The EWU Football Coaches Show is back tonight (Oct. 3) at Northern Quest Resort & Casino in the main dining area of EPIC at 6 p.m. Along with head coach Aaron Best, redshirt-freshman quarterback Kekoa Visperas and redshirt-senior long snapper Cody Clements will be in attendance. Larry Weir and Paul Sorensen serve as the hosts, and the show can also be heard live on 700-AM ESPN & 103.5 FM in Cheney.

EWU GAME NOTES

With the non-conference slate behind them, the Eastern Washington University football team resumes Big Sky Conference play this Saturday, Oct. 8, at Weber State. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. Pacific time at Stewart Stadium in Ogden, Utah.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+. The contest will also be broadcast on 700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area. Larry Weir returns for his 32nd season calling the play-by-play, with analysis handled by Paul Sorensen for the 20th season. Broadcasts begin one hour prior to kickoff and include an expanded post-game show.
 
Eastern Washington is 1-3 overall and 0-1 in Big Sky Conference play. The Eagles are coming off of a 52-17 loss at Florida on Sunday, Oct. 2, the second game against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent this season. Their lone conference loss was to No. 4 Montana State by a narrow score of 38-35.
 
EWU is still hanging around in both the Stats Perform (No. 24) and the AFCA (No. 21) top-25. Weber State is ranked No. 7 in the Stats Perform and AFCA polls. The Wildcats are undefeated this season (4-0, 1-0) with an FBS win on their resumes after beating Utah State, 25-7. They topped UC Davis 17-12 in their Big Sky opener before their bye week last week.
 
The Eagles lead the all-time series with Weber State, 19-17, but have lost three-straight. In Ogden, Eastern is 8-9. The last meeting was a loss in Cheney in 2021 by a score of 35-34, EWU was ranked No. 2 and the Wildcats had just fallen out of the top-25. The last time the two clashed in Ogden was in 2018 where EWU lost 14-6. That was the last time the Eagles were held without a touchdown, scoring in 44-straight games since then.
 
This is Eastern's second game against a ranked opponent this season. Since 2010, EWU is 33-22 against ranked Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponents, including 12-13 versus teams in the top-ten. All-time, EWU is 62-76 against ranked FCS opponents and 21-48 against top-ten teams.
 
Eastern returns home to host Sacramento State on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 4:02 p.m. at Roos Field for Homecoming. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and regionally on SWX, plus 700-AM ESPN. The Hornets are currently ranked No. 5 and are also 4-0, 1-0.
 
Eastern is coming off one of the most successful seasons in program history and its 15th Football Subdivision Championship playoff berth. Gone is 2021 Walter Payton Award winner and All-America quarterback, Eric Barriere, along with fellow All-Americans Tristen Taylor and Talolo Limu-Jones, but what's back is a group of players who learned under their tutelage and are ready to emerge.
 
Eastern Washington lost 10 starters from the 2021 squad that finished the year 10-3 (6-2 in league play). The Eagles did not lose a regular season game on the road, a feat that hadn't been done since 1967, and won their first seven games for the program's best start the FCS level. Starters lost include six on offense and four on defense along with 18 total letterwinners. Back are 12 starters (five offense, seven defense, plus three kickers, a punter and snapper) and 47 letterwinners.
 
Headlining the cast of returners are eight players who have previously earned All-Big Sky Conference honors, with five being honored following the 2021 season. Among the five are wide receivers Freddie Roberson and Efton Chism III, guard Wyatt Musser, and defensive line members Joshua Jerome and Mitchell Johnson. Safeties Anthany Smith and Tre Weed, along with kicker Seth Harrison, earned honors in 2020-21.
 
Eastern entered the Fall season with a total of 31 players returning with 285 games of starting experience, including 16 players on defense with 181 starts and 15 on offense with 104 starts.
 
And the Eagles entered it as one of the top 25 teams in FCS as well. In the preseason rankings released in June by Athlon Sports, the Eagles ranked No. 15. In the HERO Sports preseason poll released in May, Eastern came in at No. 18. Eastern closed the 2021 season seventh in the Stats Perform NCAA Football Championship Subdivision top 25 poll, and EWU was ninth by the coaches.
 
Most recently, Eastern was picked to finish sixth by both the coaches and the media in the Big Sky preseason poll. It was also ranked No. 13 in the Stats Perform poll and No. 12 by the AFCA.
 
