Close calls: At its best, Eastern Washington has ability to push power conference Washington

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Sep. 15—Twelve years ago, after a game in which the Eastern Washington football team gave the University of Washington everything it could handle, Zach Bruce stepped out of the visitors' locker room and, when he saw who he thought he saw, turned right back around.

There was Delaney Hodgins, the EWU star basketball player with whom Bruce had been texting and snapping — but someone he'd never actually spoken to directly.

"I found my buddy Joe Njoku and said, 'I've got to walk out with somebody,' " Bruce said this week amid the Eagles' preparations to face the Huskies for just the fourth time in history.

Bruce spent the rest of the conversation mostly talking to Hodgins' sister — "I was upset because we lost," he said — but a few hours later, he eventually got to hang out with Delaney for the first time.

Four years later, they got married.

So yes, that game between the Eagles and Huskies was a memorable one for Bruce, the coordinator tasked with leading Eastern's defensive strategy for the visitors this Saturday at Husky Stadium. And it wasn't memorable just because of his fumbled conversation.

"That game had as much NFL talent as any game that gets played. That's what I remember," Bruce said. "It sucked that we gave up so many points on defense. That's never a fun thing. But the amount of top draft picks who are still playing in the NFL right now (who played in that game) is pretty incredible."

That 2014 game was one of just three between the Eagles and Huskies. One was a dominant UW victory; the other two ended within a touchdown.

Here's a look back at each of the three:

Sept. 3, 2011: Washington 30, Eastern Washington 27

The Eagles were mere months removed from an FCS national championship, and they entered Huskies Stadium as the No. 1-ranked team in the subdivision.

The Huskies were coming off a 6-6 campaign and were looking to replace decorated quarterback Jake Locker.

Bo Levi Mitchell, who is now in his 15th season in the CFL and was then on his way to winning the 2011 Walter Payton Award, nearly led the Eagles to victory.

"Well, I just think we played to our strength," EWU head coach Beau Baldwin said at the time. "And our strength, in my opinion, is our quarterback and some receivers returning that have a lot of game experience. And whenever you're playing on the road, playing up, it's tough to get snap counts and it's tougher to get off on the ball in the run game and some of those things."

Mitchell threw for 473 yards and three touchdowns — part of a 504-250 total yardage advantage for the Eagles — and he had Eastern positioned to tie or take the lead late. But with 29 seconds left, he threw an interception to Desmond Trufant in the Huskies end zone.

Eastern lost its next four games — at South Dakota, at Montana and then home against Montana State — before rallying with six victories over its final seven games. But that wasn't enough to get the Eagles back to the playoffs.

Washington finished 7-6 overall and 5-4 in the Pac-12, in third place in the league's North Division.

Sept. 6, 2014: Washington 59, Eastern Washington 52

Bruce was in the stadium for this game, but because he was nursing an injury he watched every play from the sidelines; it was one of just five he missed from 2013 to 2016. The talent on the field, as he said, was undeniable.

Washington's Shaq Thompson, who is now playing his 12th NFL season as a linebacker, made a team-high 15 tackles, forced a fumble and also ran three times for 66 yards and a touchdown against the Eagles. It was part of a 356-yard rushing day for the Washington offense, which scored eight touchdowns, kicked one field goal, punted just twice and didn't turn the ball over.

The Eagles outgained them, amassing 573 yards of offense, including 475 through the air. Vernon Adams Jr. completed 31 of 46 passing attempts and threw for seven touchdowns, a school record matched only by Eric Barriere. Adams did all that against a defense featuring future NFL players Danny Shelton, Budda Baker, Marcus Peters, Hau'oli Kikaha and Thompson.

After trailing 21-0 in the first quarter, Eastern rallied to take the lead twice, 38-37 on a 13-yard reception by Cooper Kupp, and then 45-44 on a 22-yard Cory Mitchell reception late in the third quarter.

But the Huskies scored the game's next two touchdowns to pull away.

Aug. 31, 2019: Washington 47, Eastern Washington 14

Coming off an appearance in the FCS championship game, Eastern opened its season ranked fourth in the subdivision. But a 1-3 start, including this season-opening loss to the Huskies, eventually dropped them from the rankings entirely and culminated in a season without a playoff appearance.

Behind Jacob Eason, the Huskies scored touchdowns on four of their first five drives and had a 28-0 lead before the Eagles got on the board with a 64-yard touchdown pass from Barriere to Andrew Boston less than a minute before halftime.

Washington scored twice more in the third quarter, and Antoine Custer's 4-yard touchdown run early in the fourth hardly threatened the Huskies' final victory.

The Huskies won four of their first five games but stumbled to four losses over their next six and finished 8-5 overall.

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