Same-season Big Sky Conference football rematches have become commonplace for Eastern Washington University, but the "place" portion is entirely different this time around.
 
Playing a rematch versus a league foe for the fourth time in eight seasons, the Eagles play at No. 6 seed Montana this Friday night (Dec. 3) in Missoula, Mont., in the second round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs. Eastern, now 10-2, beat Northern Iowa 19-9 in the first round of the playoffs to advance to play the 9-2 Grizzlies, who EWU defeated 34-28 earlier this season in a thriller in Cheney, Wash., on Oct. 2.
 
Kickoff is 6 p.m. Pacific time at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in a game broadcast not broadcast via conventional TV, but available via ESPN+. The contest will also be broadcast on 700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area. Larry Weir returns for his 31st season calling the play-by-play, with analysis handled by Paul Sorensen for the 19th season. Broadcasts begin one hour prior to kickoff and include an expanded post-game show.
 
This is the second time Eastern and Montana have tangled in the playoffs, with the first coming in 2014 when EWU was victorious at home 37-20 to complete a two-game sweep versus the Grizzlies. Just a month earlier, the Eagles defeated UM 36-26, also at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.
 
Since then, Eastern has played two other Big Sky foes in rematches, and both of those also took place at "The Inferno." Eastern beat UC Davis at home late in the 2018 season by a 59-20 score, then knocked off the Aggies 34-29 in the second round of the playoffs. In the 2020-21 season impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Eastern fell at Idaho 21-13 to open the campaign, but then beat the Vandals 38-31 in Cheney to end the regular season and clinch a berth in the playoffs.
 
But this time, Eastern will make the short, three-hour bus ride to Missoula to play just its second road game in its last 19 playoff outings (not counting two championship games at a neutral site). A 42-20 loss at North Dakota State on April 24, 2021, was EWU's first road game since 1989, snapping a string of 17-straight preliminary playoff games at home.
 
The good news is the Eagles were 6-0 on the road this season, and have won six times in Missoula since 1990, including two of the last four meetings there. Montana is 5-1 at home this season, with its only other loss on the season coming in Missoula to league champion Sacramento State by a 28-21 score on Oct. 16.
 
In beating a playoff savvy UNI team with the second-most appearances in the history of the FCS Playoffs with 22, the Eagles now face the team at the top of the heap. Montana has 25 appearances, and is third all-time in victories with 33. The Grizzlies, national champions in 1995 and 2001, fell to Weber State 17-10 in their most recent playoff game in the quarterfinals in 2019.
 
The Eagles are making their 15th tournament appearance to rank 12th in FCS history, and have a 20-13 record all-time to rank 11th in wins and seventh with a winning percentage of .606 (20-13). The Grizzlies are just behind EWU in percentage (.600, 33-22).
 
The Eagles won the 2010 NCAA Division I title and were runners-up in 2018, and advanced to the first round of the playoffs in the 2020-21 campaign. Eastern snapped a four-game losing streak to Missouri Valley Conference foes with the win over the Panthers, and the Eagles are 6-0 against teams from other conferences starting with the win over Montana in the second round in 2014.
 
The Eagles wrapped up a 6-2 Big Sky Conference campaign with a 42-38 victory over Portland State Saturday (Nov. 20) at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Ore. Besides falling on Nov. 13 to Montana State, the Eagles lost to four-time defending Big Sky champion Weber State on Oct. 23 by a 35-34 score. Thus, EWU's two losses this season were by a combined four points.
 
Montana also finished 6-2 in the league, but beat league unbeaten Montana State 29-10 in Missoula to end the regular season. Both EWU and Montana registered wins over Western Illinois (non-conference), Idaho, Southern Utah and Northern Colorado, and both opened the year with wins over NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision opponents. Eastern won at UNLV 35-33 two days before UM shocked 20th-ranked Washington 13-7.
 
Eastern, after winning its final two games of the regular season, entered the playoffs ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in the Stats Perform Top 25 Poll, and was ranked sixth in the AFCA Coaches Poll. Montana was fifth in both polls. This week's match-up will be the 18th in which both teams are ranked, with the combined ranking of nine the best ever (10 earlier this year with EWU sixth and Montana fourth was the previous best). This is also the 29th time at least one of the teams has been ranked.
 
Eastern was ranked second in both polls for a pair of weeks in October, and had dropped as low as seventh and eighth, respectively, heading into its game on Nov. 13 at No. 6/4 UCD. The Eagles righted the ship versus the Aggies after suffering a pair of home losses by a combined four points in their previous two outings.
 
With 10 victories on the season, this is just the ninth time an Eastern team has recorded double figures in wins. All but two (1967 with 11 and 1997 with 12) have come in the last 12 seasons since 2010 when EWU had a school-record 13 victories.
 
The Eagles are ranked second in FCS in total offense with an average of 551.7 yards per game and scoring at 44.2 points per game, but this week they'll face a Montana team ranked second in FCS in scoring defense (13.0 per game) and 13th in defense overall (291.3 yards per game). In fact, the Grizzlies are allowing 31.0 points in their losses (including a season-high 34 to EWU), but just 81 in its nine victories – an average of 9.0 per outing.
 
Eastern's defense has also contributed mightily toward a scoring advantage of 226 points this season (average of 18.8 per game with an average score of 45-25). In 48 total quarters thus far, EWU has recorded 11 shutout quarters, including the first and third quarters against Northern Iowa in the first-round of the FCS Playoffs. Only five times has the defense surrendered more than a single touchdown in a quarter, and three of those came against Western Illinois in EWU's high-scoring 62-56 victory (UNLV and Weber State were the other times that occurred).
 
Eastern's defense has forced five turnovers and has had six fourth down stops in the last two games, helping EWU rank sixth in FCS in turnover margin (+14 for the season, an average of +1.2 per game). Eastern has just 10 giveaways (ninth in FCS) with only seven turnovers and three fumbles in 945 total plays (a turnover every 94.5 plays).
 
The Eagles, in fact, went three full games from Nov. 6-20 without a turnover – a stretch of 285 turnover-less plays which included a string of 147 passes without an interception by Eric Barriere. The only turnover in EWU's last four games (321 plays) was an interception on a desperation pass at the end of the first half versus Northern Iowa. Eastern has won the turnover battle in nine games this season (record of 8-1), has been tied just once (versus Montana) and has lost it twice (1-1).
 
In addition, during EWU's current three-game winning streak, opponents have converted just 26 percent of their third down conversion attempts (11-of-42) and EWU has also stopped opponents on downs eight times. Conversely, EWU's offense has converted third downs at a 49 percent clip (24-of-49).
 
Under the direction of interim offensive coordinator Pat McCann, Eastern's offense rolled up 625 yards in 101 plays in a 38-20 win over UC Davis on Nov. 20. Eastern produced a key 75-yard drive that gave the Eagles a 31-20 lead with 11:21 to play, then scored again on an 80-yard drive with 5:36 remaining to open the final 18-point advantage.
 
The following week against a PSU team content on slowing the game down, the Eagles had just 438 yards on 64 plays. But EWU scored 28 unanswered points – including 21 in the third quarter – to pull away. The Eagles had 412 against a stingy UNI defense on Nov. 27, finishing with 283 through the air and 129 on the ground.
 
 
 
 
Game Notes
 
 
More on the FCS Playoffs
 
 Five Big Sky Conference teams advanced to the playoffs, with first-round byes received by league champion Sacramento State (No. 4 seed), Montana (#6) and Montana State (#8). Eastern did not play the Hornets, but defeated the Grizzlies 34-28 on Oct. 2 and lost to the Bobcats 23-20 on Nov. 6. UC Davis, a team EWU defeated 38-20 on Nov. 13, also received an at-large bid, but fell 56-24 at South Dakota State on Nov. 27, and the Jackrabbits will now play at Sac State in the second round. Montana State will host UT-Martin, a 32-31 victory over Missouri State.
 
The Eagles could potentially play #3 seed James Madison in the quarterfinals and #2 seed North Dakota State in the semifinals, but could face no other league school until the championship game. The quarterfinals of the playoffs are Dec. 10 and 11, the semifinals are Dec. 17 and 18 and the championship game is in Frisco, Texas, on Saturday, Jan. 8 at 9 a.m. Pacific time and televised by ESPN2.
 
Eastern now has 12 playoff berths in an 18-year span (2004-2021), ranking the Eagles as one of only five schools in FCS to accomplish that feat. New Hampshire (2004-05-06-07-08-09-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17) made the playoffs for the 14th-straight time in 2017, but has not qualified for the last four tournaments. James Madison (2004-06-07-08-11-14-15-16-17-18-19-20/21-21) has 13 appearances since 2004, while Eastern, North Dakota State (2010-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20/21-21) and Montana (2004-05-06-07-08-09-11-13-14-15-19-21) have 12 in that stretch.
 
The Eagles are making their 15th appearance in the playoffs, but made their first on Thanksgiving weekend since 2009 when they played at Stephen F. Austin.
 
This is the third time head coach Aaron Best has taken the Eagles to the playoffs as head coach (2018-2020/21-2021), and he was with the team for eight seasons as an assistant (2004-05-2009-10-12-13-14-16) and one as a player (1997). He has been involved in a total of 28 postseason playoff games with a record of 16-9 as a coach and 2-1 mark as a player.
 
The Eagles won the 2010 NCAA Division I title and were runners-up in 2018, and advanced to the first round of the playoffs in the 2020-21 campaign. Eastern fell at North Dakota State 42-24 on April 24, 2021, during the abbreviated 2020-21 season in which the playoff field consisted of just 16 teams.
 
Of EWU's 20-13 record overall in the FCS Playoffs, the Eagles are 16-6 at home, 3-6 on the road and 1-1 at a neutral site in the championship game. Eastern was the 2010 NCAA Division I Champions after winning three home games in the playoffs and then defeating Delaware 20-19 for the title in Frisco, Texas. Eastern also hosted and won three games in 2018 when the Eagles fell to North Dakota State 38-24 in the title game. Eastern hosted three games in 2012, 2013 and 2016, but lost in the semifinals all three seasons, plus in 1997 when the games were played at Albi Stadium in Spokane. Eastern hosted two more playoff games in 2014, falling in the quarterfinal round.
 
Since 2010, Eastern has hosted 18 playoff games at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash., winning 14 of them. Until losing at NDSU in the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign, Eastern didn't have to play on the road since 2009 when it fell at Stephen F. Austin in the first round.
 
 
Eagles No. 2 in FCS in Total Offense and Scoring
 
The Eagles enter this week's game ranked No. 2 in FCS in total offense (551.7 yards per game), while also ranking second in scoring (44.2 per game) and third in passing (389.8). Eastern is also third nationally in passing efficiency, with a mark of 171.6 which includes 42 touchdowns, a 66.5 percent completion mark (fifth in FCS) and just seven interceptions.
 
In addition, Eastern is third nationally in third down conversions (51 percent), second in first downs (314), sixth in turnover margin (+1.2 per game with 24 takeaways and just 10 giveaways), ninth with the fewest turnovers lost (10) and seventh with the fewest fumbles lost (three).
 
Eric Barriere is third in FCS with 41 touchdown passes, and is also second in passing efficiency (173.0), total offense (398.5 per game) and passing yards (378.3). He is second in points responsible for (278 with 41 TDs through the air, four on the ground and four two-point conversions) and is third in points responsible for per game (23.2).
 
Dennis Merritt is fifth in the FCS in total touchdowns (17), and is 13th in scoring (8.5 per game), ninth in rushing touchdowns (14) and 53rd in rushing yards per game (71.1 with a total of 853). Talolo Limu-Jones is 15th in receiving yards per game (89.2 with a total of 892 in 10 games) and 29th in receptions per game (5.7 with a total of 57). The nine touchdown receptions for Efton Chism III is 15th nationally.
 
Defensively, Ty Graham is 35th in tackles (8.9 per game with a total of 107 in 12 games) and fellow linebacker Jack Sendelbach is 40th (8.8 with a total of 88 in 10 games).
 
 
Two-Time Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year Barriere Now Third in FCS History in Total Offense
 
In recent weeks, senior quarterback Eric Barriere has re-written the Big Sky Conference and EWU record books, breaking a trio of major records. In addition, he's piled up more awards including a unanimous selection as Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, which will be announced on Jan. 7.
 
Barriere is now a two-time Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year & a three-time Walter Payton Award finalist (runner-up in 2020-21 season). Barriere was a preseason All-America selection and on watch lists for two end-of-season player of the year awards in FCS. Eleven times in his career he has won Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors (five in 2021, three in 2020-21, twice in 2019, once in 2018). He has received accolades as National FCS Player of the Week for his performances in three different games, including a pair from Stats Perform.
 
He enters the Montana game on Dec. 3 ranked No. 2 in FCS in passing efficiency (173.0), total offense (398.5 per game), passing yards (378.3) and points responsible for (278), and is third in TD passes (41). With 50 total games of experience, he is 30-11 in 41 career games as a starter (17-2 at home), with 13,279 passing yards, 116 touchdown passes, 1,605 yards rushing and 14,884 total yards of offense as an Eagle.
 
At UC Davis on Nov. 13 in a 38-20 victory, Barriere established EWU and Big Sky Conference records for career passing yards and touchdown passes. He broke the previous school and league records of 12,616 yards held by former Eagle Matt Nichols (2006-09), who was present at the game. Barriere tied the Eastern and BSC records of 110 TD passes held by Vernon Adams (2012-14) and has exceeded that since then. Barriere now ranks sixth all-time in FCS history in career passing yards (13,279) and is ninth in touchdown passes (116).  He is only 122 yards from moving into fifth in yards, 176 from fourth and 234 from third. For TD tosses, he is one away from eighth, two from seventh, three from sixth, four from fifth and five from fourth.
 
In the Weber State game on Oct. 23, Barriere passed the EWU and Big Sky records for total offense previously held by Nichols with 13,308 yards in 47 games. Barriere now has 14,884 in 50 career games, a total which currently ranks third in FCS history and is 717 from second and 1,939 from the record of 16,823 set by Steve McNair of Alcorn from 1991-94.
 
"He's a legend. He's a present-day legend," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best of Barriere's performance versus UC Davis. "He's still writing his script, and every day he tries to get better and we found a way to win. A lot of the credit goes to the players up front protecting him while he's staring downfield."
 
Barriere has had 30 performances of at least 300 yards of total offense and 21 with at least 300 yards passing in his 50 games as an Eagle. He has had 16 with at least 400 yards of total offense and 10 with at least 400 passing, including school records of 600 yards passing (No. 8 in FCS history & No. 5 in BSC history), 577 yards of total offense, seven touchdown passes and eight TD's responsible for versus Idaho on Oct. 16, 2021. He now owns four of the top five passing performances in school history, and four of the top six performances for total offense.
 
