Sky honors Meyer despite defeat

It’s not much of a consolation prize after losing 40-35 at Cal Poly, but Eastern Washington quarterback Erik Meyer was named the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week.

It was the second straight week, fourth time this season and seventh time in his career the senior football All-American was recognized.

Idaho State kicker Jaret Johnson received the special teams award and Sacramento State linebacker Matt Logue earned the defensive award.

Meyer completed 26 of 38 passes for 427 yards and three touchdowns against the Mustangs. Trying to rally the Eagles in the second half, he completed 21 of his final 25 passes for 363 yards.

All five of Eastern’s touchdown drives were at least 80 yards and the four in the furious second half rally took 1:51, 2:27, 2:21 and 31 seconds. After the last touchdown with 3:31 to play the Eagles couldn’t get the ball back for one last shot at a victory.

All but two of Meyer’s completions went to wide receivers Eric Kimble, Raul Vijil and Craig McIntyre, who all had 100-yard games. Vijil led the way with nine catches for 164 yards, both career highs. Kimble had eight catches for 101 yards and his 43rd receiving touchdown in 43 games. McIntyre matched his career high with seven receptions for a career-high 160 yards and two touchdowns, all in the second half.

Meyer, a candidate for the Walter Payton Award, leads I-AA in total offense at 371.8 yards a game. He’s completing 68 percent of his passes for 3,276 yards with 22 touchdowns and one interception. He has thrown for more than 300 yards in all but one game this season and has more than 400 in his last two.

Meyer improved his career passing efficiency rating to 166.80, which is second in NCAA history behind the 170.8 of Shawn Knight of William & Mary (1991-94). Meyer is on pace to break the Big Sky record of 166.268 by Montana’s Dave Dickinson (1992-95), which is third on the NCAA all-time list behind Knight and Meyer.

With the loss, Eastern (5-4) fell to No. 21 in The Sports Network poll. The Eagles take on No. 11 Montana State (6-3) Saturday at Woodward Field. With a win, the Eagles (4-2 in the conference), would clinch a tie for second in the Big Sky. MSU and Montana lead the league at 4-1 and play in Bozeman to close the season next week.

Montana has moved up to No. 3 in the rankings behind New Hampshire and Hampton. Cal Poly moved up three spots to No. 15, but UC-Davis, Eastern’s final opponent, dropped out of the Top 25 after losing 27-17 at Stephen F. Austin.