The glitz and the glamour of opening the season at an NFL stadium is exciting enough, but a double-overtime victory over a Football Bowl Subdivision team was the cherry on top for the Eastern Washington University football team as the Eagles defeated UNLV by a final score of 35-33 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., tonight (Sept. 2).
 
The victory marked Eastern's 11^th win over an FBS opponent, and the first since a 45-42 win over Washington State on Sept. 3, 2016. EWU is now 11-27 overall and have won four out of its last 11 games over FBS opponents.
 
"I'm proud of this bunch – I couldn't be prouder. There are a lot of wins in our history, and this ranks above a lot of them with all the adversity we overcame the last 18 months," said head coach Aaron Best. "Our super seniors came back for this reason – now we have 10 more games, including one next week. We'll take them one at a time, but this was the biggest game of the week because it was our only game of the week and we came out on top."
 
Eastern Washington amassed 417 yards of total offense, and senior quarterback Eric Barriere accounted for 374 of those through the air to go with three touchdowns. Ty Graham led the way with a career-high 13 tackles plus a sack along with Joshua Jerome who had seven tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
 
At the half, the Eagles trailed 6-3 but came out of the locker room and scored 17 unanswered points to take a 20-6 lead into the fourth. The tides turned after that, as UNLV scored 14 unanswered over the Eagles to tie things up at 20-20 in the fourth quarter. After a missed field goal attempt for EWU, the game went into overtime, marking the first overtime game for the Eagles since a 50-44 loss at North Dakota State in 2016.
 
UNLV struck first on a 13-yard rushing touchdown and took a 27-20 lead after the extra point. Eastern Washington wasted no time responding, as Barriere found Dylan Ingram for 25-yards on the first play of the drive and the Eagles tied the game back up, 27-27. On the very next possession, Barriere found another tight end in Blake Gobel for 25 yards and the score. On the two-point conversion attempt, a tipped ball in the endzone landed right into the hands of Talolo Limu-Jones and the Eagles went up 35-27.
 
UNLV capitalized on its next drive with a 19-yard rushing touchdown, but were stopped right at the goal line on its two-point conversion attempt by Ely Doyle and Tre Weed and the Eagles went on to win, 35-33.
 
RECORDS: Eastern Washington improves to 1-0 on the year while UNLV falls to 0-1. It was the first-ever meeting between the two foes, but Eastern now improves to 9-24 versus current members of the Mountain West Conference.
 
The victory marked Eastern's 11^th win over a Football Bowl Subdivision opponents, and the first since a 45-42 win over Washington State on Sept. 3, 2016. EWU is now 11-27 overall and have won four out of its last 11 games over FBS opponents.
 
MORE STATISTICS: Eastern Washington amassed 417 yards of total offense, and senior quarterback Eric Barriere accounted for 374 of those through the air to go with three touchdowns. Ty Graham led the way with a career-high 13 tackles plus a sack along with Joshua Jerome who had seven tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
 
Eastern Washington was 7-of-14 on third down and held UNLV to just 4-of-15. The Eagles had 471 total yards while the Rebels had 339.
 
Andrew Boston had 106 receiving yards on six catches, Talolo Limu-Jones had six catches for 65 yards and Freddie Roberson caught six passes for 32 yards. Additionally, Efton Chism III had three catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. Dylan Ingram and Blake Gobel each had a touchdown in overtime. Dennis Merritt had 18 carries for 58 yards and a touchdown.
 
Defensively, Calin Criner and Ely Doyle had seven tackles each.
 
GAME DETAILS: Eastern Washington struck first in the second quarter. Joshua Jerome sacked UNLV quarterback Justin Rogers and forced a fumble which he then recovered to give the Eagles the ball in Rebel territory. The Eagle offense then strung together a nine-play drive that ended in a 22-yard field goal by Seth Harrison to give EWU the lead.
 
On the ensuing Rebel drive, they responded with a 48-yard field goal of their own to tie the game, 3-3.
 
Late in the second half, EWU was intercepted on its own 16-yard line and UNLV would take over, putting together a drive that ended in a 23-yard field goal as time expire to take a 6-3 lead into the half.
 
Eastern Washington found its groove in the third quarter, scoring 17 unanswered points over the Rebels. The scoring opened when Eric Barriere found Efton Chism III who then applied a spin move and broke a few tackles on his way to the endzone for the 31-yard touchdown. The score capped a seven play, 62-yard drive and gave EWU a 10-6 lead following the extra point.
 
The lead would extend to 13-6 following a 20-yard field goal from Seth Harrison. The Eagles then continued to pour it on after Dennis Merritt found the endzone following a one-yard rush and Eastern Washington pulled ahead 20-6 following the extra point. At the end of three quarters, the Eagles led 20-6.
 
