The Eagles came a long, long way in exactly a year.
The Eastern Washington University football team ended the postseason 10 positions higher than the way it started by ranking fourth in a pair of final NCAA Football Championship Subdivision polls announced Monday (Jan. 9). In fact, exactly a year ago the Eagles were unranked in the final poll of the season.
On their way to a 12-2 finish that included a perfect 8-0 Big Sky Conference record, the Eagles finished fourth in the STATS Top 25 Poll of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries. In the Coaches Poll, Eastern was also fourth.
The only teams ahead of EWU were NCAA Division I Champion James Madison at No. 1 and runner-up Youngstown State at No. 2. North Dakota State ranked third followed by the Eagles. The Bison had won five-straight FCS titles and 22-consecutive postseason games before top-seeded NDSU was defeated at home by fourth-seeded JMU 27-17 in the semifinals.
The next day, second-seeded Eastern fell to Youngstown State 40-38 on an improbable TD reception with one second left by the Penguins. James Madison went on to beat YSU 28-14 in the NCAA Division I Championship Game on Jan. 7 in Frisco, Texas.
Eastern’s march to the semifinals followed the 2015 season when EWU lost its final three games of the regular season and missed the playoffs. The Eagles finished 6-5 and were ranked in the top 25 in 57 consecutive polls before getting knocked out of the season-ending rankings. Eastern was ranked in all 14 polls this season, with a high ranking of third after beginning the season at No. 14.
“This team had something special,” said Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin. “In my opinion, you could see it even before
we played a game. You could see something special back in January – something different the way they were going to push the standard. There was something different in how they were going to come back from a 6-5 year. They took 6-5 as being unacceptable. The seniors led that charge and it trickled down. It was a special season.”
Overall, this is the 13th time Eastern has finished the season nationally ranked, including nine times since 2004. The other seasons were in 1985, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. The Eagles were fourth in 2014, third in 2013, fourth in 2012 and first in 2010 after winning the NCAA Division I title.
This is the sixth time in school history EWU has finished in the top four, including five of the last seven seasons. In 1997, Eastern finished fourth in The Sports Network poll as well as the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. In 1997, 2012, 2013 and again in 2016, Eastern advanced to the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. In 2014, Eastern advanced to the quarterfinals.
Eastern finished 3-2 this season versus teams ranked in final top 25 poll by The Sports Network. Eastern defeated No. 8 Richmond, #14 Central Arkansas and #24 Cal Poly, and fell to #2 Youngstown State and No. 3 North Dakota State. Besides losing with one second left to YSU, Eastern fell in overtime to NDSU. In all, EWU was 6-2 this season against teams who were ranked at the time EWU faced them.
Next year, Eastern will play four teams ranked in the top 25, including a non-conference game against NDSU (#3) on Sept. 9 in Cheney. The Eagles will play Big Sky Conference foe Weber State (#25) at home on Nov. 4, and then play fellow Big Sky Conference champion North Dakota (#12) the next week on the road. Eastern doesn’t play Cal Poly (#24) next season.
Six years after capturing the NCAA Division I Football Championship, the Eagles won the Big Sky Conference title for the ninth time overall and fifth time in seven seasons. Eastern garnered its 19th winning season in the last 21 years, including playoff berths in nine of the last 13 seasons.
Press release courtesy of Dave Cook – Eastern Washington Sports Information. All Rights Reserved.
