Eastern Washington University "Eagles" versus Idaho State University "Bengals" Saturday, March 13 • 3:05 p.m. Pacific Holt Arena • Pocatello, Idaho
TV:	None
Webcast:	Pluto TV Channel 1061 (http://pluto.tv & http://watchbigsky.com)
Radio:	700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area. Larry Weir returns for his 30th season calling the play-by-play, with analysis handled by Paul Sorensen for the 18th year. Broadcasts begin one hour prior to kickoff and include an expanded post-game show.
Internet Radio:	https://tunein.com/radio/Eastern-Washington-Eagles-Sports-Network-s273711/
Radio Mobile Phone App:	Via tunein radio.
Live Stats:	Click Here for ISU Game EWU Home Games: http://ewustats.com
EWU Game Program:	https://publogix.com/e/20-ewaufbyb/

Streaks typically have to end sometime, and the Eagles are hoping it isn't this week in Pocatello, Idaho.
 
The 18th-ranked Eastern Washington University football team plays at Idaho State this Saturday (March 13) in a Big Sky Conference game at Holt Arena in a battle of 1-1 teams. Eastern has won 11-straight versus the Bengals and have not lost to them since 2005.
 
Kickoff is 3:05 p.m. Pacific time in a game which isn't televised, but may be viewed via Pluto TV channel 1061 or via http://watchbigsky.com. Fans can also listen to the game on 700-AM ESPN, 105.3-FM, via the web at tunein.com and via mobile phone app, with pre-game coverage starting one hour prior to kickoff.
 
Eastern is 1-1 following last Saturday's (March 6) 45-13 home victory over Northern Arizona, which followed a season-opening loss at Idaho on Feb. 27. Idaho State is also 1-1, but the Bengals did the opposite – falling at home to Weber State 49-21 and then squeaking out a 26-24 win at Southern Utah.
 
This week's game completes the first-half of the six-game league schedule for both teams, and Eastern will try to continue its recent dominance of ISU. On Nov. 9, 2019, Eastern beat ISU 48-5 as quarterback Eric Barriere finished with 467 yards of total offense in the game at Holt Arena. Barriere passed for 406 and rushed for 61 versus the Bengals to finish with 467 yards total. He had three passes of at least 58 yards versus Idaho State (58, 59, 80), and the 80-yarder against ISU was the longest of his career.
 
The win last year at ISU extended EWU's current streak of 51 seasons with at least one road win and winning for the 11th-straight time over Idaho State. In those 11 victories, EWU has out-scored the Bengals by an average score of 41-19 (448-205 in total points), having not lost since ISU won 34-30 in Pocatello in 2005.
 
Overall, the Eagles have dominated the series against Idaho State, winning 29 of the 38 meetings with victories in 18 of the last 21. Eastern is 17-5 in meetings in Pocatello, 11-4 in Cheney and 1-0 at Spokane's Albi Stadium.
 
The Idaho game was EWU's first since Nov. 23, 2019, when EWU beat Portland State 53-46 to end the regular season. But instead of playing Florida last fall on Sept. 5, the pandemic forced the Eagles to wait a full 462 days before playing again.
 
Eastern finished 7-5 in 2019, including a 6-2 record in the Big Sky to finish in a third-place tie. However, the Eagles were passed over for a berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs despite finishing as the national runner-up in 2018.
 
Idaho State was 3-9 overall in 2019 and 2-6 in the league under Rob Phenicie, who is in his fourth season at the helm of the Bengals.
 
None of EWU's five league opponents this winter/spring – including a pair of games with Idaho – had winning records overall or in the league in 2019. They combined for a 20-39 record overall and 12-28 in the Big Sky. However, Idaho knocked off Eastern 35-27 on Sept 21, 2019 and 28-21 on Feb. 27, 2021, representing the only two losses in 12 games for Best in his head coaching career versus the five opponents. In school history, EWU is 76-40 versus those five foes, and 17 of those losses and just seven wins are against Idaho.
 
Eastern won for the 15th-straight time at "The Inferno" when it beat Northern Arizona, and will next play there on March 27 versus Cal Poly.
 
The NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs – just 16 teams this year -- are slated to begin on April 24 and conclude on May 16.
 
 

Game Notes

 
Eagles Will Play Their 62nd Game in a Dome
 
The game Feb. 27, 2021, versus Idaho was Eastern's 61st game inside a dome, where the temperatures are always at about 72 degrees and wind or humidity are not factors. After the 28-21 loss, Eastern is 31-30 all-time in domes, including a 4-10 record at the Kibbie Dome. Eastern is also 15-4 at Idaho State's Holt Arena, 10-7 at NAU's Walkup Skydome, 2-0 at North Dakota, 0-1 at North Dakota State, 0-1 at South Dakota, 0-6 at Northern Iowa and 0-1 at the Houston Astrodome.
 
Playing in a dome is a far cry from what Eastern faced Sept. 14, 2019, in Jacksonville, Ala., where the game was delayed by 30 minutes to 3:35 p.m. because of lightning in the area. At kickoff it was 90 degrees with 67 percent humidity. That was the eighth-hottest game in recorded EWU history (since 1980), ranking behind the 106 at Arizona State (8/31/02 at 6 p.m.), 97 at Sacramento State (9/26/09 at 6 p.m.), 94 at Southwest Texas State (9/7/95 at 6 p.m. in San Marcos, Texas), 93 at Spokane's Albi Stadium versus Portland State (9/3/88 at 7 p.m.), 93 at Sacramento State (9/26/15 at 6 p.m.), 92 at Eastern Illinois (9/14/91 at 6:30 p.m.) and 91 at Nicholls State (9/2/04 at 6:30 p.m. at Thibodeaux, La.). On two other occasions the temperature has hit 90 degrees at kickoff.
 
The temperature for the Nicholls State game in 2004 also came with considerable humidity, and a pre-game rain shower soaked Eastern's footballs prior to the 37-14 loss. Eastern also faced severe weather at Sam Houston State on Sept. 28, 2013, when a thunder, lightning and rain storm stopped the game for 78 minutes. With a temperature of 84 degrees and 81 percent humidity, Eastern fell 49-34. There was also a similar one-hour weather delay when Eastern played at Southwest Texas State in San Marcos, Texas, on a 94-degree day on Sept. 7, 1995. Eastern won that game 34-16.
 
 
Four More Players Make First Career Starts
 
Four more players made their first career starts in the Northern Arizona game, including three on the defensive side. Junior Debore'ae McClain and redshirt freshman Brock Harrison made their first starts, as did redshirt freshman nickel back Marlon Jones Jr. The lone starting debut on offense was by sophomore Brad Godwin at guard.
 
Thus far in the 2020-21 season, 16 players have made the initial starts of their careers – nine on defense and seven on offense. In addition, true freshman kicker Jackson Cleaver made his Eagle debut versus Northern Arizona and scored EWU's first points with a 28-yard field goal, then made all six of his extra point attempts after that.
 
Six Eagles on both sides of the ball made their first starts of their careers at Idaho on Feb. 27, including true freshman offensive guard Wyatt Hansen and true freshman wide receiver Efton Chism III, who were playing their first games in college. The others on offense were guard Wyatt Musser, tackle Matt Shook, running back Tamarick Pierce and wide receiver Anthony Stell Jr. On defense, the first-time starters were end Jusstis Warren, tackle Joshua Jerome, tackle Jacob Newsom, linebacker Ty Graham, safety Keshaun King and safety Anthany Smith.
 
Graham was playing his first game as an Eagle after playing previously at Idaho and redshirting in 2019, Warren is a sixth-year senior and played one game in 2019 after transferring from Washington. In all, a total of six true freshmen saw action and made their collegiate debuts at Idaho – several on special teams. The six true freshmen who played were Hansen, Chism, wide receiver Nolan Ulm, linebacker Conner O'Farrell, running back Justice Jackson and defensive lineman Ben Roe. In the NAU game, defensive backs Kameron Lane and DaJean Wells and defensive lineman Matthew Brown all played as true freshmen.
 
Eastern entered the 2020-21 season 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 (108 starts by 19 players): Calin Criner 16, Jack Sendelbach 15, Chris Ojoh 13, Tre Weed 13, Mitchell Johnson 12, Kedrick Johnson 8, Darreon Moore 7, Darrien Sampson 5, Ira Branch 3, Caleb Davis 2, Ty Graham 2, Anthany Smith 2, Joshua Jerome 2, Keshaun King 2, Jacob Newsom 2, Jusstis Warren 1, Debore'ae McClain 1, Marlon Jones Jr. 1, Brock Harrison 1.
 
Current Starts on Offense (127 starts by 17 players): Tristen Taylor 42, Eric Barriere 25, Andrew Boston 20, Johnny Edwards IV 12, Dylan Ingram 4, Conner Crist 4, Talolo Limu Jones 4, Freddie Roberson 4, Wyatt Musser 2, Matt Shook 2, Tamarick Pierce 2, Blake Gobel 1, Dennis Merritt 1, Wyatt Hansen 1, Anthony Stell Jr. 1, Efton Chism III 1, Brad Godwin 1.
 
 
Defense Leading the Way After Two Games

Offense pays the bills at Eastern, but the defense has definitely cashed in with two impressive performances thus far. Although the Eagles fell to Idaho 28-21 on Feb. 27, the defense surrendered just 366 yards, including only 70 on the ground. In a 45-13 win the next week versus Northern Arizona, the defense surrendered just 338 – 128 rushing and 210 passing. Through two games, Eastern already has a 344-yard advantage in total offense (1,048 to 704), and has forced opponents to punt 13 times and settle for field goal attempts on four occasions.
 
Linebackers Chris Ojoh and Ty Graham have led the way thus far with 18 and 16 tackles, respectively, and safety Anthany Smith has 16 with an interception and pass broken up. Junior defensive end Mitchell Johnson has 1 1/2 sacks, and redshirt freshman defensive end Brock Harrison already has four quarterback hurries.
 
