MOSCOW, Idaho – Matt Breida rushed 12 times for 179 yards and two scores, and Georgia Southern pounded out 441 yards and five touchdowns on the ground in a 44-20 Sun Belt Conference football victory over Idaho in the Kibbie Dome Saturday night.

It was the Sun Belt opener for both teams, and the Eagles have now won nine straight SBC contests. 

Kevin Ellison ran for 134 yards and two scores on 13 carries and threw for 105 yards for the Eagles (3-1, 1-0), and L.A. Ramsby rushed for 64 yards on 11 attempts. BJ Johnson caught four passes for 93 yards, and Alex Hanks matched his career-high with three field goals.

"Our offensive line is doing a good job of knocking them back and creating holes," said Georgia Southern coach Willie Fritz, "and our tight ends and receivers are kind of unsung and don't get a lot of credit for what they do in the running game. They do a great job out there opening things up. I thought Kevin Ellison did a great job of running, pulling and pitching. We had all three parts of the triple option going tonight."

The Eagles held Idaho to 1-of-11 on 3rd down through the first 54 minutes of the contest, forced two turnovers and blocked a punt. Ironhead Gallon blocked the third kick of his career, while Jay Ellison and Caleb Williams each had interceptions. Chris DeLaRosa and Antwione Williams each had nine tackles.

Matt Linehan completed 20-of-35 passes for 284 yards and two scores for Idaho (1-3, 0-1), and Dezmon Epps caught eight passes for 165 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

After clinging to a three-point lead at halftime, Georgia Southern scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the second half to open a 30-13 cushion. Breida sparked the Eagles with a 66-yard touchdown run on the third play from scrimmage of the third quarter. 

The junior took a pitch from Ellison and ran down the right sideline, got a block from Ryan Longoria, cut back to the left, avoided two Vandals and turned on the jets, running all the way to the left sideline and diving into the end zone, where he laid on the carpet for a breather. It was the 11th touchdown run of 50-plus yards in his career.

Ellison keyed the next scoring drive with a 53-yard run as the junior faked a pitch to the right and scampered through a big hole and down the right sideline. Ramsby kept the drive alive with a 10-yard run on 4th-and-3 from the Idaho 12-yard line, and Wesley Fields finished it off with a 2-yard touchdown run two plays later.

"I thought we missed some opportunities in the first half, but we came out in the second half and elevated our play in all three phases," said Fritz. "Our guys knew they missed some opportunities in the first half, and we were just tough in the second half."

Idaho got one back with its quick-strike offense when Epps beat double coverage and hauled in a 44-yard touchdown pass from Linehan to make the margin 30-20 halfway through the third quarter. After the Vandal defense got its first 3-and-out of the game, Idaho tried to fake a punt on 4th-and-2, but Darrius White got his fingertips on a pass to break up the play and give the Eagles the ball on the Idaho 42-yard line.

Ellison wasted no time, connecting with Johnson on a 36-yard pass down to the 5-yard line. Ellison ran it in on the next play for a 37-20 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The defense took over from there. Big Jay Ellison dropped back in coverage from his nose tackle spot and picked off Linehan to stop one drive, and Matt Dobson knifed into the backfield and made a tackle for no gain on 4th-and-2 on another. After the stop, the Eagle offense churned out 57 yards and took 6:29 off the clock, and Ellison scored on a 13-yard touchdown run, with tight end Jeff Ward leading the way, to put the game out of reach. 

Gallon's blocked punt early in the game set up a 32-yard field goal from Hanks, and Idaho tied the score with an 18-yard field goal by Austin Rehkow. Breida scored the first touchdown of the game and gave the Eagles the lead for good when he took the handoff on a trap play and went untouched up the middle for an 83-yard touchdown late in the first quarter.

The Eagles stay on the road with a Sun Belt Conference contest at ULM Saturday, Oct. 3. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Eastern.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. Fans can purchase tickets to Georgia Southern Athletics events by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS or by visiting GSEagles.com.
 

Georgia Southern Postgame Notes
• GAME CAPTAINS: #19 Caleb Williams, #49 Ryan Nowicki, #73 Maurice Hunt, #84 Andre Sims

• Georgia Southern wore blue helmets, with white jerseys and white pants today. The Eagles are now 5-3 in this combination under head coach Willie Fritz.

• Georgia Southern lost the toss for the first time this season.

• Ironhead Gallon recorded the third blocked kick of his career by blocking a punt on the first Idaho drive. It was the Eagles' first blocked kick of the season.

• Matt Breida did not carry the ball on Georgia Southern's first play of the game, breaking a streak of 15 games he had had his number called on the opening offensive snap. 

• Matt Breida scored on an 83-yard touchdown run and a 66-yard touchdown run, his 10th and 11th career scoring runs of over 50 yards. It was his third-career run of 80 yards or longer and his second this year.

• Breida scored two touchdowns game, giving him 25 for his career and eight for the season. He also had 179 yards rushing, the 10th 100-yard game of his career and his third straight.

• Alex Hanks made three field goals in the game. The three makes tie his career high for made field goals in a game.

• BJ Johnson set a new career high 93 yards receiving on four receptions. His previous high was 76 yards against South Alabama last year.

• Defensive tackle Jay Ellison (6-1, 305) recorded his first career interception on a screen in the fourth quarter. Caleb Williams pickedoff a pass in the fourth quarter, giving the Eagles seven interceptions in the past three games.

• In the past three games, Georgia Southern has rushed for 16 touchdowns, coming from four different players.

• Georgia Southern ran for 411 yards in the game. The Eagles are now 11-1 under Willie Fritz when running for 300 yards or more in the game and 7-0 when rushing for 400 or more yards.

• Georgia Southern has now won all nine of its Sun Belt games ever played and 11 conference games in a row dating back to its time in the Southern Conference.