American college football season
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 .
Previous season [ ]
The Eagles finished the 2017 season 7–4, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. Despite being ranked in the top 25 at the end of the regular season, they were not selected to participate in the FCS Playoffs.
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.[1]
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.[2]
Gage Gubrud – Sr. QB
Antoine Custer – Jr. RB
Jay-Tee Tiuli – Sr. DT
Award watch lists [ ]
Schedule [ ]
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance September 1 1:05 p.m. Central Washington * No. 9 SWX W 58–138,658
September 8 3:05 p.m. at No. 18 Northern Arizona * No. 6 SWX W 31–268,938
September 15 5:05 p.m. at Washington State * No. 6 P12N L 24–5932,952
September 22 1:05 p.m. Cal Poly No. 6 SWX W 70–179,156
September 29 1:05 p.m. at Montana State No. 5 RTNW W 34–1718,667
October 6 12:05 p.m. Southern Utah No. 5 RTNW W 55–178,887
October 13 3:05 p.m. at No. 13 Weber State No. 4 ELVN L 6–148,211
October 27 12:05 p.m. Idaho No. 5 RTNW W 38–1410,023
November 3 11:05 a.m. at Northern Colorado No. 5 Pluto TV 241W 48–133,274
November 10 1:05 p.m. No. 4 UC Davis No. 5 SWX W 59–208,789
November 16 7:05 p.m. at Portland State No. 4 Pluto TV 232 W 74–234,205
December 1 2:00 p.m. No. 14 Nicholls * No. 4 Roos Field Cheney, WA (FCS Playoffs Second Round ) ESPN3 W 42–215,250
December 8 1:00 p.m. No. 7 UC Davis* No. 4 Roos Field Cheney, WA (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals ) ESPN3 W 34–295,503
December 15 11:00 a.m. No. 12 Maine * No. 4 Roos Field Cheney, WA (FCS Playoffs Semifinals ) ESPN2 W 50–197,529
January 5 9:00 a.m. No. 1 North Dakota State * No. 4 ESPN2 L 24–3817,802
*Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All 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 movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
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
References [ ]
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore
Swoop
The Inferno
"Go, Eagles, Go "
People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
College Division / Division II I-AA/FCS
Northern Arizona (1978)
Montana State (1979)
Boise State (1980)
Idaho State (1981)
Montana , Idaho , & Montana State (1982)
Nevada (1983)
Montana State (1984)
Idaho (1985)
Nevada (1986)
Idaho (1987)
Idaho (1988)
Idaho (1989)
Nevada (1990)
Nevada (1991)
Idaho & Eastern Washington (1992)
Montana (1993)
Boise State (1994)
Montana (1995)
Montana (1996)
Eastern Washington (1997)
Montana (1998)
Montana (1999)
Montana (2000)
Montana (2001)
Montana , Montana State , & Idaho State (2002)
Montana State , Montana , & Northern Arizona (2003)
Montana & Eastern Washington (2004)
Eastern Washington , Montana State , & Montana (2005)
Montana (2006)
Montana (2007)
Weber State & Montana (2008)
Montana (2009)
Montana State & Eastern Washington (2010)
Montana State & Montana (2011)
Eastern Washington , Montana State , & Cal Poly (2012)
Eastern Washington (2013)
Eastern Washington (2014)
Southern Utah (2015)
Eastern Washington & North Dakota (2016)
Southern Utah & Weber State (2017)
Eastern Washington , UC Davis , & Weber State (2018)
Sacramento State & Weber State (2019)
Weber State (2020)
Sacramento State (2021)
National championships in bold