In his career he has completed 62.2 percent of his passes (960-of-1543), good for 13,279 yards, 116 touchdowns and 28 interceptions, and has rushed 370 times for 1,605 yards and 22 more TDs (a school-record total of 138 touchdowns accounted for). He had a passing efficiency rating of 146.9 as a sophomore, 151.6 in 2019 and 173.9 thus far in 2021 for a 155.7 mark in his career to currently rank fourth in school history. His touchdown passes, passing yardage and 14,884 yards of offense are all school and Big Sky records, and his attempts and completions are No. 2 in school history (behind Matt Nichols with 996 completions and 1,608 attempts from 2006-09.
 
Barriere entered the 2021 postseason with a string of 126 passes without a pick (ended at 147 versus Northern Iowa), but he's had other noteworthy streaks in a career which includes just 28 interceptions in 1,543 attempts (.018 interceptions per attempt; or 55.1 attempts per interception). Earlier in the 2021 season he had another streak of 154 passes without an interception, and he entered the 2020-21 season with a streak of 239 attempts without a peak. That streak ended at 250 in the opener at Idaho on Feb. 27, 2020, when he had a pass go through an EWU receiver's hands and was picked off by the Vandals.
 
Barriere owns the EWU career rushing record for a quarterback with 1,605 yards, breaking the previous record of 1,232 yards by Vernon Adams Jr. (2012-14). Eastern is 23-2 when Barriere has rushed for at least 21 yards, with the lone losses coming at Sacramento State (10/5/19) when he finished with 103 and at home versus Weber State (10/23/21) when he had 85.
 
Barriere is a preseason All-America selection and on watch lists for two end-of-season player of the year awards in FCS. Twelve times in his career he has won Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors (six in 2021, three in 2020-21, twice in 2019, once in 2018). He has received accolades as National FCS Player of the Week for his performances in three different games, including a pair from Stats Perform.
 
In addition to his single game school records versus Idaho, he finished the game 26-of-35 passes (74 percent) for a passing efficiency rating of 284.32 that was close to the school record of 313.5. Barriere's performance earned him accolades as the FCS Stats Perform National Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season, College Sports Madness FCS Offensive Player of the Week, as well as the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) FCS Top Performer award. In addition, he earned ROOT Sports Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors for the 11th time of his career and fifth this season.
 
One week prior to the Idaho game, he had a 32-of-41 performance for 347 yards and three touchdowns as EWU led 43-10 at halftime en route to a 63-17 romp at Northern Colorado on Oct. 9. In the first half alone, he was 23-of-29 (79 percent) for 231 yards as he earned ROOT Sports Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors (his 10th).
 
He had a 30-of-43 passing performance in a 50-21 Big Sky Conference win at Southern Utah, throwing for 518 of EWU's then school-record 554 passing yards (the other 36 came on a fake punt). He had four touchdown passes against the Thunderbirds. Barriere had no interceptions for the third-straight game, and entered the Montana game with 125 attempts without a pick after throwing two in EWU's season-opening 35-33 win at UNLV. His streak was snapped at 154 attempts versus the Grizzlies.
 
Following the Southern Utah game on Sept. 25, he received his second-straight FCS National Offensive Player of the Week accolade from College Sports Madness. He also received honorable mention as FCS Offensive Player of the Week from Stats Perform and honorable mention as the FCS Performer of the week from College Football Performance Awards. In addition, his second-straight 500-yard passing performance on the road helped him win him his ninth-career ROOT Sports Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week award, and he earned the same honor from CSN.
 
He broke FCS records for most passing yards (487) and total offense (497) in a single half versus Western Illinois on Sept. 18, 2021, as EWU took a 55-21 halftime lead in the 62-56 shootout victory. The old records of 480 and 491 were set in 2012 by Taylor Heinicke of Old Dominion versus New Hampshire. Barriere finished with a school-record 562 yards of total offense (542 passing yards were just seven from the school record).
 
He had the most yards in back-to-back games in school history in both passing and total offense with 542 passing at Western Illinois on Sept. 18, 2021 (a then school-record 562 of total offense) and 518 pass a week later at Southern Utah (546 total). He is the first FCS player with consecutive 500-yard passing performances since Cornell's Jeff Mathews in 2011 (521 versus Cornell and 548 at Penn).
 
The performance at Western Illinois earned Barriere his eighth-career ROOT Sports Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week award and he was also recognized nationally as he was named the Stats Perform FCS National Offensive Player of the Week, the College Football Performance Association FCS National Performer of the Week and the College Sports Madness National Offensive and Big Sky Player of the Week.
 
He was selected as Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year and was the runner-up for the Walter Payton Award in the 2020-21 season. He was selected to six different FCS All-America squads during the season impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. A unanimous first team All-Big Sky choice in the 2020-21 season, he earned third team All-Big Sky Conference honors as both a sophomore (2018) and junior (2019).
 
He finished the 2020-21 season ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense (sixth, 369.0 per game), passing offense (seventh, 348.4), passing touchdowns (second, 19) and points responsible for (ninth, 17.4 per game).
 
In 2019, Barriere finished fifth in the voting for the prestigious Walter Payton Award presented by STATS, and earned third team FCS All-America honors from Hero Sports. That season he finished second in FCS in total offense with an average of 355.8 yards per game and was third in passing (309.3), ninth with 31 touchdown passes and fourth in points responsible for (20.2 per game with 31 TDs passing, eight rushing and a two-point conversion).
 
 
Several Other Milestones Met or Ended in Recent Weeks
 
It took nearly a month to get to win No. 8, but a 38-24 victory over UC Davis on Nov. 13 extended a bit of history the Eagles are proud of. The Eagles have now had 17 campaigns with at least eight victories in 113 seasons of football at Eastern, including 12 as a member of FCS.
 
The Eagles then became one of 12 Eastern teams to won nine games in a season (11 at the FCS level), then against UNI on Nov. 27 they became just the ninth to reach double figures in victories (eight at the FCS level). In addition, EWU's last 15 teams have now won at least five Big Sky Conference games, a streak started in 2007 a year after the 2006 squad finished just 3-6 in the league
 
Eastern's 7-0 start after pounding Idaho 71-21 on Oct. 16 was the fastest to seven wins in school history. In 2014, EWU won its seventh game on Oct. 18 for the previous fastest. The 7-0 start was also the best under head coach Aaron Best , and exceeded the 5-0 start by the 1985 team under head coach Dick Zornes as EWU's best start as a member of FCS. The last time EWU was 7-0 in any season came 54 years ago in 1967 when Eastern won its first 11 games before losing in the NAIA Championship Game. Eastern was also 6-0 in 1965, 1948 and 1921, and 7-0 one other time (1965).
 
Versus Idaho, quarterback Eric Barriere had school records of 600 yards passing (No. 8 in FCS history & No. 5 in BSC history), 577 yards of total offense, seven touchdown passes and eight TD's responsible for. That gave him a total of 123 TDs responsible for in his career (he has a current total of 138), surpassing the record of 121 by Adams. As a team, EWU broke school records for total yards (837, 39 behind the Big Sky record of 876) and passing yards (624, 36 behind the Big Sky record of 660), while scoring its most points ever in 55 seasons at Roos Field (formerly Woodward Field).
 
After the Idaho victory and a thrilling win over Montana – the 28th time since 2010 the Eagles have rallied for a win when trailing or tied in the fourth quarter -- Eastern had extended its home winning streak to 20-straight games at "The Inferno" which at the time was the longest active home winning streak in the FCS. Returning All-America quarterback Eric Barriere was at that time a perfect 16-0 as a starter at "The Inferno," and has quarterbacked EWU in five of the 28 rallies.
 
However, a home loss to Weber State on Oct. 23 ended both streaks, as Eastern's last setback at "The Inferno" came in 2017 when EWU fell to Weber State 28-20. Plus Eastern saw its nine-game league winning streak come to an end, with EWU having a 12-game winning streak from 2016-17 and a 14-game streak from 2012-14. Eastern has now lost the last three meetings against Weber, and six of the last seven games in the series have been decided by eight points or less. Eastern's last victory in the series came on Halloween in 2015 when the Eagles squeaked out a 14-13 victory. The Eagles fell 14-6 in 2018 in Ogden in a game in which Eric Barriere made just the third start of his career and was 19-of-42 for 185 yards and two interceptions as EWU failed to score a touchdown. Eastern's defense held the Wildcats to just 274 total yards and just one offensive touchdown, and held them scoreless for the final 51:25 of the game. That game represented the only time in EWU's last 163 games (entering the 2021 Weber State game) that the Eagles have not scored a touchdown, dating back to a 19-3 loss to Montana in 2008.
 
Until suffering its first setback, Eastern was one of six teams in the FCS that were undefeated (now there is just one, Sam Houston State). The last time Eastern was 4-0 in the league came in 2018, and EWU started the Big Sky schedule 4-0 in 2017 before losing. The Eagles were a perfect 8-0 in 2016, matching the 2013 Eastern squad for the school's best-ever Big Sky finish.
 
The loss to Weber State also cost the Eagles their No. 2 ranking in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision – EWU's highest national ranking since ending the 2018 campaign second in both national polls. Eastern won its first seven games overall and its first four in the Big Sky, including a marquee victory over Montana on Oct. 2. That 34-28 win against the Grizzlies was a battle of what was then the No. 6 (EWU) and No. 4 (UM) ranked teams in FCS.
 
After scoring 24 fourth-quarter points – including 21 consecutively in a span of just 5:09 -- in the win over Montana, Eastern jumped past the Grizzlies in the FCS rankings. On Oct. 9, both James Madison and South Dakota State lost, enabling the Eagles to jump up two more spots to No. 2 in both the AFCA Coaches Top 25 poll and the Stats Perform Top 25 polls. Eastern was ranked 14^th and 11^th, respectively, entering the season. Other preseason polls had EWU ranked eighth (College Football America), 10th (College Sports Madness), 16th (Hero Sports) and 19th (Athlon Sports).
 
 
This Week's Game Another Match-Up of Two of Big Sky's Most Prolific Coaches
 
Head coach Aaron Best took part in his 300th game as an Eagle coach or player when EWU won 42-28 at Portland State on Nov. 20 to end the 2021 regular season.
 
Best is now 41-16 (.719 winning percentage) in five seasons as EWU's head coach, and overall has a 170-84 record (.669) in 21 seasons as an Eastern coach. The Weber State game was his 250th game as a coach. Coupled with a 30-17 mark as a player from 1996-99, EWU teams have won 200 of 301 games (.664) during his 25-year tenure as an Eagle.
 
Best has led EWU to league records of 6-2, 7-1, 6-2, 5-1, and 6-2 in his four-plus seasons at the helm, a 30-8 record and .789 winning percentage that currently ranks sixth in the 58-year history of the league (third among coaches with at least four seasons). Montana's Joe Glenn was 20-2 (.909) in the Big Sky in three seasons, Montana's Mick Dennehy was 27-5 in league games (.844) in four seasons at the helm and Keith Gilbertson from Idaho was 19-4 (.826) in three seasons. Plus, former EWU assistant Troy Taylor is currently 15-1 (.938) as Sacramento State's head coach and Montana's Bobby Hauck is 63-14 (.818) as head coach of the Grizzlies.
 
Best is currently 41-16 overall for a .719 winning percentage to rank eighth all-time in the league (fifth among coaches with at least four seasons at the helm). Montana's Bobby Hauck, in two stints at Montana, is now 107-28 overall (.793). His overall percentage ranks only behind Glenn (39-6, .867) who coached only three seasons. Taylor is now 20-6 (.769).
 
 
Eastern Now 66-1 Since 2010 When Winning the TO Battle
 
In the last 13+ seasons (2008-2021), the Eagles are now 75-2 when they've won the turnover battle, 25-9 when they've been tied and 26-36 when they've lost (total of 126-47).
 
However, Eastern's nearly 12-year, 63-game streak of winning the game when they won the turnover battle came to a halt on Nov. 6, 2021, versus Montana State when MSU had two turnovers to EWU's none. The last time EWU had lost a game 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 now 66-1 since 2010 when they've won the turnover battle, 22-9 when they've been tied and 24-29 when they've lost. That's a collective record of 112-39 (74.2 percent), with 29 of those 39 losses (74 percent) coming in games EWU has lost the turnover battle and 59 percent of EWU's wins coming when they've won the turnover battle (79 percent when including ties).
 
In 2021, EWU won the turnover battle versus Central Washington (2-0), Western Illinois (1-0), Southern Utah (1-0), Northern Colorado (2-1), Idaho (3-0), Montana State (2-0), UC Davis (2-0), Portland State (2-0) and Northern Iowa (3-1), and lost to UNLV (3-2) and Weber State (3-2). The Eagles were tied versus Montana (2-2).
 
In 2020-21, EWU opened the year by falling to Idaho 28-21 after losing the turnover battle 2-1. Eastern beat Northern Arizona 45-13 on March 6, but also lost the turnover battle in that one, 3-0. Eastern beat Idaho State by both score (46-42) and the turnover battle (3-2). Eastern won the turnover battle 2-1 against Cal Poly on March 27, but lost 1-0 at UC Davis in a 32-22 victory on April 3. The Eagles closed the regular season by registered two four-quarter interceptions – the only turnovers of the game – in a 38-31 win over Idaho on April 10. In the FCS Playoffs, the lone turnover was an Eagle interception on offense as North Dakota State won the turnover battle 1-0.
 
 
Eastern is 33-20 Since 2010 Versus Ranked­ Opponents
 
Including EWU's games on Oct. 2 versus fourth-ranked Montana, Nov. 6 against fourth-ranked Montana State and Nov. 13 against No. 6 UC Davis, Eastern has now won 63 percent of its games (33-20) versus ranked teams since 2010. Eastern is 62-74 (.456) in 136 games overall against ranked teams since becoming a member of that classification in 1983 (then known as I-AA). Since 1983, Eastern is 1-7 versus ranked FBS foes, and a loss to Washington (ranked 13th by the media and 12th by the coaches) in 2019 was the eighth such foe EWU has faced.
 
Eastern's 2021 games versus Montana, Montana State and UC Davis gives EWU 67 occasions Eastern has faced a team ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (STATS). Eastern is 12-11 versus top 10 foes since 2010, including a 7-5 mark in the regular season and 5-6 in the playoffs Eastern is 21-46 in the 67 games all-time versus top 10 opponents. The Eagles are 10-36 all-time versus top 5 opponents (5-8 since 2010), including 2-8 versus No. 1 (0-2 since 2010).
 
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.
 
 
EWU Has Won Last Eight Regular Season Games on the Road as Streak of at Least One Road Win Extended to 53 Seasons and Two Road Wins Now at 28 Seasons
 
Eastern ended the 2021 regular season with an eight-game regular season winning streak on the road, including a 38-20 win at UC Davis on Nov. 13 and 42-28 triumph at Portland State on Nov. 20. Eastern finished with its first unbeaten regular season road record since 1967 when the then-Savages were also 6-0.
 
Eastern is now 6-0 thus far on the road in 2021 and won the last two regular season road games in the 2020-21 winter/spring season. The streak dates back to a 28-21 loss at Idaho on Feb. 27, and the lone blemish away from home since then was a 42-20 setback at North Dakota State in the first round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.
 
