CHENEY — A pair of Eastern Washington University football seniors have been named to the Stats Perform Preseason All-America Team, as announced on Aug. 2.
Eric Barriere represents Eastern as a first team quarterback and Tristen Taylor is a second team offensive lineman. The duo is among 21 other Big Sky Conference student-athletes to make the team, the most among FCS conferences selections. In total, there are 120 preseason All-Americans from 60 schools and 15 conferences split into three 40-player teams.
Barriere, from Inglewood, Calif., and a 2016 graduate from La Habra High School, was named first team All-America by Stats Perform at the end of the spring 2021 season, becoming just the seventh All-American in school history. Last season, he was picked as the preseason Big Sky Offensive Most Valuable Player and went on to earn the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year honor at the end of the season, as well as being unanimously named to the first team. Additionally, Barriere finished runner-up in voting for the Walter Payton Award and was honored as a first team All-American by six different organizations at the end of the season. He was also named the Football Championship Subdivision Offensive Player of the Year by the FCS ADA.
This year, Barriere was picked as the preseason Big Sky Offensive MVP again and made the All-Big Sky preseason team. The other quarterback to be named to the first team preseason Stats Perform All-America team is Cole Kelley, the reigning Walter Payton Award winner who Barriere finished runner-up to.
Barriere passed for at least 300 yards in five of six regular games during the unique 2021 spring season, and had at least 400 yards of total offense in three of them. He finished ranked in the top 10 in the FCS in total offense (fifth, 369.0 per game), passing offense (fifth, 348.4), passing touchdowns (third, 19) and points responsible for (ninth, 17.4 per game). He completed 61.8 percent of his passes for 2,439 yards, 19 touchdowns and 2,583 total yards of offense. Twice he directed game-tying and game-winning scoring drives in the fourth quarter for EWU. In his career with the Eagles, he is 20-9 as a starter with an unblemished 13-0 record at home. He has racked up 10,102 yards of total offense in his career, including 8,739 through the air.
Taylor earned first team All-America honors by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) at the end of last season. He joined Barriere on the preseason All-Big Sky team this year after being named to the first team at the end of the 2021 season, the fourth All-Big Sky honor of his career. He was a second-team selection in 2019 and honorable mention in 2016 and 2017.
Entering his seventh season with the Eagles, Taylor, a Stockton, Calif., native and a 2015 Stagg High School graduate, has started all 47 games he’s played in. Last year, he helped Eastern rank third in total offense in the FCS with an average of 522.7 yards per game. Eastern was also fourth nationally in passing (366.7) and eighth in scoring offense (37.7). The Eagles led the FCS in total offense during the regular season.
Barriere, Taylor, and the rest of the Eagles are gearing up to start fall camp this Friday, Aug. 6. Eastern Washington opens the season on Sept. 2 at UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev., at Allegiant Stadium.
The Eagles home-opener is set for Sept. 11 against Central Washington.
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