Two of the top NCAA Football Championship Subdivision programs in this decade square off in Alabama when the No. 4/5 Eastern Washington University football team plays at No. 17/16 Jacksonville State of the Ohio Valley Conference. It will be just the ninth game East of the Mississippi River for Eastern, which will play their 1,000th game in history — 111 seasons worth — later this month.
Kickoff is 1 p.m. Pacific time in a game between nationally-ranked foes broadcast live on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to the game on 700-AM ESPN, 105.3-FM, via the web at tunein.com and via mobile phone app, with pre-game coverage starting one hour prior to kickoff.
Both teams are 1-1 on the season and have a long tradition of success in FCS, particularly in this decade. Entering 2019, Jacksonville State had the fourth-best winning percentage in FCS since 2010 (.7522, 85-28) with Eastern was right behind (.750, 90-30). For victories, EWU’s 90 ranked third and JSU was fourth with 85, and included a 2013 meeting in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs which was won by EWU 35-24 at Roos Field in Cheney. In that meeting, EWU was ranked third in FCS entering the playoffs and was a No. 3 seed, while JSU had a No. 20 ranking.
Eastern’s 13 appearances in the FCS playoffs rank 15th overall and its 19 victories are sixth, including six appearances and a 14-5 record since 2010. Jacksonville State has appeared in the FCS playoffs nine times and has seven wins, including six appearances and a 7-7 record since 2010 when EWU won the national championship. Jacksonville State lost in the 2015 title game to North Dakota State, and Eastern fell to the Bison in the championship game in the 2018 season.
The Gamecocks have won five-straight OVC titles and have had 16-straight winning seasons to lead the FCS. Eastern has won at least a share of seven of the last 10 Big Sky Conference titles and has 12-straight winning seasons to rank third in FCS (21 of the last 23 years). At home, both teams are tough to beat — the Gamecocks are 49-5 (90.7 percent) in their last 54 regular season home games at 24,000-seat Burgess-Snow Field; the Eagles are 40-6 (87.0 percent) since 2010 when EWU installed its red turf at “The Inferno” at Roos Field. Eastern and JSU are set to play in Cheney on Sept. 11, 2021.
Moreover, both programs feature exceptional multi-talented junior quarterbacks who are in the hunt to win the Walter Payton Award given to the top player in FCS. Eastern’s Eric Barriere has passed for 733 yards thus far to rank third in FCS, and is averaging 385.0 yards of total offense to rank second. Leading the FCS is Zerrick Cooper from JSU, who has 758 yards passing and is averaging 389.5 in total offense.
Reader Comments(0)