A victory at UNLV extended EWU's current streak seasons with at least one road win to 53. That streak now includes all 38 seasons Eastern has been a member of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA). The last time Eastern was winless on the road was 1969 when the then-Savages were 0-4 away from home and finished 4-5 on the season.
 
Two weeks later at Western Illinois, Eastern extended its streak of seasons with at least two road wins to 28. Eastern has had at least two road wins in all but six seasons (1974, 1975, 1976, 1988, 1989, 1994) since 1969, including a current streak of 28-straight seasons with at least a pair.
 
 
Eagles Continue Big Sky Success With Impressive Consistency
 
Consistency has been a cornerstone of EWU Football, and the Eagles have cemented an 18-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.
 
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 five other playoff berths in school history (1985, 1992, 1997, 2020/21, 2021) 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.
 
 
Thanks to First Half Outputs, Eagles are One From Record of 50-Point Games
 
Eastern now has had at least 50 points in five games this season, which is the second most in a single season. The
school record is six (2018, 2014).
 
In EWU's last 16 games – all in the 2021 calendar year – Eastern has recorded its top five first-half scoring outputs in the school's 38-year history in FCS. Most recently, the Eagles scored 43 points versus Idaho in a 71-21 romp, and 43 one week earlier at Northern Colorado in a 63-17 victory. Earlier this season EWU recorded the top two performances with 55 against Western Illinois and 46 versus Central Washington. Those games broke the previous record of 45 set versus Cal Poly on March 27, 2021, during EWU's abbreviated 2020-21 winter/spring schedule.
 
Eastern's 29 points in the first quarter versus Idaho are the most points in a first quarter (fifth overall for any quarter), eclipsing the 28 Eastern scored earlier this season against Western Illinois and Central Washington and on five other occasions.
 
Four times this season -- plus the Cal Poly game on 3/27/21 -- Eastern has topped the 62-point mark, including a Roos Field record of 71 against Idaho, 63 versus both UNC and CWU, and 62 at WIU. Those represent five of the top 19 performances in school history (12 as a member of FCS). Of EWU's games of 62 points or more, head coach Aaron Best has had eight of those as head coach – and has been a part of all 12 as a member of FCS. Of the 71 games in school history with over 50 points (record of 68-3), Aaron Best has been the head coach in 16 of those.
 
 
Eagles Have Been Impressive in November, But October Has Been Good Too
 
Since 2010, Eastern is 28-5 in regular season games in November, but October hasn't been too shabby either. The Eagles are 35-8 in October and won three of their four outings in 2021.
 
Eastern continued their November success in 2019 with a 4-0 record and were 2-1 in 2021, but EWU had its nine-game winning streak in the month stopped by Montana State by a 23-20 score on Nov. 6, 2021. Since 2004, EWU has lost just eight regular season games in November (MSU in 2021; Weber State in 2017; NAU, Portland State and Montana in 2015; Sac State and Weber State in 2006; and Cal Poly in 2005), with an overall record of 41-8. Until losing to Northern Arizona on Nov. 7, 2015, Eastern had won its last 19 regular season games in November, dating back to a 15-13 loss to Sacramento State on Nov. 1, 2008, thus, EWU has won 30 of its last 32 regular season games in the month.
 
In November through January since 2004, the Eagles are now 58-18, including a 41-9 regular season mark and 17-9 record in the FCS Playoffs. Since 2010, Eastern is 43-10 overall in November and beyond (28-5 regular season and 15-5 in the playoffs), with the lone setbacks coming in 2021 to Montana State; 2019 to North Dakota State in the NCAA Division I Championship game; 2017 to Weber State; 2016 to Youngstown State in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs; 2015 to Portland State, Montana and Northern Arizona; 2014 to Illinois State in the playoff quarterfinals; 2013 to Towson in the playoff semifinals; and 2012 to Sam Houston State in the playoff semifinals.
 
 
Ten Players Have Made Starting Debuts in 2021
 
Demetrius Crosby Jr. is the latest Eagle to make his starting debut, starting at cornerback in EWU's 19-9 victory over Northern Iowa on Nov. 27 in the first round of the FCS Playoffs. He finished with a career-high four passes broken up, setting a new school playoffs record. He also had a pair of tackles.
 
Prior to that, offensive lineman Andrei Leonardi filled in as a starter at guard while teammate Wyatt Hansen started at tackle in EWU's 38-20 victory at UC Davis. Eastern rolled up 625 yards of total offense in the win. Leonardi is from Bothell, Wash., and graduated from Cedar Park Christian in 2017.
 
Central Washington transfer Robert Mason III made the first start as an Eagle on Oct. 16 versus Idaho and finished with four catches for 39 yards and his first career touchdown catch for EWU. Mason is junior and graduated from Graham-Kapowsin High School in Washington State in 2018.
 
One game earlier, redshirt freshman Nolan Ulm made his first career start in his 12th career game on Oct. 9, 2021, at Northern Colorado. The 2020 graduate of Kelowna (B.C.) Secondary in Canada finished the game with career highs of six receptions for 38 yards, including a career-long reception of 13 yards.
 
Two redshirt freshmen made their starting debuts in Eastern's showdown with Montana on Oct. 2, both on offense. Luke Dahlgren started at left offensive guard, as usual starting guard Wyatt Hansen moved to right tackle to fill that position held previously by Matthew Hewa Baddege. In addition, EWU started four wide receivers and no running back versus the Griz, and Jakobie James received his first career start. Dahlgren is a 2019 graduate of Forks (Wash.) High School, and James graduated the same year from Redlands (Calif.) HS.
 
Freshman Cage Schenck, a 2020 graduate of Woodinville (Wash.) High School had his first career start at Southern Utah as a nickel back, and finished with a career-high three tackles with a pass broken up for the second-straight game.
 
A pair of tackles – one on each side of the ball – and a linebacker also made their first career starts earlier this season. Redshirt freshman Matthew Hewa Baddege started at offensive tackle at UNLV on Sept. 2. Versus Central Washington on Sept. 11, freshman Matthew Brown started at defensive tackle for his first start as an Eagle and freshman Ahmani Williams made his first career start at linebacker
 
Hewa Baddege is from Port Coquitlam, B.C., and Brown is out of Hoquiam (Wash.) High School. Williams is a 2020 graduate from Skyline High School in Vancouver, Wash., and is the son of former Eagle All-America safety Julian Williams.
 
The Eagles entered the season with 18 players on each side of the ball with starting experience, including 182 total starts by offensive players and 136 by the defense for a total of 318. There were no new starters when EWU played at Western Illinois on Sept. 18.
 
In the abbreviated 2020-21 season, 20 players made the initial starts of their careers – 12 on defense and eight on offense. Eastern entered that year with a total of 20 players returning with 191 games of starting experience, including 10 players on defense with 86 starts and 10 on offense with 105 starts.
 
Here are the current starts by EWU players:
 
Current Starts on Defense (268 starts by 22 players): Calin Criner 31, Mitchell Johnson 29, Tre Weed 29, Jack Sendelbach 28, Darrien Sampson 22, Joshua Jerome 19, Ty Graham 18, Debore'ae McClain 13, Matthew Brown 11, Anthany Smith 10, Marlon Jones Jr. 9, Ely Doyle 9, Jacob Newsom 7, Darreon Moore 7, Cale Lindsay 7, Brock Harrison 6, Keshaun King 4, Jusstis Warren 3, Caleb Davis 3, Demetrius Crosby Jr. 1, Cage Schenck 1, Ahmani Williams 1.
 
Current Starts on Offense (314 starts by 24 players): Tristen Taylor 59, Eric Barriere 41, Andrew Boston 34, Conner Crist 20, Wyatt Musser 19, Talolo Limu-Jones 18, Freddie Roberson 18, Wyatt Hansen 17,  Dylan Ingram 14, Dennis Merritt 13, Johnny Edwards IV 12, Matt Shook 11, Efton Chism III 9, Tamarick Pierce 6, Matthew Hewa Baddege 5, Anthony Stell Jr. 4, Blake Gobel 3, Andrei Leonardi 2, Brad Godwin 2, Luke Dahlgren 2, Jakobie James 2, Robert Mason III 1, Nolan Ulm 1, Gunner Talkington 1.
 
 
Eagle Football Season Tidbits
 
* In finishing the regular season 9-2, this is just the eighth Eagles team to win at least nine regular-season games in 38 seasons as a member of FCS. Six of those previous seasons have come since 2010, and just twice before that – 1997 with 10 regular season wins and in 1967 with 10 – has Eastern hit that mark, for a total of only nine in 113 seasons of football all-time.
 
* On Nov. 13 at UC Davis, the Aggies were held to 283 yards and 3-of-12 on third down, while the Eagles converted 9-of-19 times on third down and were successful on all three of their fourth-down attempts, a week after going 3-of-13 and 2-of-3, respectively, in a loss to Montana State. Eastern ran 101 plays to 63 for the Aggies, and had a 36:41 to 23:19 advantage in possession time. The Eagles forced UC Davis to punt five times.
 
* Prior to that, the Eagles were coming off their second-straight home loss, a narrow 23-20 decision to Montana State. En route to getting out-gained in total offense 544-314, EWU was held to roughly half of its average season output for points and yards for the second-straight game. The Eagles couldn't overcome a 40:33 scoreless stretch in which they had seven-straight scoreless possessions from the second quarter into the fourth period.
 
* Two weeks earlier before a bye in the schedule, Eastern saw its 20-game home winning streak fall by the wayside with a 35-34 loss to Weber State on Oct. 23 in which EWU was held nearly 20 points and almost 200 yards below its seasonal averages. The Wildcats also rushed for 213 yards and four touchdowns versus EWU, and were a perfect 4-of-4 on fourth down with three coming on fake punts. Still, Eastern rallied from a 14-point fourth quarter deficit and missed an extra point with 2:51 to play which could have knotted the game at 35.
 
* Eastern picked up its third win of the season – and second on the road – after surviving for a 62-56 win on Sept. 18 at Western Illinois of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Eagles led 55-21 at halftime as Eric Barriere set FCS records with 487 passing yards and 497 total yards of offense in the first half alone. He finished with a then school-record 562 yards of offense (542 through the air), breaking the record with a win-clinching 10-yard first down run in the final minute.
 
* Prior to that, the Eagles opened their home schedule with a 63-14 win versus NCAA Division II Central Washington and a 35-33 victory in two overtimes over UNLV in EWU's season opener on Sept. 2 in Las Vegas. The Rebels are a member of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the Mountain West Conference. Eastern has now won four of its last 11 games versus FBS members.
 
* Eastern finished 5-2 overall in the unique 2020-21 spring season and advanced to the first round of the NCAA Division I playoffs where it lost to North Dakota State. The Eagles ended the season ranked No. 10 in the Stats Perform Top 25 poll, marking the 16th time Eastern has finished the season nationally ranked, including 12 times since 2004. The other seasons were in 1985, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Seven times the Eagles have finished in the top four – fourth in 1997, 2012, 2014 and 2016; third in 2013; second in 2018; and first in 2010 after winning the NCAA Division I title.
 
* Eastern closed the 2020 regular season with the best offense in FCS, and finished the season third at 524.9 yards per game. The Eagles were also fourth nationally in passing (367.3) and eighth in scoring offense (37.7). Eastern's passing average was the third-best in school history and the average of 524.9 yards per game of total offense was fourth, just ahead of the 2019 average of 524.8 which led FCS.
 
* In EWU's last 17 seasons (2004-2020/21), EWU has ranked in the top 10 in FCS in passing 14 times, total offense on 13 occasions and scoring eight times. In school history, EWU has won a trio of FCS titles for total offense (2019, 2001, 1997), as well as three passing offense titles (2016, 2015, 2011) and two for scoring offense (2014, 2001).
 
* Eastern entered the fall season with a total of 36 players returning with 318 games of starting experience, including 18 players on defense with 136 starts and 18 on offense with 182 starts.
 
* Eastern returned a total of 14 players who have previously earned All-Big Sky Conference honors, with 13 of them being honored during the 2020-21 campaign when eight of the league's 13 schools took part in the league schedule. Quarterback Eric Barriere was the runner-up for the 2020-21 Walter Payton Award, and joins offensive tackle Tristen Taylor, wide receiver Talolo Limu-Jones and kicker Seth Harrison as preseason All-Americans.
 
* Headlining Eastern's cast of returning players are a trio of All-Americans – Barriere, offensive tackle Tristen Taylor and wide receiver Talolo Limu-Jones. They helped Eastern lead FCS in total offense during the regular season, and Barriere went on to finish as the runner-up for the Walter Payton Award given to the top offensive player in FCS. He won first team recognition on six FCS All-America teams, including the FCS Athletic Director's Association which picked him as its top offensive player nationally.
 
* Of the total of 67 returning letterwinners, fifth-year head coach Aaron Best had them evenly split with 31 back on both offense and defense, plus five specialists. The adjusted, abbreviated schedule in 2020-21 did not count against the eligibility for all student-athletes.
 
* Three of the returning players are back for their seventh seasons as Eagles. Following the conclusion of the 2019 season, offensive tackle Tristen Taylor, linebacker Jack Sendelbach and running back Dennis Merritt were granted a sixth year by the NCAA to complete four years of eligibility because of seasons lost because of injuries. Also receiving a sixth year was University of Washington transfer Jusstis Warren, who played in just one game for EWU in 2019 and only one in 2020-21.
 
 
 
 
EWU Honors & Preseason Notes
 
 
Led by Barriere, 13 Eagles Honored on All-Big Sky Squad
 
After leading the Eastern Washington University football team to nine regular season victories and putting up video game numbers in the process, Eagle quarterback Eric Barriere was named the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year in league awards announced on Nov. 23. The selection was unanimous amongst Big Sky head coaches, and it's Barriere's second-consecutive Player of the Year award.

The Inglewood, Calif., native joins the likes of Cooper Kupp (2015, 16), Vernon Adams Jr. (2013, 14), and Erik Meyer (2004, 05) to win consecutive Big Sky Player of the Year awards for Eastern Washington. In 2016, quarterback Gage Gubrud and Kupp became the first teammates to earn co-MVP honors. In 2015, Kupp became only the second wide receiver in 42 years to win the honor. Ten of EWU's MVP awards have been quarterbacks, including Gubrud, Vernon Adams (2014 & 2013), Bo Levi Mitchell (2011), Matt Nichols (2009 and 2007), Erik Meyer (2005 and 2004) Josh Blankenship (2002) and Harry Leons (1997), as well as running backs Jesse Chatman (2001) and Taiwan Jones (2010).
 
Barriere was one of a total of 13 Eastern players who earned spots on the 2021 Big Sky Conference All-Big Sky teams, as announced by the league office Nov. 23. Joining Barriere on the First Team All-Big Sky Offense was wide receiver Talolo Limu-Jones and offensive lineman Tristen Taylor. Taylor is honored for the fifth time in his career, something that has not been achieved before in program history. Barriere earns his second career first team quarterback honor in as many seasons after being named to the third team for two-straight years prior.
 
