Eastern Washington University Athletics

DAVIS, Calif. — The game was live on ESPN2 and was full of high-octane offense, but Eastern Washington football ended up on the short end of the battle. Eastern lost to No. 15/16 UC Davis, 49-38 on Saturday night in an offensive shootout. EWU falls to 0-3 in the Big Sky and 1-5 for the season. The Aggies improved to 2-1 in conference and 4-2 overall. 

"We played angrier, but it was a common theme. We gave up too many explosive plays on defense and couldn't chisel out seven-point opportunities and had to settle for field goals too often on offense," head coach Aaron Best said. "I thought there were good things out there, but I would be curious to see what our yards-per-play was, outside of the last two drives. Yards-per-play just was not where it needed to be. There were four- or five-play drives. It felt like we were out there on defense for 25 plays. We didn't come out of halftime with enough vigor. We played hard and together. But the two things that stuck out in my mind the most that we didn't accomplish were scoring inside the 30 and way too many explosive plays."

UC Davis used big plays the entire game to create their advantage, scoring six touchdowns of over 30 yards in the game. 

The Eagles scored first, but the Aggies scored 14 straight points to jump ahead. Eastern kept Davis in striking distance for three quarters, but 17 straight points between the third and fourth quarters secured the game. EWU closed with two touchdowns, but it was too late to claw the Aggies all the way back.

Nate Bell had a career game, passing for 413 yards on 39-of-58(67.2%) passing and tossing three touchdowns. The entirety of Bell's stat line was career-best for the redshirt-junior. Bell added 107 rushing yards on 16 attempts - 6.7 yards per carry average - adding another touchdown run. 

Eag Notes

Eastern was driving early as Nate Bell connected with Rylin Lang for a 20-yard completion. Bell completed passes to Kevin Allen III and Wesley Garrett on the drive as well. The Aggie defense stopped the Eagle advance, but Soren McKee converted a 50-yard field goal to take an early 3-0 lead. 

UC Davis struck on its first two drives, scoring on a 50-yard touchdown pass to start. The Aggies then ripped off a 67-yard touchdown run to build a 14-3 advantage with 10:20 on the clock. 

Bell put the team on his back the next drive, breaking a 43-yard rush on a 3rd and 13 play. After a sack, Bell completed a pass to Drew Carlson on 3rd and 18 to convert again. The drive ultimately stalled, but McKee connected again on the field goal attempt, this time for 30 yards. 

The Eagle's offense continued to move the ball down the field on its next drive, as Bell found David Cabrera for a pair of completions. Bell continued to spread the ball around, finding Garrett for a 17-yard gain. The highlight was yet to come, as Bell found his brother Jaxon Bell on the screen pass, and the younger brother cut through the Aggie defense for a 34-yard touchdown. EWU missed the extra point, but the deficit was down to 14-12 and 10:05 on the clock in the second quarter. 

The explosive plays continued for the Aggies as they scored with 2:33 left in the half on an 87-yard touchdown run. Eastern trailed 21-12.

With time remaining, Bell organized a 10-play, 69-yard drive to set up another McKee field goal. The senior connected from 23 yards and the Eagles went to halftime trailing 21-15.

Davis did not let up with the explosive plays, striking for a 53-yard touchdown pass and went up 27-15 on EWU.

Bell was focused on responding, and he fired a 25-yard completion to Garrett. He then called his own number and rushed 33 yards into the Aggie redzone. On the next play, Bell finished the job with a 6-yard touchdown run. Eastern reduced the Davis lead to 27-21 after missing on the two-point conversion. 10:39 remained in the third quarter. 

The Aggies kept the pressure up with a 37-yard touchdown on their next drive to build the lead back to 12 points at 33-21. 

Eastern stayed aggressive as Bell found Garrett for a 24-yard completion on the team's next drive. After moving into field goal range, McKee made it from 25 yards for his fourth field goal of the game. 

The Aggies then broke the game open, scoring 16-straight points to go up 46-24. Davis scored on a 7-yard touchdown pass, a 56-yard pass and a 27-yard field goal.

Despite the deficit, the Eagles continued fighting, and Bell and Carlson found rhythm on the team's next drive. Carlson caught 2 passes for 49 yards on the drive, with a 24-yard catch for a touchdown. Eastern cut the lead down to 49-31 with 8:35 on the clock. 

Following a Jaylon Jenkins interception, Bell began moving the ball, connecting with Carlson again for a 15-yard completion to start the drive. After an 11-yard completion to Kayden Stuit, Bell found Will McKissck for a 7-yard score. The lead was down to 49-38 and 3:47 remaining in the game. 

Up Next

Eastern Washington returns to Roos Field next weekend to host Northern Colorado on Saturday, Oct. 10, and kickoff is at 4 p.m. Pacific Time. This coming week is also Eastern Washington's Homecoming week, concluding with the football game on Saturday. 
 

2026 EWU football season tickets are now on sale! Join Spokane County's team for six home games at Roos Field in Cheney starting as low as $99. For more info, visit goeags.com/fbtickets or contact the EWU Ticket Office at 509-359-6059 or tickets@ewu.edu.