Eastern Washington University’s defense held strong against nationally ranked Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 18. The Eagles beat the 24th-ranked Vandals 21-14.
Both defenses set the tone early, as each of the first three drives of the game ended with a turnover on downs. Idaho and EWU each went four-and-out on their first drives, and the Vandals were stopped on fourth down after a nine-play second drive.
The Eagles converted the second turnover on downs into three points via a 31-yard field goal from junior kicker Soren McKee, who has now made four of his five field goal attempts this season.
Idaho sophomore quarterback, Jack Wagner, led the Vandals on a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to answer EWU’s score. He punctuated the drive with a 26-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Marquawn McCraney, who caught the first touchdown of his college career to give Idaho a 7-3 lead.
Sophomore quarterback Nate Bell made one of his few mistakes of the game on EWU’s next drive. Bell was intercepted by Idaho senior defensive back Jhamell Blenman. However, Eastern Washington sophomore safety Jaylon Jenkins intercepted Wagner just three plays later to give the Eagles the ball back.
Despite throwing the early interception, Bell was EWU’s main source of offense for the remainder of the game. As a team, the Eagles had 305 total yards. Bell had 311 total yards. He also passed for two touchdowns. He ranks second in the Big Sky Conference in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns this season.
EWU controlled the rest of the first half. McKee made a 39-yard field goal with 6:26 left in the second quarter after a 14-play drive to make it 7-6, and with 18 seconds left, Bell completed a nine-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Miles Williams. The Eagles took a 13-7 lead into halftime.
Neither team scored during the third quarter, but Bell threw a six-yard pass to Williams for the duo’s second touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter. Freshman receiver Jaxon Branch caught a pass from Bell for the two-point conversion, which extended EWU’s lead to 21-7.
With two and a half minutes left in the game, Idaho threatened to mount a comeback. Sophomore quarterback Nick Josifek threw a deep pass to senior wide receiver Michael Graves, who leaped and caught the ball over three Eagle defenders for a 40-yard touchdown.
Down 21-14, the Vandals attempted an onside kick with sophomore kicker Owen Forsman, but it was unsuccessful. After running three times, Eastern Washington left the Vandals with just 21 seconds to try to go 96 yards for a game-tying touchdown.
Idaho ran three plays and made it to their own 18-yard line before attempting two laterals as a last-ditch effort on their final play. EWU sealed the victory by making the tackle before the Vandals, who were penalized for an illegal forward pass during the play, could make it into the endzone.
The Eagles are now 3-4 this season and 2-1 in conference play. They will travel to Utah this week to take on 3-4 Weber State at 12 p.m. PT on Saturday, Oct. 25. EWU fans can stream the game with an ESPN+ subscription.
