Meyer just misses in Payton

Close, but no cigar.

Again.

For the second time in four years, an Eastern Washington football star came up just short of national recognition.

Junior quarterback Erik Meyer was fourth in the balloting for the Walt Payton Award, which goes to the top offensive player in I-AA football. The top three are invited to the awards banquet in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Dec. 16, the night before the I-AA championship game.

Meyer received 131 votes, including nine first-place votes. Almost 100 ballots were cast, picking a top five from a final list of 16. The voting was done before the playoffs.

The three finalists are William & Mary quarterback Lang Campbell, Appalachian State wide receiver DeVon Fowlkes and Sam Houston State quarterback Dustin Long. All are seniors.

Sam Houston State (10-2) plays at Eastern (9-3) Saturday afternoon at 4:30 in the quarterfinals of the I-AA playoffs.

In 2001, when he rushed for 2,096 yards and scored 28 touchdowns, Eastern running back Jesse Chatman was fourth in the voting. That year the Eagles missed the playoffs with a 7-4 record.

Campbell threw for 3,037 yards and 21 touchdowns with just one interception and ran for 201 yards and seven TDs. He has the Tribe in the playoffs, facing defending national champion Delaware on Saturday.

Fowlkes had 103 receptions for 1,618 yards and 14 touchdowns, but the Mountaineers finished 6-5. He averaged 147.1 yards receiving and 210 all-purpose yards.

Long, a transfer from Texas A&M, passed for 3,408 yards and 31 touchdowns for the Bearkats. His completion percent was 61.4 and he was sixth in the nation in passing efficiency.

Meyer’s numbers for the regular season were 3,037 yards with 28 touchdowns. He completed 67.2 percent of his passes and led the nation in passing efficiency.

Montana quarterback Craig Ochs was 11th in the balloting and Montana State quarterback Travis Lulay was 16th.

The 2003 winner was Colgate running back Jamaal Branch, who finished 12th this year.

At the bank

The BCS makes I-A football fans crazy. They decry the computers and checkbooks that decide pairings and potential national champions.

A playoff, they say, is the answer.

You know, like I-AA football.

Well, yes, I-AA football will have a champion determined on the field, but don’t think for a minute money won’t play a part.

Eastern Washington is going to be at home Saturday instead of Huntsville, Texas, because the school put in a better bid for the second-round game.

It was rumored that Sam Houston didn’t bid for a second-round game, assuming top-ranked Southern Illinois would beat Eastern, but that’s not true. Eastern just outbid SHSU.

Only four teams are seeded in the I-AA tournament and they get home games if they win their first-round game.

That’s why defending champion Delaware, despite being third in attendance at 21,055 a game, is hitting the road to play at third-seeded William & Mary, which averages 7,633.

Montana would have had to go to Georgia Southern, but the Eagles were upset by New Hampshire. It only makes sense to have the Grizzlies host with their No. 2 attendance average of 23,048.

Meanwhile, Sam Houston is 36th with an average of 9,067. Eastern Washington is 59th at 6,466.

It’s obvious EWU officials stepped out on a limb, and should the Eagles win and the Grizzlies lose – winners of their two games meet in the semifinals – there is a chance for another game. NHU averages 4,912 fans.

Ticket numbers corrected

The numbers to call for tickets to Saturday’s game are 359-4339 and 1-866-4GO-EAGS.

About 4,500 were sold Monday.

Eastern officials said a crowd of near 8,000 is needed to break even.

Eagles nest

Just because Eastern beat the No. 1 team doesn’t guarantee success with a home game. Northern Arizona won at McNeese State last year and got a home game only to lose 48-25 to Florida Atlantic… . This is the fourth-straight game the Eagles have played against a ranked team with a finalist for an individual national award… . Eastern is 4-3 in the playoffs… . Big Sky teams are 19-8 against Southland teams in the playoffs; Sam Houston is 1-1 against the Big Sky… . Southland teams have lost nine straight road playoff games against Big Sky teams… . Eastern has nine wins for the third time in history, going 12-2 in 1997 and 9-3 in 1985… . Sam Houston beat two D-II teams, Ouchita Baptist and Tarleton State; EWU beat Central Washington… . Eastern coach Paul Wulff and Sam Houston coach Ron Randleman are finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award… . EWU is 4-6 against Southland teams, but only one was a playoff game, Eastern’s 40-10 win over Northwestern State in the first round of 1997… . Junior linebacker Joey Cwik had a career-high 14 tackles against SIU, moving past injured teammate Doug Vincent into 10th on the career list with 228.

Grizzlies den

The Griz are 20-12 in the playoffs, 18-3 at home with all three homes losses coming in the first round… . With an 8-0 home record this year, Montana is 117-16 at Washington-Grizzly… . The Griz beat Northwestern State 56-7, the most points they ever scored in a first-round game and three short of the record Weber State set in the 1987 playoffs when the Wildcats beat Idaho 59-30… . Montana had only allowed less than 20 points once this season prior to the playoffs… . UM has won all five of its previous home quarterfinals, the most recent a 49-24 win over Sam Houston… . New Hampshire is 8-0 on the road this season… . The Wildcats never won a playoff game before beating Georgia Southern.

Quick kicks

Montana’s game is on ESPN2… . ESPN bought the rights to the other quarterfinals game, which will be shown regionally, probably through it’s pay-per-view “ESPN GamePlan,” although the EWU game may be blocked out locally.