The Vandals will go to war against the unranked Lehigh University Mountain Hawks on Saturday. The Mountain Hawks finished their regular season at 9-3 and beat the Richmond University Spiders to advance to the second round of the FCS playoffs against UI. The Vandals will look to curb the formidable Mountain Hawk offensive attack, which features a QB with a near perfect QBR, two All-Patriot Second Team RBs, one wide receiver and three offensive linemen.
For the past decade Lehigh has made the FCS playoffs twice, including this season, with four winning seasons and six losing seasons.
Lehigh is overseen by second-year Head Coach Kevin Cahill, who has led Lehigh to two winning seasons and an FCS playoff berth in his short tenure with the team. This season, Lehigh has averaged almost 30 points per game, while keeping opposing teams to 20 points per game, closing out their season with a six-game win streak. Cahill also won the Patriot Conference Dick Biddle Coach of the Year award.
Lehigh’s offense is led by QB Hayden Johnson who has had a stellar season with 10 passing TDs on 1,229 passing yards and 6 INTs. Johnson also boasts a 159.9 QB rating with a near 71% completion rate. Johnson’s two favorite targets are WR Geoffery Jamiel and WR Mason Humphrey. Jamiel, who is WR1 for the team, has caught 56 passes for 951 yards this season with 8 TD grabs. Jamiel also attained the All-Patriot Football Second-Team nod for his 2024 season. Johnsons other favorite target, Humphrey, has caught 39 balls this season for 489 yards with 5 TDs.
Lehigh’s rushing attack is led by RBs Luke Yoder and Jaden Green. The RB duo has been deadly this season with the two backs cutting through defenses with ease. Yoder has 951 rushing yards and 10 TDs on 183 carries and Green has 762 yards and 10 TDs on 129 carries. Both RBs made the All-Patriot Football Second-Team.
Idaho will have their work cut out for them, but with 15 All-Conference team performers it may not be the uphill battle that some think.
Idaho’s offense will be led by starting QB Jack Layne, who suffered a broken collarbone in the first game of the season. In his absence, backup QBs Jack Wagner and Nick Josifeck performed fantastically, especially for each making their first college start at some point during the season.
Layne has posted great numbers this season in spite of his injury. He has passed for 902 yards and 9 TDs with only 3 INTs.
WRs Jordan Dwyer and Mark Hamper will be at the forefront of the Vandals passing attack, Dwyer has posted 837 receiving yards and 8 TD grabs on 60 receptions. Hamper has hauled in 858 yards and 5 TDs on 41 receptions while also averaging almost 20 yards per catch.
Idaho’s RB room has been incredible this season. With Elisha Cummings, Nate Thomas, Deshaun Buchanan and Art Williams all taking snaps at the RB1 position this season. The RBs have a combined 1,767 rushing yards and 12 TDs across all games and have had success rushing almost all teams this season.
Idaho’s defense will be doing the heavy lifting while trying to stop the potent Lehigh offense. Led by MLB Jaxton Eck who has accrued 60 solo tackles and 110 total tackles, the defense has been the best in the Big Sky at getting to the QB. The Front Seven the Big Sky in overall defensive pressure on opposing QBs.
The Vandal defensive line has been key to the defensive prowess of the Vandals, led by the trio Keyshawn James-Newby, Dallas Afalava and Malaki Williams. Newby is tied four ways for 15th in the FCS in sacks with 9 total. Afalava has five sacks, 6 TFLs and 8 QB hurries, and Williams has 32 tackles, 3 QBH and 1 FF.
Idaho’s secondary has been nothing less than dominant this season with 9 total INTs. The secondary is led by “Takeaway” Tommy McCormick who has 3 INTs and 4 PD and Dwayne McDougle who has 6 PD and 24 solo tackles. McDougle stepped into the starting safety role halfway through the season and has also been very valuable on special teams.
The Vandals will look to keep their FCS Championship hopes alive this Saturday at 6 p.m. The game can be watched on ESPN+ or tickets can be purchased here.
You can reach Jack DeWitt at [email protected]