 
Barriere is Big Sky Player of the Week After Offensive Explosion
 
All-America quarterback Eric Barriere earned the fourth Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week Award of his illustrious career on Sunday (March 7) after he passed for 413 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-13 victory over Northern Arizona at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.
 
Barriere passed for 413 yards and three touchdowns in the victory over NAU, giving him four 400-yard performances in his Eastern career as he recorded the 43rd in school history. He completed 29-of-49 passes and now has 10 performances with at least 300 yards.
 
Eastern took the lead for good early in the second period on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Barriere to freshman tight end Blake Gobel to cap a 72-yard drive. Eastern scored twice in the final nine minutes of the half on drives of 65 and 80 yards to lead 24-6 at halftime.
 
Eastern's touchdown on the first scoring drive came on a 54-yard TD pass to sophomore Freddie Roberson. Roberson's former high school teammate, sophomore Anthony Stell Jr., then caught a 32-yard score from Barriere.
 
Coupled with his nine rushing yards, Barriere had 422 yards of total offense to give him eight career performances with 400+ and 15 with 300+. Barriere completed passes to 10 different receivers, and is now a perfect 12-0 as a starter at Roos Field. He has 61 touchdown passes to 18 different receivers in his career, including three new receivers in the 2020-21 season (Anthony Stell Jr., Dennis Merritt and Blake Gobel).
 
Eastern piled up 622 yards of total offense in the 32-point victory – the 34th 600-yard game in EWU's history.
 
 
Best Back on the Sideline For Northern Arizona Game
 
Eastern confirmed on Thursday, Feb. 25 that head football coach Aaron Best had tested positive for Covid-19 and would miss the season-opening game at Idaho. Per NCAA rules, the entire team and staff are given PCR tests every Wednesday. The most recent test results were received Thursday morning, with Coach Best being the only positive result with no symptoms. Following institutional and regionally approved contact-tracing protocols for positive tests, it was determined that no other team members or staff needed to be quarantined. The decision to play the football game, as scheduled, was made during a zoom call hosted by the Big Sky Conference featuring medical staff and athletic administrators from both Universities.
 
Coach Best followed proper isolation protocols via CDC guidelines and the Spokane Regional Health District, and came out of isolation on Saturday, March 6 to coach versus Northern Arizona. The result was a 32-point Eagle victory by a 45-13 score.
 
 
Eagles No Stranger to Football in the Winter Months
 
Although having never played in February, practicing and playing in the winter months is nothing new for the Eagle football program. The Eagles have played 31 games in 13 appearances in the NCAA Football Championship subdivision playoffs, including 21 home games.
 
And EWU is successful in the winter months to boot, including a 15-6 record in those 21 home playoff games. Since 2004, EWU is 39-7 in regular season games in November with a nine-game winning streak, and are 16-9 in the playoffs in November and beyond for a collective 55-16 record (77 percent). Since 2010, EWU is 40-9 in November and beyond for 82 percent – 26-4 in regular season games and 14-5 in the playoffs.
 
 
Additional Pre-Season Rankings Pegs Eastern No. 12 in Nation
 
Eastern was ranked 12th nationally in the winter/spring preseason rankings released Feb. 9 by Athlon Sports, as well as the weekly poll of sportswriters and broadcasters released by Stats Perform on Feb. 22. Eastern fell to 22nd nationally in the Stats Perform poll released March 1, with Idaho jumping into the rankings at No. 19 and Weber State moving up to No. 2. In the poll released on March 8, Eastern moved up to No. 18 while Weber State remained second and UC Davis entered the rankings at No. 23 after beating Idaho 27-17.
 
Weber State was ranked No. 2 in the nation in the preseason Athlon poll behind North Dakota State, and Idaho was the other Big Sky Conference school in the rankings at No. 24. Weber State was picked No. 4 by Stats Perform in its initial poll of the season.
 
 Eastern opened the winter/spring season with a 28-21 loss at Idaho on Feb. 27, and will end the regular season on April 10th versus the Vandals. Eastern does not play Weber State, but the Eagles are scheduled to play at UC Davis on April 3. The Aggies were listed "On the Cusp" in the Athlon rankings.
 
The Athlon rankings came a day after Eastern was picked 14th in winter/spring rankings by Hero Sports, which also honored Eric Barriere as the sole quarterback on its preseason All-America squad. Eastern earned five other top 25 preseason rankings last fall. The Eagles were picked 18th by Stats Perform, and Hero Sports and Street and Smith's also gave the Eagles that ranking. Eastern was No. 20 in the Athlon Sports Preseason Top 25 rankings and were ranked 23rd by College Football America.
 
EWU 2020-21 EWU Preseason Rankings
(as of Feb. 8, 2021)
 
FCS Top 25 Preseason Rankings
12th (winter/spring) - Athlon Sports (#1 NDSU, #2 Weber State, #24 Idaho)
14th (winter/spring) - Hero Sports (#1 NDSU, #3 Weber State)
18th (fall) – Stats Perform (#1 NDSU, #4 Weber State, #6 Montana State, #7 Montana, #12 Sacramento State)
18th (fall) - Hero Sports (#1 NDSU, #3 Weber State, #5 Montana State, #7 Montana, #12 Sacramento State)
18th (fall) - Street & Smith's (#1 NDSU, #5 Weber State, #8 Montana State, #9 Montana, #16 Sacramento State)
20th (fall) - Athlon Sports (#1 NDSU, #4 Sacramento State, #6 Weber State, #7 Montana State, #9 Montana)
23rd (fall) - College FB America (#1 NDSU, #6 Montana, #7 Montana State, #8 Weber State, #11 Sac State)
 
 
Quarterback Eric Barriere Picked by Hero Sports as Lone QB on Its Preseason All-America squad
 
Hero Sports honored quarterback Eric Barriere as one of 29 players selected to its FCS All-America squad on Feb. 8 as selected by Sam Herder and Brian McLaughlin. The honor comes after a fall season in which he earned four other honors, including those picked by STATS Perform (third team), Hero Sports (second team), Phil Steele Publications (fourth team) and College Sports Journal (one of three quarterbacks on its 60-player preseason All-America squad). In addition, last July 24 the Big Sky Conference office announced Barriere as its choice as the preseason Offensive MVP of the league.
 
Barriere hails from Inglewood, Calif., and is a 2016 graduate of La Habra HS. He is a communication studies major at EWU and has previously earned third team All-Big Sky honors as both a sophomore (2018) and junior (2019). 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.
 
EWU 2020-21 EWU Preseason Honors
(as of Feb. 8, 2021)
 
Senior Co-Captains
QB Eric Barriere (2nd Year), S Calin Criner (1st Year), LB Ty Graham (1st Year), RB Tamarick Pierce (1st Year), LB Jack Sendelbach (2nd Year), OT Tristen Taylor (1st Year)
 
All-America
QB Eric Barriere - 1st Team Hero Sports (winter/spring)
QB Eric Barriere - 2nd Team Hero Sports (fall)
QB Eric Barriere - 3rd Team STATS (fall)
QB Eric Barriere - 4th Team Phil Steele Publications (fall)
QB Eric Barriere - College Sports Journal (fall; one of three quarterbacks on 60-player team)
LB Chris Ojoh – 3rd Team Hero Sports
 
All-Big Sky Conference
QB Eric Barriere – Official Team Selected by League Office (also MVP on offense) & 1st Team Phil Steele Publications
OL Tristen Taylor – Official Team Selected by League Office & 2nd Team Phil Steele Publications
WR Andrew Boston – 3rd Team Phil Steele Publications
DL Mitchell Johnson – 3rd Team Phil Steele Publications
K Seth Harrison – 3rd Team Phil Steele Publications
 
 
68 Percent of EWU's Roster Are From Washington in 2020-21
 
The Eagles currently have 96 players on its 2020-21 roster, and 65 of them – 68 percent – are from the state of Washington. Eastern's coaching staff is Washington-based as well, with eight of the team's 10 full-time coaches (80 percent) hailing from the Evergreen State. Head coach Aaron Best is a 1996 graduate of Curtis High School in Tacoma, Wash.
 
 
More About the Eagles in 2020-21
 
A third team All-American as a junior, Eric Barriere is one of four returning starters on an offensive squad which led the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense in 2019. The Eagles also have six returning starters on defense, plus all three of their specialists.
 
The Eagles have 43 returning letterwinners, as the fourth season under Aaron Best is underway. The breakdown is 20 letterwinners back from the offense, 20 on defense, a kicker, a punter and a long snapper. Eastern lost eight returning players since the summer when the pandemic took its toll on the 2020 schedule, which was going to be Eastern's best home schedule in school history. The adjusted, abbreviated schedule will not count against the eligibility for all student-athletes.
 
Eastern has 14 seniors on its squad, that coming after losing in excess of 20 in each of the past two seasons. Eastern had only 14 seniors in 2017 and 12 in 2016.
 
Three of the returning players include All-Big Sky offensive tackle Tristen Taylor, linebacker Jack Sendelbach and running back Dennis Merritt, who 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 in 2019. Conceivably, all four of those players could return in the fall of 2021 as well.
 
Taylor had started 28-of-28 games as an Eagle until a season-ending knee injury kept him out of the lineup on Sept. 22, 2018, versus Cal Poly. He has now started all 42 games he has played in his career, and was a second team All-Big Sky selection in 2019 after earning honorable mention in both 2016 and 2017.
 
Cheney native and Idaho transfer Ty Graham redshirted in 2019 and is now playing in 2020-21, as well as previous letter winners Chris Ojoh (linebacker) and Tamarick Pierce (running back). Ojoh and Pierce retained their redshirt status in 2019 by playing in four games apiece in 2019.
 
Consistency has been a cornerstone of EWU Football, and the Eagles have cemented a 16-year run of winning the league title and/or advancing to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs at least every other year. Eastern has achieved that feat ever since its last back-to-back-empty seasons in 2002 and 2003.
 
In 2018, Eastern secured its 10th Big Sky title and 13th appearance in the FCS Playoffs in what is now 36 years as a member of the FCS (formerly I-AA). Since 2010 when EWU won the NCAA Division I title, the Eagles have won league titles six times (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018) and advanced to the playoffs all six of those seasons.
 
