CHENEY, Wash. — The grind of the regular season continues for Eastern Washington football this week, but the road trip is a short one for the Eagles. Eastern drives south to play No. 11/12 Idaho on Saturday (Oct. 26), with kickoff at 6 p.m. Pacific Time. 

SWX will broadcast the game live from Moscow and it can also be streamed live on ESPN+. Follow every play live on 700 ESPN and the Varsity App with the voices of the Eagles, Larry Weir and Paul Sorensen. 

Last Time Out
Eastern hosted the No. 6 Aggies at Roos Field this past Saturday for the university 101st homecoming. UC Davis defeated the Eagles, 48-38, in a high-level offensive battle. After EWU led 3-0 after the first quarter, the Aggies scored 28 points in the second quarter to lead by 19 points at halftime. Efton Chism III had a 61-yard score in the quarter to try and keep pace with the Aggies. Moving to the third quarter, Eastern rallied with two touchdowns and closed the gap to 31-21. Wesley Garrett caught his first career touchdown pass and Kekoa Visperas ran in on from two-yards out. Early in the fourth, the Eagles scored again on a Jackson Cleaver field goal and the UC Davis lead was down to seven. The Aggies finally responded, scoring 14 straight points, rebuilding a three-score lead. Eastern scored two more touchdowns in the fourth, but the deficit was too much to overcome as UC Davis escaped with the win.

Kekoa Visperas finished 30-of-42 for 319 yards with two touchdown passes. He also led the team with 14 carries for 37 yards and two scores. Garrett had a career-game, finishing with seven catches for 76 yards, all career-bests.

Chism Updating the Record Books
Efton Chism III continues to change the EWU record books following another record-setting game. Against UC Davis, Chism broke his reception record with 15 catches and missed his yards record with 170, three shy of his career-best. Chism improved his career receptions per game stat to 6.18 following the UC Davis game. The senior has 3291 career receiving yards, moving him into sixth in program history and passing Kendrick Bourne. Chism also tied Shaq Hill for fifth with his 32nd touchdown catch on the all-time touchdown reception list. He is currently leading the Big Sky with 750 receiving yards and with 69 receptions. His eight touchdowns this season is tied for first in the conference. Chism continues to lead the FCS with 9.9 receptions per game, ranking second in yards and fourth in receiving touchdowns. 

Rivalry Down South
Eastern Washington and Idaho have resumed their rivalry after Idaho rejoined the Big Sky in the 2018 season. Since rejoining, EWU is 3-4 against the Vandals, dropping the last two games. The Eagles are 9-19 overall in program history against the Vandals with a 4-11 record in Moscow. The two teams met in Cheney last season, in a thrilling back-and-forth battle, ending with a 44-36 win for Idaho. The score was tied at halftime, but Eastern came out and scored in the third quarter to take a 28-21 advantage. The Vandals scored 23 consecutive points to seize control of the game. Idaho running back Anthony Woods rushed for 211 yards and 5 touchdowns in the game. 

Visperas was sidelined by an injury, with Jared Taylor and Michael Wortham sharing QB duties. Taylor rushed for 121 yards and 2 touchdowns in the game. 

(Redshirt)Freshman Phenom
Derek Ganter Jr. is in his second season at Eastern and is having a break-out season. The redshirt-freshman leads the Eagles with 52.0 tackles, with 33 solo and 2.5 for a loss. Ganter Jr. set a career-best this past weekend with 11 tackles, adding his first career sack and forced fumble. In the Big Sky, Ganter Jr. is tied for 11th on the conference leaderboard for total tackles, along with ranking 9th with 7.4 tackles per game. The Pasadena, Calif.native also has 3 pass breakups, tied for second on the team. As Ganter Jr. gets better each week, the national attention increases. Ganter Jr. was named to the Stats Perform 2024 FCS Jerry Rice Award watch list, honoring the top freshman in the FCS.

Perfect After Attempt
Soren McKee has converted 27-of-27 of points after attempts this season and is a perfect 75-for-75 in his career. With 75 consecutive made extra points, McKee is 10 PATs away from tying the program record set by Roldan Alcobendas in 2018 when he made 85 consecutive attempts. McKee was 2-of-2 on PATs against UC Davis and has scored 39 points this season, second on the team to Chism. 

Nearly Mistake Free
Eastern has committed only 2 turnovers through 7 games this season, tying for first in the FCS with North Dakota State. The team has forced 4 turnovers, translating to a 0.29 turnover marking that ranks 3rd in the conference and 42nd in the nation.

Generating Pressure
Eastern had a season-best 3 sacks against UC Davis, getting pressure from Brock Harrison, Matthew Brown and Ganter Jr. Prior to the game against the Aggies, EWU had 7 sacks this season through six games, with the team getting 2 against Southeast Louisiana, Nevada and Montana as the previous season high. 

Money Mike Does it All
Michael Wortham is truly a do-everything player for Eastern, lining up at almost every position except offensive  line. This season, Wortham leads the Big Sky in kickoff returns, averaging 27.5 per return. He has 688 total return yards, which is twice as many as Portland State's Christian Grubb for 2nd (339). Earlier this year, Wortham scored a career-high 2 rushing touchdowns against Drake, rushing for 46 yards on 11 carries, adding one touchdown pass to Efton Chism III. The senior has 140 receiving yards and 113 rushing yards. His 18 receptions is second on the team. He also has 44 passing yards on 4-of-6 passing attempts. 
 

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Season tickets for the 2024 football season are now available. Ticket packages can be purchased online via your Paciolan account, over the phone at 509-359-6059, or by emailing tickets@ewu.edu. 

ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.

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