The Vandals (1-2) suffered their second straight loss, 42-0, against the Oregon State Beavers (2-1) in Corvallis Saturday. It was the last non-conference game of the season for the Vandals, and an absolute mugging by the Beavers. Idaho scored no points and lost three with only a few highlights for the Vandals.
Redshirt junior defensive lineman Noah Elliss, redshirt senior running back Roshaun Johnson and junior tight end Connor Whitney were all out for the Vandals, and their absences were definitely felt by the team.
On the defensive side of the ball, Idaho allowed 430 yards and six touchdowns. 240 of those yards came from the running game. Five running backs for Oregon State recorded five yards a carry, or more, and BJ Baylor scored two touchdowns.
The pass defense of the Vandals didn’t fare much better. OSU senior quarterback Chance Nolan went 14/19 for 175 yards and three touchdowns and was only sacked once by the Vandals. However, Idaho did record an interception. It came from an errant throw after OSU’s backup quarterback Sam Noyer was in and the game was well out of hand. The Vandals also committed eight penalties in this game, the same amount they tallied up against Indiana last week.
The offense of the Vandals also struggled during the game, but not as much as the score might make one believe. Freshman quarterback CJ Jordan and graduate student QB Mike Beaudry combined for three turnovers in the game. Jordan threw for two interceptions and Beaudry lost a fumble, but the offense did manage to do some good things. Despite not putting any points on the board, Idaho found themselves in Oregon State territory on several drives throughout the game, but penalties and negative plays stalled what were otherwise impressive drives against an Oregon State defense that leads the Pac-12 in tackles for loss.
Freshman running back Elisha Cummings had a decent showing during the first quarter, recording 25 yards on the first drive of the game for the Vandals. Redshirt sophomore Aundre Carter filled in well for an injured Roshaun Johnson, rushing the ball nine times for 38 yards for 4.2 yards a carry. Jordan also rushed for 55 yards and was the Vandals leading rusher of the game.
Takeaways
The lessons of this game are very similar to those from Indiana.
First, the rushing game is the key to this Vandals offense. Indiana and Oregon State both managed to take the running game out of the playbook for the Vandals and when they have been most effective — it has been on the ground. Beaudry is a capable thrower of the football and Jordan has had his moments passing, but if the Vandals want to be effective offensively against Big Sky defenses, they can’t do it without their running game, no matter who is named the starting quarterback.
Secondly — the front-seven is the focal point of the Vandal defense. Defensive lineman Noah Elliss’ absence was felt in this game. Nolan had all day to throw the football today and, aside from the one sack, he was hardly impeded by the Vandals. The running game ran roughshod over the Vandals. It’s almost impossible for a defense to be able to scheme for a team that runs and passes the ball at a highly efficient rate as Oregon State did. This front seven needs to be healthy otherwise this team might be on the wrong side of games like this more than just today.
Losing Johnson and Whitney hurts the Vandals but having an injury on this front seven is the one thing that the Vandals cannot afford and why this bye week is coming at such a critical time. UC Davis junior quarterback Hunter Rodrigues is averaging over 300 yards passing this season (as of today before the Dixie State game) and if he has a clean pocket like Nolan did today against the Vandals, it’s going to be a long Oct. 2 for the Vandals.
There are lessons to be learned from both of Idaho’s losses, something coach Paul Petrino stressed following Idaho’s win against Simon Fraser. The Vandals have two weeks to learn those lessons and to get healthy before they face UC Davis.
As Vandals went from playing a Division-II football team that hadn’t played a game of football in two years to playing two very good FBS teams back-to-back on the road, their capabilities are hard to quantify. The Oct. 2 game against the UC Davis Aggies will be the Vandals’ first conference game, and its results should better clear up whether Vandals can be contenders in the Big Sky this year.
Teren Kotwatsch can be reached at [email protected]