Even though Idaho dropped Paul Petrino’s home opener Saturday afternoon, the day can still ultimately be called a success — just don’t say that to Petrino’s face.
Philip Vukelich | Argonaut
Running back James Baker gets up after scoring a touchdown against Northern Illinois Saturday at the Kibbie Dome. The Vandals lost 45-35 in Paul Petrino’s home debut.
The Vandals came into Saturday as 28-point underdogs to Orange Bowl runner-up Northern Illinois. But it was the Huskies who had to rally back from behind in the second half to escape the upset and achieve a 45-35 victory.
Paul Petrino wanted nothing to do with moral victories.
It was Idaho that jumped out to a 21-7 first half lead and led 28-21 at halftime. Northern Illinois and its Heisman contending quarterback Jordan Lynch went on a 24-7 run in the second half to down Idaho.
“I’m a winner, I’m used to winning,” Petrino said. “I’m never going to walk off the field after a loss and be happy.”
Petrino’s Kibbie Dome debut looked as if it could have been one of the biggest upsets of the weekend in the first half. Idaho took the opening kickoff 75 yards and finished it off with a 1-yard James Baker touchdown run to take the lead early in the first quarter. But again it was mental mistakes doing Idaho in. Northern Illinois got 10 points off of turnovers and another touchdown on an Idaho turnover on downs. The Vandals fumbled three times.
“We can’t fumble, and that’s really the difference in the game,” Petrino said. “If we don’t do that then we have a great opportunity to win. That’s a good football team, you can’t fumble three times and think you’re going to win.”
Petrino was balancing the fine line between realizing the radical progression his team has made from week two to week three and also maintaining that Idaho should have won. He acknowledges that progress has been made, but that it’s those few plays that decide the game he’s going to lament.
“You don’t know, you don’t know what the play is,” Petrino said. “That’s why you can’t give in, you have to have courage, and strength and fight every single play. Because you don’t know which play is going to be the difference in the game.
“We’re getting better every week, but just pull out a gun and shoot me in the head if I’m every happy with losing. I’m not ever going to be happy with losing,” Petrino said.
The bottom line is that Idaho showed marked improvement on offense. An Idaho offense that had two touchdowns through the first two games scored four in the first half alone, and five total against the Huskies.
The Vandals scored on their very first drive in the game and at one point in the first half scored touchdowns on three consecutive possessions. A lot of that had to do with the play of quarterback Chad Chalich and running backs James Baker and Richard Montgomery.
“I thought (the quarterbacks) played at times really well, and at other times not good enough,” Petrino said. “If we’re going to win, we just have to keep improvement. It’s definitely not all on the quarterbacks, it’s everybody, offense is all 11 games. They showed great improvement, both of them.”
In the running game, Baker had a career day, scoring three total touchdowns and rushing for 73 yards. He also had a 37-yard touchdown reception on a wheel route in the first half.
Petrino said he likes to get all the running backs involved early and then roll with whoever is hot.
The story of the game is still Huskies’ quarterback Jordan Lynch and his 159 yards rushing, 152 yards passing and five total touchdowns. Idaho was able to stick him at the line of scrimmage in the first half, punish him and contain him, but it was only a matter of time before he broke out. The turning point was in the middle of the third quarter when Lynch followed his blockers down the field for a 61-yard touchdown run, giving the Huskies a 35-28 lead.
“I think we hit the run fits really well the first half,” linebacker Broc Westlake said. “Second half there were a few missed tackles and a couple missed assignments, but the first half everyone was really flying around.”
Westlake helped lead a defense that forced Northern Illinois into seven punts and two lost fumbles in the Huskies’ 17 total drives. But it wasn’t enough.
“We’re improving, but to beat Northern Illinois I have to be able say they played great,” Petrino said, slamming on the table to demonstrate his point. “That’s how I have to say it.”
Sean Kramer can be reached at [email protected]