Eagles outlast Tennessee State

By Matthew O. Stephens

CHENEY – Redshirt Senior Gunner Talkington led Eastern Washington to a 36-29 victory over the Tigers of Tennessee State September 3 at Roos Field. 

Talkington put up solid numbers throwing for 348 yards and five touchdowns while completing 29 of 46 passes. Talkington was also the leading rusher for the Eagles with 60 yards on nine attempts and was only sacked one time during the game. He also spread the ball out well, completing passes to 11 different receivers on the day.

It took some time for Eastern to get some momentum behind them, and the defense let several big plays through early in the game. This left the Eagle offense to keep up with and overpower Tennessee State who are coached by former Tennessee Titan running back Eddie George.

Having received the ball initially, the Eagles faltered going nowhere on the first drive. Tennessee State started from their own 33-yard line, and quarterback Draylen Ellis connected with Zack Dobson for a 67-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline.

Eastern Washington got a little momentum in the following drive. After a couple of quick plays to gain nearly 20 yards, Freddie Roberson caught an eight-yard pass from Talkington but fumbled the ball leading to a turnover. The Tigers were stopped on the following drive.

A couple of possessions later, Talkington completed a 41-yard pass to Nolan Ulm down the left side of the field. Following a balanced playbook, Eastern Washington moved the ball within the 10-yard line. The 80 yard drive was topped off when Ulm jumped up and grabbed a seven yard touchdown pass. The Eagles took the lead 8-7 after a successful two-point conversion to Jett Carpenter.

The lead didn’t last long as Tennessee State would strike back quickly with an 87-yard drive. Cam Wyche would catch a 57-yard touchdown pass for the Tigers with another huge play from scrimmage. The kicker would miss the extra point however leaving the Tigers with a 13-8 lead with 5:18 left in the first quarter.

The Eagles took flight once again, and moved the ball 75 yards in under two minutes with several quick passes. They capped the drive off with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Talkington to Robert Mason III bringing the score to 15-13 Eagles.

The Tigers went straight to work when they got the ball back and once again moved the ball quite effectively on the ground. Tennessee State totaled 290 rushing yards on 54 attempts through the game, and a huge part of that came through Tiger running back Devon Starling. 

Starling rushed for 207 yards on 25 attempts and earned his longest run of 43 yards to score another Tiger touchdown. A failed 2-point conversion put the score at 19-15 in favor of the Tigers.

The second quarter started with K’Vaughn Pope of Tennessee State being ejected for a helmet to helmet hit on Gunner Talkington that resulted in a targeting penalty. Even with the big penalty, the Eagles couldn’t get anything going and Seth Harrison would miss a 33-yard field goal.

Both teams fought back and forth without giving much ground for half of the second period, but Tiger quarterback Draylen Ellis fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Eagle defensive lineman Joshua Jerome at the Tiger 26 yard line.

With great field position Talkington went to work for the Eagles, and in 1:16 the Eagles would score again on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Talkington to tight end Blake Gobel. Eastern led 22-19 at that point.

More smashmouth football led to both teams punting back and forth until the second quarter was winding down. With just under two minutes remaining in the first half, Brock Harrison, defensive lineman for Eastern Washington hit the Tiger quarterback and forced another costly fumble. The ball was recovered by Caleb Davis for the Eagles, and Talkington went back to work.

Throwing a quick 30-yard pass to Freddie Roberson set the Eagle offense up at the Tiger one yard line, and a couple plays later Efton Chism III caught a quick pass and powered over the goal line for another Eagle touchdown putting them up 29-19 over the Tigers.

Both teams went scoreless through the third quarter, and the game was held up for nearly an hour due to weather delays. In the fourth the Tigers would make it exciting again as they scored 10 straight points to tie the game at 29 with just over six minutes left.

The Eagles needed to move the ball quickly, so Talkington went back to the air. He led Eastern 75 yards down the field with a 14-play drive that was capped off with a diving touchdown catch by Efton Chism III with 2:39 left in the game and taking the score to 36-29.

The Eagles weren’t out of hot water yet, as the Tigers had been scoring with quick strikes throughout the day. The defense was tasked with making one final stand, and with :44 seconds left in the game defensive back Tre Weed came up with the game sealing interception for the Eagles.

Although the Eagle defense made some key stops later in the game, they also allowed a lot of big plays early on. Eastern also allowed 547 yards of total offense, and much of that was through the rushing game. They also allowed the Tigers to successfully convert on three fourth down conversion attempts.

Eastern Washington grabs the first hard fought win of the season and will travel to Eugene, Oregon next week to face the Oregon Ducks on September 10.