Oct. 28—When Matt Johnson first heard that he would soon be playing football games on a red turf field, he wasn't so sure.
"I was skeptical, I guess," the former EWU safety said. "We all were."
But whatever uncertainties Johnson held heading into that first game on the red turf, which has become synonymous with Eastern Washington University football, they were replaced with the magical feeling of chasing — and achieving — a national championship.
"That whole year, we didn't lose on the turf," said Johnson, who is now the head football coach at Southridge High School in Kennewick. "Every home game was a lot of fun because of the atmosphere. It was an atmosphere that is still special today."
This Saturday, Eastern Washington will celebrate 100 games on the Red turf when Montana comes to Cheney. The Eagles won Game 100 on Oct. 10 against Northern Colorado, 31-22. This will be Game 102.
Perhaps fittingly, the team who played the first game on the Red — Montana — is on the schedule this weekend in this year of the 100th game. So are the two other programs who have played the most games on the "Inferno": Montana State (who won in Cheney two weeks ago) and Portland State, who will visit the Eagles in their season finale on Nov. 21.
For Johnson and his teammates, that national championship season of 2010 will forever be linked to the inauguration of the red turf that has become a core element of the Eagles' identity.
And at the core of that season was the game on Sept. 18, 2010, when the Montana Grizzlies became the first opponent to play on what has since been known as Roos Field.
"Montana week is always crazy," Johnson said. "But the hype around that game was probably like no game before."
'A touchdown for sure'
The game started auspiciously for the Eagles: On Eastern's second drive, Bo Levi Mitchell threw an interception to Tru Johnson, who returned it 53 yards for a touchdown.
Then, Eastern fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Montana recovered, and Jabin Sambrano ran in a 27-yard score the next play. It was 14-0.
But the Eagles responded with two quick scoring drives of their own: a 32-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell to Brandon Kaufman, followed by a 72-yard touchdown run by Taiwan Jones. That tied it at 14.
Eastern took its first lead in the fourth quarter on a 20-yard field goal by Mike Jarrett, who went on to make 31 field goals in career. After Brody McKnight's 22-yard field goal tied the game with 1 minute, 33 seconds left, Eastern began its next drive at its own 31-yard line.
On 2nd-and-5, Mitchell completed a 17-yard pass to Greg Hurd to move the sticks. After two incomplete passes, Mitchell handed off to Jones, who ran 13 yards for a first down at the Montana 34-yard line.
A couple of first downs later, the Eagles faced third-and-goal at the Montana 13, setting up for a game-winning, 31-yard field goal by Jarrett with 4 seconds left.
Then it got weird.
Montana received the ensuing kickoff and attempted a desperate series of laterals that went on so long that fans stormed the field before the play was actually ruled dead. Referees flagged the Eagles for unsportsmanlike conduct, and so Montana lined up for one untimed play from its own 40 yard line.
What followed was a play that Renard Williams said he will forever remember.
Montana quarterback Andrew Selle dropped back and fumbled when Jerry Ceja knocked the ball from his hand. Williams picked it up and started running.
"Jerry came screaming around the edge and the ball just came right to me," Williams said this week. "That rivalry runs deep, so to win in that fashion, with a walk-off, there was no chance I was going to take a knee or go down. That was going to be a touchdown for sure."
Though he wasn't there for it, Zach Bruce has watched that final play countless times. Bruce, who played for the Eagles from 2012 to 2016 and is now the team's defensive coordinator, said it was a defining moment for the program.
"The way that game ended, that is the entire culture and embodiment of what this program and this university is all about," he said. "It's the last video I show every recruit who walks in our building. I use it to define our culture. This is who we are."
Eastern won that game 36-27, and the crowd — announced at 11,702 — is still the largest to watch a game at Roos Field.
It was something Zach Johnson — Matt's twin brother and Eastern Washington teammate — said topped the intensity of larger crowds they saw elsewhere during their college career.
"It was already packed during the pregame routine," said Zach Johnson, who finished the game with 11 tackles and a forced fumble. "I'd played at Texas Tech (two years before) and seen some bigger crowds, but not at home. It felt different."
While the Eagles lost the next week, 30-7 at Montana State, they won every game after that, including seven more at home, on their way to a national championship.
"Every time we played on that (field), we took pride in it and still take pride in it," Zach Johnson said. "You can say that about any Eagle who has ever played on it."
