For just the third time since becoming members of the Football Championship Subdivision, and the first time since 1997, the Eastern Washington University football team is 4-0. The Eagles headed to Cedar City, Utah to open Big Sky Conference play against Southern Utah and came away with a 50-21 victory at Eccles Stadium on Sept. 25.
 
The Eagles amassed 673 yards of total offense, 554 of which came through the air to set a new school record. The record surpassed the 549 yards at Montana on Sept. 23, 2017. The Eagles also held Southern Utah to 340 total yards of offense. Eastern is 8-3 all-time versus the Thunderbirds and are now 4-3 at Eccles Stadium, the program's first win in Cedar City since 2014.
 
"We're playing consistently on offense. Outside of the penalties tonight, we ultimately played a good football team and really clean game. We had a boo-boo with our PAT and the penalties, but those are the only two things that come to mind right now that we could clean up. We were aggressive from the jump with the fake punt out of the gate, we've been repping that for a while now, and it was time. It was a surprise element, and Eric Barriere did Eric Barriere things," said head coach Aaron Best. "Our receivers stepped up after Freddie Roberson went down early in the game, and we moved the ball well against a good defense on the road against a team we lost to here in 2017. Make no bones about it, that was in my head from 2017, selfishly. We didn't overlook our opponent, we never will, and we came out on top."
 
Eric Barriere completed 30 of his 43 passes for 518 yards and four touchdowns while adding 28 on the ground for 546 yards of total offense. Efton Chism III notched the first 100-receiving yard game of his career, collecting 147 yards on eight catches and two touchdowns. Talolo Limu-Jones also caught for over 100 yards, hauling in 175 total for a new career best on seven catches plus a touchdown. On the ground, Dennis Merritt went for 58 yards on 18 carries plus three touchdowns, his third consecutive game with at least two scores.
 
Defensively, Jack Sendelbach led the way with 13 tackles followed by Ty Graham with 10 and Calin Criner with seven.
 
The Eagles started with some trickery to start the game. After the Eagles were unable to convert on 3^rd and 3, punter Nick Kokich connected with Chism for 36 yards for the first down. EWU marched down the field and Barriere found Chism for a 13-yard completion to the endzone and the Eagles took a 7-0 lead after Seth Harrison's kick attempt was good.
 
On Eastern's ensuing drive, Merritt was stopped twice on the goal line and the Thunderbirds would take over on their own two-yard line. That's when Joshua Jerome and Jack Sendelbach stormed into the backfield and took down the ball carrier, resulting in a safety and the Eagles pulled ahead 9-0.
 
Southern Utah got on the board with a second remaining in the first quarter on a two-yard rush to come within two points, 9-7, after one quarter of play.
 
Barriere reached another career milestone in the first quarter when he passed the 10,000 career passing yards mark, joining an elite group of Eastern Washington quarterbacks in Matt Nichols, Vernon Adams Jr. and Erik Meyer. Now sitting at 10,437 career yards, the senior breaks into the top-ten on the Big Sky's all-time list as well.
 
Both teams exchanged rushing touchdowns on their opening drives of the second quarter. Eastern's came on a one-yard rush from Merritt for his fifth touchdown of the year on a six play, 74-yard drive that lasted 13:14 before SUU answered back with an 11-yard score and Eastern held a 16-14 lead midway through the second.
 
Merritt's sixth touchdown of the season, and second of the game, came late in the second on another one-yard rush and the Eagles pulled ahead 23-14. With 19 seconds left, the Eagles would tack on one more when Barriere connected with Andrew Boston for nine yards and the score to cap an 11 play, 80-yard drive that took 2:43 off the clock. At the half, Eastern Washington led 30-14.
 
On SUU's first drive of the second half, the Thunderbirds capitalized on a 34-yard rushing touchdown and pulled within nine points after the kick attempt, and that would be the last time the Thunderbirds found the endzone. Facing second and 33, Barriere moved the chains. First connecting for 10 yards to Dylan Ingram, and then again on a deep throw on third and 23, finding Limu-Jones for 45 yards and the score. After Harrison's kick attempt was good, the Eagles pulled ahead 37-21.
 
