, six years earlier than Best in 1990. Best was making his debut as Baldwin's offensive line coach in that 2008 game.
 
"The thing I like the most about coach Best is that he is authentically going to do it his way," added Baldwin. He's not going to do it like anyone else before him. It's what he believes in and it's rubbing through. The team sees that and respects that. The team and staff bought into his vision and that's why they were in the position at the end of the regular season at 9-2 and a No. 3 seed nationally. It's all been earned, and I couldn't be happier with the job he's done since the moment he stepped in."

 
After Stellar Season on the Ground, McPherson Wins Pair of EWU Awards
 
A ground-breaking ground game for the Eastern football team resulted in a pair of awards won by running back Sam McPherson on Jan. 26, 2019, at the annual EWU Awards Presentation at the Showalter Auditorium on the EWU campus in Cheney, Wash.
 
A 2015 graduate of Bothell (Wash.) High School, McPherson was selected as EWU's Offensive Player of the Year and was the recipient of the Golden EKG (Eastern Kind of Guy) Award. All-Big Sky senior linebacker Ketner Kupp earned player of the year honors on defense and All-America kicker Roldan Alcobendas won on special teams.
 
Those awards were chosen by members of the team. The coaching staff selected the others, including Freshman of the Year honors won by defensive end Mitchell Johnson and wide receiver Andrew Boston. Scout Team Players of the Year were won by linebacker Justin Patterson, wide receiver Kellen Gregory and defensive back Dean Sise as the recipient on special teams.
 
McPherson helped lead the Eagles to the NCAA Division I Championship game with a running attack that ranked 10th in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in rushing (255.9) and was second with an average of 6.62 yards per carry. He was fourth in FCS for average per carry (7.40), 20th with an average of 100.7 yards per game, 10th with 13 rushing touchdowns and third with 1,510 total rushing yards to rank as the fourth-most all-time at EWU. His 2,159 career yards ranks 11th.
 
Kupp had a team-leading 115 tackles in 2018 to rank as the 13th-most in school history for an Eastern team which finished 12-3 overall and shared the Big Sky Conference championship with a 7-1 record. The second-team All-Big Sky Conference selection finished his career with 267 tackles to rank 14th all-time at EWU, and started 27 of the 48 games he played as an Eagle. He was a 2015 graduate of Davis High School in Yakima, Wash.
 
Alcobendas set a variety of school records, including the FCS the record for the best perfect season of field goals made in the history of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. He was the only player in FCS to be perfect on the season, finishing 16-of-16 and winning the Fred Mitchell Award as the top placekicker in the nation. The 2013 graduate of Camas (Wash.) High School earned first team All-Big Sky honors as both a punter and kicker, and was named to seven All-America teams as a first-team kicker.
 
Johnson, a redshirt freshman, was a first team selection on the Hero Sports Freshman All-America team, and also received first team accolades from Phil Steele. Boston, also a redshirt freshman, earned honorable mention from Hero Sports and third team honors from Phil Steele.
 
A 2017 graduate of West Linn (Ore.) High School, Mitchell burst on the scene in 2018 and responded with 31 tackles, a team-leading 4 1/2 sacks, a pair of interceptions, two passes broken up, a pair of quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble. Johnson earned second-team All-Big Sky honors in his first season as an Eagle. Boston finished the season second on the team with 43 receptions for 531 yards (12.3 per catch) and four touchdowns. He is from Puyallup, Wash., and is a 2017 graduate of Emerald Ridge High School.
 
Patterson is from Los Angeles, Calif., and graduated in 2018 from Junipero Serra HS, and Gregory graduated the same year from Gig Harbor (Wash.) HS. Sise is a transfer from Navy, and is from Kirkland, Wash., and a 2017 graduate of Juanita HS.
 
Also, senior cornerback Brandon Montgomery was given the Pat Roberts Memorial Award for achieving academic and athletic excellence. The 2014 graduate of Wilson High School in Tacoma, Wash., played 39 games as an Eagle, and finished with 48 total tackles with seven passes broken up and a sack.
 
Receiving team captains awards from the 2018 season were five seniors – McPherson, Kupp, quarterback Gage Gubrud, center Spencer Blackburn and safety Mitch Fettig.
 
