Football: Bulldog bloodbath

Vandal fans witnessed a less than ideal season opener Saturday with more questions lingering than answered.

The Vandals dropped their season opener to the Fresno State Bulldogs 79-13 in Fresno, California Saturday.

“I thought we would play way better than that. The blame is on me first,” Idaho Head Coach Paul Petrino said in a news release. “Obviously I didn’t do a good enough job of getting everyone ready to play. We didn’t do a good enough job as a staff and we didn’t play good enough.”

Idaho started the game with possession, leading with sophomore quarterback Colton Richardson to get things underway. A short three and out drive for the Vandals gave Fresno State the ball, and the opponents rarely missed an opportunity throughout the night to find the endzone.

The Bulldog offense found its rhythm early against the Vandal defense, especially through their ground game. Towards the end of the first quarter, the Bulldogs lead the Vandals 16-0 off of two rushing touchdowns.

In the final drive of the half, Richardson would get the first score for Idaho, throwing a perfect 73-yard bomb to junior wide receiver Jeff Cotton to make the score 16-6 by the end of the first quarter.

Things got worse and in a hurry for the Vandals in the second quarter.

After a second rushing touchdown for Fresno State running back Jordan Mims, Idaho looked to answer the following drive.

Fresno State blocked sophomore kicker Cade Coffey’s field goal before returning it 74 yards to the end zone to put the Bulldogs up 30-6 with a little over nine minutes remaining in the first half.

Special teams would have another nightmare field goal attempt to end the first half with another Coffey field goal blocked and returned for a touchdown with time expiring at the end of the first half.

Fresno State lead at halftime 44-6 forcing five turnovers in the first half, scoring off of three of the turnovers.

The second half would add on more horrors for Idaho.

Idaho scored once the entire half, on a six-yard rushing touchdown by senior running back Isaiah Saunders.

Richardson and junior quarterback Mason Petrino alternated throughout the night at quarterback, and after Saturday’s game it is still hard to tell which player is ready to lead this offense, both still working through apparent kinks from throughout the night.

“They both have to improve,” Petrino said of the quarterback’s progression. “They both made some mistakes today, and both had a couple tough breaks when other guys didn’t help them,” Petrino said. “No matter what, their teammates have to help play better too. Right now, I would think they’re both going to keep playing.”

Expect the quarterback battle to continue on to next week, with Idaho searching to find some offensive rhythm to start the season.

Despite the abysmal score, a few high notes helped stick out amongst the rest.

Redshirt junior wide receiver Jeff Cotton and freshman wide receiver Cutrell Haywood both had great Vandal debuts at wideout.

Cotton finished the day with four catches 96 yards receiving and a touchdown, while Haywood lead the team with six receptions for 72 yards where many of the grabs came in traffic.

Idaho finished with 102 rushing yards among the day, with Saunders receiving the most of the workload throughout the night. Saunders ended with 94 yards and a touchdown on 24 attempts.

With two true freshmen making their debuts, the Vandal offensive line held well against the Bulldog defense, allowing just one sack throughout the night.

Sophomore linebacker Christian Elliss led the way for Idaho’s defense finishing with eight total tackles, and senior linebacker Kaden Elliss finished behind his brother on the day with seven tackles.

“Every goal we want to achieve this year we can still achieve,” Petrino said. “Some guys competed their tails off but we didn’t play good enough all the way around. We have a lot of work to do.”

Idaho looks to hit the refresh button and get the first win of the season this following Saturday for the home opener.

The Idaho Vandals hosts the Western New Mexico Mustangs 2 p.m. Saturday(Sept. 8) in the Kibbie Dome.

Chris Deremer can be reached at [email protected] or on twitter @Cderemer_VN