From 2004 to 2009 Eastern advanced to the playoffs four times (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009), and won the league title twice (2004, 2005). Eastern has three other playoff berths in school history (1985, 1992, 1997) and two other titles (1992, 1997), and has only had two multi-year stretches in which they accomplished neither. Those were both six-year stretches from between 1986-1991 and 1998-2003.
 
The Eagles have been impressive – if not dominant – in the league in the last 13 years (2007-2019), winning 80 percent of their games (83-21) and six titles. In that span, Eastern has had no league finish below 5-3 and five of them have included 7-1 or 8-0 records.
 
 
More About the 2020-21 Winter/Spring Schedule
 
The original winter/spring schedule was released on Nov. 4, and Sacramento State was the only team to announce then that the Hornets would skip the spring season and prepare for the fall 2021 campaign. But since Jan. 15, Montana, Montana State, Portland State and Northern Colorado announced they were playing a reduced schedule, leaving the league with eight teams to play the full six games.
 
Essentially, league administrators came up with a schedule that replaced EWU's home game with the Grizzlies with the NAU contest, and EWU road games versus PSU and MSU with games at Idaho State and Idaho.
 
Open dates in the schedule are set for March 20 and April 17 in case games need to be re-scheduled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 16-team NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs are scheduled to begin April 24 and culminate with the championship game on May 16. Teams are required to play four games to qualify.
 
The game with Cal Poly will mark the return to EWU of new Mustang head coach Beau Baldwin, who spent 13 previous seasons as a coach at EWU. He was an assistant from 2003-06, and head coach from 2008-16.
 
Eastern was 3-1 in the 2019 season versus opponents on this spring's schedule, including a league-opening 35-27 loss at Idaho on Sept. 21, 2019. Later, on consecutive weeks, Eastern defeated NAU (66-38), ISU (48-5) and Cal Poly (42-41). The Eagles haven't played UC Davis since a 34-29 victory in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs in 2018, giving EWU a perfect 8-0 mark all-time against the Aggies.
 
On Aug. 7 in response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Big Sky Conference announced that all league schools – including Eastern – would move their 2020 schedule to winter/spring 2021.  The NCAA had previously announced that the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs would not have its playoffs in the fall, and eventually announced their move to 2021.
 
The 2020 schedule was going to be Eastern's best in school history, featuring home games versus Montana, Montana State, Idaho and two-time defending Big Sky Conference champion Weber State. The Eagles were scheduled to open Big Sky Conference play at Southern Utah on Sept. 26, followed by its conference home opener versus Montana on Oct. 3. The schedule also included non-conference home games versus Western Illinois and Northern Arizona, and a trip to play at Florida.


How the 2020-21 FCS Football Season Will Work
 
The coronavirus pandemic has thrown a wrinkle into 2020-21 NCAA sports scheduling, and FCS football is no exception. Based on original correspondence from the NCAA last fall, below is the latest information on the state of this year's FCS season and the plans to host a revised championship in the spring.
 
The Basics . . .
The fall championship, usually culminating in an early January title game, is still planned to be played — albeit in the spring this year. The championship is currently scheduled for April 18-May 16, with 16 teams making the playoff field as opposed to the usual 24. In this 16-team bracket, 11 teams will automatically qualify via conference championships. The remaining five will be at-large selections. Schools that opted to play games in the fall will have their results considered in the selection process for the spring championship field.
 
Conference-by-Conference Spring Season Information (as of Feb. 10, 2021) . . .
*Big Sky: Eight teams will play six conference games each, starting Feb. 27. The five schools opting out include Sacramento State, Montana, Montana State, Portland State and Northern Colorado.
*Big South: Five teams will play four conference games each, starting March 13. Two teams played at least one game in the fall, and league schools are also allowed to play up to four non-conference games in the spring.
*CAA: 11 teams will play six conference games each, starting March 6.
*MEAC: The conference previously announced a start date of Feb. 20. However, Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M have since announced they will not be playing.
Ivy League: No spring season.
MVFC: 11 teams will play eight conference games each, starting Feb. 19. Three teams played at least one game in the fall.
*NEC: Eight teams will play four conference games each, starting March 7. The No. 1 and No. 2 teams will play for the NEC title.
*OVC: Eight teams will play seven conference games each, starting Feb. 21. Four teams played at least one game in the fall.
*Patriot League: Six teams in two divisions will play four games each starting March 13. Two games will be against teams within divisions, and two outside the divisions. The divisional winners will play for the title on the weekend of April 10.
*Pioneer League: Eight teams will play a six-game schedule starting March 13. Four teams played at least one game in the fall.
*SoCon: Nine teams will play nine conference games each, starting Feb. 20. Three teams played at least one game in the fall.
*Southland: Seven teams will play six conference games each, starting Feb. 20. Four teams played at least one game in the fall.
*SWAC: Nine teams will play six conference games each, starting Feb. 21. The schedule also includes one non-conference open date for each team.
*League receives automatic berth in FCS Playoffs.
 
The last regular season games of the spring schedule, including conference championships, must come no later than April 17. Once regular season play concludes, the 16-team playoff bracket will be revealed on Sunday, April 18. The four rounds will be conducted each of the next four weekends, ending with the national championship game on Sunday, May 16 at 11 a.m.  Pacific time. The national championship game will be played in Frisco, Texas, as originally planned. Toyota Stadium in Frisco has been host to the title game since 2010 and will remain the annual host through at least 2024.
 
How does automatic qualification into this year's championship work?
Eleven conference champions will earn automatic berths into this year's playoff field, one more than the usual 10. This includes the addition of the MEAC champion, as the conference has opted into the FCS championship following the cancelation of the 2020 Celebration Bowl. Under normal circumstances, the Celebration Bowl pits together the conference champions from the SWAC and MEAC.
In addition to the MEAC, here are the other conferences who will receive automatic qualification into the 2020-21 field: Big Sky, Big South, Colonial Athletic Association, Missouri Valley Football Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Pioneer Football League, Southern Conference and Southland Conference. Each conference must have at least three schools participating in football in order to be eligible for automatic qualification.
This leaves five spots for at-large selections in the 16-team playoff field.
 
How will the rest of the FCS playoff field be determined?
The FCS Championship committee has determined that at-large candidates must play a minimum of four games this season to be considered for selection.
After that, it will be difficult to choose in a season that allows scarce opportunities for non-conference play and inconsistent scheduling models from conference to conference. The committee has noted that quality wins will be a factor, particularly in non-conference and FBS play.
 
How will the committee look at teams who played in the fall?
Some schools decided to play a few non-conference games in the fall before beginning league play in February or March. Other programs have opted to solely play a non-conference slate in the fall. All fall results will be considered in the spring when the championship field is announced.
 
 
On the Horizon for EWU
 
Eastern home football games on March 27 (Cal Poly) and April 10 (Idaho) will all kick-off at 1:05 p.m. Pacific time and be broadcast regionally on SWX. Eastern began its winter/spring 2020-21 Big Sky Conference schedule on Feb. 27 at Idaho (28-21 loss) and March 6 at home versus Northern Arizona (45-13 win), and both were televised by SWX.
 
At this time, no spectators will be permitted to attend home football games due to institutional, regional, and state guidelines in regards to the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the region has been moved into phase 2 of the Healthy Washington—Roadmap to Recovery plan, capacity limitations are expected to be filled exclusively by competitors and event staff. Eastern parking lots will be closed to the general public and no pre-game tailgating or overnight parking will be allowed.
 
Eastern will also play road games at Idaho State (March 13 at 3:05 p.m. Pacific time) and UC Davis (April 3 at 1:05 p.m. Pacific) as part of the abbreviated winter/spring schedule. The NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs – just 16 teams this year -- are slated to begin on April 24 and conclude on May 16.
 
SWX, a sister station of KHQ in Spokane, is available over-air on channels 6.2 in Spokane/Cheney/Coeur d'Alene/Sandpoint/Lewiston, 23.3 in Yakima and 25.3 in the Tri-Cities. The station is also available via Comcast 306/112 in Spokane; Davis Cable 37/310 in Cheney; Spectrum 1245 in Coeur d'Alene & Pullman/Moscow; Charter 183 in Tri-Cities/Yakima; Cable One 36 in Lewiston; Northland Cable 317 in Moses Lake; and Northland Cable 115 in Sandpoint. New SWX/KHQ Sports Director Dennis Patchin will call the play-by-play for Eagle games.
 
Eastern home games will also be available via PlutoTV on channel 1053, as well as via https://bigskyconf.com/watchbigsky. Eastern games are also aired live on radio on 700-AM ESPN, 105.3-FM, via the web at tunein.com and via mobile phone app, with pre-game coverage starting a half-hour prior to tipoff. Larry Weir serves as the play-by-play broadcaster and Paul Sorensen is the analyst. Live statistics from all Eastern home games are available via http://ewustats.com.
 
 
 
 

Player Notes

 
Eagles Name Six Co-Captains for 2020-21 Season
 
Six Eastern football players were selected by their teammates as co-captains for the 2020-21 season, including quarterback Eric Barriere and linebacker Jack Sendelbach who will return for their second seasons as captains. They are joined by fellow seniors Tamarick Pierce (running back), Calin Criner (safety), Tristen Taylor (offensive tackle) and Ty Graham (linebacker).
 
Including Taylor and Graham, the six co-captains represent 211 total games worth of collegiate experience entering the 2020-21 season, including exactly 100 total starts. Sendelbach and Taylor are both sixth-year seniors who graduated from high school in 2015, while the other four were 2016 graduates and have all redshirted previously.

The six players represent three different states, including Washington, Idaho and California. Sendelbach is a 2015 graduate of Bishop Blanchet High School in Seattle, Wash., and Graham is a 2016 graduate of Cheney (Wash.) HS. Criner graduated in 2016 from Rocky Mountain HS and is from Boise, Idaho, and the other three are from California. Pierce is from Oakland and graduated from Saint Mary's HS in 2016; Barriere hails from Inglewood and is a 2016 graduate of La Habra HS; and Taylor is from Stockton and graduated in 2015 from Stagg HS.
 
