MOSCOW, Idaho — Following a monumental win on Saturday over Sacramento State, the Idaho Vandals are a top five ranked team in the nation.
The schedule does not get easier for the Vandals, however, as they must travel on the road to face No. 19 Eastern Washington.
"I know they will be ready to play. They are playing well and this is another ranked matchup, so this is a big football game. There are only two games in FCS this week with two ranked teams, so this has become a really big game and Eastern has caught my attention and our team's attention," Idaho head coach Jason Eck said.
The Vandals have come a long way since a losing season in 2021 to a top five ranking, but Coach Eck believes there is room for improvement in this year's squad.
"We need to keep pressing to improve. I think there are a lot of things we can improve on and we need to keep attacking each day with the mindset that we need to get better and improve because I believe the potential of our team is unlimited," Eck said.
The Vandals have yet to win a game on Eastern Washington's red turf field in program history.
"They are playing a lot better football than they did last year. Coach Best has done a good job getting those guys going. They are playing with more energy, probably a little bit harder and a little bit more sound than they did last year. The Vandals have never won on the red turf, so we need to go up there and do something that has not been done before and have a great week and continue to get better," Eck said.
The turnover battle will be key on Saturday. After Coach Best emphasized turnovers last week, the Eags turned UC Davis over three times on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Vandals have not forced a turnover in two games and lost two fumbles on Saturday.
"There are things we need to be better at fundamentally, we talk a lot about five points of pressure in the correct arm when you are carrying the ball and we held the ball loosely multiple times on Saturday. We need to fix the turnover margin and capitalize on the opportunities we get and protect the ball better on offense this week," Eck said.
The Vandals and Eags will kick it off at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Cheney. We will have full coverage from both schools postgame on Saturday evening right here on KREM 2.
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