Momentum continued for Eastern on the next drive when a Thunderbird fumble was recovered by Brock Harrison. It would lead to points and Merritt's third score of the game, a two-yard rushing touchdown. The extra kick attempt was no good, but it was still 43-21 Eastern Washington at the end of the third.
 
Chism scored his second touchdown of the game with 7:21 left to play. He caught a 24-yard completion from Barriere and fought off his defenders to the endzone. Jackson Cleaver's kick was good, and the Eagles went over 50 points for the third-straight game, pulling ahead 50-21, going on to win its fourth-straight game.
 
Eastern's 4-0 start is the best under head coach Aaron Best, the program's first since 1997 under former head coach Dick Zornes and the third overall at the FCS level (1985, 1986). The best start is 5-0 in 1985, also under Zornes.
 
It's back to Roos Field to take on No. 4/4 Montana, who just defeated Cal Poly 39-7 at home in Missoula, Mont., and are also undefeated at 3-0, on Saturday, Oct. 2. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2, marking the first-ever regular season Big Sky Conference game to air on the network. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Pacific time in Cheney, Wash.
 
More Comments by Head Coach Aaron Best
 
On the Fake Punt: "You have to be able to call those things when you practice those things. If you practice things, and never use them, then obviously the players wonder why we practice them. We got some heat last week at Western Illinois early. I thought we'd get some heat early tonight in the first punt against this outfit, given the fact we went three-and-out. I thought they'd give us some heat, and we took advantage of them bringing some pressure, and Efton Chism III received a pass from Nick Kokich."
 
On the Defense: "At halftime we talked as coaches and as a team about urgency. It was a one-word message at halftime: urgency. We were playing okay, but our lack of urgency allowed us not to play as well as we could. Whether that be calls or tackling, it wasn't perfect by any means, but we had more urgency in the last 30 minutes after giving up a touchdown on the first series on defense. We buckled down, knocked the ball out late, and our defense finally found a little bit of magic after we got things going on offense in the second half. I couldn't be prouder, going on the road and winning by 29 points."
 
On Next Week: "I'm not going to have any problems enjoying this win on the plane ride home. Let's enjoy the one behind us, and look forward to the one next week. It's been on the calendar since the middle of the summer, but we had to put ourselves in position with the likes of Montana. But let's enjoy this one, we've played three of the last four weeks on the road and we have sea legs. We need to get our feet back under us and get in the training room and get back on our feet. There's nothing better than coming off of the road with a win, no matter where it is."  
 
Cage Schenck Makes First Career Start against Southern Utah
 
Freshman defensive back Cage Schenck made his first career start tonight at Southern Utah. There we no new starters on the offensive side of the ball.
 
Here are the current starts by EWU players:
 
Current Starts on Defense (180 starts by 20 players): Calin Criner 23, Tre Weed 22, Jack Sendelbach 21, Mitchell Johnson 21, Darrien Sampson 14, Joshua Jerome 11, Ty Graham 10, Jacob Newsom 7, Darreon Moore 7, Brock Harrison 6, Anthany Smith 6, Marlon Jones Jr. 5, Ely Doyle 4, Cale Lindsay 4, Keshaun King 4, Debore'ae McClain 5, Caleb Davis 4, Matthew Brown 2, Jusstis Warren 1, Ahmani Williams 1, Cage Schenck 1.
 
Current Starts on Offense (226 starts by 19 players): Tristen Taylor 51, Eric Barriere 33, Andrew Boston 28, Conner Crist 13, Talolo Limu-Jones 13, Johnny Edwards IV 12, Freddie Roberson 12, Dylan Ingram 11, Wyatt Musser 11, Wyatt Hansen 9, Matt Shook 8, Tamarick Pierce 6, Anthony Stell Jr. 4, Dennis Merritt 6, Matthew Hewa Baddege 3, Brad Godwin 2, Efton Chism III 2, Blake Gobel 1, Gunner Talkington 1.