Idaho football escaped an early season scare by grabbing its first win of the season back home in the Kibbie Dome.
The Vandals brought home a 41-31 win Saturday night after going back and forth for most of the game with the Central Washington Wildcats.
Despite coming away with a victory, there are still many questions left to be answered before Big Sky play kicks off in a few short weeks. Here are five takeaways from Saturday’s action.
Role reversal: Right from the start, the Idaho offense looked poised throughout most of the game while the defense seemed to struggle to contain one of the best Division II offenses in college football.
Cutrell Haywood breaks a tackle and reaches for the endzone against Central Washington Saturday | Saydee Brass Argonaut
Whenever it seemed the Wildcats started to gain momentum, the Vandal offense answered.
Relying heavily on the ground attack of redshirt freshman running back Aundre Carter and junior running back Roshaun Johnson, the passing game opened up for senior quarterback Mason Petrino to showcase one of the best games of his career.
Dynamic bulldozers: Carter and Johnson both found the endzone throughout the game as well as breaking the 100-yard barrier. Carter led the way with 123 yards rushing with two touchdowns, while Johnson got hot late in the third quarter. Johnson finished with 113 yards rushing and snagging a touchdown in the third quarter.
The running backs were relied on heavily in the second half, helping Idaho control the time of possession to leave the fiery Central Washington offense off the field. Idaho held possession for over 40 minutes, with the Wildcat offense only being on the field for a little under 20 minutes.
Calm, cool, collected: After Saturday’s performance, it seems that Petrino will be Idaho’s starting quarterback for the remainder of the year.
Mason Petrino scrambling around a Central Washington defender Saturday | Saydee Brass Argonaut
After having a strong first quarter, Richardson was put in during the second, the only time the Vandal offense seemed to lose its flame. Once Petrino returned, the Vandals took control of the ball game once again.
Petrino finished 23-30 for 209 passing yards and two touchdowns. When the pocket collapsed Petrino made smart scrambles using his legs to gain yards if necessary but also keeping his eyes downfield.
As of now, it seems to be Petrino’s job to lose, with only two non-conference games left before a decision is made when Big Sky play begins.
One man show: The 2019 home opener debut for senior wide receiver Jeff Cotton can be explained by one word — dominant. Cotton finished with one of the best games of his career with 16 receptions for 145 yards and two scores.
Cotton seemed to pick apart the Wildcat secondary with ease and continued to build a strong bond with Petrino at quarterback.
Troubling signs: Despite having many positives against Central Washington, escaping a near loss to a Division II team should make Vandal fans nervous.
At the end of the day, a win is a win, but Idaho needs to begin to bring consistency on both sides of the ball if the Vandals want to try to be competitive this season.
The defense made plays when they needed to, but shouldn’t have had to be in a close game situation in the first place.
While this game provided the boost of confidence needed after the nightmare in Happy Valley, this game should be another wake-up call that there is still much room for improvement.
If the massacre against Penn State was a forgettable loss, this could definitely be counted as a forgettable win.
Let’s just hope that the Kibbie Dome magic continues to sprinkle for the Vandals when Eastern Washington makes a visit in the next two weeks.
Chris Deremer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @chris_DEREMER