In addition, long-time Eagle fan and former EWU police chief Vic Wallace received the team's Tom Oswald Memorial Award.
 
Other honors won during the 2018 season were recognized and presented at the event, which concluded with the introduction and recognition of Eastern's 27 seniors (two received a sixth year and will return in 2019). In all, the 27 seniors finished the 2018 season with 1,085 games worth of experience and 496 career starts. Broken down, the list included 13 seniors on defense who had a collective total of 562 games played and 275 starts; the offense had 12 players with 429 games worth of experience and 221 starts. In addition, Alcobendas and long snapper Curtis Billen finished a combined 94 games worth of experience on special teams. Several of Eastern's 27 Eagle seniors were part of EWU's Big Sky Conference championships in 2014, 2016 and 2018, with playoff berths all three of those seasons. The group of seniors won 33 of 40 Big Sky Conference games and 48 games overall in five years, starting in 2014 when many of the seniors were redshirts.
 
  

Recent Game Recap

 

Eagles Fall to Bison 38-24 in NCAA Division I Championship Game
 
This title tilt had a bit of everything – big plays, trick plays, turnovers, a 10-minute possession, a late Eagle rally and a lot in-between. In a battle of programs which have never lost in the title game, North Dakota State jumped out to a 17-3 lead and held off Eastern Washington 38-24 on Jan. 5, 2019, for the NCAA Division I Football Championship at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. Eastern fell behind 31-17 in the second half, then NDSU came up empty when it missed a field goal at the end of a 19-play, 88-yard drive that took 10:10 off the clock. Eastern responded with four-play, 80-yard drive to cut the lead to seven with 2:19 to play, but scored another touchdown on the ensuing possession to secure the win. The two winningest teams in the 2010's among schools who compete in the playoffs combined for 845 yards of offense and five turnovers. But on a sun-kissed day, an announced crowd of 17,802 witnessed the seventh title in the last eight years for the Bison. The early lead was too much for Eastern to overcome as it closed its season 12-3 and had its seven-game winning streak snapped. The Bison finished 15-0 and were the top-ranked team all season and the No. 1 seeded team. Eastern entered the playoffs as the No. 3 seed and was ranked as high as third to end the regular season. Senior Sam McPherson rushed for 158 yards for the Eagles and had a 75-yard touchdown run in the game, and sophomore Eric Barriere accounted for 208 yards of offense with 198 passing and 10 rushing. Senior linebacker Ketner Kupp and sophomore linebacker Chris Ojoh each had 11 tackles to lead the Eagles defensively. It was the second-most most points EWU allowed in the 2018 season (Washington State scored 59) and the second-fewest the Eagles scored (EWU had just six in a 14-6 loss at Weber State. Eastern seized some momentum just before halftime when the Eagles scored on a fake field goal on a 2-yard pass from Gunner Talkington to Jayce Gilder to cut the lead to 17-10 at halftime. But EWU had turnovers on its first two possessions of the second half, and two NDSU touchdowns in the quarter gave them a 31-17 advantage. Down by 14 in the final quarter, Eastern received a boost when NDSU missed a field goal at the end of a massive 19-play, 88-yard drive that took 10:10 off the clock. Eastern responded with a four-play, 80-yard drive to cut the lead to seven with 2:19 to play, but NDSU recovered an onside kick – twice after a penalty on the first one – to help put the game away. Eastern had a chance to get the ball back with 1 1/2 minutes remaining, but the Bison converted a third-and-seven play into a 46-yard touchdown by quarterback Easton Stick. The Bison had a dominating advantage in time of possession, 40:05 to 19:55, and ran 73 offensive plays (54 rushing) to EWU's 59. Eastern finished with three turnovers compared to two for the Bison, but the biggest difference came on third down. North Dakota State was 11-of-17 compared to just 3-of-12 for the Eagles. The Bison finished with 290 yards rushing and 198 passing to out-gain EWU 488-357. The Bison came into the game ranking in the top 10 nationally on both sides of the ball in third down conversions.
 
