CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington football team continues its road trip, but with a shorter distance this week. Eastern drives west to play No. 24 Washington on Saturday (Sep. 19), and kickoff will be at 4:15 p.m. Pacific Time.
The game is streamed live on the Big Ten Network. 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.

Last Time Out
Eastern Washington played its second road game of the season against a ranked South Dakota, falling to the Yotes, 41-23 in Vermillion. 

The game was under control in the first quarter, with EWU trailing 7-0. USD blew the game open between the second and third quarters, scoring 21 unanswered points. They led 31-3 in the third quarter. The Eagles began to find their offense and broke through with their first touchdown, an 11-yard pass from Nate Bell to Kayden Stuit. The Yotes responded with another score to make it 38-10 early in the fourth.

The Eagles struck right back as Bell found Wesley Garrett for a 28-yard strike. USD was held to a field goal on its next possession, but its lead grew to 41-17 and a little over 5 minutes remaining in the game. Eastern continued competing, driving 63 yards in 10 plays, completing the drive with a Malik Dotson 2-yard run. The deficit was to great to overcome, and USD won the game. The Yotes out-gained EWU, 517 to 342, including gaining 272 rushing yards to control the clock. 

Westside Showdown
Eastern Washington and the University of Washington will face each other for the fourth time in program history. UW holds a perfect 3-0 mark against EWU, with all games being played in Seattle. The teams last met in the 2019 season, with the Huskies dominating 47-14. The Huskies jumped ahead 21-0 in the first quarter and cruised to the home win. They had a 570-274 yards advantage in the game over Eastern.

UW is 2-0 this season, but fell out of the AP Poll, while remaining 24th in the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Huskies defeated rival Washington State, 24-10, to start the season and then narrowly beat Utah State, 16-14, this past week. Head coach Aaron Best has been a part of all three of the matchups between Eastern and UW, with the first two as the offensive line coach (2011, 2014) and the most recent ('19) as a head coach.

Stopping Them Behind the Line
Eastern Washington recorded 10 tackles for loss against South Dakota, spread across 9 different players. The 10 tackles for loss is the most for Eastern since Oct. 10, 2021 against Idaho(10). LJ Roberts, Clayton McCarrell and Ben Voigtlaender all led the team with 1.5 tackles for loss, with McCarrell earning his first career negative tackle and Voigtlaender tying his career mark. In addition, Gage Brumfield, Carson Moore and Shea Robertson all tallied their first career tackle behind the lines. McKel Broussard, Jaylon Jenkins and Isaiah Perez all added 1.0 tackle for loss as well.

Going Back to '24
Against South Dakota, Dotson scored his 5th career rushing touchdown and his first since the 2024 season against Idaho State. The Arlington, Wash. native finished with 52 yards on 12 carries against the Yotes. He is second on the team with 114 rushing yards, averaging 3.3 yards per carry. EWU has rushed for 100+ yards in each game to start the season and has a rushing touchdown in the last 6 contests.

On Top of the Onside
Eastern successfully recovered an onside kick against South Dakota this past week as Morgan Dodson placed his kickoff for the Eagles to recover. It was the first successful onside kick for the Eagles since Nov. 8, 2025 against Montana. 

1st Time Catching
Sophomore Sean Embree Jr. and freshman Oliver Luebkert both earned their first career receptions against USD. Embree had 1 catch for 12 yards, and Luebkert had 1 for 11. David Cabrera caught his 2nd and 3rd passes, posting a long catch of 16 yards. Rylin Lang continued to develop, setting a career-best with 6 receptions for 54 yards, including a career-long 24-yard reception. 

4th Time Scoring
Wesley Garrett pulled in his 4th career touchdown, catching 6 passes for 97 yards, just missing his first career 100-yard game. The 97 yards is career-best for the redshirt-senior. Garrett's touchdown catch went for 28 yards, and he added a 42-yard reception, 2 yards less than his career-long. As an Eagle, Garrett has 55 receptions for 713 yards in 28 games played. He averages 25.5 yards per game and 13.0 yards per catch. 

Smith Goes Everywhere
Bryce Smith continued his aggressive start to the season, recording 13 tackles, 1 shy of his career-best set in the season opener. The sophomore made 10 of his 13 tackles solo, while also grabbing his first career interception, stopping USD in the redzone. Smith has 4 passes defended this season, adding 3 pass breakups with his INT to rank 5th in the Big Sky. His 30 total tackles rank 5th in the conference currently. EWU had 4 total pass breakups against the Yotes 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. 

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.

FOLLOW THE EAGLES
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram