Eastern Washington runs rough shod over Cal Poly, 70-17

CHENEY — Antoine Custer and Sam McPherson had two rushing touchdowns apiece, the defense returned two fumbles for touchdowns and Eastern Washington rolled to a 70-17 win over Cal Poly in a Big Sky Conference opener on Saturday.

The Eagles (3-1) rolled up 657 yards, the 10th highest total in school history, for their fourth-highest point total in history and most since 1966.

After the Mustangs (1-3) opened the scoring with a field goal, Cole Karstetter returned a fumble 38 yards. Jim Townsend’s 62-yard fumble return touchdown eight seconds before halftime made it 35-10.

EWU piled up 441 yards on the ground, scoring six touchdowns, four longer than 40 yards. Custer’s touchdowns covered 62 and 43 yards as he gained 133 yards on just six carries in his first action of the season. Dennis Merritt capped the scoring with an 81-yard rumble. The Eagles averaged 14.7 yards a carry, breaking the previous mark (11.1 by Portland State in 2013) by more than three yards.

Gage Gubrud, who was 0 for 3 in the first quarter, finished 21 of 27 for 215 yards and a touchdown and had a 25-yard scoring run.

Cal Poly, led by Joe Protherroe’s 176 yards on 34 carries, had 378 on the ground on 86 attempts. The Mustangs’ two quarterbacks combined to go 1 of 8 for 21 yards. They doubled Eastern in time of possession, including 13:37-1:23 in the first quarter when they had 30 snaps to the Eagles’ three but trailed 14-3.