 
 

More Aaron Best Comments

 
 
On Jusstis Warren Adjusting to Buck End Position: "I think having Jusstis now is a big, big help. He is a more experienced player so having another player that's been through games and knows what he's doing out there is going to be a lot of help for us. He'll give us more depth at the position, but having Jusstis is a big help to improving our defense even more."
 
On What He is Seeing Out of the Team's Identity: "I'm starting to see a lot of grit. A lot of guys want to go out there and play and hit someone, but I think it's a tough group of guys who are starting to develop out there. A lot of the safeties really like to fly around and come at your no matter what you do. I think we are starting to play hard, fast and as free as we can out there to make plays."
 
On Eastern's Defense Having to Face The Offense's Running Game in Practice: "'You just have to be able to hold your ground and stick to your technique, and they will come to you. Chasing down Antoine and having to deal with all his cuts and jumping in and out of gaps is a difficult situation. Having E.B back there is even more of a challenge because if you mess up he's going to sprint out and just be gone down the sideline. "
 
On Not Playing UC Davis, Montana & Weber State in the Regular Season: "It's unfortunate. I would rather play them because I like playing the tougher teams and I like the challenge. I wouldn't mind playing Weber State again after that ugly game down there in 2018, but it is what it is and there's nothing we can do about it. We just have to focus on our schedule and maybe we will see them in the playoffs. Maybe if they make it to the playoffs and we do as well, we will see them and get another chance at them."
 
On Eric Barriere Not Scrimmaging Being Precautionary in Nature: "It is, and he's had a ton of reps in practice. Gunner Talkington has progressed, and the more he can get with the ones the better. As we all know, Barriere was a 10-game starter by default after Gage went down. He has 10 under his belt, so to me it's preparing the next player at his position. We will get Eric into the game plan as we move into next week. Some of them are the coach's decisions and some of those are other people's decisions. In this situation it was the coach's decision, and I chose to keep him out and see it form a different perspective two weeks in a row."
 
On Trey Turner's Status as No. 3 Quarterback: "To be determined -- it will be interesting how that third one works out. Obviously you don't like to play a third quarterback in any season, much less a freshman that ends up being in that situation. So we will see how Trey and Simon (Burkett), along with Kellen (Kranc) kind of progress and see things. The game is a little fast for those guys, but I do think you see how he kind of extends plays out here to be able to get out of harm's way at times. Ideally you don't want to ever have to play your third quarterback in his true freshman season. But if he gets some seasoning, sees it from the sideline and gets to experience some of those stadiums and Saturdays -- all while redshirting -- I think we all benefit from that. "
 
On Belief He Has in The Team's Mature, Experienced Players: "Tons! You believe in the ones you love, and I love that whole locker room. I love those guys but they don't always make me happy nor do I always make them happy. It's just one of those deals where sometimes we aren't always going to see eye to eye -- maybe they're going to think they played better than they did, or I thought they played better than they thought they did. So it's a back and forth. There's enough maturity in that room to put our arms around people and go okay. Now we can actually get into what are game plan will be and what we are going to employ next. I'm not concerned at all about the maturation of this team. I'd rather have it sooner rather than later but it's going to take the entire season to get to where we need to be."
 
On Positives from Preseason Practices: "I think the cornerback position will be interesting to see. I think we found some guys that were maybe a little further along than we thought they were going to be coming in with losing our top four corners. I think our health has been pretty good across the board.  Our offensive line is going to be just fine. We're still trying to find just a couple playmakers like we talked about last week in the receiver room. We have a good hunch who our top 4 or 5 guys are but we are usually traveling seven, sometimes eight. We want them to be pivotal on special teams and/or going to function on offense. I think once we get a game or two under our belts seeing those guys in live action will give us more data and a better evaluation as far as that goes. We are only a year older and your experience doesn't make you better just because you're a year older as a human. As a bottle of wine – and I'm not a wine drinker -- I think the older you are the better you are. We will see how this unfolds but I have a lot of confidence in this team and a few of those positions are a pleasant surprise."
 
On Andre Slyter Improving Consistency: "He has! He has a stronger leg than Roldan (Alcobendas). Slyter can hit them, but he can get down on himself, which can play some minds games on you sometimes. He can thump the ball, so it's just a matter of doing the Roldan thing and crafting that ball in between the pipes. But he's been consistent the last two weeks with people in the stands, so the better he is the better we are."
 
