The 1985 Eastern Washington Eagles football team represented

Eastern Washington University Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a public university in Cheney, Washington. It also offers programs at a campus in EWU Spokane at the Riverpoint Campus and other campus locations throughout the state. Founded in 1882, the university is ...

in the

1985 NCAA Division I-AA football season The 1985 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I-AA level, began in August 1985, and concluded with the 1985 NCAA Division I-AA ...

. This was the Eagles' second season in Division I-AA, having moved up from Division II after 1983, and participated as an independent until joining the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eigh ...

in 1987. They played their home games on campus at Woodward Field in

Cheney, Washington Cheney ( ) is a city in Spokane County, Washington, United States. The full-time resident population was 13,255 as of 2020 census. Eastern Washington University is located in Cheney. When classes are in session at EWU, the city's population rea ...

, and one at

Joe Albi Stadium Joe Albi Stadium is a former outdoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, located in Spokane, Washington. In the northwest part of the city, just east of the Spokane River, it was primarily used for high school football, and as a secon ...

in nearby

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

. Led by seventh-year head coach

Dick Zornes Dick Zornes (born June 15, 1944) is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He was the head football coach at Eastern Washington University in Cheney from 1979 to 1993, compiling a record. Zornes also serve ...

, the Eagles went 8–2 in the regular season and earned the program's first Division I-AA playoff bid. They traveled and defeated Big Sky champion

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

in the first round, avenging a 21-point loss four weeks earlier, then lost by three points in the quarterfinals at .

Schedule

References

{{1985 Division I-AA football playoff navbox Eastern Washington Eagles football seasons

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanfor ...

Eastern Washington Eagles football The Eastern Washington Eagles football team represents Eastern Washington University in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The Eastern Eagles are members of the Big Sky Conference and play at Roos Field, which is known for be ...