The Second Team All-Big Sky Offense is made up of running back Dennis Merritt and wide receiver Andrew Boston. Wide receivers Efton Chism III and Freddie Roberson along with offensive lineman Wyatt Musser make up the Third Team All-Big Sky Offense. On the Third Team All-Big Sky Defense is defensive tackle Joshua Jerome, defensive end Mitchell Johnson, inside linebacker Jack Sendelbach and defensive back Calin Criner. Inside linebacker Ty Graham was named All-Big Sky Honorable Mention.
 
 Criner, Chism and Sendelbach are all honored for the first time in their respective careers. Limu-Jones (1st, 2020-21), Boston (3rd, 2019), Roberson (2nd, 2020-21), Merritt (HM, 2020-21), Musser (2nd, 2021-21), Graham (HM, 2020-21) and Jerome (HM, 2020-21) all earn their second career honors. Johnson (1st, 2020-21, 2nd, 2018) is honored for the third time.
 
With the selections of Taylor and Musser, a total of 62 Eastern offensive linemen have now earned All-Big Sky accolades in 34 seasons in the league (1987-2021), including 28 who have earned first team honors. They have combined for 107 honors (35 first team, 25 second team, 4 third team, 42 honorable mention).
 
A total of 115 first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors have been won by Eastern players since 1997 (through 2021). Since joining the Big Sky in 1987, Eastern has won a total of 525 All-Big Sky accolades (first, second, third, honorable mention).
 
 Besides the announcement of the All-Big Sky squad, Barriere was announced on Nov. 23 is one of 25 finalists for the Stats Perform Walter Payton Award after finishing runner-up in the 2020-21 season and fifth in voting as a junior.
 
 
Eagles Check in at No. 11 on Stats Perform Preseason Top 25
 
The Big Sky Conference had five teams recognized in the Stats Perform preseason top 25 poll, including two in the top nine. Weber State came in at No. 6 followed by Montana at the No. 9 spot. After EWU came Montana State (No. 12) and UC Davis (No. 23) while Sacramento State received votes.
 
The Eagles will face off against Weber State, Montana and Montana State at home at Roos Field in 2021 and take on UC Davis on the road, but won't play the Hornets.
 
FCS National Champion Sam Houston claimed the No. 1 spot, while James Madison, South Dakota State, North Dakota State and Delaware rounded out the top five. The Missouri Valley Football Conference had the most selections with six, followed by the Big Sky Conference with five.
 
Eastern was ranked 14th by the American Football Coaches Association in the other major weekly poll. In other preseason polls, the Eagles ranked as high as eighth by College Football America and 10th by College Sports Madness. The Eagles landed 16th on the Hero Sports preseason squad, and were ranked 19th by Athlon Sports. They were picked to finish third by both the coaches and the media in the Big Sky Conference preseason polls.
 
 
Eric Barriere is on Watch Lists for the Walter Payton Award as well as the CFPA Performer of the Year
 
Eric Barriere has the opportunity to finish what he started as he was named to the prestigious Walter Payton Award Watch List by Stats Perform on Aug. 4. Later in August, Barriere was named to the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) FCS National Performer of the Year Trophy Watch List.
 
The Walter Payton Award is given to the national offensive player of the year in college football's Division I subdivision. Barriere is no stranger to the list, as he's been a finalist the past two seasons. Last year, Barriere finished runner up to Southeastern Louisiana's Cole Kelley, coming just six votes shy (137-131) of the award. In 2019 as a junior, he finished fifth. He is one of 35 players on the list, along with Sacred Heart's Julius Chestnut who finished behind him in voting. More players can join the list during the regular season and a national media panel will select the winner at the end of the year.
 
Barriere is among 44 returning players across the FCS on the watch list for the CFPA award, including two others from the Big Sky Conference in quarterback Hunter Rodrigues from UC Davis and running back Josh Davis from Weber State. The award will be announced on January 22, 2022.
 
Barriere, a native of Inglewood, Calif., has a long list of preseason honors that include the Big Sky Conference Preseason Offensive MVP, and first team preseason All-America honors by Stats Perform, HERO Sports. Most recently, Barriere was named a first team FCS Preseason All-America quarterback by Phil Steele Publications.
 
He is coming off of a season that saw him lead Eastern Washington to the NCAA FCS Playoffs and was named a first team All-American by six different organizations, including being named the FCS Offensive Player of the Year by the FCS ADA.
 
The senior made a case for the Payton Award last year by passing for at least 300 yards in five of six regular games and having at least 400 yards of total offense in three of them. Barriere ranked in the top 10 in the FCS in total offense (fifth, 369.0 per game), passing offense (fifth, 348.4), passing touchdowns (third, 19) and points responsible for (ninth, 17.4 per game). He completed 61.8 percent of his passes for 2,439 yards, 19 touchdowns and 2,583 total yards of offense.
 
 

Eric Barriere, Tristen Taylor Make Stats Perform Preseason All-America Team

 
A pair of Eastern football seniors, Eric Barriere and Tristen Taylor, have been named to the Stats Perform Preseason All-America Team, as announced Aug. 2.
 
Barriere represents Eastern as a first team quarterback and Taylor is a second team offensive lineman. The duo is among 21 other Big Sky Conference student-athletes to make the team, the most among FCS conferences selections. In total, there are 120 preseason All-Americans from 60 schools and 15 conferences split into three 40-player teams.
 
Barriere, who hails from Inglewood, Calif., and is a 2016 graduate from La Habra High School, is picking up where he left off. He was named first team All-America by Stats Perform at the end of the spring 2021 season, becoming just the seventh All-American in school history. Last season, he was picked as the preseason Big Sky Offensive MVP and went on to earn the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year honor at the end of the season, as well as being unanimously named to the first team. Additionally, Barriere finished runner-up in voting for the prestigious Walter Payton Award and was honored as a first team All-American by six different organizations at the end of the season. He was also named the FCS Offensive Player of the Year by the FCS ADA.
 
This year, Barriere was picked as the preseason Big Sky Offensive MVP again and made the All-Big Sky preseason team. The other quarterback to be named to the first team preseason Stats Perform All-America team is Cole Kelley, the reigning Walter Payton Award winner who Barriere finished runner-up to.
 
Taylor earned first team All-America honors by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) at the end of last season. He joined Barriere on the preseason All-Big Sky team this year after being named to the first team at the end of the 2021 season, the fourth All-Big Sky honor of his career. He was a second-team selection in 2019 and honorable mention in 2016 and 2017.
 
More on Tristen Taylor . . . Entering his seventh season with the Eagles, Taylor, a Stockton, Calif., native and a 2015 Stagg HS graduate, has started all 59 games he's played in to own sole possession of the school record for both games played and career starts. Last year, he helped Eastern rank third in total offense in the FCS with an average of 522.7 yards per game. Eastern was also fourth nationally in passing (366.7) and eighth in scoring offense (37.7). The Eagles led the FCS in total offense during the regular season. Taylor missed the last 12 games in 2018 with a knee injury, but has started all 31 Eagle games since then. He had started 28-of-28 games as an Eagle until the season-ending injury kept him out of the lineup on Sept. 22, 2018, versus Cal Poly. He tied broke the school record for games played (55, Shaq Hill, 2012-14) and has also broken the record for games started (52, Chris Schlichting, 2016-19 and Cooper Kupp, 2013-16). Already a four-time All-Big Sky selection, Taylor entered the 2021 season with the most starts on the offense and the most overall.
 
 
Eric Barriere, Seth Harrison Named HERO Sports Preseason All-Americans
 
A pair of Eagles have been named to the HERO Sports FCS Preseason All-America Teams. Eric Barriere, a senior quarterback, made the First Team Offensive squad, and redshirt-sophomore kicker Seth Harrison earned a spot on the Third Team Special Teams.
 
This is the second preseason All-America honor for Barriere, who was also named to the Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America first team. Back in July, he was named the Big Sky Conference Preseason MVP and earned a spot on the All-Big Sky Preseason Team. Barriere is also on the Walter Payton Award watchlist after finishing runner-up last season.
 
This is the first preseason honor for Harrison, who was named to the All-Big Sky Conference second team following the spring 2021 season.
 
After going 12-of-12 as a freshman, Harrison was 6-of-9 in the 2020-21 season. The 2018 graduate of nearby Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) High School kicked a 55-yard field goal to match the third-longest in school history and also had boots of 47 and 50 yards. He is the seventh Eagle in school history to have at least three career field goals of 47 yards or more, and just the fourth with two of at least 50 yards.
 
Barriere, who hails from Inglewood, Calif., and is a 2016 graduate from La Habra High School, was honored as a first team All-American by six different organizations at the end of the 2021 season. He was also named the FCS Offensive Player of the Year by the FCS ADA.
 
He passed for at least 300 yards in five of six regular games during the unique 2021 spring season, and had at least 400 yards of total offense in three of them. He finished ranked in the top 10 in the FCS in total offense (fifth, 369.0 per game), passing offense (fifth, 348.4), passing touchdowns (third, 19) and points responsible for (ninth, 17.4 per game). He completed 61.8 percent of his passes for 2,439 yards, 19 touchdowns and 2,583 total yards of offense. Twice he directed game-tying and game-winning scoring drives in the fourth quarter for EWU.
 
More on Seth Harrison . . . Harrison made the first 12 field goal attempts of his career, and is now 24-of-33 for .727 accuracy which currently ranks fifth in school history. The career leader is Tyler McNannay, who was 11-of-12 (.917) in his two-year career from 2014-15. Harrison is also 118-of-125 kicking extra points in his career and has a 54.2 kickoff average (11 touchbacks). Harrison became just the seventh Eagle in school history to have at least three career field goals of 47 yards or more, and just the fourth with two of at least 50 yards. There have been just 44 total field goals of 47 yards or more and 22 of at least 50 all-time at EWU. This season, he is 6-of-12 kicking field goals and 43-of-44 on extra points. In the 2020-21 season, he was 6-of-9 kicking field goals, 25-of-27 on extra points and averaged 59.9 per kickoff (two touchbacks). Harrison ended his debut season in 2019 as the FCS leader in field goal percentage, and was the only kicker in FCS with at least one field goal attempt per game to make all of his field goals. He was 30th in field goals with an average of 1.09 per game) and earned Freshman All-America accolades. Twice Harrison kicked four field goals in a single game.
 
 
Four Eagles Represent Eastern Washington on the Big Sky Preseason Team
 
A quartet of football players represent the Eagles on the 2021 Preseason All-Big Sky team. Eric Barriere, Talolo Limu-Jones, Tristen Taylor and Mitchell Johnson make up EWU's selections, as announced July 26 by the league as part of the Big Sky Media Kickoff.
 
All four selections are coming off seasons that saw them earn spots on the All-Big Sky first team.
 
Barriere was also picked as the conference's Preseason Offensive MVP, released July 25, and is the lone quarterback on the preseason team. The reigning Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year and unanimous first team selection also finished runner up in the prestigious Walter Payton Award voting and was honored as a first team All-American by six different organizations. Barriere finished ranked in the top 10 in the FCS in total offense (fifth, 369.0 per game), passing offense (fifth, 348.4), passing touchdowns (third, 19) and points responsible for (ninth, 17.4 per game).
 
Limu-Jones was one of three wide receivers to make the list. The senior was a unanimous All-Big Sky first team selection last season after ending the season fourth in FCS in receiving yards per game (108.4) and was ninth in receptions per game (6.9, total of 48). The Vallejo, Calif., native was also honored as a second team All-American by three different organizations.
 
Taylor, a senior offensive tackle, was also honored on the list after earning a spot on the All-Big Sky first team last year – the fourth All-Big Sky award of his career. He was a second-team selection in 2019 and honorable mention in 2016 and 2017.
 
Johnson is a junior defensive end who earned first team honors last year after earning a spot on the second-team as a freshman. He started six games a year ago and ended the season with 26 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, four quarterback hurries and a pass broken up.
 
More on Talolo Limu-Jones . . . He now has 52 games of experience (18 as a starter), and has 147 career catches for 2,507 yards and 19 touchdowns – an average of 17.2 per reception. Limu-Jones currently ranks 11th in school history for career receiving yards, seventh for average per reception, 13th in TD catches and 19th in career grabs. Limu-Jones has had 16 receptions of at least 40 yards in his career, including five in 2021, six as a junior in 2019 and three more in the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign. He caught 11 passes (tied for 25th in school history) for 231 yards (eighth) in EWU's 34-28 victory versus fourth-ranked Montana on Oct. 2, 2021, including catches of 58, 51 and 40 yards. The two longest catches set-up EWU touchdowns, including the 58-yarder in the fourth quarter which gave EWU the lead for good. Limu-Jones earned second team All-America honors in 2020-21 from three organizations. He ended the regular season with three-straight performances with at least 140 receiving yards, and had a least a 66-yard catch in all three games.
 
More on Mitchell Johnson . . . Johnson has been an opportunistic player as EWU's "Buck" defensive end, and he now has 143 tackles in his 46-game career (29 as a starter). He has 13 1/2 sacks, five interceptions, 15 quarterback hurries, eight passes broken up, three fumble recoveries and four forced fumbles. In the 2020-21 season when he was awarded first team All-Big Sky accolades, Johnson had 26 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, four quarterback hurries and a pass broken up. Included was his first career touchdown on a 34-yard interception return, and his fifth career interception with a leaping/twisting pick on fourth down with 1:29 remaining in a playoff-clinching victory over Idaho. He burst on the scene as a redshirt freshman in 2018 and earned second team All-Big Sky honors and freshman All-America accolades.
 
 
Phil Steele Publications Honors 11 Eagles, Including Trio as Preseason All-Americans
 
Phil Steele Publications honored 11 Eagles on a pair of preseason all-star teams released recently. Included were FCS Preseason All-America honors to senior quarterback Eric Barriere (first team), senior wide receiver Talolo Limu-Jones (second team) and senior offensive tackle Tristen Taylor (second team).
 
The 2021 Phil Steele Big Sky All-Conference offensive team consisted of Barriere, Limu-Jones and Taylor on the first team. Running back Tamarick Pierce made the second team and wide receivers Freddie Roberson and Andrew Boston along with Wyatt Musser represented EWU on the third team. The Phil Steele Big Sky All-Conference defensive team was made up of Mitchell Johnson and Joshua Jerome on the second team and Anthany Smith on the third squad. Kicker Seth Harrison rounded out Eastern's selections on the second team for special teams.
 
 
 
 
 
More Player Notes
 
 
Eight Current Eagles Have Completed Coursework Toward Degrees
 
Eight Eastern players have already completed requirements toward their bachelor's degree, including a pair of recent graduates in quarterback Eric Barriere and long snapper Cody Clements. Barriere earned his degree in communications and Clements was an English major.
 
Previously, linebacker Jack Sendelbach graduated following spring quarter of 2019 in marketing, and is now in a graduate program for sport and recreation administration. Linebacker Ty Graham is now working toward his master's degree in business administration after having already received his marketing degree from EWU with a minor in sports management. Linebacker Jusstis Warren has also received his bachelor's degree and is now a graduate student in communications studies. Cornerback Darreon Moore has received his management degree and is now working on his MBA like Graham. And offensive tackle Tristen Taylor has completed his criminal justice degree and is now working toward a second degree in psychology.
 
