CHENEY, Wash. — There was supposed to be a quarterback battle at fall camp this year at Eastern Washington.
That didn’t happen.
“Last year you're kind of thrust into a role and now he he's kind of the director,” said Aaron Best of quarterback Eric Barriere. “He was kind of the actor last year, now the director this year.”
Eric Barriere became the Eags starting quarterback last season due to an injury to Gage Gubrud and merely led EWU to the national championship game.
Before his first start, Barriere had only thrown one touchdown in an EWU uniform.
“I was just saying this to one of my teammates my other day. It’s crazy, like a year can change,” said Barriere. “Just sitting around like backup and then just getting thrown into the mix. Everything that has been happening is just crazy, but I'm also grateful. It's a huge blessing for me to just be here and just be standing in front of you all.”
Barriere was unsuccessful in getting a win in the national championship. He’s certainly not alone in that endeavor as North Dakota State has won the title seven out of the last eight years.
“It motivated me huge just because I feel like we were just so close,” said the junior. “We made a lot of mental errors. It wasn't that North Dakota State did this and that. If you look back on the film there’s a lot of stuff that we could’ve controlled but we didn’t. Going into the off season I know that was a huge chip on our shoulder, my shoulder and my team.”
Barriere has more on his shoulders this year than ever before.
And about those national player of the year whispers?
He’s certainly flattered by them.
“It's nice to get that recognition,” Barriere said with a big smile. “But I don’t really try to feed all into that because that’s just preseason. I still got to go out there and play and show what I can do.”
If he does that, he knows all those accolades will just be a byproduct of the most important thing: winning.
“My goal is just to go out there and be the best I can be, because I think the awards and accolades come even if I just go out there and do my part. I don't really care too much about stats just because if I go out there and do what I gotta do, and that will come with it.”
And three or four wins in the playoffs will lead to the one game Barriere wants to win more than anything: The national championship.
“We know we can get back and it’s going to take a lot. We got a long season so as long as we stay healthy and making sure that we do what we got to do I think we got a good chance.”