'Self-inflicted wounds' doom Eastern

MOSCOW, Idaho (Oct. 26) — Sporting events are rarely decided on a play here or there.

Eastern Washington, however, might look back at Saturday’s 38-28 Big Sky Conference football loss at Idaho and wonder how things might have played out had it not been for a pair of notable instances inside the Kibbie Dome?

What if the Vandals had not stopped the Eagles on the opening drive of the second half at the 1-yard line for a potential go ahead score?

Idaho instead went 98 yards for a touchdown and a 24-13 lead, the first of back-to-back Vandal scores that put them firmly in command.

Or say, trailing 31-21, had the Eagles not been flagged for a roughing the passer penalty on an Idaho third-and-eight at EWU’s 45 with about eight minutes to play?

No. 11 Idaho would finish that possession with a touchdown to lead 38-21. The Vandals recovered the ensuing onside kick and went on to win for the third consecutive time in the series against Eastern.

“We played a ton of really, really good football at times,” head coach Aaron Best said in a post-game radio interview. “But (we had) a lot of self-inflicted wounds.”

The teams traded scoring opportunities in the first half that left Idaho leading 17-13 following a Kekoa Visperas touchdown and a pair of Soren McKee field goals.

Idaho was able to always stay a step ahead for every Eastern score in the second half. The Eagles got a touchdown from JP Murphy with 8 minutes, 18 seconds remaining and closed to with 10 again at 31-21 only to have the Vandals score on the next possession following the roughing call.

That made Michael Wortham’s 100-plus-yard return on the ensuing kickoff somewhat moot with 4:54 to play. That was Eastern’s first return for a score since Dre’Sonte Dorton’s 90-yarder against Jacksonville State in 2019. 

Visperas had another efficient passing game going 11-for-14 and 156 yards. And while he kept his interception record spotless, he did lose a fumble.

Defensively, Derek Ganter Jr. posted double-digit tackles for the second consecutive week, finishing with a career-best 15. McKel Broussard earned his first career interception in the second quarter.

Eastern (1-3 Big Sky, 2-6 overall) returns to Roos Field next week to host No. 3 Montana State (4-0, 8-0) on Saturday, Nov. 2 with kickoff at 1 p.m.