Sac State dominates Eastern on Homecoming

CHENEY - For about eight minutes last Saturday, Eastern Washington resembled the Eagles of old scoring three touchdowns on as many possessions and rallied to tie Sacramento State 21-21.

It was the other 52 minutes where the Eagles returned to their familiar recent selves in getting steamrolled by the Hornets 52-28 in a Big Sky Conference football game Oct. 14 on Homecoming at Roos Field.

No. 5 Sacramento State (3-0 Big Sky, 6-0 overall) led 21-0 after the first quarter but Eastern would own the start of the next period with Efton Chisim III scoring twice within 1 minute, 8 seconds and Justice Jackson evening the score with 8:08 to play in the quarter.

But Sac State let the air out of the Homecoming festivities scoring twice to close out the half and head to the break back in command 35-21.

EWU now falls to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in conference play. The Hornets scored the most points in a Roos Field game since 2015 when Northern Arizona left Cheney with a 52-31 win.

 The Hornets would wind up scoring 21-unanswered points until a 24-yard touchdown reception from Gunner Talkington to Freddie Roberson at the 8:01 mark of the third quarter snapped the run, making pulling Eastern back to within two scores.

“There are three things that standout from a game-plan perspective,” head coach Aaron Best said. “First was special teams, especially the kicking units. We had a blocked field goal and a missed field goal, and it didn’t help us or create momentum.”

Another key stat – time of possession — favored Sac State with the Hornets holding the ball 13 more minutes than Eastern. “Credit to their offense for staying on the field, we couldn’t get off on third or fourth down defensively,” Best said.

 Talkington completed 26 of 45 pass attempts with one interception — a pick-6 TD from Brock Mather that put his team ahead 14-0. Talkington did connect for a career-high 370 yards and three touchdowns.

Chism led the way for Eastern with 129 receiving yards on nine catches and two receiving touchdowns – his second-career game with over 100 receiving yards.

Defensively, Ely Doyle notched his second-straight game with at least 10 tackles - his third of the season. Derek Tommasini and Kentrell Williams Jr. added eight tackles. Williams also grabbed his first career interception, and Marlon Jones Jr. had his second interception of the season as well. Additionally, Brock Harrison forced a fumble that was recovered by Demetrius Crosby Jr.

For just the second time since 2010, Eastern Washington won the turnover battle (3-1) but lost the game. The five-game losing streak matches the longest since 1995, and the Eagles have not been 1-5 since 2006 – their last losing season.

 As a team, the Eagles had 460 yards of total offense, including 370 through the air and 90 on the ground. They were 7-of-16 on third down compared to 9-of-13 for the Hornets. Sacramento State had 525 yards, 385 on the ground and 140 passing yards. Ahser O’Hara scored three times for the Hornets while Cameron Skattebo rushed for 201 yards.

Eastern hits the road once again to face Cal Poly Oct. 22 in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. on ESPN+ and on the air via 700-AM ESPN & 103.5 FM. The Mustangs, led by former EWU head coach Beau Baldwin, are also 1-5 and 0-3 and are coming off a 40-31 loss at Idaho State.