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Eastern Washington University Football

Eastern Washington falls to No. 7 in FCS poll after suffering first loss to Weber State on Saturday

Eastern Washington quarterback Eric Barriere (3) tries to evade Weber State cornerback Eddie Heckard (5) during Saturday’s 35-34 loss at Roos Field in Cheney.  (Colin Mulvany/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
By Dan Thompson For The Spokesman-Review

The Eastern Washington Eagles fell to No. 7 in the Football Championship Subdivision Stats poll, released Monday, after suffering their first defeat of the season.

That loss came to Weber State, which returned to the rankings at No. 23 after improving to 3-4 overall on the season and 2-2 in Big Sky play.

The rest of the conference’s ranked teams won on Saturday, and each moved up in the poll. Montana State (7-1, 5-0) is now ranked sixth. Like the Eagles (7-1, 4-1), the Bobcats have a bye this week before their Nov. 6 matchup in Cheney.

Eastern’s next opponent after Montana State is UC Davis (7-1, 4-1), which moved up one spot to ninth in the Stats poll. Two spots later sits Montana (5-2, 2-2) at No. 11.

Sacramento State (5-2, 4-0), which shut out Northern Arizona last week 44-0, jumped four spots to No. 15. The Hornets and the Bobcats are the only teams that remain unbeaten in Big Sky play.

Sacramento State is among the four Big Sky teams that Eastern will not play this regular season. The others are Idaho State, Northern Arizona and Cal Poly.

Having six ranked teams is a season high for the Big Sky. In 2019, the last time there was a 24-team FCS playoff bracket, four Big Sky teams reached the postseason. Weber State and Montana State advanced to the semifinals that season.