# 2021 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

The 2021 Eastern Washington Eagles football team represented Eastern Washington University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Aaron Best, the Eagles played their home games at Roos Field in Cheney, Washington.

## Preseason
### Polls

On July 26, 2021, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Eagles were predicted to finish third in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Weber State | (7) |
| 2 | Montana | (3) |
| 3 | Eastern Washington | (2) |
| 4 | Montana State | (1) |
| 5 | Sacramento State | (1) |
| 6 | UC Davis | |
| 7 | Northern Arizona | |
| 8 | Idaho | |
| 9 | Idaho State | |
| 10 | Portland State | |
| 11 | Southern Utah | |
| 12 | Cal Poly | |
| 13 | Northern Colorado | |
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Weber State | (14) |
| 2 | Montana | (4) |
| 3 | Eastern Washington | (3) |
| 4 | Montana State | (3) |
| 5 | Sacramento State | |
| 6 | UC Davis | |
| 7 | Northern Arizona | |
| 8 | Idaho | |
| 9 | Idaho State | |
| 10 | Portland State | |
| 11 | Southern Utah | |
| 12 | Northern Colorado | |
| 13 | Cal Poly | |

### Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Eagles had four players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 7:00 p.m. | at UNLV* | No. 11 | Allegiant StadiumParadise, NV | Stadium | W 35–33 $^{2OT}$ | 21,970 |
| September 11 | 1:00 p.m. | Central Washington* | No. 7 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | SWX/ESPN+ | W 63–14 | 4,523 |
| September 18 | 1:00 p.m. | at Western Illinois* | No. 7 | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN+ | W 62–56 | 5,385 |
| September 25 | 5:00 p.m. | at Southern Utah | No. 6 | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | ESPN+ | W 50–21 | 7,096 |
| October 2 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 4 Montana | No. 6 | Roos FieldCheney, WA (EWU–UM Governors Cup) | ESPN2 | W 34–28 | 7,944 |
| October 9 | 12:00 p.m. | at Northern Colorado | No. 4 | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ | W 63–17 | 5,413 |
| October 16 | 1:00 p.m. | Idaho | No. 2 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | RTNW | W 71–21 | 5,380 |
| October 23 | 1:00 p.m. | Weber State | No. 2 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | SWX/ESPN+ | L 34–35 | 5,676 |
| November 6 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 4 Montana State | No. 5 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | SWX/ESPN+ | L 20–23 | 6,981 |
| November 13 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 6 UC Davis | No. 7 | UC Davis Health StadiumDavis, CA | ESPN+ | W 38–20 | 7,344 |
| November 20 | 2:05 p.m. | at Portland State | No. 5 | Hillsboro StadiumPortland, OR (The Dam Cup) | ESPN+ | W 42–28 | 0 |
| November 27 | 1:00 p.m. | Northern Iowa* | No. 4 | Roos FieldCheney, WA (NCAA Division I First Round) | ESPN+ | W 19–9 | 3,845 |
| December 3 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 5 Montana* | No. 4 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN+ | L 41–57 | 24,065 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Pacific time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At UNLV

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | Total |
| No. 11 Eagles | 0 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 35 |
| Rebels | 0 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 33 |

### Central Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| No. 7 Eagles | 18 | 28 | 10 | 7 | 63 |

### At Western Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 7 Eagles | 28 | 27 | 7 | 0 | 62 |
| Leathernecks | 21 | 0 | 14 | 21 | 56 |

### At Southern Utah

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 6 Eagles | 9 | 21 | 13 | 7 | 50 |
| Thunderbirds | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |

### No. 4 Montana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Grizzlies | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| No. 6 Eagles | 7 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 34 |

### At Northern Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Eagles | 22 | 21 | 10 | 10 | 63 |
| Bears | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 17 |

### Idaho

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vandals | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| No. 2 Eagles | 29 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 71 |

### Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 13 | 7 | 15 | 35 |
| No. 2 Eagles | 7 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 34 |

### No. 4 Montana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Bobcats | 7 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 23 |
| No. 5 Eagles | 13 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 20 |

### At No. 6 UC Davis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 7 Eagles | 0 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 38 |
| No. 6 Aggies | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 20 |

### At Portland State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Eagles | 7 | 7 | 21 | 7 | 42 |
| Vikings | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Northern Iowa–First Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| No. 4 Eagles | 6 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 19 |

### At No. 5 Montana–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Eagles | 14 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 41 |
| No. 5 Grizzlies | 10 | 10 | 24 | 13 | 57 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | 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 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 (9) | 2 (14) | 7 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 |
| Coaches | 14 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 (2) | 2 (1) | 2 (2) | 7 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 9 |