The eighth graduate is quarterback Ryan Kelley, a graduate transfer from Arizona State. He earned his bachelor's degree at ASU and is now working toward his master's in business administration at EWU.
 
Since 2001, Eastern has annually averaged more than 20 selections to the Big Sky All-Academic team. Eastern has had a league-most 475 selections from 2001-2020/21, and Eastern has won a total of 674 Big Sky All-Academic honors since joining the league in 1987. A total of 26 were honored in 2019, and a program-best 34 were recognized in the 2016 season. In the abbreviated 2020-21 season, 52 Eagles were honored, however, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, there were no participation requirements to be named to the team.
 
 
Senior Calin Criner Wears No. 4 Legacy Jersey for Eagles
 
Eastern senior safety Calin Criner is continuing the legacy of wearing the No. 4 jersey for the Eagle Football team, a tribute that has existed for more than 10 years.  Since the 2008 season when senior Jason Belford had the number, the coaching staff has selected a leader on defense to wear the jersey. It symbolizes the defensive player who most embodies the characteristics of defense at Eastern -- grit, toughness, effort, leadership and academic success.
 
In his career, Criner now has nine interceptions (including a 30-yard return for a touchdown versus Northern Colorado on Oct. 9, 2021 and another pick against Montana State on Nov. 6), 268 tackles (15th in EWU history), 20 passes broken up, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in his 53-game career (31 as a starter). He has six performances in his career with at least 10 tackles. The 2016 graduate of Rocky Mountain High School in Boise, Idaho, missed EWU's first four games of the 2020-21 spring season, then started in the final three to close the year with seven tackles and a pass broken up.
 
Criner has deep collegiate football roots. His father is a former player at Boise State (1990 graduate) and is now an assistant coach at Southern Miss with previous collegiate tenures at Idaho, Portland State, Utah State, Minnesota, Eastern Michigan, Cincinnati, Middle Tennessee State, Lamar, and Colorado State Pueblo. Calin is the grandson of former Boise State University head football coach Jim Criner (1976-82), who guided the Broncos to the 1980 NCAA Championship Subdivision (then I-AA) title and later was head coach at Iowa State (1983-86).
 
Although the honor isn't necessarily given to the most talented defensive player on the team, Eastern has had 12-straight players in that number earn All-Big Sky honors, and 14 of a possible 15 since Eastern joined the league in 1987. Below is the list of players who have worn that number since EWU became a member of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in 1984 (Big Sky in 1987).
 
Name – Year - Pos. - Hometown / Previous School
Hunter, Darryl - 1983-84-85-86 - DB - Tacoma, Wash. / Foss HS
%Corr, Dominic - 1986-87-88-89 - RB - Seattle, Wash. / Garfield HS
%Wright, Harold - 1990-91-92-93 - RB - Tacoma, Wash. / Lakes HS '89
Givens, Roderick - 1995 - DB - Auburn, Wash. / Auburn HS '94
#%Brightful, Lamont - 1998-99-00-01 - WR - Everett, Wash. /Mariner HS '97
%Williams, A.J. - 2002-03 - DB - Lacey, Wash. - North Thurston HS '01
%Dotson, Anthony - 2005-06-07 - DB - Federal Way, Wash. / Federal Way HS '03
%Belford, Jason - 2005-06-07-08 - DL - Tacoma, Wash. / Lincoln HS '04
#%Sherritt, J.C. - 2007-08-09-10 - LB - Pullman, Wash. / Pullman HS '06
%Brown, Allen - 2010-11-12-13 - DB - Tacoma, Wash. / Foss HS '09
%Raynes, Todd - 2012-13-14-15 - DB - Kenmore, Wash. / Inglemoor HS '11
%Zamora, Miquiyah - 2013-14-15-16 - LB - Pasco, Wash. / Chiawana HS '12
%Havili, Albert - 2013-14-16-17 - DL - Federal Way, Wash. / Federal Way HS '13
%Fettig, Mitch - 2015-16-17-18 - DB  - Olympia Wash. / Olympia HS '14
%Ledbetter, Dylan - 2016-17-18-19 - DL - West Seattle, Wash. / O'Dea HS '15
%Criner, Calin – 2017-18-19-20 – DB – Boise, Idaho / Rocky Mountain HS '16
 
#All-America selection (Brightful was first team in 2001, second team in 2000 & second team in 1999 as return specialist, and honorable mention in 2001 as a wide receiver; Sherritt was the Buck Buchanan Award winner in 2010, and first team in 2009 and 2010 as a linebacker).
 
%All-Big Sky Conference selection (Corr was first team in 1989 & second team in 1989 as return specialist; Wright was Big Sky Newcomer of the Year in 1989, and first team in 1991 & second team in 1992 as a running back; Brightful was first team in 2001 as a wide receiver and return specialist, first team in 2000 as a return specialist, second team in 2000 as a wide receiver and first team in 1999 as a return specialist; Williams was honorable mention in 2003 and 2002 as a safety; Dotson was second team in 2007 as an outside linebacker; Belford was second team in 2008 and honorable mention in 2007 as a defensive end; Sherritt was the Big Sky Defensive MVP in 2010, first team in 2009 and 2010 as a linebacker & honorable mention in 2008 as a linebacker; Brown was second team in 2012 & honorable mention in 2013 as a safety; Raynes was third team in 2015 as a safety; Zamora was first team in 2016 & honorable mention in 2014 as a linebacker; Havili was second team in 2017 as a defensive end; Fettig was third team in 2018 & 2017 & honorable mention in 2016 as a safety; Ledbetter was honorable mention in 2018 and 2019 as a defensive tackle; Criner was third team in 2021).
 
 
More on EWU Returning Offensive Players
 
Besides Eric Barriere, Gunner Talkington was the only player of the three to throw a pass in 2020-21, all when he made the first start of his career versus Cal Poly and finished with career highs for completions (6), yards (132), touchdowns (2), rushing yards (14), long rush (14) and total offense (146). He has completed 32-of-64 passes for 365 yards and five touchdowns in his career. He's thrown passes this season against Central Washington (5-of-9 for 58 yards), Western Illinois (2-of-3 for six yards), Northern Colorado (2-of-2 for 10 yards) and Idaho (2-of-3 for 24 yards and a TD).
 
Andrew Boston returns for his junior season after catching 26 passes 391 yards and three scores in 2020-21. A freshman All-America selection in 2018, Boston has 174 receptions (ninth in EWU history) for 2,480 yards (12th) and 20 touchdowns (19 receiving to rank 13th all-time at EWU, plus one rushing) in 44 career games (34 as a starter) as an Eagle. He's now had six games with at least 100 yards receiving, including a career-high 175 versus Idaho on Oct. 16, 2021.
 
Also returning to the receiver position are Roberson and Anthony Stell Jr., a pair of former high school teammates who were impressive as redshirt freshmen in 2019 and then developed into standouts in 2020-21. Roberson started six games, finishing with 33 grabs for 470 yards and three touchdowns, and also had a 42-yard touchdown rush. He now has 28 games of experience (18 starts) in his career with totals of 93 receptions for 1,444 yards and 10 touchdowns, with five 100-yard receiving performances, including a career-high 192 versus Idaho on Oct. 16, 2021. Stell had four starts in 2020-21, and finished the season with 17 catches for 282 yards and three scores. He now has 22 catches for 323 yards and three scores in his 20-game career, but has not played in the 2021 season.
 
Two true freshmen burst onto the scene in the winter/spring season, including two-game starter Efton Chism III. He caught 23 passes for 267 yards and a score, and was also EWU's punt returner. Nolan Ulm played considerably and had a catch for nine yards. In their careers, Chism has 74 catches for 976 yards and 10 touchdowns in 19 games played (nine as a starter), and Ulm has nine grabs for 86 yards and one scores in 18 games (one as a starter),
 
Senior Johnny Edwards IV did not play in the 2020-21 winter/spring season. He now has 40 games of experience (12 as a starter), and has career totals of 57 receptions for 976 yards and nine touchdowns. He had his best day as an Eagle on Sept. 18, 2021, at Western Illinois when he had three catches for 126 yards, including touchdown catches of 76 and 51 yards. As a junior in 2019, he was third on the team with 32 catches for 553 yards (17.3 per reception) and three scores.
 
Eastern also has a trio of experienced tight ends, led by returning starter Dylan Ingram. Mostly used as a blocking tight end, the junior has 42 games of experience (14 starts), and has caught 18 passes for 199 yards and six scores in his career.
 
Sophomore Aiden Nellor is also back with 26 games of experience (no starts) as an Eagle and seven career catches for 67 yards, as well as redshirt freshman Blake Gobel. Gobel now has 23 games of experience (three starts), and has 17 career catches for 234 yards and seven touchdowns after leading the tight end corp with four receptions for 26 yards and two scores in the 2020-21 season.
 
The running back position returns a pair of seniors in Pierce, the returning starter, and Merritt. Both returned from injuries to earn All-Big Sky honors in the 2020-21 season and help keep the Eagle offense productive.
 
Pierce, forced to redshirt in 2019 while recovering from a knee injury at the end of the 2018 season, started six of the seven games he played in the 2020-21 season to earn first team All-Big Sky accolades. He finished the season with a team-high 462 yards rushing with five touchdowns and an average of 5.4 yards per rush. He also caught eight passes for another 31 yards, and had his first career 100-yard rushing game with 105 and two scores versus Northern Arizona.
 
Pierce now has a 5.83 career average per rush which currently ranks fifth in school history. Pierce has rushed for 1,682 yards and 24 touchdowns in 50 games as an Eagle (six as a starter) with 23 catches for 158 yards and another score. His 24 rushing touchdowns scored are eighth all-time in Eastern history.
 
Merritt also returned to be highly productive in 2020-21 after suffering a serious lower leg injury versus Lindenwood on Sept. 7, 2019, and missing the remainder of the season. He earned All-Big Sky Conference honorable mention after playing in all seven Eastern games (one as a starter) as a running back. He had 287 yards and four touchdowns rushing for EWU, and caught another 10 passes for 123 yards and three more scores. He scored a team-high seven touchdowns, including three in EWU's final regular season game versus Idaho. He passed the 1,000 career rushing yards mark against Central Washington on Sept. 11, 2021, when he had what was then a career-high 120 yards (he followed that with a career-high 148 at Western Illinois on Sept. 18). He now has 1,714 career yards (5.21 average per rush) and 22 touchdowns rushing, and another 48 catches for 638 yards and seven scores in 49 games (13 as a starter). Merritt has also averaged 20.7 yards on 30 career kickoff returns. His 22 rushing touchdowns rank 10th in EWU history, and his total of 29 TDs scored is 11th.
 
Sophomores Silas Perreiah and Micah Smith also return after seeing action in both 2019 and 2020-21. Perreiah played in EWU's first three games in 2020-21 and then missed the rest of the season. He has now played in 13 career games, and has 268 yards rushing with a touchdown, and three catches for seven yards and another score. Smith has played in 23 Eagle games in his career and has 291 yards rushing and three scores, plus six catches for 37 yards. Lewis, nor Perreiah or Smith, has started for EWU.
 
Sophomore Isaiah Lewis now has a total of 17 games of experience as an Eagle, he played in two games early in the 2019 season and had 64 yards and a touchdown rushing versus Lindenwood, but shortly after that left the team. As a redshirt freshman in 2018, he played in three games and had 52 yards. He has 354 career rushing yards (6.7 per carry) with two TDs, and has caught three passes for 40 yards. He had a career-high 86 yards versus Idaho on Oct. 16, 2021, including a career-long rush of 47 yards.
 
The biggest priority for EWU in 2020-21 was replacing four starters on the offensive line, a group which had combined for 193 games played and 141 starts in their careers through the 2019 season. One of the new starters was senior center Conner Crist, who now has 40 career games of experience and 20 starts under his belt. He recovered a fumble in the endzone against Central Washington for his first career touchdown, just the fourth offensive lineman in EWU history to score a touchdown.
 
Entering his seventh season with the Eagles, Tristen Taylor, a Stockton, Calif., native and a 2015 Stagg HS graduate, has started all 59 games he's played in. Wyatt Musser now has 45 games worth of experience in his career with 19 starts. Junior tackle Matt Shook was injured in 2019 and did not play, but returned to start all seven games in 2020-21 and now has 22 games worth of experience with 11 starts.
 
The fifth starter back from 2020-21 is Wyatt Hansen, a freshman who has started all 17 career games he played as an offensive guard or tackle. Sophomore Brad Godwin started the other two games in 2020-21, and now has 20 total games of experience with two career starts. Matthew Hewa Baddege has started five games in the 2021 season and now has 12 total games of experience.
 
 
More on EWU Returning Defensive Players
 
Anthany Smith is a returning starting safety and had a stellar season in 2020-21 to earn first team All-Big Sky honors. The junior finished with a team-leading 44 tackles in six games played (all as a starter). In EWU's last regular season game versus Idaho, Smith had 17 tackles -- equaling the 19th-most in school history. He made his starting debut earlier in the season versus the Vandals (2/27/21) and had 10 tackles, a pass broken up and a 71-yard interception return for a touchdown which was the 18th-longest in school history. Smith has 108 career tackles, two interceptions and three passes broken up in 29 games (10 as a starter). Smith played in just three games in 2019 before being lost for the season with an injury and made his 2021 season debut versus Weber State on Oct. 23. He had 11 tackles in the next game as a starter versus Montana State on Nov. 6.
 
Junior Keshaun King started EWU's first four games in 2020-21 before starting safety Calin Criner returned, and King finished with 33 tackles on the season. In the second game versus Idaho, he had nine tackles and his first career interception that led to EWU's game-winning score. King now has 69 tackles, three interceptions and two passes broken up in his 32-game career (four as a starter), including a pair of picks and five tackles versus Northern Iowa on Nov. 27, 2021, in the FCS Playoffs.
 
Tre Weed and sophomore Darrien Sampson were both seven-game starters at cornerback for EWU in the 2020-21 season. Weed, honored on the All-Big Sky Conference second team, has now played 35 games as an Eagle (29 as a starter). He has career totals of 103 tackles, three interceptions and 13 passes broken up.
 
Sampson finished with 13 tackles and a pair of passes broken up in 2020-21, and has now played in 33 career games (22 starts). A former high school teammate of wide receivers Anthony Stell Jr. and Freddie Roberson, he now has 59 tackles, three interceptions and seven passes broken up as an Eagle.
 
The fifth starter back in the secondary is nickel back Marlon Jones Jr., who saw action in all seven games as a redshirt freshman and started four times. He finished the year with 17 of his 24 tackles in EWU's last three games, including a pass broken up in the final game of the year versus North Dakota State. He also played in three games in 2019, and he now has a total of 20 games of experience (nine starts) and has a career total of 72 tackles with six passes broken up and three interceptions. Those picks came versus Idaho on Oct. 16, 2021, Montana on Oct. 2, 2021, in EWU's 34-28 victory over the fourth-ranked Grizzlies and in the FCS Playoffs on Nov. 27, 2021, in a 19-9 win over Northern Iowa.
 
Also back for the Eagles in the secondary is 2019 starting cornerback Darreon Moore, now a junior. Moore has played in 33 career games (seven as a starter), and has 42 tackles with three passes broken up and a sack.
 
Arizona State transfer Ely Doyle provided a big boost in 2020-21 for Eastern after playing in five games in 2019 for the Sun Devils. He had 36 tackles in six games played to rank fourth on the team, including no tackles while playing sparingly in EWU's opener versus Idaho. But he quickly bumped himself up the leaders list, with 30 tackles during EWU's four-game winning streak. He also had two passes broken up in the 2020-21 season, and missed the rematch against Idaho which extended EWU's winning streak to five. He now has a total of 76 career tackles and five passes broken up in 16 games with the Eagles (nine starts). He had a career-high 10 tackles with a PBU in EWU's 34-28 victory over fourth-ranked Montana on Oct. 2, 2021.
 
Jack Sendelbach, a three-time team captain, and Graham headline a linebacker corp that includes five returning letterwinners. Graham was also a co-captain during the 2020-21 season when the University of Idaho transfer was playing his first collegiate games after a stretch of 833 days without.
 
Sendelbach finished with 33 tackles to rank sixth on the team despite playing in just three games. An Eagle since the fall of 2015 when he redshirted, Sendelbach now has 280 tackles (14th in school history) in his 49-game career (28 as a starter), and has had 14 performances in double figures. He also has six career sacks, 31 total tackles for loss, four fumble recoveries, four forced fumbles and three passes broken up.
 
Graham had 42 tackles after starting all six of the games he played as a linebacker to earn honorable mention All-Big Sky honors. Graham had a then career-high nine tackles in his Eagle debut versus his former team, then in the rematch played just the first series versus Vandals before being lost for the season with an injury. The local product of Cheney (Wash.) High School played in 27 games at Idaho and had 133 tackles, 2 1/2 sacks, an interception, two passes broken up and a forced fumble in those three seasons for the Vandals. His father, John, is EWU's former defensive coordinator. In Eastern's season-opener at UNLV, he had a career-high 14 tackles for his first performance in double figures and has four in his career. In 18 career games with the Eagles (18 starts), he has 149 total tackles (107 in 2021 to rank 27th in EWU history), three sacks, 14 total tackles for loss and one interception that he returned 43 yards for his first career touchdown.
 
Also back at linebacker is junior Cale Lindsay, who had 16 total tackles in seven games in the 2020-21 season. He made the first two starts of his career that season, and now has 85 tackles in 35 career games (seven starts) along with six tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries. He had a career-high 15 tackles and recovered a fumble against Montana State on Nov. 6, 2021.
 
Now at linebacker is Warren, who transferred to EWU in 2019 from the University of Washington. He played in EWU's opener against his alma mater in 2019, but missed the rest of the season. In the 2020-21 season, he also played just one game as a starter at end before being lost for the remainder of the season. He has now played in 10 games as an Eagle (three starts) and has 25 tackles. He made his second start as an Eagle on Oct. 16, 2021, versus Idaho and had eight tackles. In his 31-game career as a Husky, he had nine tackles, 1 1/2 sacks, a forced fumble and caught a 2-yard touchdown pass.
 
On the defensive line, freshman end Brock Harrison returns as a 2020-21 starter, as does Joshua Jerome and freshman tackle Jacob Newsom. Jerome earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors.
 
Jerome started all seven of Eastern's games and had 41 tackles to rank third on the team, and also had a team-leading three sacks and a pair of quarterback hurries. He has played just 33 career games (19 as a starter), but already has 138 career tackles with 11 sacks, 29 total tackles for loss, nine quarterback hurries, a pass broken up, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
 
Harrison took over as the starter at an end position in EWU's second game of the 2020-21 season and finished with a team-high five quarterback hurries to go along with 15 tackles. He's played in a total of 23 career games as an Eagle (six starts) and has 47 tackles, 10 total tackles for loss, five quarterback hurries, an interception, two fumble recoveries and three passes broken up. Newsom also started all seven games as a tackle, and finished with 22 tackles in his debut season. He has three sacks, a pass broken up, a forced fumble, a quarterback hurry and 37 total tackles in 18 career games (seven starts).
 
Four other returning lettermen are back with starting experience, including junior Caleb Davis who missed the entire 2020-21 season. He now has 65 tackles, four sacks and two fumble recoveries in 35 games (three as a starter), including 21 stops and one sack as a sophomore in 2019.
 
Junior Debore'ae McClain started once as a defensive end in the 2020-21 season and finished with 12 tackles in seven games. He now has 70 stops in 46 career games (13 starts), with 5 1/2 sacks, nine total tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and nine quarterback hurries (team-leading six in 2021).
 
Sophomore Emmanuel Osuoha is the only other non-freshman returning, and was a linebacker in the winter/spring. Osuoha had a pair of tackles in six games played and now has 10 career stops in 11 games played.
 
 
More on EWU Returning Special Teams Players
 
Besides kicker Seth Harrison, sophomore punter Nick Kokich and sophomore long snapper Cody Clements return with two years of experience under their belts.
 
As a true freshman in 2019, Kokich made his season debut four games into the season and has held the punting position ever since. In 2020-21 he averaged 39.2 yards in 20 punts, with five downed inside the opponent 20-yard line and two of at least 50 yards with a long of 55. He averaged 39.0 yards in 2019, and now has a 39.7 career average with 26 downed inside the opponent 20-yard line and a long of 61 versus Weber State on Oct. 23, 2021, to equal the 26th longest in EWU history. He also has a 59-yarder to his credit to rank 39th. He punted just once in a two-game span in October (Northern Colorado and Idaho), and did not have to punt versus Idaho on Oct. 16, 2021, in EWU's 71-21 romp.
 
 
 
 
More Season Notes
 
 
McCann's Second Pinch-Hit Performance as OC Includes Games Versus Two of His Previous Coaching Stops
 
There were some familiar surroundings in a similar scenario on Nov. 13 at UC Davis for Pat McCann, who took over as interim offensive coordinator after the announcement on Nov. 9 of the sudden resignation of Eastern OC and quarterbacks coach Ian Shoemaker. And then, for the second time in three weeks, McCann faced a former employer when Northern Iowa visited Roos Field in the FCS Playoffs on Nov. 27.
 
Eastern piled up 625 yards of offense in the 38-24 win over the Aggies – the 40th time in school history EWU has exceeded 600 yards and ranking 28th overall. However, his EWU debut wasn't his first pinch-hit performance.
 
McCann formerly coached at UCD, plus coached against the Aggies in 2018 while he was coaching at Northern Iowa – with a twist. A family matter sidelined Panthers offensive coordinator John Bond at the end of the season, and McCann filled in. His 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 on the road at UCD, which would go on to lose to Eastern 34-29 in the quarterfinals.
 
In EWU's victory at UC Davis, McCann sat in the very same pressbox booth that he sat in during the loss there in 2018. McCann, who is originally from Olympia, Wash., is in his third season as EWU's wide receivers coach and offensive passing game coordinator. But he was on the field prior to his recent elevation to the pressbox.
 
Shoemaker was in his third year with the Eagles and had been on staff since the 2019 season. Eastern Associate Vice President / Director of Athletics Lynn Hickey confirmed Shoemaker's resignation, and EWU said it was a personnel issue, and no additional comments will be made, including by head coach Aaron Best. 
 
 
Eagles Have Won 80 Percent of Their Last 118 Big Sky Conference Games
 
Assured of yet another winning season, Eastern has now had 24 winning seasons in the last 26 years (1996-2021), including a current school record string of 15-straight (2007-21) and another stretch of seven straight (1999-2005). The last time Eastern had that many winning seasons in a row came 75 years earlier in the Red Reese era when Eastern had a string of 11-straight winning seasons from 1931-1941.
 
A major reason for Eastern's stretch of winning seasons is success in the Big Sky Conference. In finishing 5-1 in the league in the 2020-21 season, Eastern has now won at least five conference games in the last 15 seasons, with a 6-2 or better finish (75 percent) in 12 of those 15. Since EWU's last losing league season in 2006 (3-5), the Eagles are 94-24 for a .797 winning percentage in 15 seasons (including 2021). Starting with three wins at the end of the 2009 season, Eastern has had a 80-17 record (.825) in league games since then.
 
Through the 2021 season (6-2 record), the Eagles have won 70 of their last 83 Big Sky Conference games (84.3 percent) since a 0-2 start in 2011. Included are stretches of 60 victories in the last 72 games (including two at the end of the 2012 season) and 38 of the last 46 (since 2016). Those are percentages of .833 and .826, respectively.
 
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 58-year history of the league was Montana, which won 50 of 55 games from 1995-2002 and 46 of 51 from 2003-2009. Weber State won 26 of 29 during a recent four-year stretch (2017-20/21) as league champions.
 
Including four non-conference victories (two versus MSU, and one each against Cal Poly and Northern Arizona), two playoff wins (Montana and UC Davis) and one loss (Idaho), the Eagles are 76-15 (.835) against conference foes since the 0-2 start in 2011 and 66-13 (.835) since winning the last three games at the end of the 2012 campaign (one a non-conference win over Cal Poly).
 
What is perhaps most impressive is Eastern's ability to consistently win on the road versus conference foes, with records of 32-8 (80 percent) on the road, 34-5 at home (87 percent) and 66-13 overall (84 percent) in the last eight-plus seasons since ending 2012 with three wins versus fellow BSC foes. From 2012-2019, Eastern 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 secured its 10th Big Sky title in 2018 and in the 2021 season EWU earned its 15th berth in the FCS Playoffs in what is now 38 years as a member of the FCS (formerly I-AA) and 34 seasons in the Big Sky.
 
 
Eagles Now 64-12 on the Red Turf
 
A school-record stretch of 20-straight wins at Roos Field came to an end on Oct. 23, 2021, when the Eagles lost 35-34 to Weber State. Eastern then followed that with a 23-20 setback to fourth-ranked Montana State two weeks later.
 
At the time, the streak was the top active mark in FCS and came just one victory shy of the overall school record of 21 set from 1935-40. Eastern won all five of its regular season home games in 2019, all eight in 2018, three at home in the 2020-21 season and was 3-0 in 2021 before the loss to the Wildcats, who had handed EWU its last home loss in 2017.
 
The Eagles entered the 2021 season as one of three teams with the longest active home winning streaks in FBS with 17 consecutive victories, and EWU improved that to 18 with a resounding 63-14 win over Central Washington on Sept. 11. Victories over Montana on Oct. 2 and Idaho on Oct. 16 extended it to 20. The other schools who entered the season with 17-game home winning streaks included James Madison, which extended its streak to 19 with a 55-7 win over Maine on Sept. 11. North Dakota also had a 18-game streak after winning its home opener Sept. 18 versus Drake, but fell at home on Oct. 2 against North Dakota State. James Madison lost at home 28-27 on Oct. 9 versus Villanova, thus giving EWU sole possession of the top active mark for two weeks.
 
Eastern is now 64-12 (84.2 percent) overall at "The Inferno" since 2010. The stadium has been known as Roos Field since 2010 when a new red synthetic Sprinturf surface made its debut. Eastern's last home loss came on Nov. 4, 2017, versus Weber State.
 
At its current site, the previous school record was 11 consecutive home wins set between 9/16/78 and 9/27/80 (between losses was from 11/19/77 to 11/1/80). Eastern had a nine-game winning streak snapped in a 36-21 loss to Montana State on Sept. 24, 2011. The Eagles also had a nine-game winning streak at that venue snapped against Sacramento State on Oct. 21, 2000, when the Hornets made a 23-yard field goal with no time remaining.
 
Eastern has lost just eight regular season games at "The Inferno" – 50-8 (86.2 percent), plus are 14-4 (77.8 percent) in playoff games. The only regular season losses at home for EWU since 2010 are to conference foes Montana State (2011 and 2021), Portland State (2011 and 2015), Northern Arizona (2015) and Weber State (2017 and 2021), as well as North Dakota State (2017).
 
Eastern finished a perfect 8-0 in its debut season at "The Inferno," including three playoff victories. Eastern's triumphs since the red turf was installed in 2010 include a 6-0 record versus rival Montana. The original red turf at Roos Field was replaced in summer of 2020 by a new AstroTurf surface.
 
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 177-67 record (72.5 percent) in 244 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.
 
 
New Iconic Red Turf at "The Inferno" Made its Debut on March 6, 2021
 
The red glow that was missing in Cheney, Wash., in May and June finally returned in July of 2020 with the replacement of EWU's original iconic red turf. And it finally got to be used on March 6, 2021.
 
Workers began in July of 2020 the three-week process of installing the second generation of red turf at Eastern Washington University's Roos Field. The original red turf at "The Inferno" was installed in 2010, and taken out in May of 2020 in preparation for its replacement.
 
The basic design of the new turf is the same as before with "Eastern" in one end zone. But "Eagles" replaced "Washington" in the other.
 
The project was completed in August, just as preseason practices were expected to move from the grass EWU practice fields to the stadium in preparation for the 2020 season. But the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the start of the season, so instead of making its debut versus Western Illinois on Sept. 12, 2020, the turf finally made its debut versus Northern Arizona on March 6, 2021.
 
 AstroTurf received the bid to replace the iconic red field. The nearly $1 million project was part of a $5 million pledge provided by local businessman Jack Gillingham toward the Roos Field Renovation Project.
 
 
Eagles Dominant During 20-Game Winning Streak at Home
 
During Eastern's 20-game winning streak at Roos Field with lasted from 11/18/17 to 10/16/21, the Eagles had just four games decided by less than double figures and all but five decided by at least 21 points. In fact, Eastern had more than doubled its opponents 1045-456 (average score of 52-23). The margin of victory in 15 of the 20 games was at least 21 points, 10 of them were by at least 30, five by 40 or more and a trio were won by at least 50 points (52 and 53 versus Cal Poly and 50 against Idaho).
 
In EWU's last 12 home games of that winning streak, it won by an average score of 53-24 (630-292). Those games came after EWU's 34-29 victory over UC Davis in the 2018 FCS Playoffs. The only other games decided by less than 10 points was a 53-46 victory over Portland State to end the 2019 campaign, 38-31 over Idaho on April 10, 2021, to end the 2020-21 regular season and 34-28 over fourth-ranked Montana on Oct. 2, 2021, to help EWU improve to 6-0 versus the Grizzlies since the red turf was installed in 2010.
 
 
Eastern Spends Two Weeks Ranked No. 2
 
At No. 2 in the nation in polls released on Oct. 11 and 18, Eastern owned the school's highest national ranking since ending the 2018 campaign second in both national polls. That came after the Eagles lost to North Dakota State 38-24 for the NCAA Division I title.
 
The Eagles have been ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in 2014, 2012, 2011 and 2010 for at least one week of the season. On its way to the national title, Eastern ended both the 2010 regular season and the playoffs as the No. 1-ranked FCS team by both The Sports Network and in the FCS Coaches Poll.
 
