Jacksonville State (11-3)
at Eastern Washington (11-2)
Saturday, Dec. 14, 1:05 p.m. Pacific
Cheney, Wash. (Roos Field, 8,600 Red Sprinturf)
Internet: ESPN3
The Records: Eastern Washington brings a 11-2 overall record into the quarterfinals The Eagles won the Big Sky Championship with an 8-0 overall record. EWU has won nine straight games since suffering back-to-back road losses to FBS Toledo and Sam Houston State. Eastern Washington finished the regular season ranked third in both major FCS polls, and also earned the No. 3 overall playoff seed...Jacksonville State of the Ohio Valley brings a 10-3 record to Cheney. The Gamecocks received an at-large bid to the playoffs after finishing 5-3, tied for third in the Ohio Valley Conference. Jacksonville State’s losses came to Murray State in overtime, Tennessee State and No. 2 Eastern Illinois. Jacksonville State comes to Cheney on a three-game winning streak.
The Series: This will be the first meeting between Jacksonville State at Eastern Washington.
Up Next: Saturday’s winner advanced to next week’s semifinals against the winner of the Friday quarterfinal between No. 2 Eastern Illinois and No. 7 seed Towson.
The Coaches: Eastern Washington’s Beau Baldwin is 55-21 in his sixth season with the Eagles. Baldwin was named the league Coach of the Year last week, marking the second straight season he has claimed the honor. Baldwin has led EWU to the playoffs four times (2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013). Baldwin owns a 8-2 playoff record, including the 2010 national championship, and a semifinal appearance in 2012. Baldwin went 10-3 in 2007 as the head coach at Central Washington, giving him an overall record of 65-24....Jacksonville State’s Bill Clark is 10-3 in his first season. Clark spent the previous five years as the defensive coordinator at South Alabama. Prior to his stint at South Alabama, he was the head coach at nationally-ranked Prattville High School in Alabama. He led the team to a pair of 6A state championships, and his last two teams won 30 straight games. His 2007 team was ranked second in the nation by USA Today.
EWU in the Quarters: EWU is in the quarterfinals for the seventh time in school history. The Eagles are 3-3 in the quarterfinals, with wins in 1997, 2010 and 2012. EWU first made the quarterfinals in 1985, prior to the Eagles joining the Big Sky. In home quarterfinal games, EWU is 3-1. The only loss came in 2004 to Sam Houston State. EWU won quarterfinal home games in 2010 against North Dakota State, and in 2012 against Illinois State.
JSU IN THE QUARTERS: This is Jacksonville State’s first trip to the quarterfinals.
COMMON OPPONENTS: The teams do not have any common opponents this season.
BIG SKY VS. THE OHIO VALLEY: The Big Sky is 6-3 all-time vs. the Ohio Valley in the FCS playoffs. This will mark just the third meeting between the leagues in the playoffs since 2000. EWU is 1-0 vs. the Ohio Valley in the postseason. The Eagles beat Southeast Missouri State 37-17 in the 2010 second round in Cheney. The Big Sky has won four straight over the OVC in the postseason. The OVC has not beaten a Big Sky team in the postseason since 1982 when Eastern Kentucky beat Idaho 38-20 in the quarterfinals. The Big Sky is 4-1 vs. the Ohio Valley in games played at Big Sky stadiums in the postseason. The Big Sky has not played a team from the Ohio Valley this season.
NOTES: EWU is 23-3 on the red turf since it was installed in 2010. EWU is 6-0 at home this season...Sam Houston State is the only non-Big Sky team to win at Roos Field since 2010...EWU is 18-1 since 2010 in games after Nov. 1...EWU is 10-0 when it leads or is tied at halftime...During its nine-game winning streak, EWU has outscored opponents 338-206...EWU is outscoring opponents 155-50 in the third quarter this season, and 106-6 in the third quarter in the last seven games...EWU’s Cooper Kupp has caught a TD pass in all 13 games this season, and leads the nation with 20. He enters the game with 81 catches, tied for the FCS freshman record...EWU’s Vernon Adams has completed 27 passes in his playoff career, 11 for touchdowns...Jacksonville State has outscored opponents 133-54 in the third quarter this season...Jacksonville State’s DaMarcus James has rushed for 1,431 yards and 28 touchdowns. The 28 rushing TDs are an OVC single-season record. His 1,431 rushing yards are a single-season school record...JSU is 6-1 on the road this season...Jacksonville State is 1-1 all-time against teams from the Big Sky. The Gamecocks lost 37-7 at Montana in a 1993 regular-season game. Jacksonville State beat Northern Arizona 35-0 in a 1977 Division II playoff game...JSU’s 11 victories are the most by a JSU team since 1992, when the Gamecocks won the Division II national championship...JSU has outgained its playoff foes 573-92 in yardage in the first half...EWU RB Quincy Forte has rushed for at least one TD in five straight games...Forte rushed for a career-high 202 yards in last week’s win, becoming the first EWU back to surpass 200 yards in a game since Taiwan Jones rushed for 230 in a 2010 quarterfinal win over NDSU....Forte needs 59 yards to reach 1,000 for the season...Twelve different EWU players have caught TD passes this season...LB Ronnie Hamlin leads EWU with 119 total tackles...JSU’s Pieree Warren has four interceptions, three fumble recovers, 16 pass breakups and 71 total tackles...Nine different JSU players have thrown a pass this season...Eli Jenkins started last week’s game at QB for JSU. He’s completed 62-of-110 passes for 760 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions this season. He has 835 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns...JSU has 47 rushing touchdowns this season...EWU’s Ashton Clark needs 77 receiving yards to reach 1,000 for the season...EWU has scored at least 34 points in 12 of its 13 games this season.