WHEREAS, On the evening of January 7, 2011, the Eastern Washington
University Eagles and the University of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens met
for the NCAA Division I football championship game; and
WHEREAS, Eastern Washington University qualified for the playoffs
after winning a share of the 2010 Big Sky Conference football title,
going 7-1 in conference play and finishing the regular season with a 9-2 record and the number-one ranking in all of NCAA Division I football;
and
WHEREAS, Upon entering the playoffs, Coach Beau Baldwin's squad
proceeded to host and defeat Southeast Missouri State, North Dakota
State, and Villanova universities, despite losing All-American running
back Taiwan Jones in the second playoff game; and
WHEREAS, The Eagles left Cheney for the championship game in
Frisco, Texas, having achieved a perfect 8-0 record in their first year
at the new home of Eagle football, Roos Field, known as "The Inferno"
for its red turf; and
WHEREAS, The Eagles trailed Delaware 19-0 late in the third quarter
of the FCS championship, having gone scoreless in the first half for
the first time all season, and knowing the Blue Hens were 6-0 in 2010
when their top-rated defense kept opponents off the board in the first
half; and
WHEREAS, Late-game heroics had already produced six wins for
Eastern during the season, and that flair for comebacks displayed
itself again as the Eagles caught fire, scoring three touchdowns in
just 14 minutes to take a fourth-quarter lead over Delaware and
ultimately triumph in their first national championship game by a 20-to-19 score; and
WHEREAS, Senior linebacker J.C. Sherritt, winner of the 2010 Buck
Buchanan Award as national defensive player of the year, set the
Eastern career record for tackles at 432 and broke his own single
season record with 176, counting his 18 tackles against the Blue Hens,
who were held scoreless in their final four possessions; and
WHEREAS, Junior quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, who passed for the
three second-half touchdowns against Delaware and set an Eastern record
with 37 touchdown passes on the season, was selected as the game's Most
Outstanding Player; and
WHEREAS, The game-winning touchdown pass with less than three
minutes to go was caught by sophomore wide receiver Brandon Kaufman,
who finished with 120 yards receiving and two touchdowns; and
WHEREAS, Sophomore Jeff Minnerly, who holds a 3.91 grade-point
average in accounting while playing safety on a team with an overall
grade-point average is 3.06, received the NCAA's "Elite 88" honor for
being the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the national
championship game; and
WHEREAS, The Eagles' victory made January 7, 2011, the most
exciting day in the history of Eastern Washington University athletics;
and
WHEREAS, It was the fifth time Eastern has reached the playoffs in
seven years, and the second consecutive playoff appearance by the
Eagles in Beau Baldwin's three years as football coach; and
WHEREAS, 67 of the 89 players on the 2010 Eastern roster are
Washingtonians, and 16 of the 22 Eastern players who started in the
national championship game are eligible to return next year;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State House of
Representatives congratulate Eastern Washington University, led by
president Dr. Rodolfo Arévalo, and its national championship football
team and honor the student-athletes and their coaches for this historic
accomplishment.