MOSCOW - Chalk this one up to the defense - particularly the first portion of Saturday's second scrimmage of spring football for the Idaho Vandals.

"Our defense got after it pretty well today," said coach Robb Akey of the second of three scrimmages that serve as a prelude to the April 23 spring finale - the Silver and Gold Game. "It was better than the last scrimmage we had."

Of course, when one side of the ball is dominant in a scrimmage that means the other side might not be performing to expectations.

That was the case Saturday as the Vandals covered just 158 total yards - a number slightly skewed by quarterback sacks amounting to minus-59 yards. The quarterbacks combined to complete 50 percent of their passes, while the backs ran for 61 yards.

"We need to have a greater sense of urgency on offense to make things happen," Akey said. "We have some bodies that are banged up, but we've got to play the game.

"On the flipside, I'm able to say that because our defense is doing some pretty good things. That is a positive."

The defensive front was adept at applying pressure with the linebackers and secondary doing their parts to make it a united effort.

Linebacker Korey Toomer, who redshirted last year, led all tacklers with eight, while safety Gary Walker had five stops. Up front, ends Benson Mayowa and Charles Smith had two sacks each as the defensive unit totaled 11 tackles for loss and seven quarterback sacks. Andre Ferguson also had two tackles for loss.

The lone interception went to D'Mario Carter, who picked off Justin Podrabsky late in the scrimmage. Podrabsky atoned for his mistake later with a 2-yard TD pass to Clayton Homme.

The only other TD was a 20-yard pass from Brian Reader to Michael LaGrone as Trey Farquhar accounted for the other scoring with field goals of 21 and 27 yards.

Reader finished the day with 87 yards after completing 9 of 17 passes, which included a run of eight in a row. Taylor Davis added 46 yards on 7 of 15.

"There are a lot of really good things that are taking place," Akey said. "It was a step forward. We're getting better as a team."

The Vandals scrimmage again Saturday.

SCORING PLAYS

FG Trey Farquhar 21

FG Farquhar 27

Michael LaGrone 20 pass from Brian Reader (Farquhar kick)

Clayton Homme 2 pass from Justin Podrabsky (Farquhar kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - McCarty 6-22, Vital 6-19, Bass 4-13, Cunningham 3-7, Bushnell 1-0, Davis 4-(-22), Reader 5-(-37).

PASSING - Reader 9-17-0-87, Davis 7-15-0-46, Podrabsky 2-3-1-18, Bushnell 1-3-5.

RECEIVING - Davis 4-20, Crockom 2-14, Veltung 2-35, LaGrone 2-32, Bushnell 2-24, Homme 2-17, Bailey 2-5, Bass 1-5, Washington 1-2.