Eagles riding high in the Big Sky again

The Thanksgiving feast for all those associated with the Eastern Washington University football team ought to taste much better this year.

Gone is the indigestion and bad taste from their snub following the 2017 playoffs and knowledge that there is some rest that will allow injuries to heal.

The Eagles’ selection last Sunday morning as the No. 3 seed in the 2018 Football Championship Subdivision playoffs means they have two weeks between their final Big Sky Conference game — a 74-23 bombardment of Portland State — and their Dec. 1 contest in round-two of the postseason.

“It’s always fun to play at home and it’s nice to have Thanksgiving off for our fans and our student-athletes to be able to enjoy some family festivities along the way,” Eastern head coach Aaron Best said.

Eastern, 9-2, who wrapped up a 10th Big Sky title, will face the winner of a Nov. 24 game featuring Nicholls State (8-3) traveling from Louisiana to face the University of San Diego (9-2) in a Dec. 1 game that kicks off at 2 p.m. at Roos Field.

“We like to be at home — playing at home means you did a little bit more during the regular season,” Best said following the selection show that put defending national champion North Dakota State on top of the 24-team bracket. Kennesaw State (10-1), is the No. 4 seed, opposite The Bison.

The Eagles are one of four Big Sky teams in this year’s playoffs that end Jan. 5 in Frisco, Texas. Co-champs Weber State — the No. 2 seed — UC Davis (No. 6) and Montana State also made the bracket.

Best and his team had the mantra all season of “Leave No Doubt” after the team was denied a berth last year after finishing 7-4.

“The standard around here are Big Sky championships and playoff berths, so when we don’t do that like last year it hurts,” Best said. “I’ve been here 20-plus years and have been a part of a lot of victories, so it hurt when I couldn’t tell those players last year why we didn’t get in.”

That mantra helped fuel an impressive finish where, following a 14-6 loss to Weber State Oct. 13, Eastern turned on both the offensive jets and built a solid defensive wall and closed with four straight victories.

Starting with a 38-14 win over Idaho, the Eagles poured on the points in increasing numbers. They beat Northern Colorado 48-13 and UC Davis 59-20 before the PSU win where the Eagles scored their 74 points in just 17 minutes, 50 seconds. The Vikings had the ball for 42:10.

In that four-game span Eastern outscored those opponents 219 – 70, winning by an average of 54.7 – 23, a factor, perhaps in the selection committee giving the Eagles such a high seed.

They appeared to do that most of the season, outside, perhaps of their lone conference loss on Oct. 13 at Weber State. Should the Eagles and Wildcats (9-2) win their first two games, they could meet either Dec. 14 or 15 in Ogden.

Eastern was fourth in the final regular season STATS NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 poll announced before the pairings were revealed. Right with the Eagles are Weber State (No. 3) and UC Davis (No. 7), both 9-2 and Montana State ranked 23rd with a 7-4 record.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].