MOSCOW — Idaho football took to the field for its first official scrimmage of the preseason on Saturday in the Kibbie Dome.

The regular season kicks off in just three weeks, on Saturday, Aug. 31, at Penn State, before the Vandals return home to take on Central Washington on Sept. 7.

“It was nice to see the defense fly around, play with excitement,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “I thought the offense made a lot of big plays. Jeff Cotton made a lot of big plays. Offensively there were times that we had some big runs, I just don’t think we executed great on third downs.

“I thought defense was really good on third downs, and I thought offense made big plays. Now offense has to be better on third downs and defense can’t give up big plays. Overall, I’m excited to watch the tape.”

Cotton stole the show on offense. He was the Vandals’ leading receiver on the day, and took four catches in for scores. Statistics were not available.

Petrino was also encouraged by the play of quarterbacks Mason Petrino and Lewiston High product Colton Richardson.

“Right now, I just want them all to get better,” coach Petrino said. “Every single day. We just need to keep improving and getting better each day. Sometimes with the quarterback, if a guy drops the ball, that affects you. But bottom line, you’ve got to move the ball and get into the endzone. I think we did that well at times today, and other times we killed ourselves on a couple of third and shorts.”