For all the football games and records set by Matt Nichols, there was one thing that was missing for the Eastern Washington University senior quarterback -- a comeback victory.
For his efforts in a 35-24 victory over Montana State last Saturday (Oct. 24), Nichols has been selected as the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week, earning his first such honor this season and fifth of his career.
He is from Cottonwood, Calif., and is a 2005 graduate of West Valley High School, and has led the Eagles to a 5-3 record overall and 4-2 league mark thus far. Eastern returns to action this Saturday (Oct. 31) at Qwest Field in Seattle, Wash., when the Eagles host Portland State at 1:05 p.m. in the "Showdown on the Sound."
Nichols completed 26-of-41 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns against the Bobcats, including catch-and-run scoring plays to Taiwan Jones of 20 and 38 yards in the fourth quarter. Nichols helped Eastern scored 21 points in the final 12:20 as EWU rallied for a 35-24 victory. His other two touchdown passes were 16 and 15 yards to senior tight end Nathan Overbay, both in the final 53 seconds of the first half.
"Matt played great," praised Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin. "I think there was one ball that I look back on that he forced, but in 41 attempts he took care of the football and was taking hits. He's playing with a lot of young receivers on the outside, with Tony (Davis) and Nate inside. It was great to see Matt finish his career at Woodward with a win."