 
Five Current Eagles Have Completed Coursework Toward Degrees
 
Five Eastern players have already completed requirements toward their bachelor's degree. 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. Defensive lineman Jusstis Warren, who like Sendelbach is a sixth-year senior, 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.
 
Since 2001, Eastern has annually averaged more than 20 selections to the Big Sky All-Academic team. Eastern has had a league-most 423 selections from 2001-2019 (the school with the next-best total has 300), and Eastern has won a total of 622 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.
 
 
After 833 Days Without Playing a Game, Ty Graham Finally Makes Eagle Debut
 
He grew up around the Eastern football program, and a circuitous route – with some irony mixed in – had Eagle co-captain Ty Graham playing his first game in an Eagle uniform against Idaho on Feb. 27, 2021. He responded with nine tackles in his EWU debut and has seven in his next game versus Northern Arizona.
 
With his father, John Graham, on the EWU coaching staff as defensive coordinator for eight years, Graham eventually graduated from Cheney, Wash., High School in 2016. He subsequently joined the University of Idaho program and played three seasons for the Vandals, but elected to transfer to EWU for the 2019 season.
 
He had to redshirt that year, then, the 2020 season was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, when he took the field to make his EWU debut – ironically against his former team – it was 833 full days since his last collegiate game. Ironically, that came on Nov. 17, 2018, in a 63-10 loss at Florida when he had six tackles and a forced fumble. Eastern was scheduled to open the 2020 season at Florida before that game was wiped out because of the pandemic.
 
While playing from 2016-18 for the Vandals, Graham had 133 tackles at Idaho, including 13 for losses. He had 2 1/2 sacks, an interception, two passes broken up and a forced fumble in 27 career games. As a junior in 2018 he had 65 tackles, including 12 in 38-14 loss at EWU at Roos Field on Oct. 27, 2018. He had 28 tackles as a sophomore and 40 as a true freshman in 2016. 
 
Now working toward his master's degree in business administration, Graham has already received his marketing degree from EWU with a minor in sports management. He had a 3.53 grade point average through spring quarter 2020 and previously won Big Sky All-Academic honors while a Vandal.
 
John Graham spent a short time as Idaho's linebackers coach when Ty was on the roster there. Ty's older brother, Andrew, played football at Montana Tech and Central Washington. His grandfather, Dan Graham, spent 11 years as head coach at nearby Reardan (Wash.) High School.
 
 
Walter Payton Award Finalist Eric Barriere Has Fourth 400-Yard Passing Game at Idaho
 
Senior quarterback and Walter Payton Award candidate Eric Barriere has opened his senior season by passing for 752 yards and five touchdowns already. Included was a 413-yard passing effort versus Northern Arizona on March 6 to earn Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors for the fourth time in his career.
 
He opened his senior season at Idaho on Feb. 27 by completing 32-of-57 passes for 330 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He had a 27-yard TD pass to Dennis Merritt in the second quarter to give EWU a 14-0 lead. His other TD pass was a 16-yarder to Anthony Stell Jr. in the third quarter. Barriere extended his streak of passes without an interception to 250 when his pass went through an EWU receiver's hands and was picked off by the Vandals. His last interception came on his 14th attempt at Sacramento State on Oct. 5, 2019.
 
Barriere has now had 15 performances of at least 300 yards of total offense and 10 with at least 300 yards passing in his 33 games as an Eagle (17-8 as a starter, including 12-0 at home). He has had eight with at least 400 yards of total offense and four  with at least 400 passing. he has completed 59.5 percent of his passes (524-of-881), good for 7,052 yards, 61 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, and has rushed 248 times for 1,212 net yards and 17 more TDs. He had a passing efficiency rating of 146.9 as a sophomore, 151.6 in 2019 and a 145.9 mark in his career to currently rank fifth in school history. His touchdown passes rank sixth, his total of 8,264 yards of offense already rank fifth all-time at EWU and his passing yardage is seventh. He is just 20 yards behind the career rushing record for a quarterback of 1,232 yards set by Vernon Adams Jr. (2012-14).
 
He finished his junior season ranked second in total offense with an average of 355.8 yards per game (E.J. Perry of Brown was at 367.8). Barriere was third in passing (309.3, with Northern Arizona's Case Cookus at 342.8) and was sixth with 31 touchdown passes and fifth in points responsible for (20.2 per game with 31 TDs passing, eight rushing and a two-point conversion).
 
He closed his junior season with 239 passes without an interception, setting the school's single season record for interceptions-to-attempts ratio. He had only four picks in 438 attempts, a miniscule average of .009 per attempt compared to the previous record of .010 set by Erik Meyer in 2005 (five interceptions in 410 attempts). His last interception came on his 14th attempt at Sacramento State on Oct. 5, 2019.
 
Barriere finished with the seventh-most passing yards in school history with 3,712, and his 31 touchdown passes is eighth. Including 558 rushing yards, his 4,270 yards of total offense was third-most all-time at EWU.
 
He ended the 2019 season with 260 yards and three touchdowns passing, and another 23 yards and a score on the ground in EWU's 53-46 win over Portland State on Nov. 23. He had pass completions of 46 and 50 yards, giving him 28 plays in his career of at least 40 yards. One game earlier, he had a career-best 164-yard rushing performance at Cal Poly, finishing with one TD rushing and one passing. He also had 176 yards through the air to give him his 340 yards of total offense.
 
In Eastern's first two games in November, Barriere had a total of 935 yards of total offense to earn him two-straight ROOT Sports Offensive Player of the Week honors as announced by the Big Sky Conference office. He was honored twice in 2019 and once in 2018.
 
His second honor in 2019 came after his 467-yard performance in a 48-5 win at Idaho State on Nov. 9, and he also received honorable mention as the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Offensive Player of the Week (STATS). Barriere passed for 406 and rushed for 61 versus the Bengals to finish with 467 yards total. He had three passes of at least 58 yards versus Idaho State (58, 59, 80), and the 80-yarder against ISU was the longest of his career.
 
One week before the ISU game, he was rewarded for totaling 488 yards in EWU's 66-38 win over Northern Arizona on Nov. 2 by earning his player of the week honors from the Big Sky and also received honorable mention as the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Offensive Player of the Week (STATS) and Performer of the Week (College Football Performance Awards). He had 367 yards through the air and 101 on the ground for 468 yards of total offense versus the Lumberjacks. He had a trio of touchdown passes, and finished 30-of-46 with no interceptions for an impressive 183.5 passing efficiency rating. He had a 75-yard touchdown pass to Talolo Limu-Jones on EWU's first offensive play of the game, and also caught a 20-yard pass from wide receiver Johnny Edwards IV.
 
In his previous home game on Oct. 12, he completed 28-of-43 passes for 445 yards and five touchdown passes for EWU in a 54-21 victory over Northern Colorado in which EWU led 40-0 at halftime. Coupled with his 41 yards rushing, his 486 yards were the second-most of his career.
 
Barriere had 309 yards passing with two touchdowns and 103 rushing and a TD versus Sacramento State on Oct. 5. He accounted for 412 of EWU's 497 yards of total offense, including a 92-yard touchdown run after he was flushed out of the pocket by Sacramento State. That equaled the fourth-longest run in school history, ranking only behind runs of 96 by Taiwan Jones (2009 versus Idaho State), 95 by John Ditz (1954 versus Lewis & Clark) and 94 by Sam McPherson (2018 versus Northern Arizona). It was the longest run by a quarterback, with the previous long set by Barriere versus Southern Utah in 2018 when he had an 85-yard TD run (he also had a 66-yard scoring run at Portland State in 2018). The Eagles had four runs of at least 81 yards in 2018.
 
He accounted for all four of EWU's touchdowns with two rushing and two passing against Idaho on Sept. 21. He had just 74 passing yards at halftime, but finished 28-of-46 for 365 yards, with another 20 on the ground. His rushing TDs (2), pass attempts (46), and total plays of offense (57, including 11 rushing) were all career highs at the time, and his 424 yards of total offense was the second-most.
 
He had perhaps his fastest start as an Eagle on Sept. 14 at Jacksonville State, completing 11-of-12 passes for 156 yards in the opening quarter to help EWU to a 28-7 lead. However, EWU failed to score in the fourth quarter and JSU won 49-45, as Barriere finished 24-of-43 for 294 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions.
 
One game earlier versus Lindenwood when EWU had a school-record 769 yards of offense, Barriere accounted for 556  by himself to rank as the 14th-most in Big Sky Conference history and just four away from the school record. That helped him earn Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors from College Sports Madness, as well as honorable mention from STATS for the National FCS Offensive Player of the Week award that wide receiver Dre' Sonte Dorton won. Barriere completed 32-of-46 passes for 522 yards, five touchdowns and an impressive 200.76 passing efficiency rating. He recorded the second-most passing yards in school history and just missed the top 14 in the 56-year history of the league (528 yards is No. 14 on the list). He rushed for 34 more yards, giving him 556 to come four yards from the EWU total offense record of 560 set by Gage Gubrud in 2017 versus Montana in which he also set the passing yards record of 549. Barriere's previous career highs were 352 passing yards and 405 yards of total offense.
 
Barriere was extremely productive throwing the ball in 2018 as an injury replacement for All-American Gage Gubrud (now at Washington State), finishing 13th in FCS in passing efficiency (146.9), 29th for passing yards overall (2,450) and 13th in touchdown passes with 24 after setting school and FCS Playoff records with seven versus Maine on Dec. 15. He was ninth with 198 total points responsible for and was 26th in average per game (14.14). He also finished 45th in total offense per game (218.8). Barriere averaged 6.2 per carry and finished with 613 yards on the ground to break the school record of 606 set by Gubrud in 2016.
 
