Eastern Washington offensive lineman Tristen Taylor set to become program’s all-time leader in games played
Tristen Taylor is going to be honored Saturday during Eastern Washington’s Senior Day festivities. Again.
“I did Senior Day in 2019, too,” said the Eagles super-super-senior offensive lineman. “This one is just more special because I know my time here is done for sure. There’s no coming back.”
Taylor wasn’t so sure of that two years ago, because at that point the NCAA hadn’t approved his injury waiver. But during the following offseason it did, and then the NCAA granted a blanket waiver for all its athletes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
So Taylor will be honored, again, ahead of a game against a formidable Montana State defense at Roos Field – a game that will mark Taylor’s 56th career game, all of them starts, for the Eagles.
Taylor already secured the record for career starts earlier this season, but he will surpass receiver Shaq Hill in games played to become Eastern’s all-time career leader.
It is fitting, perhaps, that an offensive lineman would hold a record for longevity in this particular program, considering that Eastern’s current head coach is a former offensive lineman and the field the team plays on is named after an offensive lineman as well.
“It feels good. I didn’t know before the season I was going to break the record,” Taylor said. “It just makes it better that it’s on maybe my last game here (at Roos Field).”
The “maybe” hinges on whether Eastern Washington can do enough over its last three regular-season games to earn a bye in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. The fifth-ranked Eagles sit at 7-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play but are scheduled to play three teams that have winning conference records.
None has been quite as impressive as the fourth-ranked Bobcats (7-1, 5-0).
“They fly around on defense, and they’ve got some good athletes,” EWU senior center Conner Crist said. “Both of their defensive ends are really good players, and they have the stats to reflect that.”
Those ends are seniors Amandre Williams and Daniel Hardy, who have 12.5 sacks between them. Then there is senior nose tackle Chase Benson, who is expected to play after missing the Bobcats’ last game against Idaho State.
The men who stepped up in Benson’s absence played well, Montana State coach Brent Vigen said, “but they’re not Chase Benson.”
“He’s disruptive beyond just a guy that can do his job,” Vigen said. “He’s the type of guy that, within doing his job, which sometimes as a defensive lineman is eating up a couple blockers, he can throw one aside and make a play.”
Then there is linebacker Troy Andersen, who will be playing his third position in as many career games against Eastern Washington: In 2017, he debuted as a running back and then switched to quarterback in 2018, when he was a first-team All-Big Sky selection.
The Eagles didn’t play the Bobcats in 2019, when Anderson was a first-team All-America linebacker, and Montana State opted not to play in the shortened 2020-21 season. But Andersen leads the Bobcats this season with 71 tackles, eight of which have gone for a loss. He also has an interception and five pass breakups.
“Troy Andersen is one of the highest football IQ guys I’ve seen,” Eagles coach Aaron Best said. “He can probably play all 22 positions on the football field if asked.”
Those four seniors lead a defense that has held each of its opponents to fewer than 350 yards of offense, a stark contrast to Eastern Washington’s offense, whose lowest such output is the 434 yards it had two weeks ago against Weber State.
“Their front seven is probably the strength of their team,” Taylor said, “and I think it’s going to be a challenge.”
Yet those matchups are precisely what Taylor seeks out.
“It really tests you and challenges you, which is what I look for,” he said. “When you don’t (get challenged), you get bored out there.”
‘Pride in the position’
Taylor redshirted during the 2015 season but started all 14 games in 2016. He then started all 11 in 2017 and then the first three in 2018 before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
But healthy once more in 2019, he started all of Eastern’s games and hasn’t missed one since. Depending on how long Eastern’s season goes, Taylor could reach a number of starts and games played that would seemingly be impossible for another player to break.
Offensive line has long been a position of strength for the Eagles, who consistently produce all-conference players as well as the occasional pro, like Michael Roos, who played in the NFL from 2005 to 2014.
Best played offensive line for the Eagles and coached the position for 14 years before he was named head coach in 2017. Having Best as head coach is almost like having two position coaches, said Jase Butorac, who is now in his fifth season as the Eagles’ offensive line coach.
“When you come to Eastern Washington to play offensive line, there’s pride in the position,” said Butorac, who played for the Eagles from 2011 to 2014.
With Best around, too, Butorac said, “there are more eyes on those guys up front than they even realize sometimes.”
Taylor was a first-team, All-American selection last spring, and Butorac said the senior takes his craft seriously.
He is capable of playing all five offensive line positions, Butorac said, and is the leader in the position room.
“He’s been here long enough, he’s the embodiment of what it should look like here,” Butorac said. “He wants to be the most dominant offensive lineman in the league and the nation as well.”
Crist said the younger players look up to Taylor. Even though he’s not loud all the time, when he does speak, teammates listen to him.
On the field, Taylor is good in one-on-one situations, Crist said. Teams will try to avoid such situations, too, Crist said, because Taylor is just so good with his feet and his hands. Having a player with so much experience protecting quarterback Eric Barriere’s blind side is also significant.
“I think he’s provided a good advantage, because with a quarterback like Eric, every hit on him, you don’t like it,” Crist said. “(Taylor) knows what he’s doing. He’s been here forever. You don’t have to worry about Tristen missing an assignment.”
Speaking generally and not specifically about Montana State, Butorac pointed out that the matchup between those players on the edge of the line of scrimmage is critical in a football game.
“That one singular matchup, a tackle on a defensive end, that can change a game,” Butorac said. “Defensive ends in general are very good athletes. Those are strong players, guys that are long, physical. … You take a lot of pride (in slowing) that stuff down.”
Aside from injuries to redshirt freshmen Matthew Hewa-Baddge (right tackle) and Luke Dahlgren (center/guard), who have six total starts between them this season, Eastern’s offensive line has been relatively stable through eight games. Crist has started all but one game, and three other linemen – Taylor, Wyatt Hansen and Wyatt Musser – have started each week.
They have given up 18 sacks in eight games, the fifth most in the Big Sky. But Eastern also has thrown more passes than any other team in the conference, so the Eagles are more often in pass protection.
Montana State’s defense is among the nation’s best, so if Taylor is looking for a formidable foe, he certainly has one this week.
“No. 44 (Hardy), he has a lot of sacks,” Taylor said. “It’s going to be fun going against him, seeing who’s better.”