MOSCOW - Idaho athletic director Rob Spear could be heard outside the Kibbie Dome before Saturday's football game rallying Vandal fans around a team that would be more disciplined when it took the field against San Jose State.

Idaho's interim head coach Jason Gesser relayed the importance of discipline in his postgame press conference.

The Vandal players managed to show some discipline for much of three quarters before two 15-yard penalties helped open up a scoring barrage in the Spartans' 42-13 Western Athletic Conference victory in front of an announced crowd of 14,429.

"These guys need to start understanding that holding their emotions and not reacting is going to help us out better than reacting," Gesser said. "We did a better job of controlling it tonight. Obviously, we had a couple of slips, but we are going in the right direction, I feel, in making those better discipline decisions.”

The 33-year-old Gesser was tabbed to change that culture in the midst of a tumultuous two-week stretch that has seen head coach Robb Akey fired when the Vandals dropped to 1-7 after losing 70-28 to Louisiana Tech on Oct. 20. After Akey’s firing, Idaho also dismissed two players, including starting quarterback Dominique Blackman, and indefinitely suspended another player.

Gesser, who is being considered by Spear for Idaho’s head coaching job, said playing with discipline has been a point of emphasis since he took over.

“If guys don’t do what we want them to do they are not going to play — bottom line,” he said. “That is what we are telling (them).”

With all of the activity surrounding the team, Gesser and the Vandals could not have asked for a better start to the game. Idaho’s D’Mario Carter pounced on a San Jose State fumble on an opening kickoff sent high and short by senior kicker Trey Farquhar. Logan Bushnell connected with Najee Lovett for a 12-yard touchdown pass —the first of the senior quarterback’s career.

The Spartans (7-2, 3-1 WAC) seemed like the undisciplined team, turning the ball over three times in the first quarter. Still, Idaho found itself trailing 14-7 at halftime after mustering just 47 yards of offense.

The Vandals (1-8, 1-3) switched to a no-huddle attack after the break that sparked some life into the offense. A pair of Farquhar field goals pulled the Vandals to 14-13 midway through the third quarter.

“When we went no-huddle it kind of picked up the pace,” said Bushnell, who was starting his second game this season. “Our offense (was) kind of clicking more, and I feel like that helped us a lot.”

San Jose State responded with a quick five-play, 75-yard scoring drive that was the first of four touchdowns over a 12-minute span. The Spartans’ scoring run included a personal foul by senior defensive end Benson Mayowa and an interference call for running into the punt returner by James Baker.

Spartans quarterback David Fales, who entered the game with the second-highest passing accuracy in the FBS, finished 27 of 39 passing for 328 yards and four TDs.

The Vandals, meanwhile, had 288 yards of total offense. Bushnell was 14 of 29 for 196 yards and an interception that was returned for a score in the fourth quarter. Junior Taylor Davis also played for two possessions but passed for just 11 yards.

“I thought our defense came out and they played very well tonight,” Gesser said. “They kept us in the game a while. Offensively, we need to convert on third down.”

With Akey not on the Idaho sideline for the first time in six years, the players acknowledged the game was an emotional one.

“He was a defensive coach, so he was always on our side at practice,” said senior linebacker Robert Siavii, who led the team with 11 tackles and an interception. “This whole week, just not having (Akey) on that side, that gave me another chip on my shoulder to go out there and play hard for my team.”

San Jose St. 0 14 14 14—42

Idaho 7 0 6 0—13

First Quarter

Id_Lovett 12 pass from Bushnell (Farquhar kick), 14:06.

Second Quarter

SJS_Eskridge 1 run (Lopez kick), 11:26.

SJS_Carr 15 pass from Fales (Lopez kick), 7:55.

Third Quarter

Id_FG Farquhar 41, 13:09.

Id_FG Farquhar 33, 7:31.

SJS_Grigsby 15 pass from Fales (Lopez kick), 6:04.

SJS_C.Jones 35 pass from Fales (Lopez kick), :34.

Fourth Quarter

SJS_Grigsby 6 pass from Fales (Lopez kick), 9:42.

SJS_Benwikere 47 interception return (Lopez kick), 9:07.

A_14,429.

SJS Id

First downs 21 12

Rushes-yards 29-85 37-81

Passing 328 207

Comp-Att-Int 27-39-1 17-37-1

Return Yards 54 5

Punts-Avg. 6-43.7 9-43.0

Fumbles-Lost 3-3 4-1

Penalties-Yards 1-5 3-35

Time of Possession 30:14 29:46

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_San Jose St., Eskridge 16-47, Fales 3-24, C.Jones 1-9, D.Freeman 3-8, Liaina 2-1, Jurich 1-0, Team 3-(minus 4). Idaho, Parkins 4-43, Handley 8-32, Baker 11-23, R.Bass 5-15, T.Davis 1-(minus 9), Bushnell 8-(minus 23).

PASSING_San Jose St., Fales 27-39-1-328. Idaho, Bushnell 14-29-1-196, T.Davis 3-8-0-11.

RECEIVING_San Jose St., C.Jones 7-73, Grigsby 6-88, Carr 6-82, Otten 5-61, Nunn 2-22, Eskridge 1-2. Idaho, M.Scott 9-79, Lovett 3-33, Veltung 2-44, Level 1-33, Parkins 1-21, Handley 1-(minus 3).