Eastern Washington football concludes its 2022 road schedule this weekend as they travel to Missoula to battle the No. 16 Montana Grizzlies. Eastern will matchup against the Grizzlies on Saturday, Nov. 12 with kickoff at 12:02 p.m. Pacific Time.

The game will be streamed online via ESPN+ and broadcast on Montana Television Network. Fans can also catch the broadcast on 700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM. 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.

With the game against No. 16 Montana on Saturday, Eastern will now have played five ranked NCAA Football Championship Subdivision teams this season. The game will be the 30^th time in the series history that the game includes a nationally ranked team. It will also be the first meeting since 2019 when Eastern is not ranked.

Eastern will be playing its second consecutive road game this weekend after traveling down to play No. 15 Idaho this past Saturday (Nov. 5). In the game, the Eagles were defeated by the Vandals, 48-16, to snap a two-game winning streak by Eastern in the series. The Eagles started the game well with an early 3-0 lead and Keshaun King intercepted the Vandals inside their own territory. Idaho responded with 21 straight points and would head to halftime with a 35-10 lead. The pace of the game slowed down in the second half, but the Eagles could not make up any ground on the Vandals and dropped their second consecutive game, 48-16. The team's record is now 2-7 this season and 1-5 in the Big Sky.

In the game, Eastern recorded two 70-plus yard touchdown plays. The first was an 87-yard touchdown pass from Gunner Talkington to Nolan Ulm to give the Eagles their first touchdown of the game in the second quarter. The pass play was the ninth longest pass play in program history and a career high for both Talkington and Ulm.

Ulm would set a career high with 99 receiving yards, grabbing his fourth touchdown of the season and fifth for his career.

During the third quarter, Talkington found Freddie Roberson for a 75-yard touchdown pass. It was Roberson's seventh touchdown of the season and 17^th for his career. The redshirt-junior also moved into the program's top 20 in receiving yards with 2187 to his name.

Talkington finished the game 15 of 24 for 232 yards. The redshirt-senior is second in the Big Sky and ninth in the nation with 22 touchdown passes.

King's interception was his second this season and fifth for his career. Along with King, Tre Weed picked off his second pass of the season, also giving him five for his career. As a team, Eastern ranks fourth in the Big Sky and 19^th in the nation with 10 interceptions this season. The defense is third in the conference and 10^th in the nation with 19 turnovers created.

Montana enters the week with the No. 16 ranking in the Stats Perform poll with a 3-3 record in conference and 6-3 overall. The Grizzlies blanked Cal Poly, 57-0, in the snow this past Saturday to snap a three-game losing streak. In the game, Montana outgained the Mustangs, 695 to 192, including 412 to 42 on the ground.

There is extensive history between Eastern and Montana, with the Grizzlies holding a 28-19-1 advantage in the all-time series. The Eagles have the advantage in the recent series history, winning seven of the last 10 meetings.

Eastern and Montana faced off last season in the second round of the 2021 FCS Playoffs, with the teams ranked fourth and fifth respectively. In Missoula, the Grizzlies won a barn burner, 57-51 to end the Eagles season. The game was Eric Barriere last in an Eastern uniform and the senior finished with 530 passing yards and five touchdowns, completing 47 of 80 pass attempts.

Eastern Washington will host its final regular season game against Northern Colorado on Saturday, Nov. 19 with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m.

Ten Eagles Have Made Their Starting Debuts This Season

Through seven 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 Rivera, 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 (281 starts by 21 players): Mitchell Johnson 39, Tre Weed 34, Darrien Sampson 27, Joshua Jerome 27, Ely Doyle 18, Anthany Smith 16, Marlon Jones Jr. 16, Brock Harrison 15,  Debore'ae McClain 14, Matthew Brown 13, Caleb Davis 10, Keshaun King 10, Derek Tommasini 8, Jacob Newsom 7, Jaren Banks 7, Demetrius Crosby Jr. 6, Conner O'Farrell 6, Soli Paleso'o 3, Trevor Thurman 2, Cage Schenck 2, Ahmani Williams 1.

Current Starts on Offense (192 starts by 19 players): Freddie Roberson 28, Wyatt Hansen 27,  Wyatt Musser 26, Dylan Ingram 21, Efton Chism III 18, Luke Dahlgren 11, Gunner Talkington 10, Brenden Rivera 9, Jakobie James 8, Matthew Hewa Baddege 7, Seth Carnahan 7, Tuna Altahir 5, Anthony Stell Jr. 5, Nolan Ulm 5, Blake Gobel 4, Andrei Leonardi 4, Brad Godwin 2, Micah Smith 2, Justice Jackson 2, Robert Mason III 1.

Series History Against Montana
Despite the 19-28-1 record against Montana, Eastern Washington has changed the series momentum since 2010, winning eight of twelve games. Prior to 2010, Eastern was 6-14 against Montana from 1990 to 2009.

The 2021 season had two matchups between the Eagles and the Grizzlies, with one in the regular season and one in the postseason.

In the regular season contest, No. 6 Eastern hosted No. 4 Montana at Roos Field. After trailing 21-10 going to the fourth quarter, the Eagles blitzed the Grizzlies with 24 points and pulled off a 34-28 comeback win. The win extended Eastern's home winning streak to 19 games and 6-0 against Montana on the red turf. Talolo Limu-Jones hauled in 231 receiving yards and one touchdown. Eric Barriere finished with 422 yards through the air, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Ely Doyle sealed the win with an endzone pass break up on the game's final play.

Eastern and Montana then found each other facing off in the second round of the FCS playoffs, with the Eagles ranked fourth and the Grizzlies fifth. The game opened with a 21-10 lead for Eastern, but Montana responded. They outscored the Eagles 40-14 after trailing by 11. Barriere would set a playoff record with 530 passing yards and record the third most touchdown passes in the postseason with five. Limu-Jones tied a program playoff record with 215 receiving yards. The effort was not enough, as Montana won the game, 57-41 to advance in the playoffs.

Eastern has won six times on UM's home field in Missoula since 1990. Besides a come-from-behind victory in 1990, EWU recorded wins in Missoula in 1992, 1997, 2005, 2013 and 2017. The first four of those victories yielded Big Sky titles for the Eagles. The Eagles have dropped the past two games in Missoula, with the last win coming in 2017 in a 48-41 victory.

Eastern is 6-17-1 overall in Missoula, with an 11-11 record in home games and 1-1 at neutral sites. The teams have met in the FCS playoffs twice, including the 2021 game. Eastern won at home against Montana in 2014, 37-20.

The teams  played one overtime game in 2001, with Montana winning 29-26 in two overtimes in Missoula.

The Eagles shared the 2004 and 2005 Big Sky titles with Montana, but the Grizzlies won or shared every league title from 1998-2009. Until Southern Utah won the title outright in 2015, Eastern was the only Big Sky school other than Montana to win the outright title from 1997-2014, doing it in 1997, 2013 and 2014. The Eagles advanced to the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs in both 1997 and 2013. The 1997 team was inducted into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. Montana's streak of league titles ended at 12 as EWU and MSU shared the 2010 title.
 
Game Notes
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 at 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. Eastern was ranked in 30-straight Stats Perform polls until falling out on Oct. 10, 2022.
 
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 preseason 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 42-21, including 30-10 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 76 percent of their games (101-32) 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.
 
The remaining conference games include a road contest against Montana. Eastern's final home game will be on Nov. 19 against Northern Colorado. The Saturday game will be senior day for the Eagles.
 
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.