The eighth-ranked Eastern Washington Eagles extended their winning streak to four games on Oct. 17 with a 45-28 win at Idaho State University.

Eastern responded to an early score by Idaho State by pulling a trick play out of their sleeve, as wide receiver Cooper Kupp found quarterback Jordan West for a 24-yard touchdown.

“That’s difficult for any team to cover, because you don’t account for the quarterback coming out late,” said head coach Beau Baldwin. “We just saw something on video that he might come free, especially when eyes get on Kupp on the reverse. We committed to calling it early, that was the key.”

On a day where Kupp had his first career touchdown pass, yet another EWU record came crashing down as Kupp hauled in his 254th career catch, breaking the previous record held by Eric Kimble.

The offense was able to get the passing game going again as Jordan West finished the game 29-46 passing for 323 yards and three touchdowns. Kupp continued his dominance of Big Sky defenses by hauling in 14 catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Kendrick Bourne added 10 catches for 102 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, things started to click for a young Eagles unit that forced four turnovers, highlighted by a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter from captain Todd Raynes.

“I loved that so many people were talking and our defense was listening that the first team to eight touchdowns was going to win,” said Baldwin.

The defense was led by linebackers Jake Gall and Miquiyah Zamora, who had 15 and 7 tackles, respectively, while freshman Ketner Kupp added 6 tackles and an interception.

“Our defense didn’t think that would be the case and came out and played great football. We were led by our defense in this game – it’s a very good Idaho State team and offense, and our defense came to play.”

The Eagles remained unbeaten in Big Sky play, posting a 4-2 overall record.
What’s Next: The Eagles travel to Greeley, Colorado to take on the Northern Colorado Bears on Oct. 24. The Bears are 2-2 in conference play and 4-4 overall on the season. Kickoff is currently scheduled for 12:35 p.m. You can follow us @EasternerSports on Twitter for updates throughout the game and the rest of the season.