MOSCOW — The play began to unfold like many of the fruitless one from Idaho’s first five drives Thursday night.

But this time, quarterback Matt Linehan was able to avoid the sack, and just before getting hit, dumped the ball off to running back Aaron Duckworth.

Duckworth sifted down the right sideline, in and out of a few tackles, for a crowd-awakening 47-yard gain.

That play seemed to wake up the Vandals as well, who had just one first down to show for their first five drives and trailed by a field goal.

Idaho scored two plays later when Linehan scrambled right and gunned it back across the middle to Jacob Sannon for a 4-yard touchdown.

Idaho scored on its next possession as well, and its defense also began to get excited as the Vandals handled Sacramento State 28-6 in the season opener before an announced crowd of 10,526 at the Kibbie Dome.

“I got the ball and I’m like, ‘I’ve got to make a play,’” said Duckworth, who also rushed for 148 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. “I think that gave everybody that energy, that feeling that we could win this.”

“Duck’s a home run hitter,” Linehan said. “He’s liable to make a play any time he’s on the field. It was special to see him make a bad play into a good play.”

“I just think it got us going,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said.

The Vandals, coming off a Famous Idaho Potato Bowl victory, won for the sixth straight time, stretching back into last season.

It wasn’t a clean wopener by any means, with Idaho turning the ball over three times. But the Vandal defense kept the Hornets out of the end zone. Sac State managed just eight first downs and 190 total yards.

“We were flying around; we were having fun,” Idaho linebacker Kaden Elliss said. “We wanted to get excited, and let the passion flow. The defense, we expected to dominate.”

“I thought our defense played well,” Petrino said. “Offensively we didn’t play well at all, but we did play well enough to win.”

Leading 14-3 late in the first half and with the momentum, Idaho decided to push its luck, deep in its own end. But Linehan was rocked for the second time in the half by defensive lineman George Obinna, lost the ball and Sac State recovered at the Vandal 6. But Idaho forced a pair of incompletions, and the Hornets had to settle for a 23-yard field goal with 2 seconds left in the half.

Cade Coffey’s first punt as a Vandal, a rugby-style effort, traveled 52 yards. The second one by the freshman from Lakeland High, a straight-on effort, soared 58 yards and bounced into the end zone for a touchback. For the game, he punted six times for a 48.0-yard average, including a 51-yard rugby punt that bounded out of bounds at the Sac State 4. It led to a punt and a short-field Vandal drive for their fourth touchdown. He also slowed up a kickoff returner long enough for a teammate to knock him out of bounds near midfield.

“I thought Cade Coffey played awesome,” Petrino said. “His first time out there, man he had some great punts, really changed field position, did a good job kicking off, did a good job on his extra points. I thought he had an awesome day; I was really proud of him.”

Elliss noticed, too.

“And he even got a little dirty, saving a touchdown,” he said.

Idaho outgained Sac State 170-117 in the first half, 356-190 for the game. 144 of the Vandals’ yards in the first half came on their two scoring drives. Linehan was sacked four times in the first half. For the game,

Linehan was intercepted twice, once by Dre Terrell in the first half, then by Mister Harriel at the Vandal 35 in the third quarter. After the second pick, linebacker Kaden Elliss came in off the left edge to stop Joseph Ajeigbe for a 1-yard loss on fourth and 1.

“I was pleased at times but we let guys get out of a couple of tackles which resulted in big plays,” Sacramento State coach Jody Sears said. “At the end of the day we didn’t tackle well enough against good football team. There are no moral victories. They ran the ball for 193 yards which is inexcusable and that’s because of too many missed tackles.”

Notes: Zion Dixon, a redshirt sophomore from Lake City High, started at quick guard. … The first penalty of the game — illegal substitution by the Vandals on defense — didn’t take place until midway through the third quarter.

Idaho 28, Sacramento St. 6

Sacramento St. 0 6 0 0 — 6

Idaho 0 14 7 7 — 28

Second Quarter

CSUS—FG Medeiros 52, 14:16.

IDA—Sannon 8 pass from Linehan (Coffey kick), 6:19.

IDA—Mwehla 35 pass from Linehan (Coffey kick), 3:39.

CSUS—FG Medeiros 23, 0:02.

Third Quarter

IDA—Henderson 1 run (Coffey kick), 9:40.

Fourth Quarter

IDA—Duckworth 18 run (Coffey kick), 6:13.

A—10,526.

CSUS IDA

First downs 8 15

Rushes-yards 35-95 44-193

Passing 95 163

Comp-Att-Int 10-25-0 14-19-2

Return Yards 89 23

Punts-Avg. 11-0.0 6-0.0

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1

Penalties-Yards 1-2 3-20

Time of Possession 29:06 30:54

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Sacramento St., Dotson 5-46, Ajeigbe 10-34, Thomson 12-11, Gable 5-6, C.Erickson 2-3, Clapper 1-(minus 5). Idaho, Duckworth 19-142, Saunders 13-78, Henderson 2-5, Thigpen 1-4, Ma.Linehan 9-(minus 36).

PASSING—Sacramento St., Thomson 10-21-0-95, Clapper 0-4-0-0. Idaho, Ma.Linehan 14-19-2-163.

RECEIVING—Sacramento St., Hennie 5-49, Lindsey 2-33, Dotson 2-5, Rucker 1-8. Idaho, Mwehla 7-63, Sannon 4-42, Duckworth 2-49, Onunwor 1-9.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—Sacramento St., Medeiros 36.