The tides turned in the fourth quarter, as this time it was UNLV outscoring EWU 14-0. The Rebels scored for the first time in the second half in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter following a 47-yard field goal, cutting the lead to 20-9. UNLV threatened again after another Eagle interception at UNLV's 28-yard line, but EWU's defense held the Rebels to just a 51-yard field goal and still held a 20-12 lead.
 
UNLV found the endzone for the first time after recovering an Eastern Washington fumble on a kickoff return on EWU's 18-yard line. They then went for the two-point conversion and were successful to tie the game up 20-20.
 
Eastern Washington then found some momentum thanks to the hands of Tre Weed. The redshirt sophomore picked off UNLV at Eastern's 30-yard line and returned it 15 yards for his third career interception. Penalties would move the Eagles back to their own 32-yard line, but it was no problem for Barriere who avoided the sack and found Andrew Boston downfield for the 46-yard completion.
 
The Eagles marched down to the UNLV 14 where their 32-yard field goal attempt was no good, sending the game into overtime.
 
UNLV struck first on a 13-yard rushing touchdown and took a 27-20 lead after the extra point. Eastern Washington wasted no time responding, as Barriere found Dylan Ingram for 25-yards on the first play of the drive and the Eagles tied the game back up, 27-27. On the very next possession, Barriere found another tight end in Blake Gobel for 25 yards and the score. On the two-point conversion attempt, a tipped ball in the endzone landed right into the hands of Talolo Limu-Jones and the Eagles went up 35-27.
 
UNLV capitalized on its next drive with a 19-yard rushing touchdown, but were stopped right at the goal line on its two-point conversion attempt by redshirt-sophomore Tre Weed and the Eagles went on to win, 35-33.
 
GAME NOTES:
 
The game September 2, 2021, versus UNLV was Eastern's 64th game inside a dome, where the temperatures are always at about 72 degrees and wind or humidity are not factors. After the 35-33 double overtime win, Eastern is 33-31 all-time in domes, including 16-4 at Idaho State's Holt Arena, 4-10 at the Kibbie Dome, 10-7 at NAU's Walkup Skydome, 2-0 at North Dakota, 0-2 at North Dakota State, 0-1 at South Dakota, 0-6 at Northern Iowa, 0-1 at the Houston Astrodome and 1-0 at Allegiant Stadium.

No Eagles made their starting debuts versus UNLV.
 
Current Starts on Defense (160 starts by 21 players): Calin Criner 20, Tre Weed 19, Jack Sendelbach 19, Mitchell Johnson 18, Darrien Sampson 11, Kedrick Johnson 9, Joshua Jerome 8, Jacob Newsom 7, Darreon Moore 7, Ty Graham 7, Brock Harrison 6, Anthany Smith 6, Keshaun King 4, Marlon Jones Jr. 5, Ira Branch 3, Cale Lindsay 2, Caleb Davis 3, Ely Doyle 2, Jusstis Warren 1, Debore'ae McClain 2, Justin Patterson 1.
 
Current Starts on Offense (193 starts by 18 players): Tristen Taylor 48, Eric Barriere 30, Andrew Boston 24, Johnny Edwards IV 12, Conner Crist 10, Talolo Limu-Jones 9, Freddie Roberson 9, Dylan Ingram 8, Wyatt Musser 7, Matt Shook 8, Tamarick Pierce 6, Wyatt Hansen 7, Anthony Stell Jr. 4, Dennis Merritt 3, Brad Godwin 2, Efton Chism III 2, Blake Gobel 1, Gunner Talkington 1.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington hosts Central Washington for its home opener on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 1:05 p.m. at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash. After that, the Eagles wrap up non-conference play at Western Illinois on Sept. 18 before opening Big Sky Conference action at Southern Utah on Sept. 25.
 
 More Comments from EWU Head Coach Aaron Best:
 
On Winning on Final Defensive Play of the Game: "The defense really bowed their neck on the last play of the game. We fought to the bitter end. Those are simulations we do in training camp as far as overtime simulations go. We didn't panic."
 
On Flow of Game: "We lost our bearings a little bit in the first half, but the defense was playing absolutely lights out. We kind of gained traction offensively in the second half. It was so much of a blur, but Tre Weed ended up with the pick that kind of set things up for us. We had the field goal to win it, but it just wasn't our night in that department – let's be honest."
 
On Pulling Out Victory: "We were up 20-6 heading into the fourth quarter, so we have to play better in those key moments in the last 15 minutes. But we found a way on the road against a FBS opponent. We appreciate all the folks that were really behind us the entire way. There were a lot of quips from the non-FCS world, and we thank you. That fueled our fire."
 
On Two Touchdowns in OT: "We were trying to set it up for our tight ends earlier, but it didn't work out. We talked about it when we were on defense in the first overtime, so we went right to it. We found a way to get those tight ends the ball and they made plays. They do a lot of dirty work, so when they get the opportunity to catch balls in the end zone they take advantage. More power to them – they've earned that right. We have such a dynamic wide receiving corp, nobody really focuses on those tight ends and they do a lot of work behind the scenes."