Bartlow Leads EOU to NAIA Quarterfinals

LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon University Mountaineers traveled to Crete, Neb., over the weekend, and on Saturday the team got the first-ever NAIA football playoff victory in school history. EOU defeated Doane University on their home field, 34-28.

The Mountaineers are led by senior quarterback, and former Waitsburg High standout, Zach Bartlow. Bartlow is a 2012 WHS grad, and led the Cardinals to the state 2B championship in 2011.

In the game against Doane, Bartlow threw four touchdown passes. He completed 22 of 34 pass attempts for 273 yards.

With the win, EOU moves on to the quarterfinals in the NAIA, which is the national athletic association for smaller universities. They travel to Indianapolis to play number-one ranked Marian University on Saturday.

Bartlow sat out as a red shirt in the fall of 2012 and played backup QB in 2013. He has been the Mountaineers' starting quarterback since the start of the 2014 season.

Since losing two of their first four games, EOU is riding a seven-game winning streak. With their 8-2 conference record, they finished second in the Frontier Conference behind Montana Tech. Tech is also still alive in the NAIA playoffs, and will play Reinhardt University in Waleska, Ga. this weekend.

Going into the Doane game, EOU was ranked ninth nationally in the NAIA. The Mountaineers are now 9-2 on the season.

Bartlow has had an outstanding season. Through last week's game, he completed 194 of 328 pass attempts, for a completion rate of 59%. He has thrown 25 touchdown passes, and he also has five rushing touchdowns this year.

After throwing four interceptions in his first three games, Bartlow has thrown only two in the past seven games, including one against Doane.

This season, Bartlow is ranked third among quarterbacks in the frontier conference in total offense and in passing.

For his career, through last weekend, Bartlow has completed 656 passes on 1,091 attempts. He has thrown 70 touchdown passes and run for another 23 touchdowns. He has over 1,700 yards rushing in his career.

Bartlow also ranks third all-time among EOU quarterbacks for pass completions and passing yards.

In his senior year at Waitsburg, Bartlow won several state-wide honors. He was named to the All-State 2B team, and was also honored as the Division 2B player of the year by both the Seattle Times and the Associated Press.

In high school, Bartlow was coached by his father, Jeff. In an interview with The Times in 2014, he said, "For a lot of kids, having their dad as coach can be a negative. For me it was definitely a positive. He tried to treat me like any of the other players, and it helped that we were very successful."

When asked the difference between playing high school and college ball, he said, "In high school, I was one of the biggest and strongest kids out there. Now I'm one of the smaller players." He's listed on the EOU website as six feet and 195 pounds.

Because he red-shirted his first year, Bartlow graduated from EOU last spring, before his fourth year of eligibility. He received a bachelor's degree in business, and began classes this fall toward an MBA degree.

He said he has a number of options going forward. He may remain at EOU in the master's program and also work as a graduate assistant coach with the Mountaineers.

"I have that option in my pocket," he said. "I have a great relationship with Coach Camp."

Bartlow said he may also have an opportunity to attend an NFL combine tryout in Seattle early next year.

"My choice is whether or not to hang up my cleats," he said. "I plan to make a decision in the next few weeks."