CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington football returns to Roos Field this week to celebrate Homecoming. EWU hosts Northern Colorado on Saturday, Oct. 10 for a 4 p.m. Pacific Time kickoff.
The game is broadcast live on SWX and streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to every play live on 700 ESPN and the Varsity App with the voices of the Eagles, Larry Weir and Paul Sorensen.
Eagle Hall of Fame
Prior to the game on Saturday, Eastern athletics celebrates its 22nd Hall of Fame Class with the induction ceremony. The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. in the Pence Union Building's Nysether Community Room. The ceremony will follow brunch and will be held in conjunction with Eastern's Homecoming football game against Northern Colorado later that day. Doors open at 10:45, with brunch being served at 11:00 and the ceremony starting at 11:30.
The 2026 class includes six individuals and the 2024 Football Team. Among the inductees are football alumni Jesse Chatman, Eric Kimble and Erik Meyer. The '04 football team won 8 of its last 9 games to secure part of the Big Sky title and advance to the DI-AA playoffs. Meyer is one of EWU's Walter Payton Award winners and a two-time All-American, while being 4th all time with 10,261 passing yards. Chatman is the program's all-time leading rusher (4173 yards), earning All-American honors in 2001. Kimble is a two-time unanimous I-AA All-American and held Eastern's all-purpose yard title for 11 years (5934), catching passes from Meyer.
Last Time Out
Eastern Washington faced UC Davis under the lights as the game was aired live on ESPN2 for Big Sky After Dark.
EWU scored first on a 50-yard field goal from Soren McKee. The Aggies responded with 14-straight points, both 50+ yard scores. Eastern pulled within two of Davis, as McKee connected on another field goal. Nate Bell found his brother, Jaxon Bell, with a quick pass that Jaxon took 34 yards for the touchdown. The Aggies responded with another long, 87-yard touchdown run. McKee made his third field goal as time expired in the first half to leave the score 21-15 Davis. Opening the second half, the Aggies scored on a 53-yard touchdown. The Eagles quickly responded as Bell scored on a 6-yard touchdown. Davis countered again, scoring on a 37-yard dash. Following McKee's fourth field goal, the Aggies broke the game open with 17-straight points to lead 49-24. The Eagles scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, but the deficit was too much to overcome. The teams combined for 1230 total yards of offense.
Record-Breaking McKee
Soren McKee is putting on the Eagle red for the final season in 2026, and will leave Cheney at the top of the record books. McKee broke the EWU career field goal record with 4 against UC Davis that gave him 40 for his career. He passes Jason Cromer (1988-90) for the top spot, who had 39 in his career. The 4 field goals were also a career mark for the senior. McKee is 40-for-53(75.5%) on field goals at EWU, tying for 3rd in made attempts and tied for 7th in attempts, while ranking 5th all-time in percentage.
McKee is 142-for-146 on extra points, and his made attempts puts him 3rd on the all-time list. For his career, McKee has scored 262 points and passed Antonie Custer Jr. for 6th this past week after accounting for 14 points. He is 1 PAT away from tying Mike Jarrett (2009-11) for 2nd on the all-time list. This season, McKee is 10-of-12 on field goals(83.3%) to lead the conference in made field goals, while ranking 4th in percentage. His 45 points moves him up to 9th on the Big Sky leaderboard.
Definition of All-Purpose
Nate Bell turned in his career game against UC Davis, with career-best across the board. Bell passed for 413 yards, completing 39-of-58 (67.2%) passes and throwing 3 touchdowns. All were career-bests for Bell. The Brentwood, Calif. native also posted his 3rd career 100+ rushing game, with 107 net on 16 carries - 6.7 yards per carry - and scoring one touchdown.
Bell is just the 3rd quarterback in EWU history to post a 300+ yard passing, 100+ yard rushing game. Eric Barriere (367 passing, 101 rushing) last accomplished the feat in 2019 and Vernon Adams (411 passing and 107 rushing) posted the stat line in 2023. The 520 yards of total offense ranks 9th in Eastern history for all-purpose yards in a single game. Bell is 2nd in the Big Sky in passing yards (1597), 6th in touchdowns (11) and completion percentage (63.4%). His rushing yards (319) ranks 11th, and rushing TDs (7) are tied for 3rd.
Offense in High Gear
The Eagles racked up 601 yards of total offense against UC Davis, the most for the team since Sep. 20, 2025 against Western Illinois. Along with the 413 passing yards, Eastern tallied 188 rushing yards, marking the most for the team since Oct. 4, 2025 against Portland State when they had 333. Against the Aggies, EWU rushed 36 times, averaging 5.2 per carry. Behind Nate Bell's 107 yards, Jaxon Bell had 46 on 13 carries and DeMarkus Barnes had 18 on 2 carries.
Blocked Kick
Eastern registered its first blocked kick of the season when Justis La'ulu blocked a field goal attempt from the Aggies. The blocked kick was the first of La'ulu's. Last season, EWU blocked kicks, with 4 field goals, 1 extra point and 1 punt.
Redzone Strike
Eastern leads the Big Sky with 22 scores inside the redzone this season, going 22-for-24 on opportunities. The 91.7 conversion rate is also 2nd in the conference. EWU has 15 TDs inside the 20 and 7 field goals. The Eagles' two misses in the redzone were both from turnover on downs.
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.
Join the Eagle Athletic Fund for as low as $50 per year! Support Eagle student-athletes on and off the field while enjoying exclusive EAF perks such as season tickets and tailgating priority, invitations to special events, exclusive access, and more. Visit goeags.com/eaf for more information.
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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