2020 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

The 2020 Eastern Washington Eagles football team will represent Eastern Washington University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The team will be coached by fourth year head coach Aaron Best. The Eagles will play their home games at Roos Field in Cheney, Washington and are a member of the Big Sky Conference.

2020 Eastern Washington Eagles football
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
2020 record0–0 (0–0 Big Sky)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorIan Shoemaker (2nd season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorEti Ena (2nd season)
Base defense4-2-5
Home stadiumRoos Field
(Capacity: 8,600)
2020 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Cal Poly   –      –  
Eastern Washington   –      –  
Idaho   –      –  
Idaho State   –      –  
Northern Arizona   –      –  
Southern Utah   –      –  
UC Davis   –      –  
Weber State   –      –  
As of January 26, 2021; Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season
See also: 2019 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

The Eagles finished the 2019 season 7–5, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They were not selected to participate in the FCS Playoffs.[1]

Preseason

Polls

On July 23, 2020, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Eagles were predicted to finish fourth in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.[2]

Coaches poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Weber State 135 (7)
2 Montana 128 (3)
3 Montana State 121 (1)
4 Eastern Washington 118 (1)
5 Sacramento State 99 (1)
6 UC Davis 83
7 Northern Arizona 68
8 Portland State 67
9 Idaho 66
10 Cal Poly 46
11 Idaho State 37
12 Southern Utah 33
13 Northern Colorado 13
Media poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Weber State 546 (28)
2 Montana 496 (8)
3 Montana State 493 (6)
4 Eastern Washington 438 (1)
5 Sacramento State 389
6 UC Davis 325 (1)
7 Portland State 274
8 Idaho 273
9 Northern Arizona 238
10 Cal Poly 206
11 Idaho State 133
12 Southern Utah 105
13 Northern Colorado 88

Preseason All-Conference Team

The Eagles had two players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team. Senior quarterback Eric Barriere was also selected as the Big Sky Preseason Most Valuable Player.[3]

Eric Barriere – Sr. QB (Preseason Offensive MVP)

Tristen Taylor – Sr. OT

Schedule
DateOpponentSiteResult
February 27at Idaho
March 6Northern Arizona
March 13at Idaho State
March 27Cal Poly
  • Roos Field
  • Cheney, WA
April 3at UC Davis
April 10Idaho
  • Roos Field
  • Cheney, WA

Eastern Washington released their initial full schedule on January 11, 2019.[4]

The Eagles were scheduled to play against Florida on September 5 in Gainesville, but this game was canceled on July 30 after the Southeastern Conference moved to a ten-game, conference-only schedule for its teams due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

On August 13, the Big Sky Conference canceled all fall sports, including football, and announced that these sports would begin competition in the Spring of 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

On November 4, the Big Sky Conference announced a six game, conference-only football schedule for participating programs that will begin in February. Due to this shortened season, previously scheduled games against Western Illinois, Northern Arizona, Southern Utah, Northern Colorado, and Weber State will not be rescheduled.[7]

On January 15, 2021, Montana, Montana State, Portland State, and Sacramento State all opted out of the 2020 spring conference season.[8]The Big Sky Conference announced on the same day that they will move forward with a six game conference season with the remaining nine teams that have not opted out of the spring season. A new schedule will be announced at a later date. [9]

Ranking movements
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ 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  
Coaches

References
  1. "Eastern Washington football left out of 2019 FCS playoffs". November 24, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  2. "Eagles Selected to Finish Fourth in the Big Sky in 2020". July 23, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  3. "Eric Barriere Selected as Preseason Offensive MVP in Big Sky". July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  4. Wilmer, Brian (January 11, 2019). "Eastern Washington releases 2019 and 2020 football schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  5. Talty, John. "SEC moves to conference-only 2020 schedule, pushes back start of season". AL.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  6. Greene, Brenna. "Big Sky cancels 2020 football season, other sports amid COVID-19 concerns". krem.com. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  7. Collingwood, Ryan. "Eastern Washington to host Idaho on March 13 as Big Sky releases 6-game schedule". krem.com. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  8. Collingwood, Ryan. "'We're ready to compete': Eastern Washington, Idaho still plan on playing Big Sky spring football season after Montana, Montana State and Portland State opt out". spokesman.com. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  9. "BIG SKY ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO FOOTBALL SPRING SEASON AND INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP". bigskyconf.com. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
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