Add another game to the record books. The Eastern Washington University football team traveled to Greeley, Colo., today (Oct. 9) to take on Northern Colorado in its third Big Sky Conference game of the season. The No. 4 Eagles put up 479 total yards of offense en route to the 63-17 victory over the Bears at Nottingham Field.
 
With the win, Eastern Washington is now 6-0 for the first time since becoming members of the Football Championship Subdivision level in 1984. Additionally, the Eagles are 3-0 in conference action for the first time since 2018 when they advanced all the way to the FCS Championship game. Northern Colorado drops to 2-4 and 1-2 on the season.
 
It was Eastern's fourth game of the season with 50-or-more total points scored and the third with over 60. The 63 points are the 11^th-most in program history. Additionally, the Eagles went in to Nottingham Field and scored the most points ever by a visiting team, and the second-most overall.
 
"Any time you play that well and probably play 54 or 55 of the 60 players you travel, that means you did a lot of good things. I think we came out of the game unscathed, but a lot of players were playing out of their normal positions, and we used a lot of bodies in this game. We knew going in with the players we had on the plane, that it was going to be a grind, and it was," said head coach Aaron Best. "We started fast and we ended the second half a bit like we ended the first half, and that was our theme at halftime. We're a different team than we were when we were at Western Illinois and up 55-21, we have a lot of work to do in the last 30 minutes and we stayed aggressive both in coaching and in playing. Our players had a lot of fun, there are a lot of smiles, and a lot of players made big plays and created turnovers. We were on the plus side to improve to 62-0."
 
Eastern Washington scored on its opening drive for the fifth-straight game, as Eric Barriere completed a four-yard pass to Dylan Ingram in the endzone. Barriere threw for 347 yards in today's game, completing 32 of his 41 passes with one interception and three touchdowns.
 
Dennis Merritt scored his first of three touchdowns on the day on EWU's next drive on a one-yard rush, giving the Eagles a 14-0 lead after Seth Harrison's second extra point attempt went through the uprights. The defense also got in on the scoring early, facing 3^rd & 22 at UNC's 22, Calin Criner intercepted quarterback Dylan McCaffrey's pass and returned it 30 yards for the touchdown, marking his eighth-career interception and first-career touchdown. Eastern Washington's two-point conversion attempt would wind up being successful and they took a 22-0 lead.
 
Criner would finish with four tackles on the day, and the Eagles were led by Jack Sendelbach and Marlon Jones Jr. with seven. Joshua Jerome and Ty Graham each had six, while Jacob Newsom had a forced fumble.
 
Northern Colorado got on the board with a 49-yard field goal with 2:25 left in the first, as Eastern outscored the Bears 22-3 in the first quarter.
 
Eastern Washington scored three touchdowns on its first three drives to start the second quarter. Barriere found another tight end in Blake Gobel on a 19-yard passing touchdown, before Merritt scored consecutive touchdowns on a five-yard and a one-yard rush, respectively. Merritt would finish the day with 72 rushing yards, scoring three touchdowns for the second time this season.
 
McCaffrey used his legs for a four-yard rushing touchdown with 13 seconds left in the half, but the Eagles carried a 43-10 lead into the locker room. Forty-three first half points are the fourth-most points in a half for the Eagles at the FCS level, with the top two (55 at Western Illinois, 46 vs. Central Washington) coming earlier this season.
 
The Bears would find the endzone one more time in the game on another rushing touchdown from McCaffrey to cut into EWU's lead, 43-17. Harrison scored the first three second-half points for the Eagles on a 41-yard field goal attempt. Harrison would finish the game a perfect 7-for-7 on extra point attempts and 2-for-2 on field goal attempts. His 41-yarder was a season-long after missing last week's game against Montana.
 
Andrew Boston, who led the team with 99 receiving yards on seven catches, added some insurance on a 38-yard pass from Barriere for the touchdown, capping a three-play, 43-yard drive that took just 37 seconds.
 
It was all Eagles in the fourth quarter, shutting down the Bears 10-0. Harrison notched a 26-yard field goal attempt before true-freshman Tuna Altahir got in on the action. In his first career game, Altahir scored on a 10-yard rushing touchdown with 2:22 left in the game. Altahir had 30 rushing yards in his debut, helping Eastern Washington win its sixth-straight, 63-17.
 
It's now back to Cheney, Wash., for the next three games. Eastern Washington hosts Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 11:30 a.m. from Roos Field. The game will be broadcast on ROOT Sports and on ESPN+ for those out of the ROOT footprint.
 
A Few More Superlatives from the 63-17 Victory
 

• Seventh-year Eagle Tristen Taylor became the all-time career leader in starts with 53 today. It was also his 53^rd game in an EWU uniform, tying for the fourth most.
• With three touchdowns today, Eric Barriere ties with Matt Nichols for second all-time on EWU's all-time list with 96. He is now 26-9 in his career as a starter with 11,206 passing yards and 12,653 yards of total offense, both of which rank second all-time in EWU history. He moves into eighth on the Big Sky's career passing list and second on the total offensive yards list after today's performance.
• With 13 kick points today, Seth Harrison now has 177 total which is just two shy of sixth on EWU's all-time list.
• Jack Sendelbach now ties Luke Vincent for 23^rd on EWU's all-time tackles list with 235. Calin Criner moves into 28^th with 225.
• Eastern Washington has now won 67 of its last 78 Big Sky Conference games, with a 30-8 record on the road in the last eight seasons.

 
More Comments from Head Coach Aaron Best:
 
On Opponents Realizing the Strength of Eastern Washington: "It's a testament to our coaches and our players who come in each and every week and work hard to get ready for their next opponent. Everybody wanted to know on Monday how we would react to a 7:30 p.m. game on national television and playing so well in a physical game. We had a few players dinged up in that game, but that's going to happen when you have two physical teams going at it. We traveled with who we had and played with who we had on that plane, and our guys came out victorious. To score 63 points in any setting, and only allowing 17, where 10 of those 17 were in the first half on short fields, we played really, really, really, good football today and were complimentary in all three phases. We also didn't punt until our second-to-last drive of the last quarter and anytime you do that, you're probably doing something right."
 
On Improvements to Make: "I can think of two things just off of the cusp from watching from the sideline. We have to develop a better running game. We knew it would be tough, their (Northern Colorado) front is bigger than most and they really test you to run the ball and rally to the ball. We also have to tackle a little bit better on defense in yards after contact. We gave up a little bit too much. You always have to find ways to get better. Our players are dialed in and our coaches are dialed in, and we played aggressive today. We called the game aggressive as coaches and we played aggressive too, so things like this come together."
 
On Being 1-0 on the Week: "Today was awesome. The weather, our equipment staff, our athletic trainers, everybody did their role to get this team ready for this game. It's the fourth time in six weeks that we've been on the road, and now we don't have to go on the road for a month. We are still in the 1-0 phase as we get ready to prepare for Idaho tomorrow. Our players played really well today and we're a different team than we were a month ago and we will continue to be different because the greatest teams get better near the end of the season."