College Football Season Begins with Eastern Washington Beating Sam Houston State

The long wait is over, both for college football fans in general and, more specifically, for the Eastern Washington Eagles and their fans. The 2014 college football season kicked off with a matchup of two ranked FCS teams very familiar with one another: the Eastern Washington Eagles and the Sam Houston State Bearkats.

This game marked the third time in as many seasons that the two have faced each other. Both previous games were offensive showcases, with the two teams combining for 87 points and 1,026 yards in the semifinals of the 2012 FCS playoffs and then combining for 83 points and 1,052 yards in a regular-season meeting in 2013.

The other trend in those meetings the past two seasons was that Sam Houston State came away as the winner both times, with their 2013 win handing EWU their only blemish on their FCS regular-season record that year.

Which brings us to Saturday's glorious start to the 2014 college football season.

The Eagles started the season as the No. 2 ranked team in the FCS, while the Bearkats began ranked No. 14. Due to their previous history, the tensions surrounding this game were high.

Eastern Washington returned much of their offensive firepower from last season, including the 2013 Walter Payton Award runner-up, QB Vernon Adams, the 2013 FCS Freshman Player of the Year WR, Cooper Kupp, and 1,200-plus yard rusher Quincy Forte. Head coach Beau Baldwin, who won an FCS National Title in 2010 with the Eagles, was once again at the helm.

Sam Houston State, on the other hand, brought a markedly different looking team to Cheney, Washington than the one that EWU had faced in recent years. Gone were the cornerstones of Sam Houston State's offense the last three seasons, QB Brian Bell, RB Timothy Flanders and WRs Richard Sincere and Torrance Williams. The only returning offensive starter outside the O-line was TE Shane Young. Also gone was head coach Willie Fritz and his unique rushing system, as he left to become the head coach at former FCS power and current transitioning FBS team Georgia Southern.

SHSU instead came into the season under the leadership of former Delaware head coach K. C. Keeler, who won a national title with the Blue Hens in 2003. He traditionally runs a more passing-oriented offense, with current Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco being one of the QBs who thrived under his guidance. Which offensive style he would utilize was a big question coming into this game. Also in question for the Bearkats was how team chemistry would be, considering that they had 15 FBS transfers joining their roster after spring camp.

The game started off with Eastern Washington pushing out to a 7-0 lead after the first quarter on a three-yard touchdown pass from Adams to WR Blair Bomber. SHSU fought back to take a 14-7 lead on a 79-yard TD run by RB Keshawn Hill and a 55-yard pick-six by DB Trenier Orr.

EWU replied with a 13-yard TD pass from Adams to WR Kendrick Bourne that knotted the score at 14-14. The two teams then traded touchdowns to go into halftime tied at 21. SHSU got on the board first with a 53-yard TD run by QB Jared Johnson, before the Eagles answered with a 34-yard TD run by RB Jalen Moore.

The third quarter went to the Eagles, with Bomber making another three-yard TD reception on a pass from Adams to produce the quarter's only score and send EWU into the fourth quarter with a 28-21 lead. The Eagles also ended the third quarter with great field position after a short drive to the 1-yard line following an impressive interception by DB Tevin McDonald near the line of scrimmage.

The Eagles only needed one play at the start of the fourth quarter to reach the end zone, with TE Zach Wimberly taking on the role of fullback and punching it in on a one-yard TD rush. That gave EWU a 35-21 lead, but SHSU wasn't willing to back down yet. On their ensuing position, the Bearkats marched 77 yards and reached the end zone on a six-yard pass from Johnson to WR Derreck Edwards and closed the gap to 35-28.

Adams then led the Eagles on a drive down to the SHSU five-yard line, thanks in a large part to his electrifying 29-yard scramble that ended with a face-mask penalty against the Bearkats that tacked on 15 more yards to the play. Then things got really interesting.

The Eagles were forced to temporarily remove Adams from the game at the officials' request due to him wearing a tinted visor on his helmet, which violated NCAA equipment rules. Why it was never noticed or pointed out until partway through the fourth quarter is a mystery. EWU had to insert seldom-used backup QB Jordan West while Adams had the illegal visor removed from his helmet.

West made the very best of his rare opportunity, throwing a beautiful touch pass to the back corner of the end zone that Kupp caught for a five-yard TD reception that gave the Eagles a 42-28 lead.

SHSU then used a strong rushing attack to move the ball down to the one-yard line before Johnson threw a one-yard TD pass to Young. That pulled the Bearkats back to within one touchdown, with the score reading 42-35 with just a little over five minutes left in the game.

Any hopes the Bearkats had for a defensive stand and a quick regaining of possession were quickly dashed by Adams. He completed a 56-yard pass to WR Shaq Hill before finding Bourne on another 13-yard TD pass just three plays later. That gave the Eagles a 49-35 lead with 3:13 left on the clock.

SHSU found some life on the important ensuing drive on a 30-yard pass from Johnson to WR LaDarius Brown. However, the Bearkats' dream of a comeback ended after gaining only four yards on the next four plays.

The Eagles then attempted to run out the clock, but they instead found themselves in the end zone again after Moore rushed for a total of 48 yards on five successive carries and capped off the drive with a one- yard TD run. Although the decision to let Moore go for the end zone instead of taking a knee at the one-yard line with a little over 30 seconds left may raise a few eyebrows, there was nothing particularly unsportsmanlike about it, as Moore had earned the right to go for that glory with his solid rushing on the drive.

SHSU tried to respond to that minor indignity with a last-second drive of their own in order to save some face, but Johnson was picked off in the end zone by DB Isaiah Jenkins with a few seconds left. The Eagles then took a knee and sealed their convincing 56-35 win.

For EWU, Adams finished the game with 302 passing yards, four touchdowns, and interception and 61 rushing yards. RB Quincy Forte also had a strong game, rushing for 152 yards on 23 carries and making one reception for 16 yards.

For SHSU, Johnson finished with 317 yards, two touchdown passes, two interceptions, 79 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown. Hill was also big for the Bearkats, rushing for 133 yards and a touchdown on just 17 carries while adding 10 receiving yards on two catches.

Eastern Washington's next game will be against Division II team Montana Western next Saturday, while Sam Houston State will host Alabama State in a week.