Eastern Washington will be under floodlights for the season opener on Thursday evening
CHENEY, Washington — It may be a short week for some, but the Eastern Washington football team has been preparing for game week since last November. Eastern opens its 2024 season on Thursday against Monmouth, kickoff is at 6 p.m. at Roos Field.
Tickets can be purchased online via the link Here or call the EWU Ticket Office at 509-359-6059.
Thursday night’s game will be broadcast live on SWX, with Austin Getz and Bill Ames on the phone. The game will also be streamed live on ESPN+. Listen to the game live on 700 ESPN and the Varsity app with the voices of the Eagles, Larry Weir and Paul Sorensen.
Many returnees
Eastern Washington will return a total of 16 starters from the 2023 team, evenly split between offense and defense. The team will then lose six starters, three on offense and defense. The Eagles have four Big Sky All-Conference returnees back, with Efton Chism III, Michael Wortham and Visperas will be honored in 2023. They will be joined by Wyatt Hansen who received an honorable mention in 2022. Eastern loses first-team All-Conference defensive back in 2023 Marlon Jones Jr.Tight End of the second team Blake Goebel and 2022 second team punter Nick Kokich.
The offense was a strength for EWU last season, ranking third in the Big Sky in passing (263.4 yards per game) and fourth in total offense (417.6 yards per game). The Eagles were also fourth in scoring at 32.3 points per game.
Eastern Washington’s defense is set to be revitalized under the new defensive coordinator Eric Sanders. Sanders is in his second season with the Eagles, having previously worked with the linebackers before being promoted to head coordinator. Eastern will have a mix of experienced veterans and young talent, all of whom saw playing time last season.
Last time outside
Eastern Washington is coming off a 4-7 season last year, with a 3-5 record in the Big Sky that gave them a 9th-place tie in the conference standings with Idaho State. EWU was 3-2 at Roos Field, while going 1-4 on the road and 0-1 on neutral ground. In the final game of the 2023 season, the Eagles lost 49-42 at home to Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks led by as many as 28 points in the game and were up 14 at halftime. EWU mounted a comeback in the second half and tied the game 35-35 in the fourth quarter with a touchdown pass from Visperas to Chism III. NAU responded with 14 straight points to extend its lead again. A late touchdown on another pass from Visperas to Chism cut the lead to seven, but Eastern could not recover the onside kick to give the team a chance to tie the score.
O-Line of Experience
Eastern Washington has a lot of experience on the offensive line, with four of the five regulars from last season returning. Five seniors are back in the Eagles’ trenches with Lukas DahlgrenHansen, Brenden Rivera And Jack SeelyeThe group has played a total of 113 games and started 96 times. Hansen was named to the preseason first team All-Big Sky by Phil Steele, while Seelye was selected to the fourth team. The fifth spot will be filled by a redshirt sophomore. Dylan Conner and Michigan Transfer Noah Stewart. Conner played in six games last season. Stewart played in four games for Michigan from 2021-2023 and received three awards.
ECGs in the classroom
Eastern is committed not only on the field, but also in academics. EWU was named the 2023-24 Big Sky Team Academic Champion, posting the conference’s best grade point average among football programs. The team’s student-athletes earned an overall grade point average of 3.33 throughout the academic year, earning the Big Sky title. Eastern also remained in good standing with the NCAA in the 2022-23 Academic Progress Rate (APR). The team posted a .959 rate, 29 points above the minimum threshold for good academic standing. The Eagles also had 28 representatives on the Big Sky All-Academic list in the fall.
Eight take the lead
Eastern has no shortage of leaders for the 2024 season, as eight Eagles have been named captains. Seniors Efton Chism III, Lukas Dahlgren, Darrien Sampson And Brock Harrison for the second time in a row. The returnees are joined by another group of seniors, including Cage Schenck, Nolan Ulm, Jacob Newsom And Austin York.
Ranking: The way forward
With the first release of the AFCA FCS Coaches and Stats Perform FCS preseason top 25, Eastern Washington currently has six ranked opponents on its schedule. Montana, the 2023 national runner-up, is ranked No. 3, followed closely by Montana State at No. 4 in the coaches poll. Idaho is ranked No. 7, with Sacramento State creeping in at No. 10. UC Davis gives Big Sky five ranked teams at No. 17. The Grizzlies, Bobcats and Vandals remained in the same position in the Stats Perform poll, the Hornets moved up to No. 8 and UC Davis dropped one point to No. 18. EWU picked up 17 points in Stats Perform and one point in the coaches poll.
Winnings in sales
Battle for possession is crucial in every game and Eastern Washington knows that firsthand. Since 2010, EWU has a 71-6 record when they win possession differential. Eastern had a 2-2 record last season in games where they won possession differential, winning against UC Davis and Cal Poly while losing to Idaho and Idaho State. The Eagles had a 2-0 record when they tied on possessions and a 0-5 record when they lost battle for possession.
Youth in the backend
In addition to the experienced key players in the secondary, Sampson (S-Sr.), Schenck and DeJean Wells (R-Jr.), the team has a young core of talent for the future. Kentrell Williams Jr. starts as a safety after finishing fifth on the team with 45 tackles. Redshirt freshman Drew Carter led the team with five pass breakups and had 23 tackles. Along with Carter, redshirt freshman Jaylon Jenkins, Derek Ganter Jr., Jonathan Landry And Zion Jones provide size and talent to the Eagle secondary. Ganter Jr. recorded 12 tackles and had 2 pass breakups in 4 games, while Landry had 2 tackles in 3 games.
The Eagles open the 2024 regular season on August 29th against Monmouth! Season tickets for the 2024 football season are now available. Ticket packages can be purchased online. through your Paciolan account, by phone at 509-359-6059, or by email at [email protected].
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 varsity sports, six for men and eight for women, both as a learning opportunity for the most athletically gifted students and as an enrichment of student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollment numbers and academic goals.
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