Eastern was also No. 1 in the first two polls of the 2011 season, two weeks in 2012 and once in 2014. The Eagles were as high as second in 2018 and 2013, as high as fourth in 2015 and as high as third in 2016. The school's highest ranking in 2019 was fourth and in the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign the Eagles were as high as ninth.
 
 
Eagles Record Best Back-to-Back Scoring and Offensive Games in School History
 
Eastern's 134 points in two games in October versus Northern Colorado (63) and Idaho (71) is the best two-game stretch in school history, and has continued a trend of out-of-this-world statistics for the Eagles.
 
Eastern's combined 1,427 yards of offense against Western Illinois (754) and Southern Utah (673) is the most in back-to-back games in school history. The previous most was 1,395 set in 2019 when the Eagles had 706 versus Northern Arizona on Nov. 2 and 689 a week later versus Idaho State.
 
The 754 yards EWU had versus the Leathernecks came just 15 from the school record, but was a program best versus a FCS or FBS foe. Additionally, Eric Barriere set the individual school record with 562 yards of total offense against WIU (542 passing), then EWU set a team record for passing yards with 554 at SUU (Barriere had 518 and the other 36 came on a fake punt). The school records would later be broken versus Idaho on Oct. 16 when EWU finished with 837 total yards and 624 passing, and Barriere set new marks with 577 total yards and 600 through the air.
 
Including the 645 yards EWU had versus Central Washington on Sept. 11, and the Eagles had 2,072 in a three-game stretch – an average of 690.7 per game. That is also a high for EWU in back-to-back-to-back games, and those three performances all rank in the top 22 in school history.
 
Eastern's 175 points (58.3 average) in those games is actually not EWU's best three-game stretch. That distinction goes to the 2018 squad, which had 181 points (and 1,871 total yards of offense) in victories over Northern Colorado (48 points, 578 yards), UC Davis (59 points, 669 yards) and Portland State (74 points, 624 yards). The point total in the latter two games – 133 points – is eight better than the combined 125 EWU scored this season versus Central Washington and Western Illinois, but was eclipsed on Oct. 16, 2021, when EWU scored 71 points versus Idaho a week after scoring 63 against Northern Colorado – a combined total of 134 points.
 
 
A Few More Superlatives From the Idaho Game
 
* The 71 points are the most ever scored at Roos/Woodward Field, fifth most all-time, and second most
against a Division I opponent (74 at Portland State, 11/16/18).
 
* Eastern set a school record for total offense (837), which was 39 short of the Big Sky record of 876. The 624 passing yards by the Eagles was also a school record, and was 36 short of the Big Sky record of 660. Eastern's team passing efficiency rating of 281.09 was the third-best in program history.
 
* At the point EWU took a 50-14 lead in the third quarter, the Eagles were averaging 13.4 yards per play (42 plays, 561 yards), a pace that would have broken the EWU and Big Sky record of 12.3 yards per play versus Montana State in 2013. Eastern finished the Idaho game with an average of 10.6 per play.


Eagles Now 11-27 Versus FBS Members After UNLV Win
 
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 11-27 all-time versus Football Bowl Subdivision teams. Eastern has won four of its last 11 games versus FBS foes after a 35-33 double-overtime victory at UNLV on Sept. 2, 2021, at the new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Eastern's most recent victory over an FBS foe came in the 2016 season with a 45-42 victory at Washington State. Since then, EWU had lost at Texas Tech in 2017 (56-10), at Washington State in 2018 (59-24) and at Washington in 2019 (47-14).
 
Against current Pac-12 Conference members, EWU is now 2-11 (2-13 including losses to Washington State in 1907 and 1908) with a 49-46 upset of 25th-ranked Oregon State in 2013 and a 45-42 win over Washington State in 2016. 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. Here are EWU's upcoming games versus FBS opponents:
 
2021 - at UNLV – Win, 35-33 (2 overtimes)
2022 - at Oregon (9/3/22)
2022 - at Florida (10/1/22) . . . re-scheduled from 2020
2023 - at Fresno State (9/9/23)
2026 - at Washington (date either 9/5, 9/12 or 9/19)
2028 - at Washington (date either 9/2, 9/9 or 9/16)
 
 
Eastern Washington and North Dakota State to Clash at U.S. Bank Stadium in 2023
 
Two NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) perennials will clash at one of America's newest major stadiums to open the 2023 football season. The Eastern football team will play at North Dakota State on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023 at U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, in Minneapolis, Minn., with a time to be announced at a later date.
 
The matchup will be the sixth all-time between the two programs, but only the third time the Eagles and Bison have clashed during the regular season. Eastern Washington is 1-4 all-time against NDSU, with the most recent game coming on April 24, 2021 when the Bison knocked EWU out of the first round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs by a score of 42-20 in Fargo, N.D.
 
Prior to that, EWU lost to NDSU in the FCS Championship game on January 5, 2019 in Frisco, Texas, by a final score of 38-24. The other playoff match-up was the first-ever game between the two foes, and that one went Eastern's way on Dec. 11, 2010 in overtime when the Eagles beat the Bison 38-31 to advance to the NCAA Semifinals en route to the 2010 title. In fact, two matchups between the teams have gone to overtime, with EWU losing the other on Sept. 10, 2016 in Fargo, N.D. by a final score of 50-44.
 
North Dakota State is a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Eastern Washington is currently 11-15 all-time against current MVFC members, including a 5-0 record versus North Dakota when it was a member of the Big Sky.
 
The Bison went 7-3 during the abbreviated spring 2021 season, advancing to the NCAA FCS Quarterfinals where they lost to Sam Houston State. In 2019, NDSU went a perfect 16-0 and won the FCS title for the eighth time in nine seasons (2011-19).
 
Officially opened in 2016, U.S. Bank stadium is an enclosed stadium that seats 66,860 for most games and can be expanded to 73,000. Besides home Minnesota Viking games, the stadium hosted Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4, 2018, the ESPN X Games and the NCAA Final Four in 2019.
 
Ticket information for the 2023 match-up will be available at a later date.
 
 
 
Series Notes
 
For 29th Time, Eastern-Montana Game Includes a Nationally-Ranked Team
 
The 2021 playoff version of the Eagle-Grizzly match-up will be the 29th time at least one of the teams has been ranked, and the 18th when both teams have been ranked in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (Stats Perform Top 25).
 
Back in 1998, Eastern was just 3-3 and Montana was 4-3 when the two unranked teams met in Spokane, a game the Griz won 30-27. But from 1992-97 and in 22-straight meetings from 1999-2021 regular season (two in 2014 and none in 2018), at least one of the two teams have been ranked – 28 of the last 29 games all totaled in a series Montana now leads 28-18-1.
 
However, EWU has had the upper hand in the series since 2012, winning seven of the last nine meetings with a pair of victories in Missoula. The Eagles have not lost at home since 2008, making Eastern 6-0 versus the Griz since the red turf at "The Inferno" was installed in 2010.
 
For 10-straight seasons from 2008-2016, both teams were nationally ranked at the time of their meetings. Montana was not ranked in 2017 when EWU was 11th, and EWU was not ranked in 2019 when Montana was 10th. In 2007, No. 1 Montana needed a field goal with 26 seconds left to beat the unranked Eagles 24-21 in Missoula.
 
In a series full of drama, the 2021 regular season meeting between Eastern and Montana was 17th time that both teams entered the game nationally ranked. Eastern has now won nine of those meetings. Interestingly, in the first nine Montana was the higher-ranked team, then in the next seven EWU was rated higher. In the 2021 game, Montana was No. 4, two spots higher than No. 6 EWU. The higher-ranked team has gone 11-6 in those 17 nationally-ranked matchups. The 2013 game was the first time both teams entered ranked in the top 10, with the collective ranking of 13 the best ever until 2021 when the collective ranking was 10. In the rematch in the playoffs, the collective ranking is a best-ever nine.
 
Below are the 17 matchups from 1996-2021 (two in 2014) when both squads have entered the game nationally ranked. Eastern is 9-8 in those games, with road victories in 1997, 2005 and 2013. Eastern picked up a home win in 2010 in the debut of Eastern's red Sprinturf surface at Roos Field, and in 2012 in the debut of EWU's new videoboard.
 
2021 - #4 Eastern Washington vs. #5 Montana (in Missoula, Mont.)
2021 - #6 Eastern Washington 34, #4 Montana 28 (in Cheney, Wash.)
2016 - #3 Eastern Washington 35, #16 Montana 16 (in Cheney, Wash.)
2015 - #22 Montana 57, #10 Eastern Washington 16 (in Missoula, Mont.)
2014 - #4 Eastern Washington 37, #12 Montana 20 (FCS Playoffs in Cheney, Wash.)
2014 - #5 Eastern Washington 36, #11 Montana 26 (in Cheney, Wash.)
2013 - #3 Eastern Washington 42, #10 Montana 37 (in Missoula, Mont.)
2012 - #7 Eastern Washington 32, #21 Montana 26 (in Cheney, Wash.)
2011 - #12 Montana 17, #10 Eastern Washington 14 (in Missoula, Mont.)
2010 - #18 Eastern Washington 36, #6 Montana 27 (in Cheney, Wash.)
2009 - #3 Montana 41, #21 Eastern Washington 34 (in Missoula, Mont.)
2008 - #12 Montana 19, #23 Eastern Washington 3 (in Cheney, Wash.)
2005 - #12 Eastern Washington 34, #2 Montana 20 (in Missoula, Mont.)
2004 - #5 Montana 31, #23 Eastern Washington 28 (in Cheney, Wash.)
2001 - #3 Montana 29, #15 Eastern Wash. 26 (2 overtimes in Missoula, Mont.)
2000 - #9 Montana 41, #18 Eastern Washington 31 (in Spokane, Wash.)
1997 - #17 Eastern Washington 40, #2 Montana 35 (in Missoula, Mont.)
1996 - #1 Montana 34, #20 Eastern Washington 30 (in Cheney, Wash.)
 
* Montana leads the all-time series 28-18-1, but EWU has won seven of the last nine and eight of the last 11. But prior to that, Montana had won six of the previous seven meetings. Overall, Eastern is 6-16-1 in Missoula, 11-11 in home games and 1-1 in games played at neutral sites.
 
* The Eagles shared the 2004 and 2005 Big Sky titles with Montana, but the Grizzlies won or shared every league title from 1998-2009. Until Southern Utah won the title outright in 2015, Eastern was the only Big Sky school other than Montana to win the outright title from 1997-2014, doing it in 1997, 2013 and 2014. The Eagles advanced to the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs in both 1997 and 2013. The 1997 team was inducted into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. Montana's streak of league titles ended at 12 as EWU and MSU shared the 2010 title.
 
 
Like the History of the Series, Eagle-Grizzly Game in 2021 Comes Down to Wire Again
 
Eastern has won six times on UM's home field in Missoula since 1990. Besides a come-from-behind victory in 1990, EWU recorded wins in Missoula in 1992, 1997, 2005, 2013 and 2017. The first four of those victories yielded Big Sky titles for the Eagles.
 
Eastern, however, won just twice at home from 1990-2009, and the lone home win over Montana in that stretch at Roos Field (formerly Woodward Field) came in 1991. But Eastern's change to a red synthetic Sprinturf surface and change of name has altered EWU's success in Cheney with consecutive home wins in 2010, 2012, 2014 (twice) 2016 and 2021. Eastern also won in 2002 in a home game played at Spokane's Albi Stadium against the top-ranked Grizzlies.
 
Fifteen recent games in the Eastern versus Montana series have been decided by margins of 10 points or less, including the regular season meeting in 2021 when EWU rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to win 34-28. In the 2014 regular season meeting, Eastern took a 33-10 lead in the third quarter before Montana rallied to make it a one-score game. Eastern kicker Tyler McNanny capped a late 58-yard drive with a 34-yard field goal with 28 seconds to play to provide the final margin in a 36-26 Eagle win. In 2013, the Eagles had to recover an onside kick with 1:41 to play to preserve a 42-37 victory. In 2012, Eastern prevailed 32-26, scoring twice in the last 2:19 to pull out the victory. The game in 2011 also went down to the wire as the Eagles lost 17-14 after edging Montana 36-27 in 2010 in the first game on the red Sprinturf surface at Roos Field. Eastern ended that meeting with a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
 
The winner has usually piled up points and yardage by the ton. In 2017, Eastern had 617 yards and Montana finished with 538 for a total of 1,155 in EWU's 48-41 victory. In 2016, the two teams combined for 995 yards, with EWU winning 35-16 despite a 540-455 yardage advantage for Montana.
 
In fact, Eastern has had at least 600 yards in total offense in four games against the Grizzlies. Eastern had 697 yards of total offense in 1986, 658 yards in 1997 in a 40-35 win, 564 in a 24-23 loss in 2007, 541 yards by the Eagles in a 34-20 win in Missoula in 2005, 540 in a 42-37 win in 2013 and 503 in a 2010 victory in Cheney. In 2013, the two teams combined for 1,029 total yards, and one year earlier had 980. In the last 32 meetings the winning team has averaged 34.6 points. In 10 of those 32 games the two teams have combined for at least 70 points, including a 41-34 Grizzly win in Missoula in 2009, EWU's 42-37 victory in 2013, Montana's 57-16 romp in 2015 and EWU's 48-41 triumph in 2017.
 
In the 2021 regular season meeting, the two teams combined for 62 points and 896 yards. Eastern Washington had 538 yards of total offense, 422 of which came through the air from Eric Barriere, while the Grizzlies had 358 total yards (187 rushing, 171 passing).
 
 
Last Meeting – #6 EWU 34, #4 Montana 28 (10/2/21 in Cheney, Wash.)
 
