In its regular season finale, the No. 5/6 Eastern Washington University football team traveled to Hillsboro, Ore., to take on the Portland State University Vikings today (Nov. 20). The Eagles put up 438 yards of total offense, scored six touchdowns, went six-for-six on extra points and forced two turnovers in the 42-28 victory.
 
Eastern Washington ends the regular season 9-2 overall and 6-2 in Big Sky Conference play. The victory also marked the fifth-straight win over Portland State and the fifth-straight road victory over the Vikings. The Eagles also finished an unblemished 6-0 on the road during the regular season as well, the best road record since 1967.
 
Eric Barriere completed 26 of his 34 pass attempts for 320 yards and five touchdown passes. On his first strike of the game, Barriere broke the Big Sky Conference's and Eastern Washington's all-time touchdown passes record, passing former Eagle Vernon Adams Jr.'s record of 110, as he now sits alone at the top with 115 in his career.
 
Four different receivers caught a pass for a touchdown, including Efton Chism III who scored twice and finished the game with four catches for 67 yards. Talolo Limu-Jones (6-80), Andrew Boston (7-80) and Freddie Roberson (3-26) were his other recipients.
 
"We're 9-2. It was tough to get to 9-2. The last two weeks, we bounced back from two losses at home. Going on the road isn't easy, we were on a bus, and then only had three possessions in the first half. We had two turnovers in the second half defensively and got off the field on a fourth down or two and we played well enough to win by two touchdowns on the road against a team that was looking for its sixth victory," said head coach Aaron Best, who appeared in his 300^th career as an Eagle today as a player or coach. "This team has held it together, but it wasn't always pretty, and if you've been around Eastern Washington football long enough you know it never is pretty. You always want it prettier, and so do we, but it isn't. We're 9-2 and excited about the victory and the chance to see our name tomorrow."
 
Time of possession was the story of the first half. Portland State strung together drives of 8:59 and 8:19 and had the ball for 23:48, holding Eastern Washington to just three drives and possession for 6:12. At the half, the score was tied 14-14.
 
Eastern Washington forced two turnovers in the third quarter, scoring on both. The first came when the score was tied 21-21, as Anthany Smith forced a fumble that was recovered by Ty Graham. The Eagles took advantage and Barriere found Chism III for his second score of the game on a 20-yard strike. The second, a strip-sack by Mitchell Johnson that was recovered by Brock Harrison and resulted in a four-yard touchdown pass from Barriere to Roberson. The Eagles outscored the Vikings 21-7 in the third quarter and led 35-21 heading into the fourth.
 
Eastern's first rushing touchdown of the game came to the start the fourth quarter, when Micah Smith found the endzone on a one-yard rush as the Eagles scored their 28^th unanswered point over the Vikings, taking a 42-21 lead. Portland State found the endzone for the first time since early in the third quarter with 11 minutes to go on a one-yard rushing touchdown.
 
After the score, Portland State completed a successful surprise onside kick but didn't find the endzone after turning the ball over on downs.
 
In all, the Eagles scored six touchdowns and Jackson Cleaver went six-for-six on extra point attempts. On the defensive side, Calin Criner led the way with nine total tackles and 1.5 for loss. Anthany Smith had seven tackles, and Mitchell Johnson had six, 1.5 for loss of 13 yards, plus a sack and a forced fumble.
 
Eastern had 320 passing yards plus 118 on the ground, while the Vikings had 423 yards of total offense, with 85 rushing yards and 338 through the air.
 
The Eagles end the regular season 9-2 overall (6-2 Big Sky) and now await their postseason fate. They won't have to wait long, as the FCS Selection Show airs tomorrow morning (Nov. 21) at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time on ESPNU. Eastern Washington is seeking its 15^th all-time FCS playoff appearance and the second-straight.
 
More Comments from Head Coach Aaron Best:
 
On The Defensive Effort: "This environment doesn't give us a lot of opportunities for a lot of juice. The field is an open stadium on one side and they milked it to two or three seconds on the clock every time. We had three possessions in the first half and scored on two of them, we needed to ramp it up and dictate the second half and we did a good job of that. The defense had to go out there twice late in punt situations and those weren't pretty punts by any stretch. We're down a long snapper, have been down a kicker all year, but our players find a way to get it done and be effective. We made all six extra points today and we're proud of this bunch and it makes this seven hour drive a lot better."
 
On the Coaching Staff's Effort: "Coach Pat McCann called a couple of third and goal touchdowns in the second half, which were pivotal to what we needed because it was going to be fourth and goal from the six-or-eight-yard line. Our guys on defense hung together, we knew if we put them in situations, we'd be more successful on first downs and we'll make them do something. We got after them late and at some point, the door is going to open and it's just a matter of believing in each other. Portland State is a physical football team and we out-physicaled them to a tune of 42-28."