Eagles take break after Weber loss

With a disappointing 14-6 loss to Weber State in their rearview mirror, a bye could not come at a better time for the Eastern Washington University Eagles football team.

Bruised bodies and egos deserve some time away from football, head coach Aaron Best said on the Oct. 15 EWU Coaches Show.

“This is a fabulous time (for a bye) after seven straight weeks of football,” Best said. It’s a period in which Best wants both players and coaches to get away from football and reconnect with loved ones.

It’s a time to recharge batteries with four games remaining – hopefully more – for Eastern, which saw it lose for the first time in Big Sky Conference play. With A 3-1 record, 5-2 overall, the Eagles fell in national polls where they are No. 8 in the coaches’ poll and No. 9 in the Football Championship Subdivision STATS media poll.

Billed as a matchup of Weber’s stout defense against Eastern’s explosive defense, the game lived up to the former.

The game included a combined total of 15 punts and 11 three-and-outs. Both teams were just a combined 6-of-32 on third down and for 3-of-7 on fourth down.

The Eagles held 13th-ranked Wildcats to just 274 total yards and one offensive touchdown – numbers typically good enough to win. The Eagles held Weber scoreless for the final 51-plus minutes of the game, but fell from the unbeaten ranks in the Big Sky after the fewest combined points in an EWU game since 2009.

However, the Weber State defense held EWU to 247 yards, and for the first time since a 19-3 loss to Montana in 2008, the Eagles did not score a touchdown.

“Our players swung at every pitch thrown,” Best said. “Defensively I couldn’t be prouder – our team played their tails off and I can’t say enough about them.”

Eastern’s Roldan Alcobendas punted seven times for a 60.3-yard average, including a school-record punt of 78 yards and three others of at least 60 yards. He also booted a pair of field goals for the only EWU points. For his efforts, Alcobendas was named Big Sky Conference Special Teams Player of the Week.

For the second-straight game, Eric Barriere was a replacement for injured starting quarterback Gage Gubrud who suffered a lower leg injury at Montana State on Sept. 29. The sophomore passed for 185 yards, but EWU’s vaunted rushing attack managed just 62 yards in support of him.

When they get back to football, the Eagles return to action on Oct. 27 on ROOT Sports when they welcome the University of Idaho back to the Big Sky Conference with a rare meeting with the Vandals in Cheney. Kickoff is set for noon. The Vandals re-joined the Big Sky in football in 2018, and EWU will play the Idaho in the first meeting between the two schools since 2012 when Eastern won in Moscow 20-3.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].