Eastern Washington delivered a 70-17 smackdown of Cal Poly last Saturday in their Big Sky Conference opener in Cheney.
The Eagles' win over the Mustangs at Roos Field was a game that seemed out of character for Eastern, at least in the last decade.
In a program known for its passing prowess, Eastern's rushing offense doubled its passing attack for the first time in 14 years when the Eagles rushed for the second-most yards in school history. The total of 441 is second only to the 456 yards Eastern had in 1999 against Cal State Northridge.
The Eagles had their rushing total on just 30 carries to set a new Big Sky record for average per rush with a mark of 14.7. That broke the old record of 11.1 set by Portland State vs. UC Davis in 2013 (427 yards, 38 attempts).
Antoine Custer Jr., who made his first appearance after nursing an injury, made his return notable as he scored on touchdown runs of 62 and 43 yards.
The effort was aided by supreme special teams play that resulted in not just one, but a pair of scoop-and-score fumble returns for touchdowns in the first half by Cole Karstetter (33 yards) and Jim Townsend (62 yards) following forced fumbles by Kurt Calhoun and Mitchell Johnson, respectively.
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