CHENEY, Wash. — Anthony Woods ran for 183 yards and five touchdowns, Nick Romano ran for 129 yards and Idaho pounded out a 44-36 win over Eastern Washington on Saturday.
The Vandals (4-1, 2-0 Big Sky Conference), ranked sixth in the FCS coaches' poll, trailed 28-21 midway through the third quarter before scoring 23 straight points to take a 44-28 lead on Woods' 60-yard run.
Eastern Washington (2-3, 1-1), ranked 19th, chewed up almost half of the third quarter before taking the lead on Jared Taylor's 4-yard run. But the Vandals got a long kickoff return leading to Woods tying the game on a 4-yard run.
The Eagles came up empty on fourth down on their 34, allowing Idaho to take the lead with a field goal at 4:26 of the third quarter. They scored the last touchdown, a 17-yard Taylor run with 6:37 to play, but Idaho ran out the clock with a 14-play drive that ended on EWU's 12.
The Vandals had 491 yards, 363 on the ground. Woods was charged with a 28-yard loss when the ball was snapped over the quarterbacks' head and he recovered the loose ball on the Idaho 6 early in the fourth.
Eastern Washington used two backup quarterbacks after starter Kekoa Visperas didn't dress for the game because of an unspecified injury. Taylor was 10 of 23 for 92 yards with a touchdown and ran for 121 yards and two scores on 21 keepers. Michael Wortham was 3 of 5 for 34 yards and ran for 54, throwing for a score and running for another.
