Eastern Washington University Athletics

Career: Merritt appeared in 50 games during his time with the Eagles, making 14 starts. He racked up 1,794 career rushing yards and 23 rushing touchdowns (tied for ninth in school history), adding 50 receptions for 640 yards and seven receiving touchdowns. His 30 touchdowns (rushing plush receiving) puts him in a tie for the 10th-most in EWU history. Merritt has also averaged 20.4 yards on 31 career kickoff returns, and he tallied 1,794 all-purpose yards and 180 points scored.

2021: Merritt was an All-Big Sky Conference second team selection after leading the conference with 15 rushing touchdowns in 13 games (12 starts). On the ground, he totaled 933 yards on 201 attempts (4.6 per carry). His 15 rushing touchdowns is tied for seventh in single season in EWU history. Through the air, Merritt caught 32 passes for 370 yards and three touchdowns. His 18 touchdowns scored (tied for 10th in a season in EWU history) and 8.3 points per game led the Big Sky, with the next highest player racking up 11 touchdowns and 6.0 points per game. With one kick return of 11 yards, Merritt finished the season with 1,314 all-purpose yards. Against Central Washington on 9/11/21, he ran the ball 10 times for 120 yards and a touchdown, adding three receptions for 39 yards and a score. The next week (9/18/21) at Western Illinois, Merritt had 12 carries for 148 yards (12.3 per rush), four catches for 63 yards, and three total touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving). He continued his hot-streak against Southern Utah (9/25/21), finding his way into the end zone for three rushing touchdowns. On 10/2/21, in a nationally-televised game against Montana, he went for 103 rushing yards and a touchdown. His second game with three rushing touchdowns came on 10/9/21 versus Northern Colorado. Merritt had his most explosive receiving game on 10/16/21 against Idaho, hauling in three catches for 102 (34.0 yards per catch) and a touchdown of 53 yards. He scored at least one touchdown in each of Eastern’s first nine games.

2020-21: Merritt earned All-Big Sky Conference honorable mention after playing in all seven Eastern games (one as a starter) as a running back. He had 287 yards and four touchdowns rushing for EWU, and caught another 10 passes for 123 yards and three more scores. He scored a team-high seven touchdowns, including three in EWU’s final regular season game versus Idaho (4/10/21). He had 64 yards rushing in that game, second behind the 82 he had earlier in the season versus Idaho State (3/13/21). He returned after suffering a serious lower leg injury versus Lindenwood on Sept. 7, 2019, and missing the remainder of the season. He opened the 2020-21 season at Idaho (2/27/21) by catching a 27-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter. He finished with three catches for 46 yards and another 41 yards rushing. He was granted a sixth year by the NCAA in the offseason to complete four years of eligibility because of seasons lost because of injuries.

2019: After making the first start of his career at Washington (8/31/19), he suffered a serious lower leg injury versus Lindenwood (9/7/19) and missed the remainder of the season. He suffered the injury early in the second quarter after rushing for 50 yards and catching a pass for 32. Merritt had 87 yards total (7.2 per rush) in the two games before his injury. In EWU’s three scrimmages in the spring, including the Red-White Game, Merritt led the running attack with 119 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries (7.9 per carry).

2018: Merritt was among five EWU running backs who averaged at least 6.4 per carry, finishing with a 7.86 average The school record is 7.88 set by Taiwan Jones in 2010, meaning Merritt’s average of 7.864 is No. 2 on the list just ahead of the 2018 average of 7.857 by teammate Tamarick Pierce. All five EWU running backs averaged at least 6.4 per carry, helping EWU set school records for average yards per rush (6.62), yards (3,839) and rushing touchdowns (41). Eastern’s average per rush ranked only behind Davidson’s 7.44 average in FCS. Merritt had 92 yards with an 81-yard touchdown run against Cal Poly (9/22/18) when EWU finished with the second-most rushing yards in school history with 441 (the record is 456 against Cal State Northridge in 1999). Eastern set new school and Big Sky Conference records in the process with an average of 14.7 yards per carry. He also had 75 yards and a touchdown in EWU’s season opener against Central Washington (9/1/18) when EWU finished with 328 yards – its most in 147 games. He led EWU with 67 yards on just six carries at Washington State (9/15/18) and had a 44-yard touchdown reception. He also scored a rushing TD against Portland State (11/16/18) and finished the season with 346 yards on 44 carries with three scores. He caught a total of three passes for 90 yards and a TD. He also had a team-high 21 kickoff returns for 471 yards (22.4 average) with a long of 55 at Portland State. Rushed for a team-high 92 yards with three touchdowns in three spring scrimmages, including a game-high 29 in EWU’s Red-White Game.

