The 2019 Eastern Washington Eagles football team represented Eastern Washington University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The team was coached by third 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 7–5, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for third place.
The Eagles finished the 2018 season 12–3, 7–1 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for first place. They received the third seed in the FCS Playoffs and advanced to the National Championship Game, where they lost to North Dakota State.[1]
Preseason
Polls
On July 15, 2019 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Eagles were predicted to win the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.[2]
Coaches poll
Predicted finish
Team
Votes (1st place)
1
Eastern Washington
140 (10)
2
UC Davis
127 (2)
3
Weber State
124
4
Montana
104 (1)
5
Montana State
100
6
Northern Arizona
88
7
Idaho State
72
8
Idaho
65
9
Cal Poly
56
10
Portland State
42
11
Sacramento State
40
12
Southern Utah
38
13
Northern Colorado
19
Media poll
Predicted finish
Team
Votes (1st place)
1
Eastern Washington
536 (25)
2
UC Davis
510 (13)
3
Weber State
472 (4)
4
Montana State
417
5
Montana
396 (1)
6
Northern Arizona
302
7
Idaho State
285
8
Idaho
248
9
Cal Poly
196
10
Portland State
178
11
Southern Utah
160
12
Sacramento State
125
13
Northern Colorado
90
Preseason All-Conference Team
The Eagles had one player selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.[3]
On January 18, defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding left to take a position as linebackers coach/co-special teams coordinator with Boise State.[5] Defensive line coach Eti Ena was promoted to replace Schmedding on January 23, 2019.[6]
On February 9, former starting quarterback Gage Gubrud was granted a medical redshirt year by the NCAA after suffering a season-ending foot injury in a game against Montana State on September 29, 2018. He transferred to Washington State for his final year of eligibility.[7]
On February 12, offensive coordinator Bodie Reeder left to become the co-offensive coordinator at North Texas.[8] On February 25, Central Washington head coach Ian Shoemaker was hired to replace him.[9]
Schedule
EWU has scheduled 12 games in the 2019 season instead of the 11 normally allowed for FCS programs. Under a standard provision of NCAA rules, all FCS teams are allowed to schedule 12 regular-season games in years in which the period starting with Labor Day weekend and ending with the last Saturday of November contains 14 Saturdays.[10]
Despite also being a member of the Big Sky, the game vs. Idaho will count as a non-conference game and will have no effect on the Big Sky standings.[11]
Although North Dakota is classified as an FCS Independent, games against them still count as Big Sky conference games through the 2019 season.[12]