It was another instant classic between Eastern and Montana on Oct. 2, 2021, at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash. The No. 6 Eagles were down 21-10 entering the final quarter of play and outscored the fourth-ranked Grizzlies 24-7 in the final 15 minutes to win 34-28. With the victory, Eastern Washington improved to 5-0 (2-0 Big Sky Conference) on the year, equaling its best start in program history as a member of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, and handing Montana its first loss of the year (3-1, 1-1). The win also marked the 19th-straight at Roos Field, as the Eagles improved to 6-0 over Montana since the infamous red turf was installed in 2010. The Eagles have now won 28 games since 2010 when trailing or tied in the fourth quarter, five of which have been led by redshirt-senior quarterback Eric Barriere. Barriere completed 26 of his 42 passing attempts, throwing for 422 total yards and two touchdowns, plus two interceptions. Barriere's targets of Talolo Limu-Jones (231 receiving yards) and Andrew Boston (80 yards, two touchdowns) each passed 2,000 receiving yards in their careers. The total for Limu-Jones was also the eighth most in single-game history for the Eagles in his sixth career game with over 100 receiving yards. On the defensive front, Jack Sendelbach led the way with 12 total tackles to move into 25th all-time on EWU's all-time list. Ty Graham also had 12 tackles plus a sack, and Marlon Jones Jr. and Demetrius Crosby Jr. each grabbed an interception. Ely Doyle had a career-high 10 tackles and had a pass break up on the final play in the endzone. It was the second time this season Doyle has stepped up for late-game heroics, as he had the game-winning tackle to preserve the win at UNLV in the second overtime period. Jackson Cleaver was a perfect 2-for-2 on both PATs and field goals. As a team, Eastern Washington had 538 yards of total offense, 422 of which came through the air from Barriere, while the Grizzlies had 358 total yards (187 rushing, 171 passing). Down by 11 entering the fourth quarter, Eastern Washington scored 14 unanswered points to open the final frame. The first touchdown was scored on a nine-yard completion from Barriere to Boston and the next on a two-yard rush from Micah Smith to take a 24-21 lead. Montana then marched down the field and faced first and 10 at EWU's 11 when Demetrius Crosby Jr. intercepted a pass in the endzone. On the ensuing drive, Dennis Merritt added to the lead with a one-yard rushing touchdown and the Eagles went up 31-21 and complete a 21-0 scoring run. On the very next drive, Montana had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to cut the lead to 31-28 after the extra point. After a three-and-out for the Eagles on their next drive, Jones Jr. came up with EWU's second interception of the fourth quarter on Montana's 47-yard line. The Eagles marched down the field and a Cleaver 30-yard field goal extended the lead to 34-28. On its final drive, Montana faced first and ten on the EWU 13 as time expired and came up empty as Eastern Washington went on to win 34-28. Eastern Washington scored on its opening drive when Barriere connected with Boston for a nine-yard completion to take a 7-0 lead after Cleaver's extra point. Montana then outscored the Eagles 14-3 to end the first half, taking a 14-10 lead into the locker room. The Eagles were outscored 7-0 in the third quarter before mounting their fourth quarter comeback. 

 
Last Time in Missoula – #10 Montana 34, EWU 17 (10/26/19)
 
When the Eagles struck, the Grizzlies struck right back. Eastern took leads of 14-3 in the second quarter and 17-10 in the second half, but couldn't hold off No. 10/11 Montana and fell 34-17 on Oct. 26, 2019, at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in the 36th meeting between the two fierce rivals. In a game pitting two of the top teams in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in recent decades, Eastern went the last 36:29 without a touchdown after taking a 14-3 lead with 6:29 left in the second quarter. Montana used a game-ending 24-0 scoring run to win for just the second time in the last eight meetings between the Eagles and Grizzlies. Eastern finished with 365 yards of offense to Montana's 430, and Marcus Knight rushed for 131 yards and three touchdowns for the Grizzlies. Despite temperatures in the 30's with snow flurries, neither team had a turnover until Eastern fumbled a kickoff return early in the fourth quarter. The resulting Montana TD gave the Grizzlies a 34-17 lead with 12:02 to play. The game was for survival in the Big Sky Conference race, as the Eagles and Grizzlies had entered with identical 2-1 Big Sky Conference marks. Junior quarterback Eric Barriere led Eastern by completing 22-of-41 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown. However, after halftime he was just 12-of-25 for 70 yards as EWU had just 134 yards of total offense after intermission. Andrew Boston was EWU's leading receiver with five catches for 86 yards, and Talolo Limu-Jones had a team-high 97 yards on four catches. Three Eagles were in double figures in tackles – Calin Criner with 16, Dehonta Hayes with 12 and Jack Sendelbach with 12. After Montana led 3-0 after one quarter, it took the Eagles just 10 plays to take a 14-3 lead in the second quarter. Eastern had just a pair of first downs and 47 yards on its first two possessions of the game, but a huge 15-yard third down conversion on a pass from Barriere to Limu-Jones led to a seven-play, 81-yard drive. Barriere was 5-of-5 on the drive, including a 36-yard touchdown pass to Boston. Eastern got the ball back and needed just three plays to score again on a 5-yard run by Tamarick Pierce, who was making his season debut for EWU. The key play in that drive was a 62-yard pass from Barriere to Limu-Jones. After Montana cut the lead to four at halftime, Eastern went up 17-10 in the third quarter on a 35-yard field goal by Seth Harrison. But Montana regained the lead with a touchdown and field goal, then scored twice within a 2:02 span to put some distance on the Eagles.
 
 
 
 
 
Most Recent Game Recap
 
Eastern Washington Advances to the Second Round of the FCS Playoffs Following a 19-9 Win over Northern Iowa
 
Eastern advanced to the second round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs after a 19-9 win over Northern Iowa at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash., on Nov. 27, 2021. The nine points were the second-fewest points allowed by the No. 4/6 Eagles in EWU's playoff history, as Eastern Washington improved to 10-2 on the year and the Panthers finished their season 6-6.
 
Eric Barriere threw for 283 yards, completing 20 of his 34 pass attempts. He had one interception, one passing touchdown and scored the other Eastern TD with his legs. Additionally, he moved up in three FCS categories and is now third all-time in career offensive yards (14,884), sixth in passing yards (13,279) and ninth in passing touchdowns (116).
 
The Eagles forced three turnovers and had just one themselves, improving to 66-1 since 2010 when winning the turnover thanks to two interceptions from Keshaun King and one from Marlon Jones Jr. Eastern Washington was 8-of-19 on third-down conversions and the Panthers were just 2-of-15.
 
Eastern Washington amassed 412 yards of total offense on 78 plays, 129 of which came on the ground plus 283 through the air. Northern Iowa had 423 total yards of offense with 108 rushing yards and 315 passing yards.
 
After Northern Iowa turned the ball over on downs at the EWU 2-yard line on its opening drive, the Panthers punted three-straight times while the Eagles took a 9-0 lead. The scores came via a 26-yard pass through traffic from Eric Barriere to Nolan Ulm, resulting in Ulm's first career touchdown. Another first came on the next drive, when Wyatt Hawkins made his first career field goal on a 22-yard try.
 
The Panthers pulled within two points after a 14-yard receiving touchdown that took 3:06 off the clock following a nine play, 85-yard drive. At the half, the Eagles led 9-7.
 
Northern Iowa started the third quarter with a 55-yard field goal try that fell short. On the ensuing drive, EWU turned the ball over on downs. The Panthers faced third and 18 on their own 30-yard line when Keshaun King grabbed his second interception of his career and returned it 20 yards. From there, Barriere scurried and avoided a sack, rushing 18 yards into the endzone and the Eagles took a 16-7 lead after the point after attempt by Hawkins was good.
 
In the third quarter, the Eagle defense held UNI to a missed field goal, an interception and a punt on its three drives as EWU took the nine-point lead into the fourth. Hawkins came on again in the fourth quarter and made a 30-yard field goal to extend the lead to 19-7.
 
An intentional safety with 3:51 left in the game were the only points Northern Iowa scored after its lone touchdown with 34 seconds left in the second quarter – a scoreless stretch of 26:43. During that time, Eastern Washington forced UNI to punt three times, turn the ball over on downs twice, miss a 55-yard field goal attempt, and had two interceptions – both of which by King.
 
Freddie Roberson was Eastern's leading receiver with 127 yards on five catches. In the first quarter, he caught an 86-yard pass from Barriere that was the seventh-longest pass play in school history. It was also the program's longest passing play in its playoff history, and were the longest in the careers for both players.
 
The Eagle defense had three interceptions to tie a playoff record for EWU, as well as playoff highs of 12 passes broken up and 12 quarterback hurries. Demetrius Crosby Jr. had four of the breakups in his first career start which is also a new playoff record. King's two interceptions tied a record with three other players.
 
The game marked the first meeting between the two foes since the 2016 season. Eastern Washington is now 2-6 all-time against Northern Iowa, with both wins coming consecutively at home. In the FCS Playoffs, the Eagles are now 1-3 against the Panthers.
  
 
 

Aaron Best Comments
 
On Northern Iowa Win: "It started and ended with the defense. It started with a stop at the goal line on defense and we got the ball back, and all of a sudden it ended up being a pick late by Marlon Jones Jr. to end the day to get into Eagle (victory) formation. That was about as masterful of a job on defense that we could have done. We gave many opportunities to the offense, and it's obviously a very salty Northern Iowa defense. We were up to the challenge on defense and we won the day on defense and scored enough points. We held them to seven points, and holding anybody to seven points in any game in those conditions is awesome. In the playoffs it doesn't matter how it looks -- it was effective and we move on. It was a gutsy, gutsy, gutsy and awesome, awesome, awesome performance by the defense. Coach Eti Ena and company put them in situations and they were resilient and fought through adversity the entire game. Northern Iowa probably had more possessions later in the game than we wanted to with a couple of extra points (we gave them), but 19-7, 19-9 at the end of the day, we played lights out on defense."
 
On Season-Low Scoring Versus UNI: "It was a good old-school, smash-mouth, football game. We held them in check on defense over and over again and they stood the test of the series that they got presented. It was probably more of a Missouri Valley score at the end of the day, and you don't find these in the Big Sky very often. We played a brand of ball that we were up to the challenge for this week and the defense played absolutely phenomenal, complimentary football at the end of the day. There were a lot of ebbs and flows, but our guys were up to the challenge and scored more points in the name of the game, the playoffs."

On Playoff Berth: "The expectation is to crawl into the top-eight and I felt our resume was strong, but we can't determine what the committee decides. We are 9-2 with an FBS victory and a head-to-head win against Montana, but you have to win them all in the postseason no matter where you start. It's unfortunate, but it is what it is and we'll play a home game against Northern Iowa this Saturday and we're excited. It was one of those moments that you knew could go either way based on results in a few games, but the ball didn't bounce our way."
 
On Portland State Victory: "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. 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."
 
On The Defensive Effort Versus PSU: "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 the seven hour drive a lot better."
 
On the Coaching Staff's Effort Versus PSU: "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."
 
  On UC Davis Victory: "Our players responded to two weeks of adversity and this week there was a ton more. Our players are resilient and they played with the most amount of guts I've ever seen coming down here and away from home for the first time in a month against a top-five outfit. From about the second quarter on, we controlled the game and especially did so late in the game when we needed it with the run. Tamarick Pierce was big, we had a ton of players score touchdowns and we had a bunch of yards after catch and contact. That was a fun game to see if you could see it in the fog. It was a total team effort, we played with a lot of guts – a lot of guts – and fought through adversity. The opportunity to respond was here and we responded, that's what a mature football team does."
 
On Montana State Loss: "It's unfortunate. Our defense played hard and played well in a lot spurts, but there were too many explosives in certain situations. In the first half, we got out of harm's way a few times, when they got into the red zone Montana State was 0-and-2. That's a testament to our players on defense. They (Montana State) missed the field goal and then went for it on fourth-and-three and didn't convert. Those are almost turnovers, too, when you really think about it – no points and the ball went back to the offense. We didn't have enough points on offense. We have to find ways against good defenses to score more points, 20 points at home isn't going to get it done. Defensively, we only gave up 23 points, there were a ton of yards but not a ton of points. Sometimes it happens that way, where all of a sudden, a team comes in and has a ton of yards but they bow their neck at the right time, and we did that on defense. We got two turnovers, but didn't do a lot with them, and it's the first time in a long time that we've won the turnover battle and didn't win the game. We had multiple opportunities, but we have to find a way offensively to score points against really, really good defenses, whether it's home or away."

On Weber State Loss: "Weber State had a high day in offensive output, and a lot of that is due to the fact that our defense was out on the field too much. Three of those times, Weber State had fake punts, so give credit to them because we were out-coached, and Weber State took advantage. Coach (Jay) Hill is a great coach, he's a special teams coach and a defensive guy. They held us in check and just kind of off of our rhythm for the better part of the game until we got into a fourth quarter rhythm after our score and the turnover by our defense. We had too many dropped balls on offense, we put the ball on the ground too many times and had three turnovers. We had too many errors, forced errors by us, so credit Weber State's defense. But their offense came in and dictated the outcome of the game. We were an extra point away from seeing the game go to overtime, but we didn't because we didn't execute and that was the theme of the day."
 
On Idaho Victory: "One word comes to mind -- awesome. It was a collective effort, awesome, by coaches, by players, by all involved. Our team has taken every challenge and we've succeeded on every challenge thus far. How much better can we get? That's to be determined. The challenge is to stay at the level that we're at. Because if we're not at that level, then everyone wants to know why we aren't. The bar is high, extremely high. Eric Barriere, again, substantiates himself as the best player in the land at this level. Period, bar none, zero discussion as far as I'm concerned. He is explosive, he is selfless and he understands the run game complements the pass game. The run-pass-options open up because we have a respected run game, and we did a good job moving the ball against a very solid defense, on paper, going into this game."   
 
On Northern Colorado Win: "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. 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 (of the turnover battle) to improve to 62-0."
 
On Montana Victory: "It was one of those classic, in the moment games that is an instant classic right away. At the end of the day, there were a lot of plays on both sides of the ball between two awesome teams. We were playing on our home field with awesome fans on both sides. Like I've said many times, it's unfortunate that somebody has to lose in this game. We knew it was going to be back-and-forth and they had the upper hand in the first half. We kind of held it together, and our defense played outstanding and the offense got points when they needed to get points. We gave up the late kick return to kind of give the game a little bit more of a twist when we were up 10, and they grabbed momentum at that point. Again, number three (Eric Barriere) without a doubt showed why he's the best player in America at our level. There's no argument, there is zero argument. We heard all week that they'd only given up two touchdowns and our guys were up for the challenge. At the end of the day, when those things are said, those don't go on the bulletin board those things are just remembered."
 
On Southern Utah Win: "We're playing consistently on offense. Outside of the penalties tonight, we ultimately played a good football team and really clean game. We had a boo-boo with our PAT and the penalties, but those are the only two things that come to mind right now that we could clean up. We were aggressive from the jump with the fake punt out of the gate, we've been repping that for a while now, and it was time. It was a surprise element, and Eric Barriere did Eric Barriere things. Our receivers stepped up after Freddie Roberson went down early in the game, and we moved the ball well against a good defense on the road against a team we lost to here in 2017. Make no bones about it, that was in my head from 2017, selfishly. We didn't overlook our opponent, we never will, and we came out on top."
 
On Defense at Southern Utah: "At halftime we talked as coaches and as a team about urgency. It was a one-word message at halftime: urgency. We were playing okay, but our lack of urgency allowed us not to play as well as we could. Whether that be calls or tackling, it wasn't perfect by any means, but we had more urgency in the last 30 minutes after giving up a touchdown on the first series on defense. We buckled down, knocked the ball out late, and our defense finally found a little bit of magic after we got things going on offense in the second half. I couldn't be prouder, going on the road and winning by 29 points."
 
On Western Illinois Win: "It was a tale of two halves. We had a lot of fight in the first half on offense, and we had a really solid second quarter on defense. In the second half, we scored on the first play offensively with Dennis Merritt's long run, but we couldn't muster up enough to get stops or get the ball back. We hurt ourselves with penalties and inconsistent drives, we had too many three, and four, and outs. Half of America loses every week, and we weren't in that half. It is a win, but we have a lot of things to clean up."