CHENEY, Wash.  — Eastern Washington football is on Roos Field this week for the 2026 Season home opener. Eastern hosts Northern Iowa on Saturday, Sep. 5, with kickoff at 4 p.m. Pacific Time. 

The game highlights kickoff weekend and Hometown Heroes Day for Eastern Washington University.

The first 3000 fans in the stadium will receive a koozie from Global Credit Union, the game sponsor. 

The game will air on SWX and stream live on ESPN+. Follow 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 opened the 2026 season on the road against No. 24/25 Northern Arizona. NAU defeated Eastern, 34-27, in a hard-hitting battle.
EWU scored first by way of a 3-yard touchdown pass from Nate Bell to Wesley Garrett. The pass initially went to Ryan Johnson, but it was bobbled and Garrett was in the right spot for the catch. The Eagles would go up 24-3 on the Lumberjacks in the second quarter, after a 12-yard TD run from Bell, followed by a 14-yard TD throw to Jaxon Branch, set up by a Jaylon Jenkins interception. Soren McKee connected on a 53-yard field goal as well. NAU then responded with 24-straight points from the second to fourth quarter to swing momentum back to the home team. Eastern trailed 27-24 in the fourth.  McKee tied the game up at 27 on a 37-yard field goal. The 'Jacks managed to organize an 11-play, 75-yard drive to score the go-ahead touchdown. Despite a late drive from EWU, the team could not tie the game and fell on the road. 

Eastern had the advantage in total yards at 429 to 365.

On the defensive side, Myles Mayovsky blew past his career-best in tackles with 18, seven more than his previous best. Four more Eagles posted career-bests in tackles, including Bryce Smith (14), McKel Broussard (12), Samarai Anderson (9) and Ben Voigtlaender (6). JoJo Maxey-Johnson recorded his first career sack in the game, adding three tackles with two solo. 

Two-Straight Against the Panthers
Eastern Washington plays the second part of the home-and-home series with Northern Iowa on Saturday. The teams played in Cedar Falls last year, with the Panthers topping the Eagles, 17-14. EWU trailed 17-0 going into the fourth quarter, but rallied to pull within three late. Nate Bell rushed for 89 yards in the game and scored two touchdowns. Bryce Smith had a blocked punt that set up one of Bell's touchdowns, and Jaylon Jenkins notched his first career interception, making the pick while UNI was in the redzone. 

Eastern is 2-7 against UNI in program history, but is 2-0 at Roos Field. The teams met in the first round of the 2021 playoffs, with the Eagles winning 19-9. The teams also met in the 2005 playoffs, playing Cedar Falls. The Panthers won the matchup, 41-38. Saturday's game will be Northern Iowa's first of the season, as the team was idle during Week 0. 

Backers Make the Difference
The Eagle defense has experience at all levels, but returns 2 of its 3 linebackers from the '25 team in Myles Mayovsky and Samarai Anderson. Mayovsky started all 12 games last season and ranked 2nd on the team with 80 tackles. The figure also ranked 13th in the Big Sky. He had 5 tackles for loss, including 1 sack, adding 5 pass breakups. Anderson played in all 12 games with 1 start. The redshirt-junior was 9th on the Eagles with 42 tackles, including 5 for a loss and 1 sack. Against Northern Arizona in Week 0, both Mayovsky and Anderson set career-bests in tackles, with Mayovsky registering 18 and Anderson finishing with 9.

QB Report
Eastern Washington started 4 different quarterbacks last season and three of them are back on the 2026 roster. redshirt-junior Nate Bell, redshirt-sophomore Jake Schakel and sophomore Kaden Rolfsness return, while Jared Taylor, last year's season-opening starter, graduated. Bell started 5 games in 2025, with Schakel starting 2 and Rolfsness starting the season finale against Cal Poly. Brady Annett joins the QB room after graduating from Corona Del Mar High School.

Bell got the call to start the 2026 season and showed poise in the Big Sky road matchup. Against the 'Jacks, Bell completed 30-of-47(63.8%) passes for 307 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Bell set career-bests in yards, completions and attempts, while matching his career-best in touchdown passes. Bell is the first Eagle to pass for 300+ yards since Gunner Talkington passed for 348 in the 2022 opener. The redshirt-junior also rushed for 18 yards on 6 attempts with 1 touchdown. Bell has 9 career passing touchdowns and 7 rushing. 

Spreading it Around
Nate Bell completed passes to 6 different players against NAU, helping 2 receivers to career-bests and one matching. Jaxon Branch set career marks with 7 catches for 88 yards, and hauled in his 3rd career touchdown catch. Drew Carlson led the team with 9 catches for 75 yards, both career marks in his first career start. Wesley Garrett matched his career-best with 7 receptions and caught his 3rd career touchdown. He finished with 56 receiving yards. Jamai East made his Eagle debut, catching 2 passes for 42 yards.

On Point McKee
Soren McKee is putting on the Eagle red for the final season in 2026, and he is continuing to move up the all-time EWU lists. Following the Week 0 matchup against the Lumberjacks, McKee is now 130-for-131 on extra points, with his made attempts now tying for 3rd on the all-time list with Seth Harrison and 4th in attempts. For his career, McKee has scored 226 points after accounting for 9 against NAU. McKee's 9 points included a career-long 53-yard field goal. He is now 8th on the program's all-time scoring list. McKee is 32-for-43(74.2%) on field goals at EWU, placing him 4th on made attempts and tied for 7th in attempts, while ranking 5th all-time in percentage. 

Terrors of the Skies
Eastern Washington notched 15 interceptions last season, a figure that ranked 7th in the FCS and 2nd in the Big Sky. The 15 INTs helped the Eagles carry a +4 turnover margin last year, ranking 26th in the nation and 3rd in the conference. Jaylon Jenkins led the team with 5, while three players had 2 and four had 1. Ambrose Marsh grabbed the first 2 INTs of his career, while Dre Greeley returns with 1 to his name from last season. Marsh was thrown into the starting lineup last season and excelled, racking up 43 tackles - 33 solo - and 2 for a loss. He had 1.0 sack, 4 pass breakups and 1 forced fumble. True freshman Bryce Smith also found himself with more playing time than expected, making six starts and playing in 11 games. Smith was 6th on the team with 47 tackles, including 27 solo, while registering 2 for a loss. He had 0.5 sack and 3 pass breakups, adding one forced fumble. Greeley had 4 pass breakups and 11 solo tackles. Along with Jenkins interception, Smith and graduate student McKel Broussard set career-bests in tackles. Smith posted 14 tackles with 4 solo, while Broussard had 12 with 4 solo as well. Marsh had 6 total tackles - 4 solo - and 1 pass breakup. 
 

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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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