CHENEY, Wash. — It may be a short week for some, but Eastern Washington football has been preparing for game week since last November. Eastern opens its 2024 season against Monmouth on Thursday, with kickoff at 6 p.m. from Roos Field.
Tickets can be purchased online through the link Here or by calling the EWU Ticket office at 509-359-6059.
Thursday night's game will be aired live on SWX with Austin Getz and Bill Ames on the call. The game will also be streamed live on ESPN+. Listen live to the game on 700 ESPN and the Varsity App with the voices of the Eagles, Larry Weir and Paul Sorensen.
Wealth of Returners
Eastern Washington will return 16 total starters from the 2023 team, split evenly among the offense and defense.The team then loses six starters, three on both offense and defense. The Eagles have four Big Sky All-Conference returners back, with Efton Chism III, Michael Wortham and Visperas earning honors in 2023. They're joined by Wyatt Hansen who was an honorable mention in 2022. Eastern loses 2023 first team All-Conference defensive back Marlon Jones Jr., second team tight end Blake Gobel and 2022 second team punter Nick Kokich.
The offense was a strength for EWU last season, ranking third in the Big Sky in passing - 263.4 yards per game - and fourth in total offense - 417.6 yards per game. The Eagles were also fourth in scoring with 32.3 points per game.
The defense for Eastern Washington looks to be revitalized behind new defensive coordinator Eric Sanders. Sanders is in his second season with the Eagles, previously working with the linebackers before being promoted to the head coordinator position. Eastern will have a mix of veteran experience and young talent that all saw game time last season.
Last Time Out
Eastern Washington is coming off a 4-7 season last year, with a 3-5 mark in the Big Sky that placed them in a tie for ninth in the conference standings with Idaho State. EWU was 3-2 at Roos Field, while going 1-4 on the road and 0-1 at neutral sites.In the 2023 season finale, the Eagles fell to Northern Arizona at home, 49-42. The Lumberjacks led by as many as 28 points in the game and were up by 14 at halftime. EWU organized a second-half rally to tie the game at 35 in the fourth quarter on a touchdown pass from Visperas to Chism III. NAU responded with 14 straight points to rebuild its lead. A late touchdown on another Visperas-to-Chism connection cut the lead to seven, but Eastern could not recover the onside kick to give the team a chance to tie the game.
O-Line of Experience
Eastern Washington boasts a depth of experience on the offensive line, with four of five returning starters from last season. Five seniors are back in the trenches for the Eagles with Luke Dahlgren, Hansen, Brenden Rivera and Jack Seelye. The group has played in 113 games combined with 96 starts. Hansen earned first team preseason All-Big Sky from Phil Steele, with Seelye earning fourth team recognition. Filling in the fifth spot will be redshirt-sophomore Dylan Conner and Michigan transfer Noah Stewart. Conner played in six games last season. Stewart played in four games at Michigan from 2021-23, earning three letters.
EKGs in the Classroom
Along with being dedicated on the field, Eastern has remained committed to academics. EWU earned the 2023-24 Big Sky Team Academic Champion, posting the top GPA in the conference among football programs. The team's student-athletes carried a 3.33 cumulative GPA throughout the academic year to earn the title from the Big Sky. Eastern also remained in good standing with the NCAA in the 2022-23 Academic Progress Rate (APR). The team held a 959 rate, 29 points above the minimum threshold for good standing in academics. The Eagles had 28 representatives on the Big Sky fall All-Academic list as well.
Eight Take the Lead
Eastern has no shortage of leadership for the 2024 season with eight Eagles being named captains. Seniors Efton Chism III, Luke Dahlgren, Darrien Sampson and Brock Harrison earn the captain title for the second consecutive season. The returners are joined by another group of seniors including, Cage Schenck, Nolan Ulm, Jacob Newsom and Austin York.
Ranked Road Ahead
With the initial release of the preseason AFCA FCS Coaches and Stats Perform FCS Top 25, Eastern Washington currently has six ranked opponents on its schedule. 2023 national runner up Montana is ranked 3rd, with Montana State right behind at 4th in the coaches' poll. Idaho is positioned at 7th with Sacramento State sneaking in at No. 10. UC Davis gives the Big Sky five ranked teams at 17th. The Grizzlies, the Bobcats and Vandals stayed in same spot in the Stats Perform poll, with the Hornets moving up to 8th and UC Davis falling back one to 18th. EWU garnered 17 points from Stats Perform and one point in the coaches.
Winning in Turnovers
The turnover battle is key in any game and Eastern Washington knows this first hand. Since 2010, EWU is 71-6 when winning the turnover margin. Eastern was 2-2 in games last season when the won the turnover margin, winning over UC Davis and Cal Poly, while falling to Idaho and Idaho State. The Eagles were 2-0 when tying in turnovers and 0-5 when losing the turnover battle.
Youth on the Backend
Along with having key veterans in the secondary in Sampson (S-Sr.), Schenck and DeJean Wells (R-Jr.), the team has a young core of talent for the future. Kentrell Williams Jr. starts at safety after ranking 5th on the team with 45 tackles. Redshirt-freshman Drew Carter led the team with five pass breakups and had 23 tackles. Along with Carter, redshirt-freshman Jaylon Jenkins, Derek Ganter Jr., Jonathan Landry and Zion Jones provide size and talent for the Eagle secondary. Ganter Jr. recorded 12 tackles and had 2 pass breakups in 4 games, while Landry had 2 tackles in 3 games.
The Eagles open the 2024 regular season on Aug. 29 vs. Monmouth! Season tickets for the 2024 football season are now available. Ticket packages can be purchased online via your Paciolan account, over the phone at 509-359-6059, or by emailing tickets@ewu.edu.
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.
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