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Eastern Washington crushes Idaho State 38-3

Oct 4, 2009 - 1:17 AM POCATELLO, Idaho(AP) -- Behind the rushing of Taiwan Jones and the passing of Matt Nichols, Eastern Washington remained undefeated in the Big Sky by defeating winless Idaho State 38-3 Saturday.

Jones averaged 12 yards on 14 carries for the Eagles (4-1, 3-0 Big Sky). The sophomore rushed for 168 yards and three touchdowns, including a 96-yarder.

Nichols completed 27 of 38 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite targets were Aaron Boyce, who had 10 catches for 149 yards and both TDs, and Tony Davis, who caught nine passes for 60 yards.

The Bengals (0-5, 0-2) were led by junior quarterback Kyle Blum, who completed 13 of 22 for 150 yards. Idaho State's leading receivers were Jaron Taylor, who had seven catches for 129 yards, and JD Ponciano, with five catches for 43 yards.

Eastern Washington racked up 530 yards of total offense to 271 for Idaho State. The Bengals were held to minus-2 yards rushing on 30 attempts, and they allowed five sacks.

Eastern Washington opened a 14-0 first-quarter lead, with Jones scoring on runs of 15 and 11 yards to cap drives of 38 and 88 yards, respectively. Idaho States lone score was a 43-yard field goal by Jarrett Huk with 10:28 left in the second quarter.

The Eagles final TD of the first half came on a 25-yard pass from Nichols to Boyce with 56 seconds remaining.

Jones 96-yard touchdown run occurred less than two minutes into the second half, putting Eastern Washington up 28-3. The Eagles scored again with 4:13 left in the third quarter, three plays after recovering a fumble on the 13-yard line, when Nichols threw an 11-yard pass to Boyce.

The Eagles' final score was a 49-yard field goal by Mike Jarrett.

Blum was replaced by junior Russel Hill with five minutes left in the third quarter. Hill completed 8 of 16 for 85 yards.

Eastern Washington was led on defense by the eight tackles of linebacker J.C. Sheritt. Idaho States leading tackler was linebacker A.J. Storm with nine.

Each team had three turnovers.