Barriere’s 5 TD passes help E. Washington beat Portland St.

HILLSBORO, Ore. — Eric Barriere threw five touchdown passes, including three in the third quarter as Eastern Washington pulled away, and the Eagles beat Portland State 42-28 on Saturday in the Big Sky Conference regular-season finale.

Eastern Washington (9-2, 6-2 Big Sky) went three-and-out on the opening possession of the second half and Portland State went 80 yards on five plays to take a 21-14 lead when Davis Alexander threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Beau Kelly with 11:18 left in the third quarter. Barriere hit Talolo Limu-Jones for a 7-yard TD about 2 1/2 minutes later, the Vikings fumbled on their next play from scrimmage and Efton Chism III caught a 20-yard scoring strike from Barriere.

Another Portland State fumble set up a 4-yard touchdown pass from Barriere to Freddie Roberson that gave the Eagles a 35-21 lead with 4:31 left in the quarter.

Barriere was 26-of-35 passing for 320 yards. He threw a 12-yard TD pass to Andrew Boston in the first quarter and hit Chism for a 14-yard score to make it 14-14 early in the second quarter.

Portland State (5-6, 4-4) had a 14-play, 43-yard drive ended when Gianni Smith missed a 28-yard field-goal attempt wide right on the final play of the first half and the Vikings failed to convert on three fourth downs in the second half.

Alexander completed 34 of 52 for 338 yards and two touchdowns for Portland State.

The Eagles, No. 6 in the FCS coaches poll, are expected to earn an at-large berth into the FCS playoffs.