In 2018, Eastern finished as the only school to rank in the top 20 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense, rushing and passing. The Eagles averaged 528.2 yards on offense to rank third in FCS, including 255.9 rushing (10th) and 272.3 passing (20th). Eastern was also ranked fourth in scoring (43.1). The Eagles as a team finished the 2018 season with a school-record 6.62 average per rush on the season to break the previous record of 6.41 set in 2001. The Eagles set team records for rushing yards (3,839) and rushing touchdowns (41).
 
 
Harrison's 2020-21 Campaign Has Odd Twist After Going a Perfect 12-of-12 in 2019
 
Redshirt freshman kicker Seth Harrison was the only player in FCS with an average of at least one field goal attempt per game to be perfect in the 2019 season, going 12-of-12 in the 2019 season. However, his 2020-21 debut at Idaho on Feb. 27 had an odd twist. After his first career miss on a 50-yarder in the second quarter, he attempted a 24-yarder in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 21-all with 11:01 left. His kick was ruled as a miss, but was so high it appeared to hit the scoreboard as opposed to the upright. It was reviewed, however, there was no video proof at the time to overturn the play. The next day (Feb. 28), the Big Sky issued an apology for the error, saying in a social media post "After watching additional video footage, it is evident that the official incorrectly ruled it as a missed field goal. The Big Sky acknowledges and regrets this error in officiating."
 
In 2019, Harrison was 31st in field goals with an average of 1.09 per game, including four field goals – the second time in four games he did that -- in a 48-5 victory over Idaho State on Nov. 9. He had makes of 40, 36, 21 and 36 in the first half, and his 40-yarder was a career long. He also had 10 kickoffs for a 57.5 average with one touchback.
 
Harrison was also 50-of-53 on extra points in 2019, having a string of 22-straight makes from Oct. 5 until missing his first attempt at Cal Poly on Nov. 16. He also averaged 52.9 yards on 78 kickoffs (six touchbacks). He received honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference honors and also earned Freshman All-America accolades.
 
Harrison garnered Big Sky Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors from the league after converting all nine of his extra point attempts and booting a 27-yard field goal in a 66-38 win over Northern Arizona on Nov. 2. He also had 10 kickoffs for a 50.8 average versus the Lumberjacks with one touchback.
 
In EWU's previous home game, he kicked four field goals (32, 21, 21 and 23) and made all six of his extra points to finish with 18 points in Eastern's 54-21 romp over Northern Colorado on Oct. 12. All four of his field goals came in the first half as he came one kick away from the school record of five. He also had 10 kickoffs for a 52.9 average.
 
Harrison had a field goal of 35 yards versus Montana on Oct. 26. In his first action as the No. 1 kicker on Sept. 14 versus Jacksonville State, Harrison made a 22-yard field goal, converted all six of his extra points, had eight kickoffs for a 58.1 average with two touchbacks and even recovered a fumble that led to an EWU touchdown.
 
Harrison, a redshirt freshman from Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) High School, didn't even start out the year as EWU's kicker. That role fell to junior Andre Slyter, who was 1-of-3 kicking field goals and later left the program. Harrison and Slyter were replacing EWU career and single season kick scoring leader Roldan Alcobendas, who was a perfect 16-of-16 kicking field goals in 2018 to win the Fred Mitchell Award as the top placekicker in the nation (all levels but FBS).
 
Thus, entering the 2020-21 spring season, Eastern kickers had made 29-of-31 field goal attempts since 2018.
 
 
Senior Calin Criner Wears No. 4 Legacy Jersey for Eagles
 
Eastern senior 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.
 
Since arriving at Eastern in the fall of 2016 from Rocky Mountain High School in Boise, Idaho, Criner has seven interceptions, 183 tackles, 10 passes broken up, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in his 38-game career (16 as a starter). He had four performances in his career with at least 10 tackles, but he did not play in EWU's first two games of the 2020-21 season.
 
In 2019, Criner started all 12 Eastern games and was third on the team with 85 tackles on the season. He also had three passes broken up and four interceptions. His average of 7.1 tackles per game ranked 14th in the Big Sky and his average of 0.33 interceptions tied for second.
 
Twice he received national accolades for his performances in individual games in 2019. He had his second two-interception game of his career and had eight tackles in EWU's 48-5 victory over Idaho State (11/9/19) to earn College Sports Madness Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors. Playing in front of a crowd of 14 family and friends which included his well-known father and grandfather, he also broke-up a pass and one of his tackles was for a loss of two yards.
 
Earlier in the season, Criner helped Eastern to a dominating 6-0 advantage in turnovers forced with another pair of interceptions and seven tackles in EWU's 35-20 victory over North Dakota (9/28/19). He was rewarded by earning honorable mention for STATS National Defensive Player of the Week honors.
 
Criner is the son of long-time collegiate and professional coach Mark Criner. Calin's grandfather, Jim Criner, was head coach at Boise State from 1976-82 and guided the Broncos to the 1980 NCAA Championship Subdivision (then I-AA) title.
 
In 2019, senior Dylan Ledbetter wore the No. 4 jersey and went on to win honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference honors.
 
Although the honor isn't necessarily given to the most talented defensive player on the team, Eastern has had 11-straight players in that number earn All-Big Sky honors, and 13 of a possible 14 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).
 
 
Boston Goes Over 100 Career Catches
 
A freshman All-America selection in 2018, Andrew Boston returns for his junior season after earning third team All-Big Sky honors in 2019. After catching eight passes for 120 yards versus Northern Arizona on March 6, he has 101 receptions for 1,381 yards and 10 touchdowns in 27 career games (20 as a starter) as an Eagle, but did not play in EWU's 2020-21 opener at Idaho on Feb. 27.
 
He finished the 2019 season 79th in FCS in receptions per game (4.5 with a total of 50) and 75th in receiving yards per game (66.4 with a total of 730). He caught a career-high 10 passes for 147 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Idaho State on Nov. 9. Earlier in the season, he had six catches for 112 yards and a TD versus Washington in EWU's opener on Aug. 31.
 
Boston finished his freshman season second on the team with 43 receptions for 531 yards (12.3 per catch) and four touchdowns. He had a career-high nine catches versus Idaho on Oct. 27, and had five grabs for a season-high 89 yards and a TD against Nicholls in the first round of the FCS Playoffs on Dec. 1. He scored a touchdown versus Maine in the semifinals, and had scores against Washington State and Cal Poly in back-to-back games early in the season.
 
 He is from Puyallup, Wash., and is a 2017 graduate of Emerald Ridge High School. He was the 2017 co-Scout Team Offensive Player of the Year. He earned honorable mention freshman All-America honors from Hero Sports in 2018, and received third team accolades by from Phil Steele Publications. He earned third team All-Big Sky honors as a sophomore in 2019.
 
 
Mitchell Johnson Up to 7 1/2 Career Sacks
 
In a big year for the defense at Eastern, redshirt freshman Mitchell Johnson was awarded first team Freshman All-America honors in 2018 from Hero Sports and Phil Steele Publications, on his way to earning second team All-Big Sky honors.
 
He now has 81 tackles, 7 1/2 sacks, three interceptions, three passes broken up, three fumble recoveries and a pair of forced fumbles in his 29-game career (12 as a starter). He had 1 1/2 sacks and eight total tackles versus Northern Arizona on March 6, 2021.  In his sophomore season in 2019, he had 41 tackles with 1 1/2 sacks and an interception.
 
Mitchell burst on the scene in 2018 and responded with 31 tackles, a team-leading 4 1/2 sacks, a pair of interceptions, two passes broken up, a pair of quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble. Johnson earned second-team All-Big Sky honors in his first season as an Eagle. He played in all 15 games as a backup in 2018, and had season highs of four tackles in three different games. He had four of his sacks in consecutive games versus Northern Arizona, Washington State and Cal Poly. Two of them came against the Cougars, and he also had a half-sack versus Maine on Dec. 15 to advance EWU to the NCAA Division I Championship Game on Jan. 5 in Frisco, Texas. Mitchell also had interceptions against Southern Utah in the regular season and UC Davis in the playoffs. His fumble recovery came against Weber State on Oct. 13 – Eastern's last setback until losing to North Dakota State in Frisco. He also had a sack and forced fumble against Cal Poly on Sept. 22 which was returned 62 yards for a touchdown by teammate Jim Townsend.
 
A 2017 graduate of West Linn (Ore.) High School, Johnson was EWU's Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year when he redshirted in 2017.


More on Eagle Offensive Players
 
The four returning starters on offense in the 2020-21 season include quarterback Eric Barriere, offensive tackle Tristen Taylor and wide receivers Johnny Edwards IV and Andrew Boston. A total of 10 players return on offense who have started games as Eagles.
 
Eastern closed the 2019 season with the best offense in FCS, finishing at 524.8 yards per game. Eastern also ended the regular season second in scoring (40.6), fifth in passing (317.1) and eighth in turnover margin (+0.92 per game). The Eagles also ranked 19th in rushing at 207.8 yards per game, and were the only team in FCS to rank in the top 24 in total offense, rushing and passing.
 
In EWU's last 16 seasons (2004-2019), EWU has ranked in the top 10 in passing 13 times, total offense on 12 occasions and scoring seven 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).
 
Backing up Barriere in 2020-21 will be junior Gunner Talkington, sophomore Simon Burkett and redshirt freshman Trey Turner. Talkington was the only player of the three to throw a pass in 2019, completing 9-of-26 for 73 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He's completed 15-of-38 passes for 135 yards and a pair of scores in his career.
 
Edwards returns for his senior season with 36 games of experience (12 as a starter), and has career totals of 52 receptions for 823 yards and seven touchdowns. As a junior, he was third on the team with 32 catches for 553 yards (17.3 per reception) and three scores, but he has not played in the 2020-21 season.
 
The most dynamic receiver at the end of the 2019 season turned out to be Talolo Limu-Jones, who had a career-high nine catches for 93 yards versus Idaho on Feb. 27, 2021. He now has 37 games of experience (four as a starter), and has 57 career catches for 1,021 yards and 11 touchdowns – an average of 17.9 per reception.
 
