Despite injuries to key parts of the team, Idaho football rode on the back of its defense to snag the first Big Sky win of the season.

The Vandals get the homecoming day victory in front of a record crowd with a 45-21 win over the Idaho State Bengals to win the Battle of the Domes.

“It feels awesome. I expected us to play like that,” Idaho Head Coach Paul Petrino said in a press conference after the game. “Our guys go to practice. They fight, their tough, we have to take that next step and play like that on the road. But we’ve played like that every home game.”

Idaho head coach Paul Petrino continues his promising record on homecoming weekend, winning six of the past seven homecoming games.

Here are the takeaways from Saturday’s action inside the Kibbie Dome.

Adversity-filled win: Even though every game is a 60-minute battle filled with adversity, Idaho had to overcome more than usual on Saturday.

After losing senior quarterback Mason Petrino last weekend, junior quarterback Colton Richardson had perhaps his greatest performance on Saturday against the Bengals.

Richardson finished 17-25 throwing for 289 yards and two touchdowns.

Unfortunately, his day was cut short due to a leg injury late in the third quarter, not being able to come back for the remainder of the game.

Junior defensive end Charles Akanno forced a strip on Bengal quarterback Matt Struck early in the first half, but left the field on crutches in the second quarter.

Despite the problems, the Vandals relied on the defense to lead to the standout victory over Idaho State.

Defense prevails: The Idaho defense finished with their best performance of the season so far against the Bengals offense.

Finding ways to get pressure on the quarterback opened up opportunities for the Vandals to force some turnovers, capitalizing on every opportunity.

The Vandals forced two pick-sixes and two strip-sacks. In total, the Idaho defense scored 20 of its 45 points. To put it in perspective, the Bengals only scored 21 total points.

Senior defensive back Lloyd Hightower scored two Idaho touchdowns on the day, having a memorable performance for the Vandals Saturday.

“What a great day for Lloyd, couldn’t be happier,” Petrino said. “You’re really happy when guys who work their tail off all the time, and are good kids, play good.”

One of the best highlights had to be the strip sack forced by junior linebacker Leonick Tamba.

With the ball rolling on the field for the longest five seconds, Hightower was able to haul it in to find an easy path to the endzone.

“At first I was just hyped that we got the humble, then I was like oh, it’s still going,” Hightower said. “Rahsaan Crawford just hit it and then it just kept rolling and I was like it’s just right here and the endzone is right there.”

Catching a break: Going into the bye week, the Vandals got exactly was they needed — a dominant Big Sky win.

Idaho proves once again that they compete against some of their top rivals and competition, but with now both Richardson and Petrino out with injuries for possibly the next few weeks, questions will linger if sophomore quarterback Nikhil Nayar can step up and take the reins.

For now, the Vandals can take a sigh of relief and enjoy a dominant victory on Homecoming Saturday.

Chris Deremer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @chris_DEREMER