No. 8 seeded Idaho faced off against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in the Second Round of the FCS Championship, and the Vandals routed the Mountain Hawks 34-13 in dominant fashion.
Idaho’s victory snapped Lehigh’s six game winning streak and extends their own winning streak to six. Idaho also went undefeated at home for the season for the first time since 1996. The defense came to play for the final game in the Kibbie Dome, only allowing 13 points to a Mountain Hawk Offense that averaged 29.5 going into the game.
Idaho’s offense was scorching hot in the pass game, with Jack Layne having a fantastic day. Layne finished the game with 16 completions on 22 attempts for 318 yards and 3 touchdowns. Layne has incredible connections with his top two receivers Jordan Dwyer and Mark Hamper, with Dwyer finishing with 7 receptions for 166 yards and 2 TDs, and Hamper finishing with 5 receptions for 97 yards and a TD. With the big day, Jordan Dwyer was able to eclipse 1000 yards on the season.
“We had a great gameplan, coaches did a great job getting us ready to play. Coach Slice, our offensive coordinator always says just keep it simple, throw and catch,” quarterback Jack Layne said on the passing success. “(Jordan Dwyer) made a lot of great catches and the o-line blocked great. When you keep it simple, it’s nice.”
The game started off well for the Vandals, scoring with a Layne to Dwyer touchdown on the opening drive, and forcing Lehigh to punt on their first three drives. After two more Jack Layne passing touchdowns and two Lehigh field goals, Idaho walked into the locker room up 19-6.
Idaho came out very strong in the second, continuing their passing dominance, and drove down the field for a nine play, 75-yard drive capped off by a Deshaun Buchanan two-yard score.
“The second half I thought the first two series really set the tone for us,” Head Coach Jason Eck said. “Going down to have the long scoring drive and then we get a stop, and Zach runs it back for a touchdown. We really took control of the game”
The touchdown Coach Eck was referring to was when linebacker Zach Johnson intercepted Lehigh’s Hayden Johnson’s pass and ran it back 74 yards for a pick six on 4th and 5 to put the Vandals up 34-6 with six and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter.
“Takeaways like that, That’s a whole defense kind of thing. Prior to that Key (Keyshawn James-Newby) was rushing the passer great,” Linebacker Zach Johnson said. “So, you know, the d-line affected and that was a daily practice drill, just sitting in the window. And I just did my job, that’s a whole defensive pick-six, not just one guy.”
Lehigh was able to score with under a minute to go in the game, but it had no impact other than changing the spread, and Idaho came out on top 34-13 when triple zeros hit.
Idaho now moves on to the FCS Championship Quarterfinal and will face off against Big Sky rival and the No. 1 team in the country, the Montana State Bobcats. The two teams faced off in the regular season, which ended in a 38-7 blowout win for Montana State against an injury riddled Idaho team. Now as both teams match up with a spot in the semifinal on the line, will we see a different outcome, or the same? The Vandals and Bobcats face off on Saturday Dec. 14 at 6 p.m. in Bozeman, Montana, and will be broadcast live on EPSN+.
Bryce Norwood can be reached at [email protected]