Jim Allen

Zach Gehring hopes to establish himself as a receiving threat this season at Eastern Washington. “I’ve tried to get more involved with the receivers,” said Gehring, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound senior tight end from Castle Rock, Wash. “If I can see a smaller guy doing something, and if I can do the same thing he’s going to do, then that’s a better way to do it,” Gehring said. Which sounds great, but the Eastern coaches plan to establish something else first – namely a running game – before Gehring and the other Eagles tight ends can run free. That didn’t happen much last season. After Jake Withnell caught the first touchdown pass in the season opener at Idaho, the Eastern tight ends grabbed exactly two more the rest of the year. All told, they had a collective 19 receptions for exactly 200 yards – just over 4 percent of the Eagles’ team total of 4,469.

The life cycle of an athlete is never long enough. “I think it’s a terrible analogy, but they say it’s like a death,” former Gonzaga basketball star Richie Frahm said.

For almost a year, the game of football has been pulling at J.C. Agen.

Fall term is still six weeks away, but chemistry class is already in session at Eastern Washington University. The elements are combined on the football practice fields behind Reese Court, where professor Aaron Best and his 18 students hope it all comes together in a series of controlled explosions, roughly every Saturday between now and early January.

Fall term is still six weeks away, but chemistry class is already in session at Eastern Washington University. The elements are combined on the football practice fields behind Reese Court, where professor Aaron Best and his 18 students hope it all comes together in a series of controlled explosions, roughly every Saturday between now and early January. Best, otherwise known as the Eagles’ offensive line coach, may have one of the top units in the Big Sky Conference, perhaps the entire Football Championship Subdivision. Eastern returns four of five starters and can count on quality depth across the line, but ultimate success depends on how it all comes together.

The burden of expectations was never this light. The Eastern Washington University football team opened fall practice Wednesday afternoon as the third-ranked team in the land, a largely veteran group that knows there’s still room for improvement.

The burden of expectations was never this light. The Eastern Washington University football team opened fall practice Wednesday afternoon as the third-ranked team in the land, a largely veteran group that knows there’s still room for improvement.

A look at five storylines to keep an eye on as Eastern opens fall camp.

The new faces on the Eastern Washington football team may mean some new looks this season. Or not.

Team TBA finally closed out Team Three and a Half, 20-15, to win its fourth straight Hoopfest Women’s Elite title Sunday afternoon. Finding closure was much tougher for both teams; they were playing for former player and friend Melissa Erickson, who died June 5.