# 2018 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

The 2018 Eastern Washington Eagles football team represented Eastern Washington University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The team was coached by second year head coach Aaron Best. The Eagles played their home games at Roos Field in Cheney, Washington and were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 12–3, 7–1 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for the Big Sky championship with UC Davis and Weber State. They received an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs, where they defeated Nicholls, UC Davis, and Maine to advance to the National Championship Game, where they lost to North Dakota State.

## Preseason
### Polls

On July 16, 2018 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Eagles were predicted to win the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Eastern Washington | 134 (6) |
| 2 | Weber State | 124 (3) |
| 3 | Northern Arizona | 121 (3) |
| 4 | Idaho | 101 (1) |
| 5 | Sacramento State | 94 |
| 6 | Southern Utah | 91 |
| 7 | Montana | 82 |
| 8 | Montana State | 76 |
| 9 | UC Davis | 64 |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 40 |
| 11 | Northern Colorado | 30 |
| 12 | Idaho State | 29 |
| 13 | Portland State | 21 |
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Eastern Washington | 651 (27) |
| 2 | Weber State | 636 (19) |
| 3 | Northern Arizona | 535 (1) |
| 4 | Montana | 496 (2) |
| 5 | Idaho | 483 (3) |
| 6 | Southern Utah | 449 (1) |
| 7 | Sacramento State | 415 |
| 8 | Montana State | 391 (1) |
| 9 | UC Davis | 331 (1) |
| 10 | Idaho State | 170 |
| 11 | Cal Poly | 169 |
| 12 | Northern Colorado | 166 |
| 13 | Portland State | 103 |

### Preseason All-Conference Team

The Eagles had three players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.
Gage Gubrud – Sr. QB
Antoine Custer – Jr. RB
Jay-Tee Tiuli – Sr. DT

### Award watch lists

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Walter Payton Award | Gage Gubrud | QB | SR |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 1:05 p.m. | Central Washington* | No. 9 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | SWX | W 58–13 | 8,658 |
| September 8 | 3:05 p.m. | at No. 18 Northern Arizona* | No. 6 | Walkup SkydomeFlagstaff, AZ | SWX | W 31–26 | 8,938 |
| September 15 | 5:05 p.m. | at Washington State* | No. 6 | Martin StadiumPullman, WA | P12N | L 24–59 | 32,952 |
| September 22 | 1:05 p.m. | Cal Poly | No. 6 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | SWX | W 70–17 | 9,156 |
| September 29 | 1:05 p.m. | at Montana State | No. 5 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | RTNW | W 34–17 | 18,667 |
| October 6 | 12:05 p.m. | Southern Utah | No. 5 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | RTNW | W 55–17 | 8,887 |
| October 13 | 3:05 p.m. | at No. 13 Weber State | No. 4 | Stewart StadiumOgden, Utah | ELVN | L 6–14 | 8,211 |
| October 27 | 12:05 p.m. | Idaho | No. 5 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | RTNW | W 38–14 | 10,023 |
| November 3 | 11:05 a.m. | at Northern Colorado | No. 5 | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | Pluto TV 241 | W 48–13 | 3,274 |
| November 10 | 1:05 p.m. | No. 4 UC Davis | No. 5 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | SWX | W 59–20 | 8,789 |
| November 16 | 7:05 p.m. | at Portland State | No. 4 | Hillsboro StadiumHillsboro, OR (The Dam Cup) | Pluto TV 232 | W 74–23 | 4,205 |
| December 1 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 14 Nicholls* | No. 4 | Roos FieldCheney, WA (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 42–21 | 5,250 |
| December 8 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 7 UC Davis* | No. 4 | Roos FieldCheney, WA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | ESPN3 | W 34–29 | 5,503 |
| December 15 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 12 Maine* | No. 4 | Roos FieldCheney, WA (NCAA Division I Semifinal) | ESPN2 | W 50–19 | 7,529 |
| January 5 | 9:00 a.m. | vs. No. 1 North Dakota State* | No. 4 | Toyota StadiumFrisco, TX (NCAA Division I Championship Game) | ESPN2 | L 24–38 | 17,802 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Pacific time ||||||||
Despite also being a member of the Big Sky, the game vs. Northern Arizona was counted as a non-conference game and had no effect on the Big Sky standings.

## Game summaries
### Central Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| No. 9 Eagles | 20 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 58 |

### At Northern Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 6 Eagles | 14 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 31 |
| No. 18 Lumberjacks | 0 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 26 |

### At Washington State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 6 Eagles | 0 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
| Cougars | 14 | 14 | 7 | 24 | 59 |

### Cal Poly

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mustangs | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| No. 6 Eagles | 14 | 21 | 14 | 21 | 70 |

### At Montana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Eagles | 14 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 34 |
| Bobcats | 10 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

### Southern Utah

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| No. 5 Eagles | 14 | 20 | 21 | 0 | 55 |

### At Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Eagles | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| No. 13 Wildcats | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### Idaho

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vandals | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| No. 5 Eagles | 14 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 38 |

### At Northern Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Eagles | 13 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 48 |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13 |

### UC Davis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Aggies | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 20 |
| No. 5 Eagles | 7 | 14 | 14 | 24 | 59 |

### At Portland State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Eagles | 14 | 13 | 27 | 20 | 74 |
| Vikings | 0 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 23 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Nicholls–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 14 Colonels | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| No. 4 Eagles | 3 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 42 |

### UC Davis–Quarterfinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 7 Aggies | 0 | 14 | 7 | 8 | 29 |
| No. 4 Eagles | 7 | 7 | 0 | 20 | 34 |

### Maine–Semifinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 12 Black Bears | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 19 |
| No. 4 Eagles | 21 | 7 | 15 | 7 | 50 |

### North Dakota State–Championship

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Eagles | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| No. 1 Bison | 10 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 38 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Coaches | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6–T | 5 | 4–T | 3 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |