More on Winter/Spring 2021 Game Schedule

Inch-by-inch, the Eastern Washington University football team is beginning preparations for an abbreviated 2020-21 season.
 
After an "off-season" which has seemingly lasted forever, the Eagles will officially begin practices on Friday, Jan. 29 in preparation for the school's six-game Big Sky Conference schedule which is set to begin on Feb. 27 when the Eagles are scheduled to play at Idaho.
 
Eastern head coach Aaron Best expects a "fluid" situation as the Eagles move toward actual competition.
 
"Fluid might be a very big understatement," he said. "The FBS (NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision) ran through a lot of these hurdles, challenges, bumps, turbulence – whatever you want to call them – this past fall. Our feet haven't been firmly on the ground but we have had direction in terms of protocols. But this is certainly a time we've never seen before and hope to never again."
 
All practices will take place at Roos Field, which will be cleared of snow daily if necessary. Eastern has scheduled its first eight practices through Feb. 6, with just Feb. 1 as the lone day off. The team's practice schedule after that date will be determined.
 
Because of the pandemic, the Eagles haven't practiced as a full team since the conclusion of the 2019 campaign, which ended on Nov. 23, 2019, with a 7-5 overall mark and 6-2 Big Sky record. Moving forward, EWU will be subject to continued adherence to mandated testing protocols and regulations to be able to practice and play.
 
On Jan. 25, the league announced revised six-game schedules for the remaining eight league teams who have committed to playing this winter/spring. As a result, Eastern will host Northern Arizona on March 6, Cal Poly on March 27 and Idaho on April 10. Road games will be at Idaho on Feb. 27, Idaho State on March 13 and UC Davis on April 3.
 
"The phrase we'll use with our team the next six months for sure is mental agility," said Best. "That's what we'll stress – we've never been here before. We're learning in the moment and will use some mental agility along the way."
 
Portland State, Montana and Montana State recently all opted out from the Big Sky's six-game spring schedule, leaving league administrators to re-vamp the schedule following that Jan. 15 announcement. Northern Colorado also decided not to play a full six-game schedule, and Sacramento State had previously opted out of winter/spring competition last fall when the schedules were originally announced on Nov. 4.
 
The Eagles have won their last 14 homes games at "The Inferno," and All-America quarterback Eric Barriere returns for his senior season a perfect 11-0 as a starter there. The Northern Arizona game will be the first game on the new red Astroturf surface installed at "The Inferno" last summer.
 
A total of 44 returning letterwinners will be on hand when head coach Aaron Best finally gets to begin his fourth season at the helm. The breakdown is 20 letterwinners back from the offense, 21 on defense, a kicker, a punter and a long snapper. Eastern lost six returning players since the summer when the pandemic took its toll on the 2020 schedule, which was going to be Eastern's best home schedule in school history. The adjusted, abbreviated schedule will not count against the eligibility for all student-athletes.
 
At this time, no spectators will be permitted to attend games, practices or scrimmages due to institutional, regional, and state guidelines in regards to the Covid-19 pandemic. No media will be allowed to attend practices until further notice in order to protect the team "bubble."
 
"We're going to do it the right way with protocols," added Best. "Our program has done a great job up to this point. Getting the platform to do something they love and keep score doing it will be the cherry on top."