2023 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

2023 Eastern Washington Eagles football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	4–7 (3–5 Big Sky)
Head coach	Aaron Best (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jim Chapin (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Jeff Copp (2nd season)
Home stadium	Roos Field

2023 Big Sky Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Montana $^		7	–	1					13	–	2
No. 8 Idaho ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 9 Montana State ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Northern Arizona		5	–	3					5	–	6
No. 24 UC Davis		5	–	3					7	–	4
No. 13 Sacramento State ^		4	–	4					8	–	5
Portland State		4	–	4					5	–	6
Weber State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Eastern Washington		3	–	5					4	–	7
Idaho State		3	–	5					3	–	8
Cal Poly		1	–	7					3	–	8
Northern Colorado		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2023 Eastern Washington Eagles football team represented Eastern Washington University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Aaron Best, the Eagles played their home games at Roos Field in Cheney, Washington.

Preseason

Polls

On July 23, 2023, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Eagles were predicted to finish seventh in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana State	120 (10)
2	UC Davis	96 (1)
3	Sacramento State	94 (1)
4	Weber State	91
5	Idaho	89
6	Montana	84
7	Eastern Washington	52
8	Portland State	45
9	Northern Arizona	44
10	Northern Colorado	37
11	Cal Poly	25
12	Idaho State	15

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana State	447 (26)
2	Idaho	410 (8)
3	Montana	359 (2)
4	Sacramento State	334 (3)
5	UC Davis	330
6	Weber State	320
7	Eastern Washington	216
8	Northern Arizona	178
9	Portland State	167
10	Northern Colorado	109
11	Cal Poly	103
12	Idaho State	69

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	12:30 p.m.	vs. No. 2 North Dakota State*		U.S. Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	ESPN	L 10–35	22,546
September 9	6:00 p.m.	at Fresno State*		Valley Children's Stadium Fresno, CA	UniMás / MW Network	L 31–34 2OT	41,031
September 16	1:00 p.m.	No. 19 Southeastern Louisiana*		Roos Field Cheney, WA	ESPN	W 40–29	4,103
September 23	7:00 p.m.	at No. 15 UC Davis		UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN	W 27–24	14,724
September 30	1:00 p.m.	No. 4 Idaho	No. 19	Roos Field Cheney, WA	ESPN	L 36–44	8,347
October 14	3:00 p.m.	at Idaho State	No. 21	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	ESPN	L 41–42	6,763
October 21	4:00 p.m.	Weber State		Roos Field Cheney, WA	ESPN	W 31–23	7,514
October 28	1:00 p.m.	at Portland State		Hillsboro Stadium Hillsboro, OR (The Dam Cup)	ESPN	L 35–47	3,189
November 4	1:00 p.m.	Cal Poly		Roos Field Cheney, WA	ESPN	W 48–13	4,345
November 11	12:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Montana State		Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN	L 14–57	20,897
November 18	1:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona		Roos Field Cheney, WA	ESPN	L 42–49	4,078
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries

North Dakota State

See also: 2023 North Dakota State Bison football team

Eastern Washington Eagles (0–0) vs North Dakota State Bison (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	0	0	3	10
No. 2 Bison	14	7	7	7	35

at U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN

• Date: September 2, 2023
• Game time: 12:30 p.m. (PT)
• Game weather: Indoors; 70 °F (21 °C)
• Game attendance: 22,546
• Referee: Jason Berg
• TV: ESPN

At Fresno State

See also: 2023 Fresno State Bulldogs football team

Eastern Washington Eagles (0–1) vs Fresno State Bulldogs (1–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Eagles	3	0	14	7	7	0	31
Bulldogs	7	7	7	3	7	3	34

at Valley Children's Stadium • Fresno, California

• Date: Saturday, September 9, 2023
• Game time: 6:00 p.m. PDT
• Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 95 °F (35 °C) • Wind: NW 6mph
• Game attendance: 41,031
• Referee: Patrick Foy
• TV announcers (UniMás / MW Network): Jessi Losada (play-by-play) & Jaime Motta (analyst) & Alejandro Luna (sideline)

Southeastern Louisiana

See also: 2023 Southeastern Louisiana Lions football team

Southeastern Louisiana Lions (0–2) vs Eastern Washington Eagles (0–2)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Lions	7	7	7	8	29
Eagles	7	10	3	20	40

at Roos Field • Cheney, Washington

• Date: Saturday, September 16, 2023
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. PDT
• Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 82 °F (28 °C) • Wind: N 4 mph
• Game attendance: 4,103
• Referee: Spencer Mumford
• TV: ESPN

No. 4 Idaho

See also: 2023 Idaho Vandals football team

No. 4 Idaho Vandals (3–1) at No. 19 Eastern Washington (2–2) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Vandals	7	14	10	13	44
No. 19 Eagles	7	14	7	8	36

at Roos Field • Cheney, WA

• Date: September 30, 2023
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 8,347
• TV: ESPN