The Vandals triumphed on Saturday winning their Homecoming game, 42-35, against Portland State.
This was a must-win game for Idaho to avoid a wide separation in the Big Sky standings.
Even from pregame, the Vandals looked more focused than ever. Players responded instantly to whistles, the quarterbacks and wide receivers looked crisp. This was a team on a mission.
As the homecoming crowd was coming alive in the Kibbie Dome, the Vandals seemed to execute that mission with three back-to-back touchdown drives in the first quarter.
The offense hit on all cylinders to put the Vandals up 21-7 in the first quarter. This was Idaho’s highest-scoring quarter of the season since their week-one matchup against Simon Fraser. It was a high scoring affair for the Vandals who hadn’t gained more than 20 points in a game since their first of the season.
Freshman safety Tommy McCormick was a standout on defense, having two pass breakups that could’ve been interceptions.
“A lot of (my play) is due to heavy preparation by the coaches and their game plan,” McCormick said. “I know exactly what I’m looking for out there and I can feel prepared.”
The offense had four straight touchdown drives and didn’t punt until there were ten minutes to go in the first half. The Vandals finished the first half with a 35-14 lead.
Up to this point, second half comebacks have been a weakness and a pattern for Idaho. They’ve allowed four since their spring season, including the UC Davis game last Saturday.
“It just comes down to details,” said defensive line coach Luther Elliss. “It’s just little things. We can’t lose our focus, (we) need to act like the score is still 0-0 … It’s just a thing where, as a team, coaches and players, (we need) to stay focused.”
Then came the second half. It was an entirely different story. The Vandals punted on three straight drives to start the second half and Portland State led one drive into Vandal territory that resulted in a missed field goal, and then led two straight touchdown drives following that miss.
Penalties started to rear their head again — specifically offsides and delay of game penalties. The Vikings shortened the gap to 35-28 and the second half was starting to feel all too familiar to the UC Davis game.
The game came down to a final Hail Mary attempt by Portland State that was knocked down by senior defensive back Tyrese Dedmond, for Idaho to seal their victory.
The Vandals’ first half ended up too much for Vikings to overcome, and a large part of that was due to the performance of redshirt sophomore quarterback Zach Borisch. Borisch went 1/1 passing for 46 yards and a touchdown and rushed 16 times for 83 yards with a TD during the game.
During the postgame press conference, Borisch stepped up to greet the room in shirt that simply stated “game changer.” Borisch had barely played against Indiana and Oregon State, and in an earlier press conference on Oct. 5, coach Paul Petrino said it was because he wanted to save Borisch for Big Sky play.
“I’m happy that he’s using me and that he wants me to help in the Big Sky play,” Borisch said. “I’ll do anything this team wants me to, to help win.”
Idaho is now 2-3 on the season overall and 1-1 in the Big Sky Conference. They’ve also gone 2-0 inside the Kibbie Dome this season, keeping their home record clean.
“Anytime you’re at home, you got to protect your home,” Petrino said after the game.
Looking forward, Idaho will head to Cheney to face Eastern Washington University. For senior fullback/tight end Logan Kendall the game will be especially unique — Kendall graduated from Cheney high school.
“I know a lot of guys on the team and I know a lot of kids who go to Eastern,” Kendall said. “It’s definitely more personal.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 16.
Teren Kowatsch can be reached at [email protected]
Kevin
Did we take a knee at the end of game?