The season is still more than two months away, but the preseason predictions are starting to pour in for the Eastern Washington University football team.
The Eagles have been picked to finish as high as fourth by a trio of organizations, and senior quarterback Gage Gubrud was selected to a pair of preseason All-America teams. He was an All-American in 2016 and the co-MVP in the Big Sky Conference along with teammate Cooper Kupp, now with the Los Angeles Rams.
The record-breaking Gubrud was the quarterback on the 27-player preseason All-America team announced by Athlon Sports. He was also a third team selection by Hero Sports, and enters his senior season with 9,441 yards of total offense and 8,568 passing yards, with EWU records for average yards per game (349.7 total offense, 317.3 passing).
Hero Sports pegs the Eagles as the No. 4 team in FCS, ranking behind defending champion North Dakota State, James Madison and Kennesaw State. Eastern is sixth in the Athlon Sports rankings, and is the top-ranked Big Sky team in both polls. Weber State is rated No. 9, Montana is No. 18 and Sacramento State is No. 23 by Athlon, and Hero Sports has Weber State 18th, UC Davis 22nd and Big Sky newcomer Idaho at 23rd.
The Wildcats, who advanced to the quarterfinals of last year’s FCS Playoffs, are the highest-ranked BSC team on Street & Smith’s top 25. Weber State is seventh, followed by EWU at 14th, Northern Arizona at 16th and Sacramento State at 19th.
Eastern and Weber State meet on Oct. 13 in Ogden, Utah, and that game has been picked by STATS as the most important Big Sky game of the season on its list of Pivotal FCS Conference Games in 2018. Eastern plays at NAU on Sept. 9 in a non-conference game.
Later this summer, the STATS FCS Top 25 preseason poll and preseason All-America teams will be released, as well as “Watch Lists” for their special awards including the Payton Award. In addition, the preseason FCS Coaches poll will be announced, as well as the comprehensive FCS preview produced by Phil Steele Publications.
