Football | 10/22/2018

Idaho football takes on its nearest conference foe Saturday, when the Vandals travel to No. 5/4 Eastern Washington (5-2, 3-1 Big Sky). It will be Idaho's (3-4, 2-3 Big Sky) first game against a top-five FCS opponent since 2002. Kickoff is slated for noon PT, and will be televised by ROOT Sports.The Vandal-Eagle matchup is the ROOT Sports Game of the Week, the second of Idaho's three appearances on ROOT Sports this season. Tom Glasgow will handle play-by-play duties with Taylor Barton serving as the analyst and Brad Adam reporting from the sideline.DirecTV 687 and 688, Dish Network 426, Xfinity/Comcast 32 and 627.Dennis Patchin is in his fourth season as the radio voice of the Vandals. Patchin will call play-by-play alongside Vandal legend Ryan Phillips, who will provide color commentary. The game can be heard on the Vandal Radio Network and online at GoVandals.com . Find stations on the network HERE The Eagles are coming off a bye week, following their first conference loss of the season - 14-6 at Weber State, Oct. 13. Eastern Washington is scoring 39.71 points per game, while averaging 61 points per game at home. All-American quarterback Gabe Gubrud has missed the last two games.Idaho leads 15-6.The Vandals, who are 3-0 at home and seeking their first road win of the year, will be treating Saturday's game at Eastern Washington as a home game. They will keep their routine the same until the 75-mile bus ride to the stadium and playing on red turf. Idaho will stay in a Moscow hotel Friday night and leave for Cheney Saturday morning. Idaho last played at Roos Field in 1994 (the teams met in Spokane in 1997 and 1999). In the nearly 25 years since, Idaho has only played seven road games closer to home, all at Washington State.Idaho leads the all-time series against Eastern Washington 15-6, but has dropped the last two meetings. The schools met on the gridiron six times during Idaho's FBS tenure, splitting those games 3-3. Despite both programs' decorated history in the Big Sky, they only faced each other nine times as Big Sky opponents, annualy from 1987 to 1995. Idaho was 8-1 in those games, with the only loss coming in double overtime in 1991. The first all-time meeting was also as league foes, during the 1942 Pacific Coast Conference season. The lone playoff pairing between Idaho and Eastern Washington came in 1985, when the Eagles upended the host Vandals 42-38.Idaho limited Southern Utah to 66 passing yards last week, the fewest allowed by a Vandal defense since 2004. It is the second week in a row Idaho's opponent failed to throw for 100 yards. The last time Idaho held consecutive opponents under 100 yards passing was 1999. This is the first time since 2002 the Vandals have held multiple opponents to fewer than 100 passing yards in the same season. Eastern Washington averages 268.86 passing yards per game, No. 4 in the Big Sky.The Vandal defense forced Southern Utah into four turnovers last week, two fumbles and two interceptions. Idaho entered the week with just one turnover gained on the season, the fewest in the FCS. The takeaways came early and often against the Thunderbirds.recorded his first career interception on SUU's first offensive play from scrimmage. Hightower would later force a fumble for the final turnover of the game. Senior captains(fumble recovery) and(interception) came up with the other takeaways as the Vandals win the turnover battle for the first time this year.caught three touchdown passes and the Idaho defense forced four turnovers en route to a 31-12 win over Southern Utah on Homecoming at the Kibbie Dome. The Vandals led 24-0 at halftime, their largest halftime lead under head coach, and kept the Thunderbirds off the scoreboard through three quarters.Idaho enters the week ranked first in the Big Sky and ninth nationally in net punting. The Vandals are averaging 39.6 net yards per punt, including surrendering 5.5 yards per return, the third-best mark in the league. Redshirt sophomore punteris averaging 46 yards per punt, the third-best average in the FCS.racked up a career-high 235 all-purpose yards in Idaho's 56-10 win against Western New Mexico, the 13th-most in a single game in Idaho history. Ungerer tallied single-game career highs of 118 receiving yards, 70 punt return yards and 47 kick return yards. He is averaging 112.7 all-purpose yards per game, ranking No. 54 nationally and eighth in the Big Sky. Ungerer has picked his spots on punt returns, only attempting nine, but he ranks No. 2 in the nation averaging 19.6 yards per return. As a team, Idaho's 22-yard punt return average is fourth nationally.Redshirt freshman wide receiverhauled in three touchdown receptions against Southern Utah (Oct. 20). Haywood became the first Vandal to catch three touchdowns in a game since 2010, and the 11th in program history.