Eastern Washington Eagles football

The Eastern Washington Eagles football team represents Eastern Washington University in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The Eastern Eagles are members of the Big Sky Conference and play at Roos Field, which is known for being the only stadium in college football with a red playing surface.

History

**Conference Affiliations**
Independent	1901–1919
Tri-Normal League	1920–1937
Independent	1938
Washington Intercollegiate Conference	1939–1947
Evergreen Conference	1948–1979
Div. II Independent	1980–1983
Div. I-AA Independent	1984–1986
Big Sky Conference	1987–present

Beginning & NAIA era

Eastern Washington University began fielding a football team in 1901, when the school was known at the time as the 'State Normal School' and the team mascot was the 'Savages'. Eastern's first national affiliation came with joining the NAIA.

Eastern competed in the NAIA until 1977, along the way advancing to the NAIA Football National Championship finals in 1967, losing to Fairmont State 28-21. This marked Eastern Washington's first appearance in a national championship game at any level of competition.

Identity changes

During this time period, the school underwent numerous changes to its identity. The school name changed in 1937 to the 'Eastern Washington College of Education', then again in 1962 to 'Eastern Washington State College'. The final change to the school name came in 1977 when the school was renamed 'Eastern Washington University'.

In 1973, the student body voted to make Eastern's mascot the 'Eagles'. Shortly before that, the Eastern Board of Trustees declared 'Savages', its mascot through its first 92 years, no longer acceptable. Eagles are native to Eastern Washington and thus a logical choice for a replacement.

Transition to NCAA and Big Sky

Eastern joined the NCAA in 1978, and participated at the Division II level as an independent until 1984, when they moved up to Division I-AA (now FCS), also as an independent.

Denied membership to the Big Sky Conference in May 1985, Eastern was extended an invitation in December 1986 to join, starting in July 1987. Eastern continues to participate in the Big Sky to this day and is now the sixth-most tenured member of the conference.

Red turf and national championship

The 2010 season marked a number of firsts for Eastern Washington's football program. The offseason saw a highly publicized move to install a red turf playing surface, the first of its kind in the country. Eastern utilized the excitement and energy surrounding the program to complete its finest season of competition in the program's history.

The 2010 season concluded with Eastern Washington's first appearance in the FCS Championship Game. Led by the head coach Beau Baldwin the Eagles defeated the Delaware Blue Hens 20–19 in Frisco, Texas to win the school's first national championship in football.

Championships

National championships

Eastern Washington has won one national championship in the FCS.

Year	Coach	Selector	Record	Opponent	Result
2010	Beau Baldwin	NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision	13–2	Delaware	W 20–19

Conference championships

Eastern Washington has won 26 conference championships since 1901, including ten in the Big Sky Conference.

Year	Conference	Overall record	Conference record	Coach
1921	Tri-Normal League	3–3–0	3–0–0	A.A. Eustis
1923†	Tri-Normal League	5–2–0	4–1–0	A.A. Eustis
1925	Tri-Normal League	6–3–0	5–0–0	A.A. Eustis
1934	Tri-Normal League	6–1–0	2–0–0	W.B. Reese
1935	Tri-Normal League	4–2–1	1–0–1	W.B. Reese
1936	Tri-Normal League	7–1–0	2–0–0	W.B. Reese
1937	Tri-Normal League	6–1–0	2–0–0	W.B. Reese
1939†	Washington Intercollegiate Conference	5–3–0	2–0–0	W.B. Reese
1947†	Washington Intercollegiate Conference	6–1–1	4–0–1	A.H. Poffenroth
1948†	Evergreen Conference	8–1–0	5–1–0	A.H. Poffenroth
1949†	Evergreen Conference	7–2–0	5–1–0	A.H. Poffenroth
1950	Evergreen Conference	8–2–0	5–1–0	A.H. Poffenroth
1965	Evergreen Conference	8–1–0	4–1–0	Dave Holmes
1966	Evergreen Conference	7–1–1	4–1–1	Dave Holmes
1967	Evergreen Conference	11–1–0	6–0–0	Dave Holmes
1969†	Evergreen Conference	4–5–0	4–2–0	Brent Wooten
1992†	Big Sky Conference	7–4–0	6–1–0	Dick Zornes
1997	Big Sky Conference	12–2–0	7–1–0	Mike Kramer
2004†	Big Sky Conference	9–4	6–1	Paul Wulff
2005†	Big Sky Conference	7–5	5–2	Paul Wulff
2010†	Big Sky Conference	13–2	7–1	Beau Baldwin
2012†	Big Sky Conference	11–3	7–1	Beau Baldwin
2013	Big Sky Conference	12–3	8–0	Beau Baldwin
2014	Big Sky Conference	11–3	7–1	Beau Baldwin
2016†	Big Sky Conference	12–2	8–0	Beau Baldwin
2018†	Big Sky Conference	12–3	7–1	Aaron Best

† Co–champions

Playoff appearances

NAIA playoffs

Eastern Washington made one appearance in the NAIA playoffs in 1967. They advanced to the NAIA Champions Bowl in Morgantown, West Virginia, where they lost to Fairmont State. The Savages finished with a 1–1 record in NAIA playoff play.

