Paul Petrino sat down in the post-game press conference with his youngest daughter, Ava, at his side. As reporters fired questions at her father, she maintained a smile on her face. She had good reason to be happy.
Her dad, the first-year Idaho coach, won his first game as head man of the program Saturday afternoon, downing the Temple Owls 26-24 in front of a Homecoming crowd of 15,323 inside the Kibbie Dome.
Petrino embraced his family on the field as players raced by him, jumping and screaming in celebration.
The win was deserved, the Vandals put together their most complete game of the season with a fast start and holding on in the second half to fend off the Temple comeback attempt.
Chad Chalich terrorized the Temple defense with 424 total yards of offense and one touchdown, working the play-action and read-option attack the Vandals utilize for 114 yards rushing. The biggest of which were the 10 yards he gained with under three minutes left in the game. Up 26-24, Chalich took the shotgun 3rd and 10 snap and took off up the middle on a designed run, lunging his body just past the marker to pick up the first down. The play allowed Idaho to drain the clock to under 20 seconds before Temple got the ball back.
It iced the game.
“(Petrino) believed in me to get that first down on third and down to put us in a situation to win the game,” Chalich said. “I just dropped back and I just went for it.”
The play helped stem the tide of momentum that Temple had built in the fourth quarter. Idaho led 17-3 going into the half, but Temple mounted its best offensive drives of the day after the halftime break, outscoring Idaho 21-9 in the second half. Temple capped its momentum with a Kenny Harper 2-yard touchdown run with 3:32 left in the game to trim the Idaho lead to 26-24.
The timing of the win couldn’t be better, for Petrino or for his team. It was one week ago that a post-game handshake conflict between him and Washington State coach Mike Leach became national news, over-shadowing Idaho’s 42-0 embarrassment at Martin Stadium in the Battle of the Palouse.
Rehkow has arrived
Paging Trey Farquhar. The torch of Idaho kicking may very well have been passed on Saturday, when true freshman Austin Rehkow hit on four of five field goal attempts, proving to be the difference in Idaho’s 26-24 victory. Rehkow had only hit on one field goal attempt all season coming into the day, improving from 1-5 to 5-10 on the season.
He hit from 39, 30, 38 and 25 yards. The latter one being the biggest, turning a 23-17 lead into a two possession game.
“I love having the pressure on me. Whether I’m struggling or not I want that pressure,” Rehkow said. “To be able to go out there and knock it through and that ending up being the difference maker in the score, so it’s just an awesome feeling and I’m glad I was able to be a part of it.”
The four accounted for the first four made field goals of Rehkow’s Kibbie Dome career. After hitting through the first one late in the second quarter it was junior defensive end Maxx Forde and a plethora of other teammates who came up to him to congratulate him on the first of perhaps many made field goals in the Kibbie Dome.
“He’s kind of like my big brother when it comes to field goals, he’s always the one to come over and say great job,” Rehkow said.
Other notes and quotes
– True freshman running back Richard Montgomery had his strongest game as a Vandal. Only 20 rushing yards, but he added 102 yards receiving and scored two touchdowns to help spur Idaho offensively.
“I thought he had a great day day today,” Chalich said of Montgomery. “He has speed that really helps our offense and makes us diverse.”
– Idaho scored its first points of the season in the third quarter with an Austin Rehkow 30-yard field goal. Petrino stressed the importance of a strong third quarter this week in practice, but Idaho was still outscored in the quarter 7-3.
– Petrino said he read his team a poem on Friday night before the team went to the hotel in Lewiston. It’s a poem his father used to recite to his team at Carroll College.
“It’s about being a man that steps forward, not a step back, holds on when others let go, doesn’t know the words can’t and quit, and I’ll give you a man who wins in the end, and that’s who they were today. They were a bunch of men who won in the end, they stepped forward, they held on, they were tough, they grinded, I’m just proud of all of them,” Petrino said.
– Idaho’s offensive line saw a shake-up today. True freshman Steven Matlock played the strong guard position usually manned by Nick Van Rotz, Rotz moved over to Jesse Davis’ tackle spot with Davis out with an injury. Spencer Beale, the back-up center, played the other guard position in the absence of Dallas Sandberg.
“We’ve been talking about it forever, what we really need up there, we need overachievers who play with good technique who give second and third effort. I think we got that tonight, so I’m really proud of them,” Petrino said.
– Finally, senior Christian Whitehead got his first start at cornerback today and played relatively well. At this time last week he was coming into the game after working with the scout team all week.
Petrino on Whitehead: “He got in there last week and, actually it was pretty amazing. You always have a book you’re going to write someday of crazy things that happen in the coaching profession and that’d be one of them. On Tuesday he was on the scout team, on Wednesday he was with the scout team and on Thursday half the time he was with the scout team and half the time he was with the defense. He had a pick and a recovered last week against Washinton State, that’s why you keep at it and why you keep fighting.”