The 2020 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 ...

as a member of 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 ...

during the

2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season The 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The regular ...

. Led by fourth-year head coach

Aaron Best Aaron Best (born January 27, 1978) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head coach at Eastern Washington Eagles football, Eastern Washington University, his alma mater, promoted from offensive coordinator in January 2017 E ...

, the Eagles played their home games at

Roos Field Roos Field is an outdoor college football stadium in the Northwest United States, northwest United States, on the campus of Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington, southwest of Spokane, Washington, Spokane. It is the home venue of the ...

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 ...

Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2019 season with an overall record of 7–5 and 6–2 in Big Sky play to place in a three-way tie for third. They were not selected to participate in the FCS Playoffs.

Preseason

Polls

On July 23, 2020, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Eagles were predicted to finish fourth in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.

Preseason All-Conference Team

The Eagles had two players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team. Senior quarterback Eric Barriere was also selected as the Big Sky Preseason Most Valuable Player. Eric Barriere – Sr. QB (Preseason Offensive MVP) Tristen Taylor – Sr. OT

Schedule

Eastern Washington released their initial full schedule on January 11, 2019. The Eagles were scheduled to play against

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

on September 5 in Gainesville, but this game was canceled on July 30 after the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

moved to a ten-game, conference-only schedule for its teams due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On August 13, the Big Sky Conference canceled all fall sports, including football, and announced that these sports would begin competition in the Spring of 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On November 4, the Big Sky Conference announced a six game, conference-only football schedule for participating programs that will begin in February. Due to this shortened season, previously scheduled games against

Western Illinois Forgottonia (), also spelled Forgotonia, is the name given to a 16-County (United States), county region in Western Illinois in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This geographic region forms the distinctive western bulge of Illinois (area west of ...

Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially-defined region of the U.S. state of Arizona. Generally consisting of Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Gila counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the sout ...

Southern Utah Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now graduates over 1,800 students each year with baccalaureate and graduate degrees from its six colleges. ...

Northern Colorado Northern Colorado is the name for a region in the state of Colorado and a proposed state in the northeastern portion of Colorado. Region Northern Colorado is a region in the northern portion of Colorado. It borders northwestern Colorado, nort ...

, and

Weber State Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

will not be rescheduled. On January 15, 2021,

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

Montana State Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fiel ...

Portland State Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

, and

Sacramento State California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

all opted out of the 2020 spring conference season. The Big Sky Conference announced on the same day that they will move forward with a six game conference season with the remaining eight teams that have not opted out of the spring season. On January 25, 2021, the Big Sky Conference announced its final spring football schedule.

Ranking movements

References

{{2020 NCAA Division I FCS playoff navbox

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 seasons

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 bein ...