Season	Round	Opponent	Result	Head Coach
1967	Semifinals Champions Bowl	@ New Mexico Highlands @ Fairmont State	W 28–14 L 21–28	Dave Holmes

Source:

NCAA Division I-AA/FCS playoffs

Eastern Washington has fifteen appearances in the I-AA/FCS playoffs since moving up to the division in 1984, with an overall record of 20–14 (.588). Their first appearance occurred the next year, when they advanced to the quarterfinals as an independent. The Eagles' best finish came during the 2010 season, when they won the national championship.

Season	Round	Opponent	Result	Head Coach
1985	First Round Quarterfinals	@ Idaho @ Northern Iowa	W 42–38 L 14–17	Dick Zornes (1–2)
1992	First Round	@ Northern Iowa	L 14–17	Dick Zornes (1–2)
1997	First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals	Northwestern State Western Kentucky Youngstown State	W 40–10 W 38–21 L 14–25	Mike Kramer (2–1)
2004	First Round Quarterfinals	@ Southern Illinois Sam Houston State	W 35–31 L 34–35	Paul Wulff (2–3)
2005	First Round	@ Northern Iowa	L 38–41
2007	First Round Quarterfinals	@ McNeese State @ Appalachian State	W 44–15 L 35–38
2009	First Round	@ Stephen F. Austin	L 33–44	Beau Baldwin (11–5)
2010	First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship	SE Missouri State North Dakota State Villanova vs. Delaware	W 37–17 W 38–31 W 41–31 W 20–19
2012	Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals	Wagner Illinois State Sam Houston State	W 29–19 W 51–35 L 42–45
2013	Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals	South Dakota State Jacksonville State Towson	W 41–17 W 35–24 L 31–35
2014	Second Round Quarterfinals	Montana Illinois State	W 37–20 L 46–59
2016	Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals	Central Arkansas Richmond Youngstown State	W 37–20 W 38–0 L 38–40
2018	Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship	Nicholls UC Davis Maine vs. North Dakota State	W 42–21 W 34–29 W 50–19 L 24–38	Aaron Best (4–3)
2020–21	First Round	North Dakota State	L 20–42
2021	First Round Second Round	Northern Iowa @ Montana	W 19–9 L 41–57

Head coaches

Coach	Years	Seasons	Record	Pct.	Conf. champs	Playoff Appearances	National titles
Unknown	1901–1902	2	3–3–2	.500	0	0	0
Claude Arthur	1903	1	3–2–2	.571	0	0	0
Henry E. Smith	1904–1905	2	5–9	.357	0	0	0
Paul Lienau	1906–1907	2	8–5	.615	0	0	0
Nick E. Hinch	1908, 1912	2	2–4	.333	0	0	0
Harry Goldsworthy	1909	1	0–2	.000	0	0	0
Albert Fertsch	1913–1916	4	4–9	.308	0	0	0
Vin Eustis	1920–1926	7	24–25–1	.490	3 (1921, 1923, 1925)	0	0
Arthur C. Woodward	1927–1928	2	7–8	.467	0	0	0
Brick Johnson	1929	1	4-4	.500	0	0	0
Red Reese	1930–1941, 1946	13	66–26–9	.698	5 (1934–1937, 1939)	0	0
Ralph Peterson	1942	1	3–4	.429	0	0	0
Abe Poffenroth	1947–1952	6	32–19–1	.625	4 (1947–1950)	0	0
Ed Chissus	1953–1962	10	29–52–4	.365	0	0	0
Dave Holmes	1963–1967	5	34–13–1	.719	3 (1965–1967)	1 (1967)	0
Brent Wooten	1968–1970	3	11–18	.379	1 (1969)	0	0
John Massengale	1971–1978	8	35–39–1	.473	0	0	0
Dick Zornes	1979–1993	15	89–66–2	.573	1 (1992)	2 (1985, 1992)	0
Mike Kramer	1994–1999	6	37–32	.536	1 (1997)	1 (1997)	0
Paul Wulff	2000–2007	8	53–40	.570	2 (2004, 2005)	3 (2004, 2005, 2007)	0
Beau Baldwin	2008–2016	9	85–32	.726	5 (2010, 2012–2014, 2016)	6 (2009, 2010, 2012–2014, 2016)	1 (2010)
Aaron Best	2017–present	5	44–25	.638	1 (2018)	2 (2018, 2020/21)	0

Note: Eastern Washington did not field teams from 1910 to 1911, 1917 to 1919, and 1943 to 1945.

