Jump to content

2018 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2018 Eastern Washington Eagles football
Big Sky co-champion
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Ranking
STATSNo. 2
FCS CoachesNo. 2
Record12–3 (7–1 Big Sky)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBodie Reeder (2nd season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorJeff Schmedding (4th season)
Base defense4–2–5
Home stadiumRoos Field
Seasons
← 2017
2019 →
2018 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 6 Weber State +^   7 1     10 3  
No. 2 Eastern Washington +^   7 1     12 3  
No. 7 UC Davis +^   7 1     10 3  
No. 17 Montana State ^   5 3     8 5  
Idaho State   5 3     6 5  
Montana   4 4     6 5  
Cal Poly   4 4     5 6  
Northern Arizona   3 4     4 6  
Portland State   3 5     4 7  
Idaho   3 5     4 7  
Northern Colorado   2 6     2 9  
Southern Utah   1 7     1 10  
Sacramento State   0 7     2 8  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
  • Although North Dakota was classified as an independent, games against them still counted as Big Sky Conference games.
Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 Eastern Washington Eagles football team represented Eastern Washington University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The team was coached by second year head coach Aaron Best. The Eagles played their home games at Roos Field in Cheney, Washington and were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 12–3, 7–1 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for the Big Sky championship with UC Davis and Weber State. They received an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs, where they defeated Nicholls, UC Davis, and Maine to advance to the National Championship Game, where they lost to North Dakota State.

Preseason

[edit]

Polls

[edit]

On July 16, 2018 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Eagles were predicted to win the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.[1]

Coaches poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Eastern Washington 134 (6)
2 Weber State 124 (3)
3 Northern Arizona 121 (3)
4 Idaho 101 (1)
5 Sacramento State 94
6 Southern Utah 91
7 Montana 82
8 Montana State 76
9 UC Davis 64
10 Cal Poly 40
11 Northern Colorado 30
12 Idaho State 29
13 Portland State 21
Media poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Eastern Washington 651 (27)
2 Weber State 636 (19)
3 Northern Arizona 535 (1)
4 Montana 496 (2)
5 Idaho 483 (3)
6 Southern Utah 449 (1)
7 Sacramento State 415
8 Montana State 391 (1)
9 UC Davis 331 (1)
10 Idaho State 170
11 Cal Poly 169
12 Northern Colorado 166
13 Portland State 103

Preseason All-Conference Team

[edit]

The Eagles had three players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.[2]

Gage Gubrud – Sr. QB

Antoine Custer – Jr. RB

Jay-Tee Tiuli – Sr. DT

Award watch lists

[edit]
Award Player Position Year
Walter Payton Award[3] Gage Gubrud QB SR

Schedule

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 11:05 p.m.Central Washington*No. 9SWXW 58–138,658
September 83:05 p.m.at No. 18 Northern Arizona*No. 6SWXW 31–268,938
September 155:05 p.m.at Washington State*No. 6P12NL 24–5932,952
September 221:05 p.m.Cal PolyNo. 6
  • Roos Field
  • Cheney, WA
SWXW 70–179,156
September 291:05 p.m.at Montana StateNo. 5RTNWW 34–1718,667
October 612:05 p.m.Southern UtahNo. 5
  • Roos Field
  • Cheney, WA
RTNWW 55–178,887
October 133:05 p.m.at No. 13 Weber StateNo. 4ELVNL 6–148,211
October 2712:05 p.m.IdahodaggerNo. 5
  • Roos Field
  • Cheney, WA
RTNWW 38–1410,023
November 311:05 a.m.at Northern ColoradoNo. 5Pluto TV 241W 48–133,274
November 101:05 p.m.No. 4 UC DavisNo. 5
  • Roos Field
  • Cheney, WA
SWXW 59–208,789
November 167:05 p.m.at Portland StateNo. 4Pluto TV 232W 74–234,205
December 12:00 p.m.No. 14 Nicholls*No. 4
ESPN3W 42–215,250
December 81:00 p.m.No. 7 UC Davis*No. 4
  • Roos Field
  • Cheney, WA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)
ESPN3W 34–295,503
December 1511:00 a.m.No. 12 Maine*No. 4
  • Roos Field
  • Cheney, WA (NCAA Division I Semifinal)
ESPN2W 50–197,529
January 59:00 a.m.vs. No. 1 North Dakota State*No. 4ESPN2L 24–3817,802
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

[4]

Despite also being a member of the Big Sky, the game vs. Northern Arizona was counted as a non-conference game and had no effect on the Big Sky standings.

Game summaries

[edit]

Central Washington

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 0 13 0 0 13
No. 9 Eagles 20 14 10 14 58

At Northern Arizona

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 6 Eagles 14 7 7 3 31
No. 18 Lumberjacks 0 10 3 13 26

At Washington State

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 6 Eagles 0 10 14 0 24
Cougars 14 14 7 24 59

Cal Poly

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
Mustangs 3 7 7 0 17
No. 6 Eagles 14 21 14 21 70

At Montana State

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 5 Eagles 14 10 3 7 34
Bobcats 10 0 0 7 17

Southern Utah

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
Thunderbirds 3 7 7 0 17
No. 5 Eagles 14 20 21 0 55

At Weber State

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 4 Eagles 0 3 3 0 6
No. 13 Wildcats 14 0 0 0 14

Idaho

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
Vandals 0 0 7 7 14
No. 5 Eagles 14 17 7 0 38

At Northern Colorado

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 5 Eagles 13 7 14 14 48
Bears 0 0 13 0 13

UC Davis

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 4 Aggies 10 7 3 0 20
No. 5 Eagles 7 14 14 24 59

At Portland State

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 4 Eagles 14 13 27 20 74
Vikings 0 14 7 2 23

FCS Playoffs

[edit]

Nicholls–Second Round

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 14 Colonels 7 7 0 7 21
No. 4 Eagles 3 7 10 22 42

UC Davis–Quarterfinals

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 7 Aggies 0 14 7 8 29
No. 4 Eagles 7 7 0 20 34

Maine–Semifinals

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 12 Black Bears 0 0 19 0 19
No. 4 Eagles 21 7 15 7 50

North Dakota State–Championship

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 4 Eagles 0 10 7 7 24
No. 1 Bison 10 7 14 7 38

Ranking movements

[edit]
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below
Week
PollPre123456789101112Final
STATS96665549555442
Coaches7556–T54–T38443332

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Eastern Washington Picked to Win the Big Sky".
  2. ^ "Doss, Buss Headline Big Sky Football Preseason All-Conference Team".
  3. ^ "FCS football: 2018 Walter Payton Award watch list". August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  4. ^ 2018 Football Schedule