Consistency has been a cornerstone of EWU football, and the Eagles have cemented an 18-year run of winning the league title and/or advancing to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs at least every other year. Eastern has achieved that feat ever since its last back-back-empty seasons in 2002 and 2003. Eastern has led the nation in total yards of offense per game twice in the last three years (2021, 554.5 and 2019, 524.8).
 
In 2018, Eastern secured its 10th Big Sky title. Three years later, the Eagles secured their 15th appearance in the FCS Playoffs in what is now 38 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 plus in 2020-21 and 2021.
 
While the Eagles were making their 15th appearance overall in the FCS Playoffs in the 2021 season, sixth-year head coach Aaron Best made his 12th as an EWU player or coach. In six years at the helm, Best owns an overall record of 42-20, including 30-9 in Big Sky play.
 
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 16 years (2007-2022), winning 78 percent of their games (100-29) 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.
 
After Big Sky play resumes at Weber State on Oct. 8, conference action includes additional road games at Cal Poly, Idaho and Montana with home matchups against Sacramento State for Homecoming, Portland State, and Northern Colorado for the regular season finale.
 
The COVID-19 pandemic may have caused headaches and the need for adaptation, but it did allow 11 seniors to participate in a sixth Fall. Among them is quarterback Gunner Talkington who was tabbed the front runner at quarterback following Fall camp.

Eastern is 33-22 Since 2010 Versus Ranked Opponents
 
Eastern's Sept. 24 matchup against Montana State was the first game against a ranked opponent this season, and EWU (ranked No. 15), lost 38-35. Oregon was ranked No. 11 to start the season, but fell out of the AP top-25 after a 49-3 loss to Georgia to open the season. The Ducks rose back into the polls after their victory over EWU.
 
Last season, including games on Oct. 2 versus fourth-ranked Montana, Nov. 6 against fourth-ranked Montana State and Nov. 13 against No. 6 UC Davis, Eastern has now won 60 percent of its games (33-22) versus ranked teams since 2010. Eastern is 62-76 (.449) in 138 games overall against ranked teams since becoming a member of that classification in 1983 (then known as I-AA).
Since 1983, Eastern is 1-7 versus ranked FBS foes, and a loss to Washington (ranked 13th by the media and 12th by the coaches) in 2019 was the eighth such foe EWU has faced.
 
Eastern's 2022 game versus No. 4 Montana State gives EWU 69 occasions Eastern has faced a team ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (STATS). Eastern is 12-13 versus top 10 foes since 2010, including a 7-6 mark in the regular season and 5-7 in the playoffs. Eastern is 21-48 in the 69 games all-time versus top 10 opponents. The Eagles are 10-38 all-time versus top 5 opponents (5-10 since 2010), including 2-8 versus No. 1 (0-2 since 2010).
 
Overall, EWU has faced the No. 1 team in FCS 10 times, winning twice -- 35-31 in 2004 over Southern Illinois in the FCS Playoffs and 30-21 in 2002 over Montana at Albi Stadium in Spokane, Wash. One of the losses was in 2016 in Fargo, N.D., when North Dakota State beat No. 8 Eastern 50-44 in overtime. The following season, EWU was ranked seventh and lost 40-13 to second-ranked NDSU in Cheney. Eastern lost a third time to the top-ranked Bison by a 38-24 score on Jan. 5, 2019, in the NCAA Division I Championship Game.

Eagles Continue Big Sky Success With Impressive Consistency
 
Consistency has been a cornerstone of EWU Football, and the Eagles have cemented an 18-year run of winning the league title and/or advancing to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs at least every other year. Since 2004, Eastern has advanced to the playoffs and/or won the league title at least every other year, and hasn't had back-back-empty seasons since 2002 and 2003.
 
Since 2010 when EWU won the NCAA Division I title, the Eagles have won league titles six times (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018) and advanced to the playoffs all six of those seasons. From 2004 to 2009 Eastern advanced to the playoffs four times (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009), and won the league title twice (2004, 2005). Eastern has five other playoff berths in school history (1985, 1992, 1997, 2020/21, 2021) and two other titles (1992, 1997), and has only had two multi-year stretches in which they accomplished neither. Those were both six-year stretches from between 1986-1991 and 1998-2003.