Home stadium

Main article: Roos Field

Roos Field with red turf installed in 2010

The EWU football team plays at Roos Field, opened in 1967 and recently expanded and renovated in 2004 and 2010 to seat 11,702. The stadium was originally named Woodward Field in honor of former Eagles head football and basketball coach Arthur C. Woodward. It replaced the original Woodward Field, which was located near the present JFK Library.

Red turf installation and name change

On February 26, 2010, ESPN reported that Eastern Washington planned to remove the natural grass surface at Woodward Field and replace it with red SprinTurf, the first of its kind, at any level of American football. A funding drive was initiated in late January 2010, with EWU alumnus Michael Roos donating $500,000 toward the installation costs, and fellow alumnus and ESPN personality Colin Cowherd also making a donation.

On May 20, 2010 the Eastern Washington Board of Trustees approved a name change to Roos Field, scheduled for the 2010 season, upon the successful completion of the project. Installation of the red synthetic turf was completed in September 2010, in time for the first home game of the 2010 season against Montana.

The Inferno

Eastern Washington's red playing surface is known as The Inferno. The nickname was chosen through a vote conducted by Eastern on its athletic website, goeags.com. Voting began on August 4, 2010 and allowed fans to choose from seven proposed names: red sea, red zone, inferno, big red, red carpet, ring of fire and lava pit. Inferno finished as the top choice and the nickname was revealed at the first home game with the new field on September 18, 2010.

Rivalries

Montana

Portland State

Team	Rivalry name	Trophy	Games played	First meeting	Last meeting	EWU win	EWU loss	Ties	Win %
Montana Grizzlies	EWU–UM Governors Cup	Governors Cup	49	1938†	2022, Lost 7–63	18	30	1	.378
Portland State Vikings	The Dam Cup	Dam Cup	44	1986‡	2022, Lost 35-38	22	21	1	.511

Individual award winners

The following Eastern Washington players have been recipients of the noted conference and national award honors.

National award winners – players

Buck Buchanan Award

National Defensive Player of the Year

2008: Greg Peach

2010: J. C. Sherritt

Jerry Rice Award

National Freshman Player of the Year

2013: Cooper Kupp

Touchdown Club of Columbus FCS Player of the Year

Touchdown Club of Columbus FCS Player of the Year
Year	Name	Position
2016	Gage Gubrud	QB

Walter Payton Award

National Offensive Player of the Year

2005: Erik Meyer

2011: Bo Levi Mitchell

2015: Cooper Kupp

2021: Eric Barriere

Fred Mitchell Award

National Placekicker of the Year from the NCAA Division I FCS, Division II, Division III, NAIA, and NJCAA levels

2018: Roldan Alcobendas

National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Award

NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award
Year	Name	Position
2019	Spencer Blackburn	C

Big Sky Conference honors

Offensive Player of the Year

1997: Harry Leons, QB

2001: Jesse Chatman, RB

2002: Josh Blankenship, QB

2004: Erik Meyer, QB

2005: Erik Meyer, QB

2007: Matt Nichols, QB

2009: Matt Nichols, QB

2010: Taiwan Jones, RB

2011: Bo Levi Mitchell, QB

2013: Vernon Adams, QB

2014: Vernon Adams, QB

2015: Cooper Kupp, WR

2016: Cooper Kupp, WR (Co-POY)

2016: Gage Gubrud, QB (Co-POY)

2020-21: Eric Barriere, QB

2021: Eric Barriere, QB

Defensive Player of the Year

1993: Jason Marsh, LB

1997: Chris Scott, DT

2005: Joey Cwik, LB

2008: Greg Peach, DE

2010: J. C. Sherritt, LB

2018: Jay-Tee Tiuli, DT

Special Teams Player of the Year

2013: Bo Schuetzle, CB

Freshman of the Year

2013: Cooper Kupp, WR

Newcomer of the Year

1990: Harold Wright, RB

2002: Josh Blankenship, QB

2004: Rocky Hanni, OG

Coach of the Year

1992: Dick Zornes

1997: Mike Kramer

2001: Paul Wulff

2004: Paul Wulff

2005: Paul Wulff

2012: Beau Baldwin

2013: Beau Baldwin

2018: Aaron Best

Eagles in the pros

The following former Eastern Washington players are currently playing in one of the two professional football leagues listed below.

