Isaiah Saunders eyes a place in the Idaho record books ahead of Eastern Washington.
Idaho senior running back Isaiah Saunders has the opportunity to eclipse 2,000 all-time career rushing yards for Idaho Saturday.
The dominant back needs only 98 rushing yards to become the 13th Vandal tail back to rush for 2,000 yards in his career.
“It’s a good accomplishment,” Saunders said. “In the words of Aaron Duckworth, ‘I just keep running.’”
Former Idaho running back Aaron Duckworth spent three seasons playing alongside Saunders and eclipsed the 2,000- yard mark last year in his senior season.
“It was a great accomplishment,” Duckworth said. “I owe it to my team and my offensive line. I hold it high on the list of accomplishments in my life.”
Duckworth said he’s enjoyed watching his former teammate’s final season and looks forward to Saunders joining him in the 2,000- yard club.
“Me and him (Isaiah) are really close,” Duckworth said. “So being with him, giving him little tips here and there, and helping him out on the sideline has been great.”
As Saunders prepares to notch his name in the books, Idaho prepares for another renewed rivalry.
The Vandals prepare this week for one of biggest games of their season — Eastern Washington.
Idaho will travel to Cheney to take on the fourth best team in the FCS, the program’s first game against a top-five FCS opponent since 2002.
“Our guys are excited and fired up,” Idaho head coach Paul Petrino said. “Anytime you get to play a team like this is exciting, and we look forward to doing anything we can.”
Saunders and the rest of the offense will have a tough battle against the third best defense in the Big Sky.
Eastern Washington’s defense has allowed only 392 yards of total offense in each game.
Idaho will have its hands full against the stout Eagle defense.
“They are definitely a great team,” Saunders said. “I feel like we are a good team too, and I think it is going to be about who goes out there and gives the most effort.”
Idaho’s defense is coming off an impressive performance against Southern Utah. The Vandal secondary limited the former Big Sky champions to only 66 passing yards — the fewest allowed by an Idaho defense since 2004.
This marked two weeks in a row where Idaho held its opponents to under 100 yards passing. The defense’s biggest challenge will come this week against an Eagle offense who is averaging 61 points per game at home.
Some Vandal fans can remember the memorable matchups between these two squads back in the day, but it may take some time to get this rivalry game back on track.
“If you go against each other each year, and they’re hard fought games, that’s how you build a rivalry,” Petrino said. “That’s how you come to dislike each other, and if you play hard fought and physical games, that’s how it starts.”
The Vandals now look to rekindle a rivalry with the Eagles, while searching for their first road win of the season.
Idaho football will make the short trip to Eastern Washington 2 p.m. Saturday in Cheney.
Chris Deremer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Cderemer_VN