He finished with 24 grabs for 577 yards in 2019, with his per-catch average ranking second in school history behind the record of 25.8). He was 63rd in FCS with seven touchdown catches and his average of 24.04 yards per catch closed the year second behind the 24.49 average of Isaiah Weston of Northern Iowa.
 
Also returning to the receiver position are sophomores Freddie Roberson and Anthony Stell Jr., a pair of former high school teammates who were impressive as redshirt freshmen in 2019. Roberson closed the year with 14 catches for 220 yards and a score, and Stell had five grabs for 41 yards. In the 2020-21 opener at Idaho on Feb. 27, Roberson had a career-high seven catches for 48 yards, and Stell caught a career-high four for 70 with a touchdown. Stell topped that with five catches for 84 yards and a TD versus Northern Arizona on March 6, and Roberson finished with 65 yards and a score on four catches.
 
All-Big Sky tight end Jayce Gilder graduated, but three other tight ends from 2019 return. Junior Dylan Ingram now has 28 games of experience, and has caught five passes for 53 yards and a score in his career. Sophomore Aiden Nellor is also back and has 12 games of experience as an Eagle, as well as redshirt freshman Blake Gobel, who now has five games of experience.
 
Gobel played in four games in 2019, making his debut on Oct. 26 versus Montana. He had his first career catch on a 15-yard touchdown on a fake field goal attempt, then started in EWU's 42-41 win over Cal Poly on Nov. 16. The Eagles started in a three tight end formation and turned it into a 25-yard rushing gain on EWU's first offensive play
 
The running back position is void of one of the most productive backs in school history, but still returns senior Tamarick Pierce, who received a redshirt in 2019. Senior running back Antoine Custer Jr. handled the majority of the carries in 2019 and finished 15th in FCS in rushing (102.3), 12th in total rushing yards (1,228) and 11th in rushing touchdowns (16). Custer finished the year with six 100-yard performances – including his last four games – and earned second team All-Big Sky honors.
 
Pierce made the first start of his Eastern career at Idaho on Feb. 27, 2021, and rushed for a team-high 63 yards on a career-high 13 carries. He followed that with his first 100-yard rushing game with 105 and two scores versus Northern Arizona on March 6.
 
He now has a 6.3 career average per rush which currently ranks fourth in school history. Pierce has rushed for 1,182 yards and 20 touchdowns in 41 games as an Eagle with 14 catches for 120 yards and another score. He redshirted the 2019 season as he continued to rehabilitate a 2018 injury. A psychology major, Pierce has earned Big Sky All-Academic honors three times in his career thus far.
 
After coming off an injury from the year before, Pierce made his 2019 debut versus Montana and had a team-leading 57 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries (long of 30). He finished with 177 yards in four games played, and retained his redshirt status.
 
Sixth-year senior Dennis Merritt returns after suffering a serious lower leg injury versus Lindenwood on Sept. 7, 2019, and missing the remainder of the season. He opened the 2020-21 season by catching a 27-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter and finished with three catches for 46 yards (career high) and another 41 yards rushing. He now has 631 yards and four touchdowns rushing in his career, and another 11 catches for 193 yards and two scores in 31 games. Merritt had 87 yards (7.2 per rush) in 2019 before he was injured.
 
True freshman Silas Perreiah and redshirt freshman Micah Smith rounded out the running back corp in 2019, with both making their debuts as Eagles versus Lindenwood on Sept. 7. Perreiah has now played in 12 career games, and has 268 yards rushing with a touchdown and three catches for seven yards and another score. He had 126 yards rushing and a score versus North Dakota in 2019.
 
Eastern received a boost at running back with the return of sophomore Isaiah Lewis in 2020-21. 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, including 47 versus Southern Utah.
 
Besides true freshmen, Eastern's other running back in 2019 is Washington transfer Jamyn Patu. Although he didn't carry the ball for the Huskies, in his final two seasons at O'Dea High School in Seattle, Wash., he rushed for 3,777 yards and 42 touchdowns on 430 carries, averaging 155.8 per game and 8.8 per rush. As a senior in 2017, he was the Associated Press Washington Player of the Year for all classifications, and was the Seattle Times Player of the Year for all classifications.
 
The biggest priority for EWU in 2020-21 is replacing four starters on the offensive line, a situation which was helped considerably with the return of Taylor. He entered the 2020-21 season having started all 40 games he's played as an Eagle, but the four starters lost totaled 193 games played and 141 starts in their careers.
 
Taylor has now started all 42 games he's played as an Eagle. He has earned All-Big Sky Conference honors three times previously at EWU. He was a second team choice in 2019 and received honorable mention in 2016 and 2017. He redshirted in 2015 and was lost to a knee injury after three games in 2018. He is now working on a second degree in psychology after having already earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.
 
Senior starting center Conner Crist now has 24 career games of experience and four starts under his belt, including seven games and two starts in 2019. Junior starting guard Wyatt Musser now has 14 games worth of experience in his career and made the first start of his career on Feb. 27, 2021, at Idaho. Junior tackle Matt Shook also made the first start of his career against Idaho, and now has 12 games of experience after not playing in 2019 because of an injury.
 
The team's fifth starter in the 2020-21 season is true freshman Wyatt Hansen, and he started in his first collegiate game of his career on Feb. 27, 2021, at Idaho. Sophomore Brad Godwin made his first career start at guard in the next game on March 6 against Northern Arizona and now has 10 games of experience.
 
Eastern had 2,450 yards of offense in the last four games of the 2019 season (612.5 per game) to take over the national lead in total offense and maintain it. Eastern closed the year with 559 yards against Portland State on Nov. 23 and had 496 one game earlier at Cal Poly on Nov. 16. Prior to that, the Eagles had 706 versus Northern Arizona on Nov. 2 to rank fifth in school history, and 689 at Idaho State on Nov. 9 to rank seventh all-time. Eastern also had a school-record 769 in 2019 versus Lindenwood, and 637 against Northern Colorado on Oct. 12 to rank as the 19th most in EWU history.
 
The four linemen honored on the All-Big Sky team in 2019 combined to start 171 games, with 194 total games of experience. Offensive tackle Chris Schlichting (first team) started all 52 he played, and Taylor (second team) has started all 40 games he has played in his career. Center Spencer Blackburn (first team) started the last 49 of his 51-game career, and Kaleb Levao (third team) started 30 of the 51 he played. The fourth starter lost from 2019 was Will Gram, who finished his career with 39 games worth of experience and 10 starts (all in 2019).
 
Eastern had some impressive rushing performances in 2019, rushing for at least 174 yards eight times and at least 247 in six games (including the last four). The school's 5.29 average per rush ranked 13th in FCS. The Eagles had a season-high 320 versus Cal Poly on Nov. 16 as Barriere rushed for a career-high 164 and a score and Custer finished with 107 and four touchdowns on just nine carries.
 
 
More on Eagle Defensive Players
 
The six starters returning on defense feature a quartet in the secondary, plus the group is led by Jack Sendelbach, who served as one of EWU's co-captains in the 2019 season and will serve again in 2020-21. The other starters back include safety Calin Criner, rover Kedrick Johnson, end Mitchell Johnson and cornerbacks Tre Weed and Darreon Moore. A total of 10 players who had started previously return, led by current totals of 16 starts of Criner and 15 by Sendelbach. Those 10 players entered the 2020-21 season with a combined 86 starts.
 
Kedrick Johnson is back for his senior season, and has now played in 31 total games in his career (eight as a starter). He has 103 tackles, a pair of sacks and four passes broken up in his career after a 2019 campaign which saw him come on strong to finish with 50 tackles and a pair of PBUs.
 
Eastern's other two returning starters in the secondary are at cornerback where junior Moore and sophomore Weed return. Weed has now played 18 games (13 as a starter) and has career total of 51 tackles, two interceptions and eight passes broken up. He earned Freshman All-America accolades after a season in which he had 44 tackles, two interceptions and seven passes broken up as an 11-game starter. Moore has played in 24 career games (seven as a starter), and has 40 tackles with three passes broken up and a sack, but has yet to play in 2020-21. Moore started seven games in 2019, and finished the season with 29 tackles and three passes broken up,
 
Junior Ira Branch and sophomore Darrien Sampson each started three games in 2019, with Sampson closing the year with 17 tackles and a pair of PBUs, while Branch closed with 14 stops and broke up four passes. Sampson has played in 16 career games now (five starts) and has 21 tackles, an interception and a pair of passes broken up. Branch has 18 games of experience in his career (three starts) and 17 tackles.
 
Other returning letterwinners in the secondary include senior Tamir Hill, junior Keshaun King, junior Anthany Smith, junior Dean Sise and sophomore Demetrius Crosby Jr. King and Smith both made their starting debuts as safeties in EWU's 2020-21 opener at Idaho on Feb. 27, 2021. Smith had a career-high 10 tackles and a 71-yard interception return for a touchdown which was the 18th-longest in school history. He had the first interception return for a touchdown for EWU since Nzuzi Webster had a 48-yard return versus UC Davis on Nov. 10, 2018.
 
King now has 18 tackles in his 16-game career (two as a starter), and Smith has 43 career tackles, two interceptions and two passes broken up in 20 games (two as a starter). Smith played in just three games in 2019 before being lost for the season with an injury.
 
The secondary also includes Arizona State transfer Ely Doyle, as well as redshirt freshman Marlon Jones Jr. Doyle played in one game while at ASU, and is a former teammate at Bishop Alemany High School in California with starting linebacker Chris Ojoh. Doyle had his first tackles of his EWU career against Northern Arizona on March 6 and finished with seven.
 
Sendelbach and Ojoh headline a linebacker corp that includes five returning letterwinners. Sendelbach has not played in 2020-21, but he has 159 tackles in his 36-game career (15 as a starter), and has had eight performances in double figures. He has earned Big Sky Conference All-Academic honors three times as an Eagle, and has already received his bachelor's degree in marketing. He is now in a graduate program for sports and recreation administration.
 
