Eastern Washington University Athletics

Career: He completed 251-of-409 passes for 2,812 yards and 27 touchdowns in his 48-game career (11 as a starter). He also rushed for 165 yards on 80 carries.

2022: Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. Talkington was named an All-Big Sky honorable mention after taking over the starting quarterback role for the Eagles. In 10 games (10 starts), he threw for 2,447 yards and 22 touchdowns, completing 219-of-345 passing attempts. He rushed 64 times for a total of 144 yards on the ground. Talkington was named Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week after his five-touchdown performance against Tennessee State (9/3/22), converting on 29-of-46 passing attempts for 348 yards through the air and 60 on the ground in the 36-29 win. Against Montana State (9/24/22), he threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns, including a long of 80 yards. He threw for 370 yards against Sacramento State (10/15/22), having his most efficient outing of the season the next week at Cal Poly (10/22/22), completing 26-of-35 (74.3%) pass attempts for 228 yards. Talkington’s highest total offense output came against Portland State (10/29/22), when he threw for 394 yards and rushed for 48, racking up 442 total yards and three touchdowns. At Idaho (11/5/22), he threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns, including a career-long completion of 87 yards to Nolan Ulm for a score, also the longest play from scrimmage in the Big Sky all season.

2021: Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. Talkington played in all 13 games for Eastern as a backup quarterback and the holder on special teams. He completed 11-of-17 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown, also rushing for 14 yards on six attempts. He completed five passes for 58 yards against Central Washington on 9/11/21. Against Idaho (10/16/21), he threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Robert Mason III.

2020-21: Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. Talkington made the first start of his career versus Cal Poly (3/27/21) and finished with career highs for completions (6), yards (132), touchdowns (2), rushing yards (14), long rush (14) and total offense (146). On Eastern’s second play of the game, he found Talolo Limu-Jones for a 71-yard gain and then followed with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Talkington to Freddie Roberson to open the floodgates in the 62-10 victory. He was the holder on placekicks in all seven EWU games – the third-straight season he’s held that duty.

2019: He was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. He played in all 12 Eastern games as a holder on placekicks, and saw action in five as a quarterback. He finished 9-of-26 for 73 yards and a 15-yard touchdown pass on a fake field goal attempt, with that score coming versus Idaho State (11/9/19) when he finished 2-of-5 for 21 yards. He was 2-of-11 for 27 yards against Sacramento State (10/5/19). Talkington was 10-of-17 and had 155 yards and a touchdown in the Red team’s 20-14 victory over the White team in the annual Red-White Game, giving him 327 yards and a pair of TDs in three spring scrimmages.

2018: Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. He had a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jayce Gilder on a fake field goal against North Dakota State (1/5/19) in the NCAA Division I Championship Game. For the season, he completed 6-of-12 passes for 62 yards, including a 3-of-6 performance for 35 yards against Southern Utah (10/6/18). He also completed both of his passes for 25 yards against Northern Colorado (11/3/18). He completed 11-of-23 passes (48 percent) for 118 yards and two touchdowns in three spring scrimmages, including 50 yards on 5-of-10 passing in EWU’s Red-White Game.

2017: Redshirted. Was selected as EWU’s co-Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year. He was the team’s offensive scout team player of the week twice.

HS: Graduated from Battle Ground HS in 2017. Played in high school for Larry Peck. He passed for 7,905 yards and 77 touchdowns in his career, completing 70 percent of his passes (566-of-813). He also rushed 284 times for 648 yards and 14 touchdowns, giving him 8,553 yards of total offense in his career while accounting for 91 TDs. He earned first team All-4A Greater St. Helen’s League honors as a senior at quarterback, helping Battle Ground finish 7-2. He completed 71 percent of his passes as a senior (185-of-259) for 2,553 yards, 25 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He also rushed for 398 yards and 11 touchdowns, giving him 2,951 yards of total offense and 36 TDs accounted for. He was voted the high school player of the week by The Columbian after he completed 31-of-39 passes for 503 yards and six touchdowns in a win over Mountain View, adding 51 rushing to finish with 554 yards of total offense. Talkington earned All-GSHL second team honors in 2015 and was a first team choice as a sophomore in 2014. He passed for 2,774 yards and 24 touchdowns as a junior and 2,578 yards and 28 scores as a sophomore. Battle Ground advanced to the 2015 State 4A Playoffs in 2015 where it lost to eventual champion Gonzaga Prep 42-14 in the first round. The Tigers were 8-3 in his junior season and 4-5 as a sophomore. He also played baseball at Battle Ground, earning second team 4A All-State honors as a catcher. He started since his freshman season, earning All-GSHL honors three times.

Personal: Management major with a 3.50 grade point average through spring quarter 2021. Born 9/4/98 in Spokane, Wash. Parents are Troy and Cathy Talkington.
 

Year	GP	C-A	Pct.	Int-TD	Yds	Hi	Apg	Eff.
2018	7	6-12	50.0	0-1	62	35	8.9	120.9
2019	12	9-26	34.6	2-1	73	27	6.1	55.5
2020-21	7	6-9	66.7	0-2	132	132	18.9	263.2
2021	13	11-17	64.7	0-1	98	58	7.5	132.5
2022	10	219-345	63.5	8-22	2447	394	244.7	139.5
Totals	48	251-409	61.4	10-27	2812	394	58.6	136.0

 

Year	GP	Car	Yds	Hi	Apc	Apg	TD	Lg
2018	6	2	-10	0	-5.0	-1.7	0	0
2019	12	6	1	7	0.2	0.1	0	7
2020-21	7	2	16	14	8.0	2.3	0	14
2021	13	6	14	15	2.3	1.1	0	15
2022	10	64	144	60	2.3	14.4	0	22
Totals	48	80	165	60	2.1	3.4	0	22

 

Year	GP	Rush	Pass	Total	Apg	Plays	App
2018	6	-10	62	52	8.7	14	3.7
2019	12	1	73	72	6.0	32	2.3
2020-21	7	16	132	148	21.1	11	13.5
2021	13	14	98	112	8.6	23	4.9
2022	10	144	2447	2591	259.1	409	6.3
Totals	48	165	2812	2977	62.0	489	6.1

GUNNER TALKINGTON Top Passing Performances (3 with 300+)
394 yards, 36-of-60, 3 TD, 1 Int., 48 rushing – Portland State – 10/29/22
370 yards, 26-of-44, 3 TD, 1 Int., 7 rushing – Sacramento State – 10/15/22
348 yards, 29-of-46, 5 TD, 0 Int., 60 rushing – Tennessee State – 9/3/22

GUNNER TALKINGTON Top Total Offense Performances (3 with 300+, 2 with 400+)
442 yards (394 passing/48 rushing) – Portland State – 10/29/22
408 yards (348 passing/60 rushing) – Tennessee State – 9/3/22
377 yards (370 passing/7 rushing) – Sacramento State – 10/15/22

Gunner Talkington Career Long Plays of 40+ Yards (7)
87 yards (TD pass to Nolan Ulm) – Idaho – 11/5/22
80 yards (TD pass to Freddie Roberson) – Montana State – 9/24/22
75 yards (TD pass to Freddie Roberson) – Idaho – 11/5/22
71 yards (pass to Talolo Limu-Jones) – Cal Poly – 3/27/21
50 yards (pass to Efton Chism III) – Sacramento State – 10/15/22
42 yards (pass to Freddie Roberson) – Sacramento State – 10/15/22
41 yards (pass to Nolan Ulm) – Tennessee State – 9/3/22