National Football League

Player	Position	Team
Kendrick Bourne	WR	New England Patriots
Samson Ebukam	LB	Indianapolis Colts
Taiwan Jones	RB	Buffalo Bills
Cooper Kupp	WR	Los Angeles Rams
Nsimba Webster	WR	Chicago Bears

Canadian Football League

Player	Position	Team
Mitch Fettig	S	Calgary Stampeders
Victor Gamboa	CB	BC Lions
T. J. Lee	CB	BC Lions
Vernon Adams	QB	BC Lions
Josh Lewis	CB	Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Bo Levi Mitchell	QB	Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Matt Nichols	QB	Toronto Argonauts

Retired numbers

Michael Roos, whose No. 71 was retired by the program

No.	Player	Pos.	Tenure	Year retired
Eastern Washington Eagles retired numbers
71	Michael Roos	OT	2001–2004	2009
84	Bob Picard	WR	1968–1969, 1971–1972	2003

Future non-conference opponents

Scheduled opponents as of August 11, 2024.

2024	2025	2026	2027	2028
Monmouth	@ Incarnate Word	Northern Iowa	@ Oregon	@ Washington
Drake	@ Boise State	@ Washington	Incarnate Word	TBD
@ Southeastern Louisiana	@ Northern Iowa	TBD	TBD	TBD
@ Nevada	Western Illinois	TBD	TBD	TBD

References

EWU Logo Usage Guide (PDF). Retrieved October 9, 2022.
""School selects eagle as mascot" Palm Beach Post United Press International – 1973-07-13 – p.D5
"Eastern athletics now called Eagles". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. July 11, 1973. p. 14.
"Cats lead only one statistic". Ellensburg Daily Record. Washington. October 11, 1973. p. 6.
"Vandals are ready for hungry Eagles". Spokane Chronicle. Washington. September 30, 1983. p. 13.
Stalwick, Howie (May 22, 1985). "Big Sky shoots down Eastern Eagles". Spokane Chronicle. Washington. p. A1.
Stewart, Chuck (May 23, 1985). "The Sky has fallen hard on Eastern". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. C1.
Gerheim, Earle (December 11, 1986). "Sky finally opens wide for Eastern Eagles". Spokane Chronicle. Washington. p. D1.
Blanchette, John (December 11, 1986). "Big Sky club took time issuing Eagles' membership card". Spokane Chronicle. Washington. p. D2.
Cross, Alden (November 26, 1967). "Eastern Washington gains national grid final". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
^ "Eastern Washington reaches NAIA football finals with 28-14 victory". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 26, 1967. p. 11.
Cross, Alden B. (December 10, 1967). "Fairmont wins crown on second half breaks". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
^ "Two third-quarter touchdowns lift Fairmont to NAIA title". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. December 10, 1967. p. 17.
"Eastern Washington Recognized National Championships". Archived from the original on October 10, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
"goeags.cstv.com/facilities/ewas-woodward.html". Archived from the original on December 30, 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
sports.espn.go.com
"Official Athletic Site of Eastern Washington University". Archived from the original on January 21, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
"2020 EWU Football Fact Book - Honors" (PDF). goeags. April 27, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
"NFL Players by College - E". ESPN. April 27, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
"CFL Players". CFL. April 27, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
^ "We picked the top-5 players all-time for Eastern Washington football". NCAA.com. January 29, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
"Eastern Will Visit Huskies For a Third Time in 2019". goeags.com. Archived from the original on April 19, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
"Eastern Washington Eagles". fbsschedules.com. USATODAY College Football. Retrieved December 21, 2021.

External links

Official website

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 Award winners Retired jerseys NFL draftees
Seasons	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910–1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917–1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Eastern Washington University
Academics	Schools and institutes Center for Farm Health & Safety Eisenhower Center/International Field Study English Language Institute Institute for Public Policy & Economic Analysis Women's' Studies Center
Athletics	Big Sky Swoop "Go, Eagles, Go" Men's basketball Women's basketball Football Field EWU–UM Governors Cup
Campus	City of Cheney Downtown Historic District Eastern Regional Branch of the Washington State Archives John F. Kennedy Library Red Barn Washington State Digital Archives Washington State Patrol Regional Crime Laboratory
Student life	Spokane Transit Authority KEWU-FM Eastern Washington University Press Spokane
People	Alumni Benjamin Pierce Cheney

v t e Big Sky Conference football
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Championships and awards	All-time standings
Seasons	1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

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