For EWU, more than just a win
Moments after Eastern Washington’s 36-26 Big Sky Conference win over Montana on Saturday, Eagles football coach Beau Baldwin pondered the last three years and wondered aloud:
“Before this, have we ever beaten both Montana schools three years in a row?”
No, but they have now. Since the beginning of the 2012 season, Eastern is 6-0 against the Grizzlies and Bobcats. In that same period, the Eagles are 21-2 in Big Sky play and are just one win away from an even bigger trifecta: three straight conference titles.
Notions of a dynasty aren’t even mentioned, not when the three games have been decided by a combined 21 points, not when Montana still owns a commanding 26-14-1 lead in this series, and not when the Grizzlies hold all the trappings of success, including bigger budgets, media attention and fan following.
On the other hand, Eastern has been doing more with less for half a decade, even before the Eagles won the FCS title in 2010. For the third time in a row, Eastern will finish ahead of the Griz in the Big Sky standings.
A program win, they call it.
“We talked about it before we won a national title,” Baldwin said. “We had a vision for the decade and that was something big for us.”
“To be able to do that and put ourselves in a position against a program that I respect so much is not easy,” said Baldwin, who credited everyone from the administration to the assistants and fans for the Eagles’ recent success.
And especially the players, including a senior class of 20 players, most of whom have been there to see it all – from the national title to the present. One of them – running back Mario Brown – still has a chance to complete the ring, as it were, being the only current Eagle to have played in the title game against Delaware.
Saturday, Brown saved his best for last against the Griz, picking up 10 yards on third-and-long to set up Tyler McNannay’s game-clinching 34-yard field goal with 28 seconds left.
Most of the other seniors have been on teams that are a collective 26-5 in Big Sky games since the championship season.
“This class is special for a number of reasons. It is a group of hard-working grinders,” Baldwin said. Not a lot of ‘vocalness’ to them, but that can be a good thing. They go about their business, they do their work, they respect one another, but they compete like mad on the field.”
They are also the first senior class to spend all five years on the red turf at “The Inferno,” where Eastern is 30-4 all-time – and perfect in November.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable,” senior linebacker Cody McCarthy said. “All the coaches and all the players, we got it done today, and it’s a blessing to play here on the red turf.”