Oct. 3—Eastern Washington wanted to build its identity around its defense this season — but this is not the kind of identity it intended.
Big plays allowed on defense doomed the Eagles yet again on Saturday, damaging their playoff hopes almost beyond repair as they set themselves on the same rocky path as they have each of the last four years with a 49-38 loss at UC Davis.
Even an offense performance that was one of the Eagles' all-time best could not compensate.
The defeat dropped the Eagles to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in Big Sky Conference play with six games to go. Davis (4-2, 2-1), ranked 16th in the FCS Stats Perform Top 25, bounced back from a 40-point loss to Montana and defeated Eastern in Davis for the first time ever.
The Aggies (4-2, 2-1) did so largely because of its instant offense in the first half when it scored touchdowns of 50, 67 and 87 yards. It opened the second half with a 53-touchdown run by senior Zach Jones, who scored on each of his first three touches of the game.
"It seems like a common theme every week," EWU head coach Aaron Best said in a postgame radio interview. "Too many explosive plays on defense ... and we settled for field goals too often."
Two and a half minutes into the game, UC Davis scored its first touchdown and led the rest of the way. Four times Eastern settled for field goals, including three times in the red zone, which allowed redshirt senior Soren McKee to set the program's career field goal record with 41. He is 10 for 12 on the season.
But his field goals didn't do much to help the Eagles keep up with the Aggies, who outscored Eastern 25-9 in the third quarter and then stretched their lead to 49-24 with a field goal early in the fourth.
"A team goes 70 yards, they get the momentum," Best said, "and they took the momentum too many times."
Yet Nate Bell continued to accumulate yards on offense. The redshirt junior quarterback threw fourth-quarter touchdowns to Drew Carlson and Will McKissick, his second and third of the game. It was the first of Carlson and McKissick's careers.
His first came in the second quarter, a 34-yard pass to Jaxon Bell — his younger brother — for the freshman running back's first collegiate touchdown.
Nate Bell completed 39 of 58 passes for 413 yards and ran 16 times for another 107 yards and a touchdown. His 520 total yards were the ninth-most in program history; only Eric Barriere and Gage Gubrud ever had more (four times each).
Redshirt senior Wesley Garrett returned after missing last week's 31-27 loss to Cal Poly and led the Eagles with seven receptions for 79 yards. Redshirt sophomore Drew Carlson grabbed six receptions for a team-high 95 yards and a touchdown.
Jaxon Bell finished with five catches for 60 yards and a team-high 13 carries for 43 rushing yards.
Injuries continued to pile up for the Eagles. Freshman running back De'Markus Barnes carried twice for 18 yards — his first rushes of the season — but did not return after that. And redshirt sophomore wide receiver Bode Gardner left in the second half after a non-contact leg injury while covering a punt.
Eastern's defense, playing without leading tackler Bryce Smith, managed one turnover on redshirt junior Jaylon Jenkins' third interception of the season. But it was gashed by those big plays, allowing 629 yards at a clip of 10.8 per play.
The Eagles ran 94 plays — 36 more than the Aggies — and possessed the ball for 37 minutes and 30 seconds. They finished 10 of 20 on third down and scored all five times they entered the red zone. Eastern gained 601 yards of offense, 43rd-most in program history and its most since it had 704 in a 77-42 victory over Idaho State on Nov. 16, 2024.
Senior Jordan Fisher led the Aggies with 20 carries, 255 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Treynor Cleeman finished 15 of 27 for 278 yards and four touchdowns.
The Eagles, one of two Big Sky teams without a conference victory, will play their next three games at home, starting next week against Northern Colorado (2-4, 1-2), which lost 36-14 to Montana on Saturday.
