Vandal football continues their strong momentum after grabbing their second straight Big Sky win on Saturday.
Idaho (4-5, BSC 2-3) controlled throughout most of Saturday’s game to pick up the 21-9 win over the Cal Poly Mustangs (2-7, BSC 1-5).
With having two weeks to prepare for Cal Poly’s triple-option offense, the defense stepped up to hold the Mustangs away from the endzone.
Junior linebacker Christian Elliss led all tacklers today with 13 hits, while sophomore linebacker Tre Walker finished with 11 tackles.
For the Idaho offense, redshirt freshman running back Aundre Carter made a strong statement after his return from injury.
Carter led the way with rushing for 179 yards and grabbing two touchdowns.
Carter’s highlight play came on a crucial fourth and one, with Carter picking up the first down while bulldozing his way for a 37-yard touchdown to give the Vandals a 7-3 lead late in the second half.
“It was good to have him back,” Idaho Head Coach Paul Petrino said after the game. “He’s just big and physical and runs hard… It was just a good game.”
Senior quarterback Mason Petrino returned as well, shaking off the rust in his first return to action.
Petrino threw for 138 yards and a touchdown, with his biggest play coming on a fourth down scramble to get the first down and solidify the Idaho win.
“That was huge. That was maybe the biggest play he made today,” Paul Petrino said. “That kept us on the field and kept the drive alive to let us go score.”
While Carter and company dominated for the offense, it was a collective effort for the Vandal defense to contain Cal Poly’s tricky offense.
Elliss and the Vandal linebackers did a great job at pursuing the Mustang runners to not allow any big plays.
Cal Poly wouldn’t find the endzone until the final three minutes of the game, with Idaho holding Cal Poly to 242 yards of total offense.
The Vandals have gone against the top two rushers in the Big Sky these past two games, and this week contained the top Big Sky rusher to only 57 yards.
Elliss said that it’s the mentality of the Vandal defense that is helping them contain the opposing run game.
“We’re going to try to dominate and not worry about the past or the future,” Elliss said. “We’re just going to play every snap and every down and not give up or give in.”
Up next, Idaho will travel to take on the Montana Grizzlies Nov. 9 at 12 p.m.
Chris Deremer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @chris_DEREMER