Rylin Lang steps up in depleted Eastern Washington receiver group against UW

Sep. 20—SEATTLE — The college football season is less than a month old, yet what looked like a deep but unproven Eastern Washington wide receiving corps has already had to prove its depth.

That was the case again Saturday at Husky Stadium, when sophomore Rylin Lang led the Eagles in receptions (three) and receiving yards (56) in Eastern Washington’s 48-16 loss to the University of Washington.

And for Lang, who grew up in Anacortes, Washington, the timing for his breakout performance meant plenty of family and friends were able to witness it in person.

“I had over 50 people here who came to support me,” Lang said. “My hometown is only an hour and 15 minutes away, and we’ve got a lot of loyal people there. I am truly blessed to see the support.”

When Eastern Washington’s preseason camp wrapped up in August, EWU head coach Aaron Best mentioned Lang among the receivers who might be asked to step up — as backups.

A preseason injury to redshirt senior Cole Pruett opened one starting spot, one that was emphatically seized by redshirt sophomore Drew Carlson. Carlson, in a game and a half of action this season, has 14 catches for 120 yards.

Carlson traveled to Seattle but did not play against the Huskies, missing his second full game since he suffered a lower-body injury in Eastern’s victory over Northern Iowa, the same game in which redshirt sophomore Jaxon Branch suffered a concussion.

Branch returned from the concussion Saturday but only briefly: He left in the first quarter with an undisclosed injury. And then, in the second half, redshirt senior starter Wesley Garrett — the team’s leading receiver this season with 19 catches for 256 yards — also left the game against the Huskies.

That meant more snaps not just for Lang but also for freshman Oliver Luebkert (two catches, 23 yards on Saturday), redshirt senior Jamai East (two for 17) and redshirt sophomore Bode Gardner, who made one catch for 7 yards in his season debut.

Down what were four of his top targets this preseason, redshirt junior quarterback Nate Bell completed 13 of 24 passes for 150 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

“He’s working without a full deck of cards at receiver,” Best said. “You’d like to trust the guys you have a ton of relationships with and a ton of reps with, and that hasn’t been the case the last couple weeks. He’s really been mature about it and he knows that. We’ll play with who we have.”

McKee climbs career list

After making three field goals in a game for the first time in his college career, Eastern Washington redshirt senior kicker Soren McKee is closing in on EWU’s all-time field goals record.

McKee, who is 6-for-6 attempting field goals this year, now has 36 made field goals with the Eagles. That is tied with Roldan Alcobendas for the third most in program history, one behind Troy Griggs and three behind leader Jason Cromer.

“He’s actually one of those guys who has gotten better legitimately every year, and he’s battled for jobs in his first three years he was here,” Best said. “It’s huge to have a guy like that you can count on.”

In his career, McKee is now 36 of 47 on field-goal attempts and has made 17 of 19 since the start of the 2025 season.

Big Sky endures difficult weekend

Eastern’s loss to Washington was its sixth straight against an FBS opponent since it defeated UNLV 35-33 in two overtimes in the first game of the 2021 season.

It was also part of a tough weekend for the Big Sky Conference. Not only did Portland State lose to Oregon 84-0 — it was the most points ever scored by the Ducks in a single game — the Montana Grizzlies were outgained 510-338 in a 52-17 loss at Oregon State.

Two teams from the nonscholarship Pioneer League defeated Big Sky schools, with San Diego winning at Cal Poly 38-35 on the same day St. Thomas defeated Southern Utah 28-26.

Top-ranked Montana State needed a comeback at home to defeat winless Central Connecticut State 35-30, and Abilene Christian denied the Idaho Vandals their first victory of the season while earning their own, 41-39, in Moscow.

Montana State (4-0, 1-0 Big Sky) and Idaho State (3-0, 0-0) are the only Big Sky teams that remain undefeated this season.

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