Sam Houston State at Eastern Washington

The Records: Eastern Washington brings a five-game winning streak and an 11-2 overall record into the quarterfinals. EWU’s losses came to Washington State of the Pac-12 and Southern Utah. The Eagles finished 7-1 in Big Sky play, tying Montana State and Cal Poly for the regular-season title. The Eagles received the Big Sky’s automatic bid to the playoffs…Sam Houston State brings a 10-3 record to Cheney. The Bearkats earned an at-large bid out of the Southland Conference. Sam Houston State went 6-1 in conference play, losing 24-20 at Central Arkansas on Sept. 22. Sam Houston State also lost to FCS teams Baylor and Texas A&M.

The Series: Sam Houston State leads 1-0.

Last Meeting: Sam Houston State rallied from a 34-14 fourth-quarter deficit to beat Eastern Washington 35-34 in a 2004 quarterfinal game on Dec. 5 in Cheney. Jason Mathenia caught the game-tying touchdown in the final offensive play of the game. Lance Garner won the game with the extra point. Dustin Long threw for 478 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Darius Washington rushed for 156 yards and three touchdowns for the Eagles.

The Coaches: Eastern Washington’s Beau Baldwin is 44-18 in his fifth season with the Eagles. Baldwin was named Co-Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year along with Tim Walsh of Cal Poly. Baldwin has an overall head coaching record of 54-21. He led Central Washington to a 10-3 season in 2007 prior to returning to EWU, where he previously served as the offensive coordinator. Baldwin is 6-1 in playoff games….Willie Fritz 30-9 in his third season. He is 5-1 in the playoffs. Fritz compiled a 97-47 record as the head coach at Central Missouri from 1997-2009. He went 39-5-1 in four seasons at Blinn College, winning JC national championships in 1995 and 1996.

Big Sky vs. the Southland: The Big Sky is 25-14 against the Southland in the playoffs. Sam Houston is 6-2 all-time vs. Big Sky teams in the playoffs.  Big Sky teams hold a 21-4 edge against Southland teams in playoff games played in Big Sky stadiums. EWU is 2-2 all-time against Southland teams in the playoffs. EWU beat Northwestern State 40-14 at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane in 1997 in a first-round game. The Eagles lost to Sam Houston State in the 2004 quarterfinals. EWU upset McNeese State 44-15 on the road in 2007. The Eagles lost in 2009 at Stephen F. Austin in a first-round game. This will mark the fifth time the Big Sky has gone head-to-head against the Southland in a semifinal game. The Big Sky leads 3-1 with all three wins coming by Montana in Missoula. The lone loss was UM’s 31-28 defeat last season at Sam Houston State. Sam Houston’s two playoff losses to Big Sky teams came in 2001 in a quarterfinal game in Missoula 49-24, and at Montana in a 2004 semifinal 34-13. Sam Houston State has won four straight playoff games the last two seasons over Big Sky teams, downing Montana State twice, Montana once and Cal Poly. The Big Sky is 1-3 against Southland teams this season. Montana State beat Stephen F. Austin. Weber State lost to McNeese State. Cal Poly and MSU have lost in the playoffs to Sam Houston State.

Eastern in the Semifinals: EWU is making its third appearance in the semifinals. In 1997, EWU lost to Youngstown State 25-14 at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane. In 2010, the Eagles beat Villanova 41-31 at Roos Field.

Sam Houston in the Semifinals: Sam Houston is also making its third appearance in the semifinals. The Bearkats lost in 2004 at Montana, and beat the Grizzlies at home in 2011.

Up Next: Saturday’s winner will play in the Division I National Championship game on Saturday, January 5 in Frisco, Texas. The winner will take on the winner of Friday night’s semifinal between North Dakota State and Georgia Southern. The championship game is 1 p.m. Central on ESPN2.

Notes: Sam Houston State is seeking its third straight win in three weeks over a Big Sky team in the playoffs. The Bearkats also beat Montana and Montana State in the 2011 playoffs...Eastern Washington is seeking its seventh straight playoff victory...EWU is 7-0 at home this season. Sam Houston is 4-3 on the road...EWU is 13-0 in games played after Nov. 1 since 2010...Sam Houston RB Tim Flanders has rushed for 1,358 yards and 17 touchdowns...Sam Houston QB Brian Bell has completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 2,375 yards with 23 touchdowns and seven interceptions...EWU’s WR trio of Brandon Kaufman, Nicholas Edwards and Greg Herd enter Saturday’s semifinal with 586 career catches for 8,374 yards and 78 touchdowns...Kaufman has set a single-season Big Sky record with 1,635 receiving yards...Sam Houston State safety Darnell Taylor, Flanders and offensive lineman Kaleb Hopson were named to the Sports Network All-American Team. EWU was represented on the team by Kaufman, kicker Jimmy Pavel, and cornerback T.J. Lee III...Pavel has made an EWU single-season record 17 field goals...With 11 wins, EWU has now won more than 10 games in a season three times in school history. The school record is 13 in 2010...Sam Houston State LB Darius Taylor has 15 tackles for loss...Sam Houston will play its second game this season on a non-green surface. The Bearkats lost at Central Arkansas 24-20 earlier this season. Central Arkansas plays on a purple and grey surface...Kaufman enters Saturday with 84 catches this season. That is tied for 13th most in Big Sky single-season history. With just six catches he would move into seventh place....EWU DE Jerry Ceja ranks fourth in single-season school history with 12.5 sacks...LB Ronnie Hamlin leads EWU with 127 total tackles...The teams are slated to meet on Sept. 28, 2013, in Huntsville, Texas, in the first game of a home-and-home series...EWU QB Kyle Padron tied a school record with six TD passes in last week’s win over Illinois State. In his last three games, Padron has thrown for 1,066 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s also rushed for two touchdowns...In the last two years, Big Sky teams are 6-0 against teams other than Sam Houston State, and 0-4 against the Bearkats...Sam Houston State has outscored opponents 189-60 in the second quarter of games this season, including 17-0 in the quarterfinal win over Montana State...Four times this season, Sam Houston State has allowed more than 300 passing yards. Stephen F. Austin threw for 545 and six touchdowns in a 51-43 loss. Central Arkansas threw for 318 in a 24-20 win. Baylor and Texas A&M also threw for more than 300 and beat the Bearkats.