Ten Eagles Have Made Their Starting Debuts This Season
Through four games this season, 10 Eagles have made the first starts of their careers.   
Five Eagles, including a trio of transfers, made their first career starts for the Eagles against Tennessee State. On the defensive side, linebackers Derek Tommasini and Jaren Banks made their first starts in an Eagle uniform. Tommasini transferred in from Idaho and had seven tackles. Banks, a Rice transfer, ended with seven as well.
 
On the offensive side, Seth Carnahan who also transferred from Idaho, started at right tackle. Brenden River, a sophomore, earned the start at right guard. Justice Jackson started at running back and was second on the team with 23 rushing yards.
Against Oregon, redshirt freshman Tuna Altahir made the start at running back.
Micah Smith made his first career start at running back against Montana State. Smith totaled career-highs with 114 rushing yards on 13 carries, plus two touchdowns and a career-long rush of 56 yards. It was the first 100+ rushing yard game of his career.
 
A trio of defensive players made their starting debuts at Florida, in Conner O'Farrell and Trevor Thurman at linebacker, plus Soli Paleso'o at tackle. O'Farrell racked up four tackles and Thurman had one.
 
Current Starts on Defense (225 starts by 21 players): Mitchell Johnson 34, Tre Weed 30, Darrien Sampson 27, Joshua Jerome 23, Debore'ae McClain 14, Anthany Smith 15, Matthew Brown 12, Ely Doyle 13, Marlon Jones Jr. 11, Brock Harrison 10, Jacob Newsom 7, Caleb Davis 7, Keshaun King 5, Demetrius Crosby Jr. 5, Derek Tommasini 4, Jaren Banks 3, Cage Schenck 1, Ahmani Williams 1, Conner O'Farrell 1, Trevor Thurman 1, Soli Paleso'o 1
 
Current Starts on Offense (137 starts by 19 players): Wyatt Musser 23, Freddie Roberson 23, Wyatt Hansen 22,  Dylan Ingram 18, Efton Chism III 13, Matthew Hewa Baddege 6, Luke Dahlgren 6, Jakobie James 6, Gunner Talkington 5, Anthony Stell Jr. 4, Brenden Rivera 4, Blake Gobel 3, Seth Carnahan 3, Andrei Leonardi 2, Brad Godwin 2, Nolan Ulm 2, Micah Smith 2, Robert Mason III 1, Justice Jackson 1, Tuna Altahir 1
 
2022 Season Tidbits
 
Eastern Washington's game at Florida was postponed one day due to Hurricane Ian, so the Eagles and Gators clashed on a Sunday in the program's first-ever game against an SEC opponent. The Eagles outscored the Gators 14-7 in the fourth quarter, and had the ball for 36:28 compared to 23:32 for the Gators. EWU put up 411 yards of total offense. Seth Harrison was a perfect 1-1 on field goal attempts and 2-2 on extra point attempts, collecting 200 career kick points to move into fourth all-time in EWU history. Three players in Soli Paleso'o, Trevor Thurman and Conner O'Farrell made their first career starts. Kekoa Visperas scored the first touchdown of his career on a 25-yard rush. The Eagles played in front of the largest crowd in program history - 72,462.
 
In a battle of two top-15 teams, Eastern Washington hosted Montana State and lost by a score of 38-35. EWU was down 31-21 entering the fourth quarter and rallied to take a 35-31 lead with 3:26 to play. However, two key turnovers and another MSU score would be the difference. EWU has now lost consecutive games to the Bobcats by a combined six points, both coming at home.
 
An early bye week is rare, but not unprecedented. Eastern Washington had byes after the first two games in both 2008 and 2012. They had a bye after the first game of the season in 2001.
 
The crowd of the 47,289 at Oregon was the 10th largest crowd Eastern has played in front of in program history. It was the largest since 2019 when EWU played against a program record 65,709 at Washington. The 70 points scored by the Oregon Ducks were the most scored by an opponent since 1990 when EWU allowed 84 to No. 10 Houston. The game was head coach Aaron Best's 60th as head coach.
 
Eastern started the season 1-0 for the second-straight year after beating Tennessee State. The win streak extends to two games at Roos Field. Eastern is now 3-1 against teams from the Ohio Valley Conference.