# 2022 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

The 2022 Eastern Washington Eagles football team represented Eastern Washington University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Aaron Best, the Eagles played their home games at Roos Field in Cheney, Washington.

## Preseason
### Polls

On July 25, 2022, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Eagles were predicted to finish sixth in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Montana | 111 (3) |
| 2 | Sacramento State | 110 (4) |
| 3 | Montana State | 109 (5) |
| 4 | Weber State | 84 |
| 5 | UC Davis | 82 |
| 6 | Eastern Washington | 76 |
| 7 | Northern Arizona | 62 |
| 8 | Idaho | 45 |
| 9 | Portland State | 42 |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 33 |
| T-11 | Idaho State | 19 |
| T-11 | Northern Colorado | 19 |
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Montana | 356 (14) |
| 2 | Montana State | 352 (13) |
| 3 | Sacramento State | 335 (4) |
| 4 | Weber State | 261 |
| 5 | UC Davis | 255 (1) |
| 6 | Eastern Washington | 236 |
| 7 | Northern Arizona | 191 |
| 8 | Portland State | 146 |
| 9 | Idaho | 142 |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 85 |
| 11 | Northern Colorado | 71 |
| 12 | Idaho State | 66 |

### Preseason All–Big Sky team

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

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 1:00 p.m. | Tennessee State* | No. 13 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | ESPN+ | W 36–29 | 3,932 |
| September 10 | 5:30 p.m. | at Oregon* | No. 12 | Autzen StadiumEugene, OR | P12N | L 14–70 | 47,289 |
| September 24 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 4T Montana State | No. 15 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | ESPN+ | L 35–38 | 7,200 |
| October 2 | 9:00 a.m. | at Florida* | No. 20 | Ben Hill Griffin StadiumGainesville, FL | SECN+/ESPN+ | L 17–52 | 72,462 |
| October 8 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 7 Weber State | No. 24 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | ESPN+ | L 21–45 | 10,724 |
| October 15 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 5 Sacramento State | | Roos FieldCheney, WA | ESPN+ | L 28–52 | 6,276 |
| October 22 | 5:00 p.m. | at Cal Poly | | Alex G. Spanos StadiumSan Luis Obispo, CA | ESPN+ | W 17–10 | 8,357 |
| October 29 | 1:00 p.m. | Portland State | | Roos FieldCheney, WA (The Dam Cup) | ESPN+ | L 35–38 | 4,143 |
| November 5 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 15 Idaho | | Kibbie DomeMoscow, ID | ESPN+ | L 16–48 | 11,811 |
| November 12 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 16 Montana | | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (EWU–UM Governors Cup) | ESPN+ | L 7–63 | 25,403 |
| November 19 | 1:00 p.m. | Northern Colorado | | Roos FieldCheney, WA | ESPN+ | W 45–21 | 4,099 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Pacific time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Tennessee State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 19 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 29 |
| No. 13 Eagles | 15 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 36 |

### At Oregon

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 12 Eagles | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Ducks | 14 | 28 | 21 | 7 | 70 |
at Autzen Stadium • Eugene, OR
* Date: September 10, 2022
* Game time: 5:30 p.m.
* Game weather: Sunny, 75 °F (24 °C)
* Game attendance: 47,289
* Referee: Chris Coyte
* TV announcers (Pac-12 Network): Ted Robinson (play-by-play), Yogi Roth (analyst)
| Statistics | EWU | ORE |
| First downs | 11 | 40 |
| Total yards | 187 | 604 |
| Rushes/yards | 28–100 | 48–263 |
| Passing yards | 87 | 341 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 12–23–2 | 34–41–0 |
| Time of possession | 21:05 | 38:55 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Eastern Washington | Passing | Gunner Talkington | 12/21, 87 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT |
| Eastern Washington | Rushing | Micah Smith | 7 carries, 27 yards |
| Eastern Washington | Receiving | Freddie Roberson | 3 receptions, 33 yards, TD |
| Oregon | Passing | Bo Nix | 28/33, 277 yards, 5 TD |
| Oregon | Rushing | Bucky Irving | 8 carries, 74 yards, TD |
| Oregon | Receiving | Troy Franklin | 10 receptions, 84 yards, TD |

### No. 4т Montana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4T Bobcats | 10 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 38 |
| No. 15 Eagles | 14 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 35 |

### At Florida

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 20 (FCS) Eastern Washington | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 17 |
| Florida | 14 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 52 |
at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL
* Date: October 2, 2022
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: Temperature: 75 °F (24 °C) • Wind: NW at 2 miles per hour (3.2 km/h) • Weather: Sunny
* Game attendance: 72,462
* Referee: James Carter
* TV announcers (ESPN+/SECN+): Drew Carter (play-by-play), Aaron Murray (color), Monica Uber (sideline reporter)
Game information :
First quarter
Eastern Washington – Seth Harrison 44-yard field goal, 8:04
Florida – Justin Shorter 75-yard pass from Anthony Richardson (Adam Mihalek kick), 7:53
Florida – Montrell Johnson Jr. 3-yard run (Adam Mihalek kick), 1:13
Second quarter
Florida – Nay'Quan Wright 4-yard (Adam Mihalek kick), 9:22
Florida – Ricky Pearsall 76-yard run (Adam Mihalek kick), 5:48
Florida – Xzavier Henderson 21-yard pass from Anthony Richardson (Adam Mihalek kick), 3:02
Third quarter
Florida – Adam Mihalek 36-yard field goal, 7:47
Florida – Caleb Douglas 62-yard pass from Jalen Kitna (Adam Mihalek kick), 4:25
Fourth quarter
Florida – Lorenzo Lingard 11-yard run (Adam Mihalek kick), 11:53
Eastern Washington – Jakobie James 28-yard pass from Gunner Talkington (Seth Harrison kick), 8:35
Eastern Washington – Kekoa Visperas 25-yard run (Seth Harrison kick), 3:17
Passing leaders
Eastern Washington – Gunner Talkington – 24/37, 250 yards, 1 touchdown
Florida – Anthony Richardson – 8/10, 240 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception
Rushing leaders
Eastern Washington – Tuna Altahir – 15 carries, 48 yards
Florida – Ricky Pearsall – 1 carry, 76 yards, 1 touchdown
Receiving leaders
Eastern Washington – Freddie Roberson – 4 receptions, 62 yards
Florida – Justin Shorter – 1 reception, 75 yards, 1 touchdown
Tackling leaders
Eastern Washington – Sherwin King Jr. – 6 tackles
Florida – Rashad Torrence II – 10 tackles :

### At No. 7 Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 24 Eagles | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| No. 7 Wildcats | 14 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 45 |

### No. 5 Sacramento State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Hornets | 21 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 52 |
| Eagles | 0 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 28 |

### At Cal Poly

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 10 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Mustangs | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Portland State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vikings | 21 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 38 |
| Eagles | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 | 35 |

### At No. 15 Idaho

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 3 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 16 |
| No. 15 Vandals | 7 | 28 | 3 | 10 | 48 |

### At No. 16 Montana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 16 Grizzlies | 21 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 63 |

### Northern Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Eagles | 7 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 45 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received 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 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 20 | 24 | RV | | | | | | | |
| Coaches | 12 | 11 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 21 | RV | | | | | | | |