2020 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

American college football season

2020 Eastern Washington Eagles football

NCAA Division I First Round, L 20–42 vs. North Dakota State

Conference| Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS| No. 10
FCS Coaches| No. 11
Record| 5–2 (5–1 Big Sky)
Head coach|

* Aaron Best (4th season)

Offensive coordinator| Ian Shoemaker (2nd season)
Offensive scheme| Multiple
Defensive coordinator| Eti Ena (2nd season)
Base defense| 4–2–5
Home stadium| Roos Field

Seasons

<- 2019

2021 ->

2020 Big Sky Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf. |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team |  | W |  | L |  |  |  |  | W |  | L |
No. 9 Weber State $^  |  | 5  | - | 0  |  |  |  |  | 5  | - | 1  |
No. 10 Eastern Washington ^  |  | 5  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 5  | - | 2  |
No. 14 UC Davis |  | 3  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 2  |
Northern Arizona |  | 3  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 2  |
Idaho State |  | 2  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 4  |
Idaho |  | 2  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 4  |
Southern Utah |  | 1  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 1  | - | 5  |
Cal Poly‡  |  | 0  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 0  | - | 3  |
Montana†  |  |  | - |  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 0  |
Portland State†  |  |  | - |  |  |  |  |  | 0  | - | 1  |

* $ - Conference champion
* ^ - FCS playoff participant
* Notes: Due to COVID-19, the Big Sky suspended the fall 2020 football season.
Montana State, Northern Colorado, and Sacramento State opted out of the spring season.
† – Montana and Portland State opted out of the conference season, but scheduled non-conference games.
‡ – Cal Poly opted out of the remainder of the spring season on March 29, 2021.

Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2020 Eastern Washington Eagles football team represented Eastern Washington University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Aaron Best, the Eagles played their home games at Roos Field in Cheney, Washington.

## Preseason

[edit]

### Polls

[edit]

On July 23, 2020, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Eagles were predicted to finish fourth in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.[1]

Coaches poll  Predicted finish  | Team  | Votes (1st place)

|
|

1  | Weber State  | 135 (7)
2  | Montana  | 128 (3)
3  | Montana State  | 121 (1)
4  | Eastern Washington | 118 (1)
5  | Sacramento State  | 99 (1)
6  | UC Davis  | 83
7  | Northern Arizona  | 68
8  | Portland State  | 67
9  | Idaho  | 66
10  | Cal Poly  | 46
11  | Idaho State  | 37
12  | Southern Utah  | 33
13  | Northern Colorado  | 13
Media poll  Predicted finish  | Team  | Votes (1st place)

|
|

1  | Weber State  | 546 (28)
2  | Montana  | 496 (8)
3  | Montana State  | 493 (6)
4  | Eastern Washington | 438 (1)
5  | Sacramento State  | 389
6  | UC Davis  | 325 (1)
7  | Portland State  | 274
8  | Idaho  | 273
9  | Northern Arizona  | 238
10  | Cal Poly  | 206
11  | Idaho State  | 133
12  | Southern Utah  | 105
13  | Northern Colorado  | 88

### Preseason All-Conference Team

[edit]

The Eagles had two players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team. Senior quarterback Eric Barriere was also selected as the Big Sky Preseason Most Valuable Player.[2]

Eric Barriere – Sr. QB (Preseason Offensive MVP)

Tristen Taylor – Sr. OT

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Time| Opponent| Rank| Site| TV| Result| Attendance

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

February 27| 3:00 p.m.| at Idaho| No. 12|

* Kibbie Dome
* Moscow, ID

| SWX/Pluto TV| L 21–28| 2,694
March 6| 1:00 p.m.| Northern Arizona| No. 22|

* Roos Field
* Cheney, WA

| SWX/Pluto TV| W 45–13| 0
March 13| 3:05 p.m.| at Idaho State| No. 16|

* Holt Arena
* Pocatello, ID

| Pluto TV| W 46–42| 2,226
March 27| 1:00 p.m.| Cal Poly| No. 12|

* Roos Field
* Cheney, WA

| SWX/Pluto TV| W 62–10| 0
April 3| 1:05 p.m.| at No. 11 UC Davis| No. 9|

* UC Davis Health Stadium
* Davis, CA

| Pluto TV| W 32–22| 1,720
April 10| 1:00 p.m.| Idaho| No. 9|

* Roos Field
* Cheney, WA

| SWX/Pluto TV| W 38–31| 0
April 24| 12:30 p.m.| at No. 6 North Dakota State| No. 9|

* Fargodome
* Fargo, ND (NCAA Division I First Round)

| ESPN3| L 20–42| 3,587

* Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
* All times are in Pacific time

Eastern Washington released their initial full schedule on January 11, 2019.[3]

The Eagles were scheduled to play against Florida on September 5 in Gainesville, but this game was canceled on July 30 after the Southeastern Conference moved to a ten-game, conference-only schedule for its teams due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

On August 13, the Big Sky Conference canceled all fall sports, including football, and announced that these sports would begin competition in the spring of 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

On November 4, the Big Sky Conference announced a six game, conference-only football schedule for participating programs that will begin in February. Due to this shortened season, previously scheduled games against Western Illinois, Northern Arizona, Southern Utah, Northern Colorado, and Weber State will not be rescheduled.[6]

On January 15, 2021, Montana, Montana State, Northern Colorado, Portland State, and Sacramento State all opted out of the 2020 spring conference season.[7] The Big Sky Conference announced on the same day that they will move forward with a six game conference season with the remaining eight teams that have not opted out of the spring season.[8] On January 25, 2021, the Big Sky Conference announced its final spring football schedule.[9]

## Ranking movements

[edit]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking| Week

|

Poll| Pre| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9| 10| 11| 12| Final
STATS| 18| 12| 22| 16| 15| 12| 9| 9| 8| 9| | | | 10
Coaches| | | | | 12| 11| 9| 9| 8| 8| | | | 11

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Eagles Selected to Finish Fourth in the Big Sky in 2020". July 23, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
2. ^ "Eric Barriere Selected as Preseason Offensive MVP in Big Sky". July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
3. ^ Wilmer, Brian (January 11, 2019). "Eastern Washington releases 2019 and 2020 football schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
4. ^ Talty, John. "SEC moves to conference-only 2020 schedule, pushes back start of season". AL.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
5. ^ Greene, Brenna. "Big Sky cancels 2020 football season, other sports amid COVID-19 concerns". krem.com. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
6. ^ Collingwood, Ryan. "Eastern Washington to host Idaho on March 13 as Big Sky releases 6-game schedule". krem.com. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
7. ^ Collingwood, Ryan. "'We're ready to compete': Eastern Washington, Idaho still plan on playing Big Sky spring football season after Montana, Montana State and Portland State opt out". spokesman.com. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
8. ^ "Big Sky Announces Changes to Football Spring Season and Indoor Track & Field Championship". bigskyconf.com. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
9. ^ "Adjusted Big Sky Spring Football Six-Game Schedule Announced". bigskyconf.com. Retrieved February 25, 2021.

* v
* t
* e

Eastern Washington Eagles football

Venues|

* Roos Field (1967–present)
* Joe Albi Stadium (alternate)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Montana: EWU–UM Governors Cup
* Portland State: The Dam Cup

Culture & lore|

* Swoop
* The Inferno
* "Go, Eagles, Go"

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees

Seasons|

* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910–1911
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* 1914
* 1915
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* 1920
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* 1927
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* 1930
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* 1940
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* 1943–1945
* 1946
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National championship seasons in bold
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf.]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[No.]: Number