Sendelbach was second on the team with 94 tackles with three sacks as an 11-game starter in 2019. Ojoh began that same season as a starter in the first three games but was injured, and played in just one game after that to retain his redshirt status. He had 27 tackles in four games, and he now has 168 tackles, three sacks, an interception and four passes broken up in his 32-game career (13 as a starter). He has five performances in his career with at least 10 tackles.
 
Four other returning lettermen are back for a defensive line which routinely rotates 9-12 players a game. Junior Caleb Davis has been productive in his first two years in the program with 47 tackles and a pair of sacks in 23 games, including 21 stops and one sack as a sophomore. But he has not played in the 2020-21 season.
 
Sophomore Joshua Jerome made the first start of his career against Idaho on Feb. 27, 2021, and responded with eight tackles (three of them for loss), a sack and two quarterback hurries. He has played just 17 career games (two as a starter), but already has 52 career tackles with 2 1/2 sacks.
 
Junior Debore'ae McClain had 11 tackles in 2019, and now has 24 in 29 career games. He made the first start of his career against Northern Arizona on March 6 and had three tackles.
 
Also back on the defensive line is Jusstis Warren, who transferred to EWU in 2019 from the University of Washington. He made his first start as an Eagle on Feb. 27, 2021, versus Idaho, and finished with four tackles. He played in EWU's opener against his alma mater in 2019, but missed the rest of the season. 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.
 
Five redshirt freshmen are also on the roster – Warren Hardin, Brock Harrison, Jacob Newsom, Soli Paleso'o and Jacobe Lee. All but Lee played as true freshmen in 2019, with that quartet combining for eight games played. Paleso'o had two tackles in two games played, and Harrison also had a pair in four games worth of action. Newsom made the first start of his career on Feb. 21, 2021, at Idaho.
 
 
More on Eagle Special Teams Players
 
A year after having new players at each position, this season Eastern has some semblance of experience with sophomore kicker Seth Harrison, sophomore punter Nick Kokich and sophomore long snapper Cody Clements.
 
As a true freshman, Kokich made his season debut four games into the season and held the punting position the rest of the year. He averaged 39.0 yards in 41 punts in 2019, with 10 downed inside the opponent 20-yard line and a long of 59 to equal the 38th longest in EWU history. In 50 career punts, he has averaged 39.0 per kick with a long of 59.
 
Eastern's kickoff return team suffered a jolt in 2019 when senior Dre'Sonte Dorton was injured and lost for the year at mid-season. However, that provided opportunities for other players who could potentially step into future full-time return roles.
 
Stell ended up returning four kickoffs for a 20.0 average, and Marlon Jones Jr. had a pair for 62 yards and a long of 40 during limited action as a true freshman. Weed returned three for 50 yards, and Talolo Limu-Jones ended the year with two for 44 yards in EWU's season finale. Earlier in the season, Johnny Edwards IV returned three for 41 yards and Smith had a pair for 29.
 
Eastern used several players as punt returners in 2019, including Criner, Weed and Sampson. Weed has the best return of the year with a 13-yarder to end the season versus Portland State.
 
 
 

Series Notes

 
* Besides extending a current streak of 51 seasons with at least one road win, the Eagles won their 11th-straight over Idaho State. In those 11 victories, EWU has out-scored the Bengals by an average score of 41-19 (448-205 in total points), having not lost since ISU won 34-30 in Pocatello in 2005. The Eagles have dominated the series against Idaho State, winning 29 of the 38 meetings with victories in 18 of the last 21. Eastern is 17-5 in meetings in Pocatello, 11-4 in Cheney and 1-0 at Spokane's Albi Stadium.
 
 
Looking Back . . . Eastern Washington 48, Idaho State 5  (11/9/19 in Pocatello)
 
Eastern held Idaho State without a touchdown and had twin 80-yard touchdown plays back-to-back in the third quarter as the Eagles recorded their first road win of the season with a 48-5 victory over Idaho State Nov. 9 at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho. In a Big Sky Conference game between teams fighting to finish with at least .500 records on the season, Eastern used four first-half field goals by Seth Harrison to open a 20-2 lead at halftime. Then, an 89-yard touchdown run by Antoine Custer Jr. and an 80-yard TD pass from Eric Barriere to Johnny Edwards IV broke open the game just four minutes into the third quarter. The Eagles extended their streak of seasons with at least one road win to 51, and beat the Bengals for the 11th-straight time dating back to the last ISU win in the series in 2005. Eastern finished with 689 yards of total offense after bringing to Pocatello the top offense in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision at 506.0 yards per game. Barriere, the individual offense leader at the time with more than 353 yards per game, finished with 467 combined passing and rushing yards. Eastern's defense held ISU to 416 yards and only a third-quarter field goal. Calin Criner had a pair of interceptions and eight tackles, and cornerback Darrien Sampson had his first career pick. Sacks were recorded by Jack Sendelbach and Jim Townsend, and Dehonta Hayes had 11 tackles to lead EWU. Custer had the 10th performance in his career with at least 100 yards, finishing with 145 and a touchdown. Barriere passed for 406 and rushed for 61, and EWU featured two 100-yard receivers. Edwards had his first 100-yard receiving performance with four catches for 107 yards, and Andrew Boston had his second with 10 grabs for 147 yards and two scores. The first half was accentuated by lack of efficiency on third down, but Eastern was able to get the upper hand with a fake field goal for a touchdown on a 15-yard pass by Gunner Talkington to tight end Blake Gobel. Field goals of 40, 36, 21 and 36 yards helped Eastern take an 18-point advantage into halftime. Idaho State was 0-of-6 on third down, and its lone points in the first half came on a safety when the EWU offense was backed up to its own goal line. The Eagles were just 5-of-11 on third down in the half, including three costly misses in the red zone. But Eastern scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the second half to take a 34-5 lead and put the game away early. Custer's 89-yard TD run was followed by the touchdown by Edwards on Eastern's next offensive play with 11:57 left in the third quarter. Boston added TD catches of 21 and 59 yards after that. Eastern's total of 689 yards of offense included 427 passing and 262 rushing. Of those totals, 380/215/165 came in the second half. Idaho State had 416 yards, including 131 on the ground and 285 through the air. The Eagles won the turnover battle versus Idaho State 3-0, making them a plus 10 on the season.
 
 
Looking Back . . . Eastern Washington 48, Idaho State 17 (11/12/16 at Roos Field)
 
After scoring the first rushing touchdown of his career and his third punt return as an Eagle, Cooper Kupp later broke the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision career record for receptions as third-ranked EWU defeated Idaho State 48-17 on Nov. 12, 2016, at Roos Field in a Big Sky Conference game. The Eagles honored 12 seniors in pre-game ceremonies in a game that had lots of playoff and league title implications for the Eagles. Eastern overcame four turnovers and outgained ISU 557-292 in total offense as the Eagles improved to 9-1 overall and 7-0 in the league with their eighth-straight win. Eastern's defense kept ISU's offense in check all night, giving up 133 passing yards and 159 rushing. Eastern's defense finished with four sacks, five quarterback hurries and six passes broken up. Idaho State trailed just 7-3 in the third quarter when a muffed punt was recovered by EWU's Tysen Prunty at the ISU 32-yard line. Four plays later, Shaq Hill caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Gage Gubrud as part of a 20-0 scoring run for the Eagles. While EWU's offense ended up with four turnovers and had to punt three times, the Eagles had excellent balance with 281 on the ground and 276 through the air. Eastern finished with a total of 557, including 209 in the third quarter. Kupp scored on a 3-yard rush and a 76-yard punt return (ninth-longest in school history) in the third quarter, and finished with seven catches for 70 yards. He also completed a pass for 21 yards. Gubrud completed 16-of-27 passes for 212 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but was also guilty of three turnovers with an interception and two fumbles. Senior Shaq Hill had the ninth 100-yard receiving performance of his career, finishing with seven grabs for 103 yards and a touchdown. Senior tight end Zach Wimberly had three catches for 39 yards and a TD. True freshman running back Antoine Custer Jr., had his first 100-yard rushing game of his career, and first of the season for the Eagles. He finished with 141 yards on 12 carries, including an 83-yard touchdown in the second quarter which equals the ninth-longest in school history. Linebackers Miquiyah Zamora and Alek Kacmarcik each had 11 tackles. Senior defensive end Samson Ebukam had eight tackles, a sack, one pass broken up and three quarterback hurries.
 
 
Looking Back Further
 
* Accounting for touchdowns in three different ways, wide receiver Cooper Kupp led Eastern to a 45-28 victory over Idaho State on Oct. 17, 2015, at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho. Kupp caught 14 passes for 261 yards and two touchdown receptions, but it was the play of the defense that helped generate the 17-point victory. The Eagles held ISU to 381 yards, forced four turnovers, made ISU punt on three drives of five plays or less and stopped the Bengals on downs twice. Kupp, whose brother Ketner Kupp had an interception and six tackles on defense, also had a touchdown pass to quarterback Jordan West and returned a punt 76 yards for TD in the third quarter. En route to taking a 31-21 halftime lead, the Eagles forced four first half turnovers – three on interceptions and one a fumble – leading to 17 Eastern points. Senior rover Todd Raynes returned an interception 25 yards for a score, and Mitch Fettig also picked off a pass. West completed 29-of-46 passes for 323 yards and a trio of touchdown passes, and Kendrick Bourne finished with 10 catches for 102 yards.
 
* The 2014 meeting in Cheney was a shootout in every sense of the word as the second-ranked Eagles survived for a 56-53 Big Sky victory on Oct. 4 at Roos Field. Despite suffering a foot injury that would keep him out of EWU's next four games, Vernon Adams Jr. accounted for six TDs on the day, with two rushing and four passing, and in the process went over the 10,000-yard mark for total offense in his career. Three of his TD tosses went to Cooper Kupp, who finished with eight catches for 132 yards. Running back Mario Brown had a career-high 126 yards in the win, and Samson Ebukam blocked a punt that was recovered for a touchdown by Dylan Zylstra. The two teams finished with just 1,231 yards and 109 total points, but after the first quarter they were on pace to combine for 140 points and nearly 2,000 yards. Facing a fourth-and-2 at the ISU 34-yard line with about two minutes to play, Adams found Shaq Hill for a 12-yard gain and a first down that helped EWU run out the clock.
 
