That there is a level of uncertainty about who will play quarterback for Eastern Washington on Saturday is apt, considering the football program’s recent history with its foe, the Idaho Vandals.

With redshirt senior Jared Taylor’s health and performance in question, redshirt sophomore Nate Bell started Eastern’s most recent game, a 35-27 victory over Portland State on Oct. 4 at Roos Field. It appears Bell will start again at 4 p.m. on Saturday: He is listed as the starter on this week’s depth chart, with redshirt freshman Jake Schakel as the No. 2 quarterback.

If Bell starts, he would be the fifth quarterback to do so in the Eagles’ last five games against the Vandals. And Bell is in line to continue what has been a memorable string of performances by EWU’s quarterbacks against their rivals to the south.

“I think the big-picture thing to draw from (the previous matchups) is to have creative ways to get your guys the ball and to involve your best ball carriers,” EWU offensive coordinator Marc Anderson said. “That’s probably the best takeaway.”

Though this is Anderson’s first year calling the plays, he was on staff for those previous games against Idaho. Eastern has lost the last three of them, twice in Moscow and once in Cheney.

But in 2021, Anderson was around for one of the more memorable games by an Eastern quarterback, regardless of opponent, when Eric Barriere had himself a day.

In a 71-21 EWU victory, Barriere threw for a team-record 600 yards while leading the offense to 837 yards, another team record. The 71 points stand as the sixth-most in program history.

Under a new head coach, Jason Eck, the Vandals reversed the rivalry’s course in a big way the next year, handing Eastern a 48-16 loss at the Kibbie Dome. Starting that day for the Eagles was senior Gunner Talkington, who threw for 232 yards in the last full game he would play that season.

One of Eastern’s lone highlights that game was an 87-yard touchdown catch by Nolan Ulm, the ninth-longest reception in program history.

The Vandals’ recent dominance continued in 2023, with yet another different quarterback starting for the Eagles, though it wasn’t expected to be that way. Taylor, then a junior, got his first start with the Eagles in place of an injured Kekoa Visperas. That one EWU head coach Aaron Best remembers well.

“No one gave us a chance, and there we are with 3 or 4 minutes left in the game with more than a chance,” Best said.

Indeed, Eastern held a 28-21 lead in the third quarter before the Vandals scored the next 23 points to take a 16-point lead midway through the fourth. But even then, Taylor and the Eagles made it close after a 17-yard scoring run by Taylor and a two-point pass to Ulm made it 44-36. The Vandals used a 14-play drive to run out the last 6 minutes, 37 seconds of clock, a drive that included a conversion on fourth-and-2 with 2:57 left.

Taylor finished the game with 121 rushing yards and two touchdowns to go with 92 passing yards and another score. Michael Wortham, the Eagles’ slash player, threw for a touchdown, ran for another and accounted for 34 yards passing and 54 yards rushing.

Wortham shined again last season. He was part of perhaps Eastern’s best three-quarterback performance of the season, spearheaded by Visperas (who started) and balanced by Taylor. All three accounted for touchdowns, with Visperas running for one, Taylor passing for another and Wortham returning a kickoff all the way from his end zone to the Vandals’ for a 100-yard score.

That wasn’t enough, though, and the Eagles lost 38-28, their 12th loss in 16 games all-time at Idaho.

“We all want the best for each other,” Taylor said after that loss at the Kibbie Dome. “… We want everyone to succeed. We just want to go out and win football games.”

Dating back one more year, to the spring season of 2021, the winner of the EWU-UI matchup has gone on to reach the FCS playoffs. Almost surely this year’s loser would be left out, as both enter with 2-4 overall records (EWU is 1-1 in Big Sky games while Idaho is 0-2).

“It’s been said this week (to players), you’ve got a chance to go 3-0 at home and 2-1 in conference,” Anderson said. “Every game in the Big Sky feels like a massive deal, because there are a lot of good teams in the conference. It seems like there’s no week where you think, ‘this is a win.’ There are no teams like that in the Big Sky.”