Game Book

Facing its second Football Bowl Subdivision opponent of the year, the No. 18/20 Eastern Washington University football team lost 52-17 at Florida today (Sunday, Oct. 2) in Gainesville, Fla. With the loss, EWU drops to 1-3 overall (0-1 Big Sky Conference) while the Gators improve to 3-2 overall (0-2 Southeastern Conference). This was Eastern Washington's first-ever game against an SEC opponent.
 
Eastern Washington opened the game with a 3-0 lead after Seth Harrison put a 44-yard field goal through the uprights. Florida scored on both of its first quarter drives, and the Eagles trailed 14-3 after the first. The Gators would score on all five of their offensive drives in the first half, leading 35-3 at the break.
 
The Eagles started off the second half strong as well when Marlon Jones Jr. grabbed his first interception of the season, but they unfortunately couldn't find the endzone after the turnover. The Gators then made a 36-yard field goal to go up 38-3. Another Florida touchdown made it a 45-3 game. Florida turned the ball over on downs, snapping a streak of seven-straight drives that were followed by a score with 1:41 left in the third.
 
Florida would extend the lead to 52-3 to open the fourth quarter, but the Eagles were finally able to find the endzone when Gunner Talkington found Jakobie James for the 28-yard touchdown pass. The momentum continued as Alphonse Oywak would block a 46-yard field goal attempt for the Gators on their next drive. EWU would outscore Florida 14-7 in the fourth quarter, thanks to a 25-yard rushing touchdown by Kekoa Visperas before Florida took the game 52-17.

"There was a lot of life outside of the fourth quarter, it just didn't go our way against a really good football team. There were a few explosive plays from their offense against our defense that put us behind the eight-ball a little bit. We battled the entire day. It was a different outfit on our end than we played in Eugene. There was more fight, more want, more plays made, and more consistency in a lot of ways. Time of possession was in our favor, majorly, with the help of those one-play drives from their offense. I thought we controlled the ball and moved the sticks. On third down, we moved the sticks to get to a new set of chains," said head coach Aaron Best. "It was a different vibe and a different feeling overall even if the end result was the same. We played way better ball today on a different sort of week. There aren't too many times that this University has played on a Sunday, let alone across the country on a Sunday. We held our own for pockets, we did some good things, and it was good to see some of those guys at the end make plays, and not just get into the game. With Kekoa Visperas scoring and Jakobie James made a big catch, there was a lot of good stuff going on. Now, it's the challenge of doing that against Big Sky Conference play."
 
Talkington completed 24-of-37 pass attempts for 250 yards. Kekoa Visperas made his second career appearance, rushing for 28 yards on two carries and his first career touchdown. He also completed one of three pass attempts for eight yards. Tuna Altahir was the team's leading rusher with 52 rushing yards on 15 carries, followed by Justice Jackson who had 38 on 10. Freddie Roberson totaled 62 yards on seven catches, while Efton Chism III collected 59 on eight. Seth Harrison was 1-for-1 on field goal attempts and 2-for-2 on extra point attempts. Nick Kokich punted five times for 212 yards and averaged of 42.4 yards per punt.
 
On the defensive side, Sherwin King Jr. led the team with six tackles, while a trio of Eagles had four. Brock Harrison had one tackle for loss, and Jones Jr. had the game's lone interception.
 
As a team, the Eagles put up 411 yards of total offense including 258 through the air and 153 on the ground. They had the ball for 36:28 of the game compared to 23:32 for the Gators. EWU was 8-of-18 on third down conversions and 1-of-4 on fourth down. The Gators amassed 666 yards of total offense with 392 passing yards and 274 rushing yards.
 
This is the first time EWU has lost three consecutive games since the 2015 season when it ended the year with three-straight losses. Today's game concludes the non-conference portion of the schedule for Eastern Washington. The Eagles will return to Big Sky Conference play next week on Saturday, Oct. 8 at Weber State. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. Pacific time from Ogden, Utah, and will be streamed on ESPN+ and 700-AM ESPN.
 
Scoring Summary and Game Details
 
Eastern Washington utilized a strong opening drive to take an early 3-0 lead. They strung together a 13-play, 49-yard drive that took 6:56 off of the clock, ending in Seth Harrison's 44-yard field goal. It was Harrison's fourth-longest career field goal and the fourth 40-plus yarder of his career.
 
Florida took just one play to strike back on its first offensive play of the game, a 75-yard touchdown pass for the 7-3 lead.
 
After Eastern turned the ball over on downs, Florida scored again on a three-yard touchdown run. At the end of the first, Eastern trailed 14-3. EWU had the ball for 12:55 in the first quarter compared to 2:55 for the Gators.
 
Florida scored three more times in the second quarter on a four-yard run, a 76-yard run, and a 21-yard receiving touchdown to lead 35-3 at the half.
 
Marlon Jones Jr. started the second half with an interception, the fourth of his career and first of the season, but the Eagles could not convert. The Gators then extended their lead with a 36-yard field goal, 38-3. Florida found the endzone once in the third quarter following a 62-yard touchdown pass, bringing the lead out to 45-3.
 
The Gators opened the fourth quarter with an 11-yard touchdown run for the 52-3 lead. Eastern found the endzone for the first time with 8:35 left in the fourth quarter when Talkington found Jakobie James on a 28-yard touchdown pass in the endzone. The drive lasted nine plays, 75-yards, and took 3:18 off the clock, cutting the lead down to 52-10.
 
The extra point was good by Harrison, and he now has 201 career kick points, which is fourth all-time in EWU history.
 
Alphonse Oywak would keep the Gators at bay when he blocked a 46-yard field goal attempt. Kekoa Visperas scored EWU's second touchdown on a 28-yard run, capping a nine-play, 71-yard drive that took 3:10 off the clock for his first career touchdown.