EWU and former Bulldog load schedule with Pac 12 teams

CHENEY — Former Sandpoint football standout Cody Hecker and the Eastern Washington Eagles football program recently added a couple of Football Bowl Subdivision opponents to the schedule, continuing a trend of playing bigger schools out of conference.

Hecker, listed on the 2012 roster as a 6-0, 210 pound sophomore linebacker, redshirted during his freshman year in 2010, then was a reserve running back on last year’s team. He’ll switch to the other side of the ball this season, having also played defense at SHS.

Eastern will open the season at Oregon State on Aug. 31, then host Western Oregon at Roos Field on Sept. 7. Following Toledo, the Eagles will play at Sam Houston State on Sept. 28 before opening league play against Weber State on Oct. 5. Eastern has never played its Big Sky opener later than Oct. 5, having also opened on that date in 2002.

The Eagles also announced they will play their first 12 game regular season in the school history when it visits Toledo next season on Sept. 14, 2013. Beyond that, they signed on to play at Oregon in 2015 at Autzen Stadium.

Playing the Pac-12 Conference is becoming commonplace for EWU. Starting with a narrow 30-27 loss to open the 2011 season at Washington, the Oregon game will mark the fifth-straight year the Eagles will play an opponent from the Pac-12 Conference. Eastern will play at Washington State in 2012 and Oregon State in 2013, and has scheduled a second football game against Washington in 2014.

Both Oregon and EWU played for a national championship in January 2011. Eastern won the NCAA Division I title with a 20-19 victory over Delaware in Frisco, Texas, on Jan. 7. Three days later, Oregon lost to Auburn 22-19 in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) championship game.

Eastern finished the season 13-2 and Oregon was 12-1.