On Starting Punter: "It might be me. We are going to use some things and employ some things, so maybe it will be (true freshman) Nick Kokich for all we know. Andre is concentrated solely on kickoffs and field goals right now. So whether it's Trevor Bowens, Seth Harrison, Anthany Smith, or Nick Kokich, we will see. So, maybe by committee, which is not ideal but we have to do what's best for the team."
 
On Being Picked as Big Sky Preseason Favorites: "We are humbled and grateful to the coaches and media for determining our football team as the Big Sky Conference preseason No. 1 team. Everyone aspires to be No. 1, and our mission will be to be champions at the end of the 2019 campaign after all the scores have been kept. Nothing is ever earned on paper and must be substantiated on the field of play. Our 2019 Eastern Washington football team is looking forward to this season. We must understand the challenges of a 12-game schedule with seven road contests, and the rigors of an always tough Big Sky Conference schedule."
 
On 2018 Season: "There were a lot of ups, a lot of downs, and a lot of challenges. Everything worth anything and appreciated in life has a story behind it. I'm going to remember the resiliency of the entire team – all season long we had to replace players in the lineup, mostly because of injuries. In the second day of camp we lost Anfernee Gurley to a knee injury suffered in a helmet-only practice, then lost senior Mitch Fettig and Keenan Williams in their last regular season game at Portland State. I'm just humbled and privileged to be able to lead these young men into life -- to be able to give them a little advice and a few tokens along the way to be able to use once they become fathers, husbands, better sons, and better brothers."
 
On NDSU Loss: "We played our tails off. I thought we more than held our own for a lengthy period of time. We came in aggressively. We played aggressive. We coached aggressive. And we left aggressive. Everyone wanted to know before the game if we were going to walk out of here losing 48-14 with our chins held high. We're competitors and we earned the right to play in this game, too. And I'm excited to protect our players -- they earned this opportunity. And we fell short. Very close but short. On the last touchdown we went down the field (80 yards on four plays) and that's what Eric Barriere is going to bring to us in the future. He was a puppy in this game and so was I. We all make mistakes, and to succeed you've got to fail. And he didn't fail today. He succeeded with small hurdles along the way."
 
On Depth of Defense in 2018 Despite Missing Starters: "As long as we have players we have a chance. It starts with coaching, and then it relies on the belief of the players. After the belief it's the execution. We rotate and have rotated for years with a lot of players seeing action in a game on the defensive front. If you earn time you're going to get time. That is kind of our philosophy on defense. It's not as if we play 11 guys and if someone gets hurt then we play the 12th guy. We're playing 16 to 18 guys in a normal game anyways. It just so happens that some of those guys that were getting second string reps early in the season are now first string players. Some of the players that started third string received second team reps because they earned them during the week of play. We can't say enough about those guys -- we only have who we have, and can only play with who we have. They are Eastern kind of guys -- that is why we recruited them and our DNA is going to stay that way for a long time."
 
On Journey to Success Since Becoming Head Coach: "This journey has aged me about 20 years. The people in our program are amazing, as well as our administration. I'm an Eastern alum and my wife is an Eastern alum – I couldn't write this script. I want us to continue to create an unwritten script, because those are the best scripts. This is truly authentic."
 
On Injuries in 2018: "You go and play games with the players you have -- we just find a way. We've stayed healthy at some positions and that helped us in certain areas. We don't worry about who we don't have, but it's unfortunate that a lot of the lost players were seniors. They played their last football for us and their final season was shortened. I think there is a respect factor by the players filling in for seniors and getting the opportunity to play. They've done a marvelous job – closing the gap between starters and the next man up is our job as coaches to develop players and depth over time. This is selfless team which does selfless acts."
  
On Seniors Embracing Leave No Doubt Mantra: "A lot of it has to do with the fact a quarter of our team were seniors. They got stung as juniors, and it's a lot easier when you echo something when it's heard and driven home by a quarter of the team. It truly helps when you have that type of veteran leadership on both sides of the ball. We learned from going 7-4 – we said we needed to get to eight to give us a better chance and leave no doubt. We exceeded those expectations."