*** 2019 Honors Candidate ***

*** 2019 Academic Honors Candidate ***

*** 2019 Team Co-Captain ***

Career: Blackburn has started 37 of the 39 games he has played as an Eagle, including the last 37. His 37 starts rank as the second-most among returning Eagle offensive players and second overall (behind Chris Schlichting with 40).
 
2019: Listed as a starter at center on the preseason depth chart. He was a first team preseason FCS All-America selection by Athlon Sports as one of just 28 players in the nation to be honored. He was also a second team selection on the Hero Sports preseason All-America squad. Hero Sports selected him as the top player in FCS to wear No. 75 in its preseason countdown to the 2019 season. In addition, Blackburn was chosen as one of five EWU team co-captains after also serving that role in 2018. Will return for the 2019 football season after his hardship waiver request to receive a sixth year to complete four years of eligibility was approved by the Big Sky Conference and the NCAA. Honored the past three years as a second team All-Big Sky Conference selection, Blackburn redshirted in 2014, but couldn't play in 2015 because of a thumb injury. With Kaleb Levao also receiving a sixth year, that means EWU will have three returning starters along the offensive line (tackle Chris Schlichting is the other), while also having back 2016 and 2017 starter tackle Tristen Taylor, who played in just three games in 2018 before being lost with a season-ending knee injury.
 
2018: Blackburn earned NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-America honors by Associated Press (second team) and STATS (third team). In addition, he was a team co-captain in 2018 and was named in November to the Google Cloud Academic All-District 8 Football Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He also was a second-team All-Big Sky selection for the third-straight season and earned his third Big Sky All-Academic honor. Eastern finished as the only school to rank in the top 20 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in total offense, rushing and passing. The Eagles averaged 528.2 yards on offense to rank third in FCS, including 255.9 rushing (10th) and 272.3 passing (20th). Eastern was also ranked fourth in scoring (43.1). En route to a 12-3 finish overall and runner-up finish in the NCAA Division I Championship Game, the Eagles as a team finished the 2018 season with a school-record 6.62 average per rush on the season to break the previous record of 6.41 set in 2001. The Eagles set team records for rushing yards (3,839) and rushing touchdowns (41).
 
2017: Earned second team All-Big Sky honors (as selected by the league’s head coaches). The FCS Athletic Director’s Association selected him to its Academic All-Star Team. Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. A new team award, the Golden EKG (Eastern Kind of Guy) was presented to him at the end of the season. Prior to the start of the season he was recognized as the recipient of the Larry Hattemer Offensive Lineman Scholarship endowment. Started all 11 games at center. He helped Eastern rank fifth in FCS in total offense (476.7 per game), and was also eighth in passing (320.5), 14th in scoring (34.5) and 11th in third down conversions (46.1 percent). He was selected as a third team choice on the College Sports Madness preseason All-Big Sky squad.

2016: Was selected to the Hero Sports Sophomore All-America squad after earning second team All-Big Sky honors (as selected by the league’s head coaches). Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. Listed as a backup at center on the preseason depth chart when the season started, he ended up started the last 11 games of the season as an injury replacement for senior Jerrod Jones (knee). After Blackburn’s insertion into the starting lineup beginning with the Northern Arizona (10/24/16) game, Eastern’s five starters on the offensive line for the rest of the year consisted of two redshirt freshmen and a trio of sophomores. He was selected as the team’s offensive player of the week after helping EWU finish with 442 yards in a 35-28 win at Portland State (11/18/16) to wrap-up the Big Sky title for Eastern. Eastern allowed just one sack on a day in which Gage Gubrud handled the ball 51 times (41 passes and 10 rushes).The offensive line shared the team offensive player of the week honor in a 35-16 win over Montana (10/29/16) and again in a 38-0 win over Richmond (12/10/16) in the FCS Playoffs. Blackburn helped Eastern rank second in FCS in total offense with an average of 529.6 yards per game, trailing only Sam Houston State at 547.3 per outing. Eastern was the FCS leader in passing offense (401.0 yards per game), and was third in third down conversions (52.1 percent), third in completion percentage (.679), third in scoring offense (42.4), and third in passing efficiency (168.2). Eastern quarterbacks were sacked only 24 times in 620 passing attempts (one sack per 25.8 attempts).

2015: A thumb injury sidelined him for the entire season.

2014: Redshirted. He was Eastern’s Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year after winning the team’s player of the week honor once during the season.

HS: Graduated from Meridian HS in 2014. He was selected to the Associated Press 1A All-State team as a first team offensive lineman and a second team defensive lineman. Was named to the All-Whatcom County All-Area team as selected by the Bellingham Herald. Was a unanimous selection on both sides of the ball in earning All-Northwest Conference 1A honors as a first team offensive lineman and first team defensive lineman. Blackburn was instrumental in helping running back Letrez Jones rush for a conference-high 1,960 yards and 30 TDs on 199 attempts (9.8 average) in 2013. He was one of just two linemen in coach Bob Ames’ 40 years at Meridian to start all four years on the offensive line. Meridian finished 6-6 his senior season and advanced to the first round of the State 1A Playoffs. As a junior in 2012, Blackburn was a second team selection as a defensive lineman on the Associated Press 1A All-State team. He was also a first team All-Northwest Conference selection as both an offensive and defensive lineman. As a sophomore in 2011, he was also a first team All-NWC selection on both sides of the ball. He helped the Trojans pile up 4,587 yards of offense and score 54 touchdowns on the season. He was also part of a defense that held opponents to an average of three yards per rushing attempt. Earned a total of four letters in football, and also lettered in basketball and track and field. As a sophomore in 2012, he placed seventh in the javelin at the State 1A Championships at EWU with a throw of 165-8. Earlier in the season he had a season and career-best throw of 175-3. He also competed in the sprints and the shot put and discus.

Personal: Professional accounting major and economics major with a 3.70 grade point average. Born 4/17/96 in Bellingham, Wash. Full name is Spencer Jordan Blackburn. His parents are Jordan and Michelle Blackburn.