Idaho returns to the Kibbie Dome for a home stretch as it looks to salvage the remainder of the season.
North Dakota will travel to Moscow this weekend to take on the Vandals in Moscow.
Idaho will look to continue its undefeated home record, as the next two games will be played inside Kibbie.
After suffering a 24-point loss last week to Eastern Washington, Idaho Head Coach Paul Petrino said he hopes this upcoming home-stand can help rejuvenate the remainder of the season.
“I think every week you find any little thing you can to motivate,” Petrino said. “I think this week is getting back to ourselves. We have to have a good week of practice, execute, and go and play as hard as we can.”
The power of playing at home has been huge for Idaho this season, with each Vandal win coming from inside the Kibbie Dome.
The Vandal defense has held opponents in the Kibbie to under 14 points per game this season and look to do the same against the North Dakota offense on Saturday.
Idaho’s last season without a home loss came in 1996, where the Vandals finished that season at home with a perfect 5-0 record. With all the ups and downs that have occurred this season, Idaho hopes to keep fans pleased with some continued success inside Moscow.
“One of our goals this season was to be undefeated at home,” senior linebacker/tight end Kaden Elliss said. “It’s still a goal we can achieve and it’s something that we’re looking at and we’re going to keep playing well at home.”
North Dakota enters Saturday with a 5-3 record and currently ranked 25th in the STATS FCS Media Poll. The Vandal defense will try to stop a Fighting Hawk running game that ranks 10th nationally, averaging 263 yards on the ground per game.
“It’s going to be a fun game,” Elliss said. “It’s going to be a knuckle-it-up game and we’re really going to try to get after them, so it should be a good game.”
Idaho is entering the final stretch of the season, with only three games left on the schedule. The Vandals hope to find a strong finish to the puzzling roller coaster of a season.
“Our fans have been awesome this year,” Elliss said. “We’ve been building off of them and the atmosphere has been really awesome in the dome this year. It’s exciting to see and hopefully it keeps going.”
Senior running back Isaiah Saunders will look to finally join the record books throughout this homestand. Saunders currently sits at 1,938 rushing yards throughout his career and will look to become the 13th Vandal to reach 2,000 yards rushing.
Elliss hopes to finish his career off in memorable fashion as well, looking to crack the top six on Idaho’s all-time total tackles list. Elliss only needs one tackle for loss on Saturday, to be sixth on the all-time list. Elliss would be the first Vandal since 2000 to make it on the list.
Idaho will take on North Dakota inside the Kibbie Dome 2 p.m. Nov. 3 and can be viewed live on SWX and Pluto TV. Stay with Vandal Nation for live tweets throughout Saturday’s action and a full recap after the game.
Chris Deremer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Cderemer_VN