2017: Played in all 11 games as a reserve running back and on special teams. Finished with 13 carries for 118 yards, including 80 on four carries at Fordham (9/16/17). He had a 70-yard touchdown in that 56-21 victory, then added six carries for 28 yards in EWU’s 59-33 season-ending win over Portland State (11/18/17). He also added seven tackles on special teams, and was EWU’s special teams player of the week in the opener against Texas Tech (9/2/17).

2016: Was a non-lettering squad member, and played in two games. He had three rushes for eight yards and a tackle.

2015: Redshirted.

HS: Graduated from Cascade HS in Leavenworth in 2015. Was an All-Caribou Trail League selection all four years he played for the Kodiaks, and was the league MVP in 2014. He also earned second team All-State honors from Associated Press as a senior. He scored 33 touchdowns in 12 games in 2014, and helped his team advance to the semifinals in the State 1A Playoffs. He had 192 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-14 loss to Colville, and had two TDs one game earlier in a quarterfinal win over Zillah. Merritt played in the Earl Barden East-West All-Star game in 2015 and was the game’s MVP. He rushed 10 times for 87 yards and a touchdown for the East, which lost 20-14. He was lettered 12 times total at Cascade in football, basketball, baseball and track and field. As a senior, he placed fourth in the 100 (11.53, 11.08 in prelims) and fifth in the 200 (23.09, 22.93 in prelims) at the State 1A Championships at EWU. He had best times that season of 10.96 in the 100 and 22.85 in the 200.

Personal: Interdisciplinary studies liberal arts major. Born 5/18/96 in Wenatchee, Wash. Parents are Dennis and Maria Merritt.
 

Year	GP	Car	Yds	Hi	Apc	Apg	TD	Lg
2016	2	3	8	8	2.7	4.0	0	5
2017	11	13	118	80	9.1	10.7	1	70
2018	15	44	346	92	7.9	23.1	3	81
2019	2	12	87	50	7.2	43.5	0	26
2020-21	7	71	302	82	4.3	43.1	4	24
2021	13	2-1	933	148	4.6	71.8	15	73t
Totals	50	344	1794	148	5.2	35.9	23	81t

 

Year	GP	PC	Hi	Yds	Apr	Apg	TD	Lg
2016	2	0	--	0	--	--	0	--
2017	11	0	--	0	--	--	0	--
2018	15	3	1	90	30.0	6.0	1	44
2019	2	5	4	57	11.4	28.5	0	32
2020-21	7	10	3	123	12.3	17.6	3	27t
2021	13	32	4	370	11.6	28.5	3	53t
Totals	50	50	4	640	12.8	12.8	4	53t

Kickoff Returns: 2018/21-471-22.4 (long of 55); 2020-21/9-151-16.8 (long of 22); 2021/1-11-11 (long of 11); Totals/31-633-20.4 (long of 55)

DENNIS MERRITT Top Rushing Performances (3 with 100+)
12 carries, 148 yards, 2 TD – Western Illinois – 9/18/21
10 carries, 120 yards, 1 TD – Central Washington – 9/11/21
23 carries, 103 yards, 1 TD – Montana – 10/2/21

DENNIS MERRITT Top Receiving Performances (1 with 100+)
3 catches, 102 yards, 1 TD – Idaho – 10/16/21

Dennis Merritt Career Long Plays of 40+ Yards (10)
81 yard rush (TD) – Cal Poly – 9/22/18 . . . #15 longest in EWU history
73 yard rush – Western Illinois – 9/18/21
70 yard rush – Fordham – 9/16/17
60 yard rush – Central Washington – 9/11/21
57 yard rush (TD) – Montana – 12/3/21
55 yard kickoff return – Portland State – 11/16/18
53 yard reception (TD pass from Eric Barriere) – Idaho – 10/16/21
46 yard rush – Central Washington – 10/1/18
45 yard rush – Idaho – 10/21/21
44 yard reception (TD pass from Gage Gubrud) – Washington State – 9/15/18