 * In a 55-34 Eagle win in 2013 in Pocatello, Eastern had a school-record 743 yards of offense, with 432 through the air and 311 on the ground. The Eagles broke the previous record of 740 set in 1997 against Rocky Mountain. The coach for EWU in that game was Mike Kramer, now the head coach at ISU. Eastern's 311 rushing yards were the most for the Eagles in their last 117 games dating back to a 331-yard performance against Idaho State on Sept. 25, 2004, in a 47-22 win. Vernon Adams Jr. passed for 432 yards and five touchdowns in the win, and Quincy Forte had what was then a career-high 119 rushing yards on just six carries (19.8 per rush). He had an 83-yard touchdown that ranks as the ninth-longest rush in school history, and the longest since Taiwan Jones had a school-record 96-yarder at Idaho State on Oct. 3, 2009. Then-freshman Cooper Kupp had eight catches for 205 yards and a pair of scores, which at the time were the eighth-most receiving yards in school history. Linebacker Ronnie Hamlin had 10 tackles against Idaho State and a key third-quarter interception that led to an Eagle TD.
 
* In 2011, Eastern secured its 14th winning season in 16 years with a 45-14 victory over Idaho State on a record-breaking day for EWU at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho. The defending NCAA Division I Champions, the Eagles overcame a rash of injuries to win six of their last seven games after a 0-4 start. Senior quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell accounted for 433 yards of total offense in the victory on his way to winning the Walter Payton Award. He finished with 4,009 passing yards to break the school's single season school record, and junior wide receiver Nicholas Edwards finished the season with 95 receptions and 19 touchdown catches to break two other school records. Senior kicker Mike Jarrett added the school record for career kick scoring, finishing with 236 points.
 
 
  

Recent Game Recap

 
Eastern Rolls Up 622 Yards in 45-13 Win Over NAU
 
The "Boss" is back, and Eric Barriere was at his Eagle finest as he has in his entire career at Roos Field. Easterm took a 24-6 lead at halftime and went on to beat Northern Arizona 45-13 in a Big Sky Conference game on March 6 at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash. The win was the 15th-straight for the Eagles at "The Inferno," and it was was the first game on the new red Astroturf surface installed at "The Inferno" last summer. All-America quarterback Eric Barriere passed for 413 yards and three touchdowns in the victory, including eight catches for 120 yards to junior Andrew Boston. Barriere now has four 400-yard performances in his Eastern career as he completed 29-of-49 passes. Boston, an All-Big Sky performance who missed last week's 28-21 loss at Idaho, had his third 100-yard receiving performance of his career – including 30 yards after his catches. Barriere completed passes to 10 different receivers, and is now a perfect 12-0 as a starter at Roos Field. Senior running back Tamarick Pierce had his first career 100-yard performance with 105 yards rushing and two touchdowns as Eastern piled up 622 yards of total offense – the 34th 600-yard game in EWU's history. Sophomore wide receiver Anthony Stell Jr. had career highs of five receptions for 84 yards, and caught his second TD pass of the season and of his career. He also had a 46 yards in kickoff returns with a long of 27 to give him 130 all-purpose yards – all career highs. Eastern's defense held NAU to 338 total yards, a week after holding Idaho to 366. Eastern had three turnovers to NAU's none, however, leading to six punts by the Lumberjacks and just two by the Eagles. Junior linebacker Chris Ojoh finished with a career-high 12 tackles, a pass broken up and a quarterback hurry for EWU, and he also was in on one of EWU's sacks. He had now been in double figures in tackles in five career games. Junior Mitchell Johnson had 1 1/2 sacks, a quarterback hurry and a total of eight tackles for EWU.  Arizona State transfer Ely Doyle had the first tackles of his career with seven and had his first pass broken up. Redshirt freshman defensive end Brock Harrison made the first start of his career and had a career-high two tackles with three quarterback hurries. On special teams, true freshman kicker Jackson Cleaver made his Eagle debut versus Northern Arizona and scored EWU's first points with a 28-yard field goal, then made all six of his extra point attempts after that for a total of nine points scored. He also kicked off twice for a 54.5 average. Head coach Aaron Best, who the previous week's game versus Idaho because of an asymptomatic case of Covid-19, relished his return to the sideline after being in pandemic-required isolation since Feb. 25. Both teams kicked field goals in the first quarter before Eastern took the lead for good early in the second period on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Barriere to freshman tight end Blake Gobel to cap a 72-yard drive. Eastern scored twice in the final nine minutes of the half on drives of 65 and 80 yards to lead 24-6 at halftime. Eastern's touchdown on the first scoring drive came on a 54-yard TD pass to sophomore Freddie Roberson. Roberson's former high school teammate, sophomore Anthony Stell Jr., then caught a 32-yard score from Barriere. Eastern rushed for a trio of touchdowns in the second half, including an 18-yard rush by Pierce with 2:29 left in the third quarter to give the Eagles a 31-6 cushion. A 75-yard drive in the fourth quarter was capped by a Pierce 4-yard rush after a 24-yard pass from Barriere to Boston. The Eagles closed out the scoring with a 1-yard rush by sophomore Micah Smith.
 
 
 

More Aaron Best Comments

 
On Victory Over NAU: "Our team did a great job with the game plan in all three phases. It was a windy environment but the sun was out, and it was our first home game in the 2020-21 season and the first game on the new red turf. We held serve and we've won 15 in a row at home. We're happy for the fans who weren't in the stands today, but were on the hills watching. It was nice having Andrew Boston back making plays and over 100 yards. His leadership and his ability be able to catch the ball and get up field really helped in that department."
 
On Returning After Covid-19 Isolation:  "It was awesome to get to see the smiles, the joy and the emotion of what these players and coaches love to do. It was more normal this week, and I was excited for the experience today. It wasn't any less than what I expected. Getting back in the swing of things was beautiful."
 
On Victory: "Collectively we played a pretty good brand of football in all three phases. There are some things to clean up that can be better and we turned the ball over a few too many times for our liking. But we leaned on our defense and only gave up three points after our turnovers, and those things are hidden in the stat line sometimes. We had to rely on our defense a little bit."
 
On Offensive Explosion After 426 Yards and 14 Points from Offense at Idaho Last Week: "We are thankful for what we have. We sometimes get so accustomed to offensive fireworks at Eastern and sometimes there aren't as many fireworks. Fourth of July happens only once a year, and fans expect that every Saturday – I do as well. But this is the second time two weeks in that our defense has allowed us to rely on some different things. We can play more team ball together, and we've done that for two weeks. We came up short last week, but today we put 45 points up on the board. But that doesn't come without a ton of hard work."
 
On Needed Improvements From 2019: "We needed to learn how to play better team football more consistently, and we lacked that at times. There were games where we played the best football I've ever seen in all my years as a part of this football program. But at other times we played some of the worst ball I've ever seen. Luck and the injury bug sometimes gets involved, but you have to be more consistent in league or non-league. You can't get too high and you can't get too low."
 
On Keys to Success: "It starts with turnovers, then it's third down conversion percentage and red zone. You have to move the sticks to get to the red zone, and those are the three things we've hammered home these past few years. We have to be better in those three areas than our opponent."
 
On Replacing Four Starters on the Offensive Line:  "We lost some offensive linemen who started a lot and played a lot of football in the past few years. It's always exciting, refreshing and difficult to put new players in those positions that have never really played college football. We are putting them in an impactful game setting and will be forced to play 75, 80 snaps – they haven't done that in their careers thus far."
 
On Cornerback Experience: "The cornerback position was very young and green in 2019. We lost four seniors after the 2018 campaign, so all the guys who saw action in 2019 really hadn't played before. It was hard to watch early and we weren't as good as we knew we would be. But we had guys step-up, including Tre Weed who earned freshman All-America honors after being moved from safety to corner. We're excited to see that group as a whole go from year one to year two, and see how much progress they've made. We want to see what kind of production and competition they've gained."
 
On Eric Barriere: ""The quarterback is the linchpin of the team. No matter what you run, the quarterback is the player you really rely on. It is settling to have back such a dynamic quarterback like Eric. This will essentially be his third year as a starter, so we're expecting huge things out of him for sure. Eric is one of the most electrifying playmakers I have witnessed play in person. He made a huge jump in touchdown-to-interception ratio in 2019, which in turn made him that much harder to defend. I expect his senior season to be even better. He is certainly one of the best players in this league and at this level. I can't wait to see what is in store. "He's highly-respected, and, on top of that, he's made a lot of progress. He's stayed consistent and really cut down on his turnovers in 2019. That was something he really wanted to do and he did it, and now he has to build on that."
 
On Andrew Boston:  "Andrew is a film junky and he absolutely gives all he has on Saturday. He will strive for more in the future and the best version of 'Boss' is yet to come. He followed up a productive freshman year with a solid sophomore campaign."
 
On Tristen Taylor:  "Tristan is a tough-minded and gritty player. He had a brilliant bounce-back season coming off an injury in 2018. He's a physical player who still has room to grow and lead as a player, and with time to accomplish those tasks. Tristen becomes our bell cow up front. He's played a lot of football and we're excited about his ability to play multiple positions. He's capable of playing all three positions, so we'll rely on him heavily."
 
On Other Offensive Linemen: "Matt Shook is coming off an injury from the 2018 season and early in the fall of 2019, and we're excited to get him back. He's played enough ball for us in the past to get a great evaluation on him. Wyatt Musser played a bit in 2019 and rotated in with Will Gram, and this season we'll lean on him for more reps than he had that year. There is some experience, but we want to build on that experience and continue to build competitive depth up front."
 
On Seth Harrison: "Seth started the season as a backup and ended as the guy at our kicker position. He followed our perfect 2018 season kicking field goals with one of his own. We're excited to see him continue to grow and compete for more."