Eastern Washington has chance to pivot from difficult start with win against Sacramento State

In hindsight, the significance of Saturday’s football game at Roos Field in Cheney, the first between Sacramento State and Eastern Washington since 2019, may prove to be minimal should the Eagles continue to stumble in the five games that follow this one.

But if it goes as the Eagles hope, and they pull off what would certainly be called an upset, then this game may mark a pivot point.

That’s because by playing another team ranked among the nation’s best, Eastern Washington has a chance to change the trajectory of its season and demonstrate that it still deserves to be considered for a spot in the FCS playoffs, despite its 1-4 record.

“We’ve played some great teams in Weber State, Florida, Oregon, Montana State, and even Tennessee State. Those are some tough teams,” EWU senior linebacker Jaren Banks said this week. “But at the same time, 1-4 is a tough way to start.

“We’re always looking for this next week (and) how we can come out with a ‘W.’ ”

Doing so against the fifth-ranked Hornets (5-0, 2-0 Big Sky) will require much of the Eagles, who haven’t held an opposing team to fewer than the 223 rushing yards Weber State had last week, or to fewer than the 29 points Tennessee State scored in the Eagles’ lone victory this season.

“It’s not a lack of talent. It’s not a lack of want-to,” EWU coach Aaron Best said. “We’ve just got to be opportunistic. We’ve got to create some of those things that maybe we’ve been afforded the last couple years that we thought would just fall into our lap.”

The Hornets rank first in the conference and third nationally in total offense with 519 yards per game.

That pace is not too far behind where the Eagles’ offense finished last season (555.7) but considerably more potent than the Eagles have been through five games (348.4, eighth most in the Big Sky).

Sacramento State has won each of its five games this year by at least 16 points. The closest margin was a 37-21 victory over Northern Iowa, which lost to Eastern Washington in the FCS playoffs last fall.

Coming off a 55-7 victory over Northern Colorado, Sacramento State will get considerable tests over the next month, with games against third-ranked Montana (5-0, 2-0), Idaho (3-2, 2-0), and sixth-ranked Weber State (5-0, 2-0) in succession without a bye after the game against the Eagles.

It is a useful reminder, too, that most teams in the Big Sky have played just two conference games – none more than three – and that Eastern Washington, which dropped out of the FCS Stats Perform Top 25 this week, has faced what appears to be the most front-loaded schedule in the Big Sky.

Eastern also nearly beat Montana State earlier this season, losing 38-35, which demonstrated it can hang with one of the conference’s better teams.

“I mean, the conference is tough,” EWU center Luke Dahlgren said. “We knew the schedule was going to be tough going into it.”

But the Eagles can hardly afford another loss, and they only need to look back three years to recognize why.

It was almost exactly at this point in the 2019 schedule when Eastern traveled to play Sacramento State, and the game proved crucial to its fate. The Hornets won 48-27, improving their record to 3-2 while dropping the Eagles’ to 2-4.

Both teams lost just once the rest of the regular season.

But that loss was one of five that doomed the Eagles, who finished fifth in the Big Sky with a 6-2 record but failed to reach the playoffs at 7-5 overall. Sacramento State finished 7-1 in Big Sky play and shared the Big Sky title with Weber State.

That loss in Sacramento also dropped the Eagles from the Top 25, and they never climbed back into it the rest of the 2019 season.

As to this weekend’s game, Best said the Eagles don’t need to do anything magical. They just need to play well for an entire game, something they’ve not done.

Best also emphasized the importance of forcing turnovers. Through five games, the Hornets have lost only two fumbles and thrown three interceptions.

“We’ve got to find two or three balls, whether it’s interceptions, whether it’s fumble recoveries,” Best said.

“We’ve got to find ways to create another possession or two for the offense.”

Winning this weekend still leaves the Eagles with an uphill road back to the playoffs, which they have reached in three of Best’s five full seasons as the team’s head coach. But it would also end their longest winning streak in 11 seasons and give them momentum heading into the next weekend at Cal Poly – the first team on Eastern’s schedule since its season opener that isn’t a member of the FBS or isn’t ranked among the FCS’ top 10.

“We have a tradition of winning, and that’s what’s keeping us going, knowing that we have coaches who have our backs and players that have our backs,” Banks said. “I think that’s the biggest thing: just staying positive.”