Nineteen seniors end Kibbie Dome career with loss
The only thing missing from Josh McCain’s Senior Day was a win.
The 6-foot-2, 177-pound wide receiver finished with seven receptions for 128 yards and one touchdown in the Vandals 34-17 loss against Troy Saturday in the Kibbie Dome.
Jose Bendeck | Argonaut
Senior running back Jerrel Brown attempts to juke a Troy defender in Idaho’s 34-17 loss to Troy Saturday in the Kibbie Dome. The Vandals take the field one last time Nov. 29 at Appalachian State.
The converted quarterback now has 1,115 receiving yards on the season. He is the first Vandal receiver to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark since Max Komar in 2009.
A seven-point deficit at halftime was all Idaho had to overcome to earn 19 seniors their last win inside the Kibbie Dome, but freshman quarterback Matt Linehan threw three interceptions in the third quarter — all to Troy safety Montres Kitchens, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Idaho’s defense also allowed 293 rushing yards to the Troy offense.
“We just played bad,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “Put it all on me — I’m the head coach. I thought it was a really disturbing day. I thought the defense was terrible in the first half and the offense was terrible in the second half. So that’s all on me, it’s my job.”
Jose Bendeck | Argonaut
Joshua McCain scores during senior day game against Troy University.
The Vandals get an extra week to get over the loss, as they have a bye week before playing their last game of the season against Appalachian State Nov. 29 in Boone, North Carolina.
Linehan finished the game 14-of-36 for 269 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Petrino said one of the interceptions wasn’t Linehan’s fault because the receiver stopped his route too early.
Petrino said sophomore quarterback Chad Chalich didn’t play because of a hip injury he suffered against San Diego State Nov. 8. In pregame warm-ups, Chalich still had a noticeable limp.
Troy found success in the run game and finished with 293 yards as a team. Sophomore running back Jordan Chunn picked up most of those yards, as he rushed for 194 yards and one touchdown.
Jose Bendeck | Argonaut
Joshua McCain and Quarterback Matt Linehan celebrating a touchdown during senior day game.
Petrino said he felt like Idaho could have success running the ball against Troy — who came into the game ranked near the bottom in the country for run defense.
The Trojans didn’t do anything special on defense to stop the run. Petrino said they mostly ran a cover two defense, which is primarily designed to stop the pass.
“It wasn’t rocket science, we just didn’t execute very well,” Petrino said of the running game. “We really thought we’d run the ball better against them.”
Senior running back Jerrel Brown was the Vandals’ leading rusher, with 77 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries.
Petrino said the performance against Troy reminded him of last year’s team.
“I don’t think we’ve played like that all year,” he said. “We’ve came so far in this program and we’ve played so much better — and today we took a big step back.”
Korbin McDonald can be reached at [email protected]