EWU begins quest for fourth straight Big Sky football title
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – As they stretched on the turf at Hornet Stadium on Friday afternoon, the Eastern Washington players felt the heat.
It was 96 degrees in the shade but decidedly warmer on the turf where Saturday night against Sacramento State the Eagles will open defense of the Big Sky Conference title they won last year, the year before and the year before that.
That means they feel a different kind of heat – and they seem to like it that way.
“I think there’s always a target on our backs,” Eastern offensive lineman Aaron Neary said. “We’ve won three, but we’re definitely going for a fourth.”
Indeed, most of the current players have known nothing but winning during a three-year run of dominance that’s taken them to a 22-2 conference record and three deep trips into the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
On the other hand, the Eagles are only 1-2 this season, but that’s the byproduct of a difficult schedule rather than their own issues, especially on offense. Even against the likes of Oregon, Northern Iowa and Montana State, the Eagles are putting up numbers that most of the conference can only dream about:
- Forty-four points and 589 yards of total offense per game.
- A pass-efficiency rating of 201.5.
- And the stats that really matter: a 51 percent conversion rate on third and fourth down and 13 touchdowns in 14 visits to the red zone.