Barriere’s 7 TD passes send Eastern Washington to FCS title game
Dec 15, 2018, 3:02 PM | Updated: 3:08 pm
🦅 TOUCHDOWN TRACKER
6️⃣ Eric Barriere
4️⃣ Nsimba Webster#FCSPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/5YenjINdpQ— FCS Football (@NCAA_FCS) December 15, 2018
By CRAIG HALEY
STATS FCS Senior Editor
Eastern Washington did Saturday what it set out to do from the start of the season – Leave No Doubt.
The team motto has reflected the Eagles’ perturbance over being left out of last year’s FCS playoffs.
EWU beats Maine 50-19: Final stats
This season, the perennial Big Sky power didn’t just make the playoffs, it’s heading to the national championship game after redshirt sophomore quarterback Eric Barriere tied the school record with seven touchdown passes, including four to Nsimba Webster, in a 50-19, semifinal-round rout of Maine Saturday at Roos Field in Cheney.
The third-seeded Eagles’ final step in a season of redemption will be their biggest. Coach Aaron Best’s 12-2 squad will take on North Dakota State (14-0), the defending FCS champ and a winner of six of the last seven titles, Jan. 5 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
Maine (10-4), the CAA champ and seeded seventh in the playoffs, showed the effects of making a cross-country trip for the second straight weekend, but Barriere was going to be tough to contain regardless. He completed 21 of 30 passes for 352 yards with one interception.
The seven TD passes tied a school record first set by Vernon Adams Jr. in a 59-52 loss to Washington on Sept. 6, 2014.
Barriere’s first three TDs turned the game one-sided in the first quarter. Cornerback Josh Lewis grabbed the first of his two interceptions of Black Bears quarterback Chris Ferguson and returned the ball to the 1-yard line to set up Barriere’s easy throw to Andrew Boston on the next play. A Keith Moore sack, strip and fumble recovery off Ferguson led to Barriere’s 3-yard TD pass to Jayce Gilder in the back of the Black Bears’ end zone. Following a punt, Barriere capped a 75-yard drive with an 11-yard scoring pass to Webster, making it 21-0.
The Barriere-to-Webster combo was far from done. They connected for a 16-yard touchdown in the second quarter to push the lead to 28-0 by halftime, and 9- and 58-yard scores in the third quarter to squash Maine’s attempt for a comeback. Webster, a senior, finished with nine catches for 188 yards.
Barriere made it seven TDs with a 29-yarder to Gilder in the fourth quarter.
Eastern Washington had lost at home in its last three national semifinals since 2012, but with their seventh straight win this season, the Eagles will make a second trip to the FCS championship game. They beat North Dakota State in a quarterfinal on the way to winning the 2010 FCS title, but have lost the last two meetings in the 2016 and ’17 regular seasons.
