Nichols passes EWU to victory

CHENEY — Matt Nichols threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns, lifting Eastern Washington to a 35-24 victory Saturday over Montana State, which was down eight players because of the flu. Nichols threw two scoring passes to Nathan Overbay in the first half and two more to Taiwan Jones in the second as the Eagles (5-3, 4-2 Big Sky) took advantage of a depleted Bobcat team. Among the missing from Montana State (4-3, 2-2) were six starters and two top kickers, Jason Cunningham and Eric Fisher. Still, the Bobcats went into the fourth quarter leading 24-14, but they could not hold on as Nichols and Jones connected on scoring tosses of 20 and 38 yards. Tyler Hart finished off Montana State with a 4-yard TD run with 1:49 left.