Vandals' goal: Bounce back, and don't let up

Eastern Washington at Idaho, today, noon. TV: SWX. Streaming: ESPN+. Radio: 92.5 FM, 1080 AM

It was a dream-like ride for the Idaho Vandals through the Big Sky Conference until last week’s loss in the waning moments at Sacramento State handed Idaho its first league loss, and kept the Hornets unbeaten in the Big Sky, just behind Montana State.

Now what?

“We’ll be resilient,” said first-year Idaho coach Jason Eck, whose Vandals play host to Eastern Washington today at noon at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow. “Win or lose, you want to celebrate or feel bad for about 24 hours, then it’s back to work. We’ve got to respond; my message to the team after the game was, that game was feedback, we got an up-close look at what a championship team looks like, and we’re not quite there yet. Doesn’t mean we can’t be there someday, but we’ve got to get better.”

This year is a role reversal for Idaho and EWU.

Idaho (5-3, 4-1 Big Sky), which has had just two winning years in its last 22 seasons, is challenging for its first playoff berth since returning to FCS in 2018.

EWU (2-6, 1-4), in Year 1 after the departure of electrifying quarterback Eric Barriere, is headed to its first losing season since 2006. The Eagles made the FCS playoffs 12 times in the last 18 seasons, with two trips to the national championship game.

“Yeah, I think it is a rivalry,” Eck said. “It’s our closest team in the conference, our recruiting areas probably overlap more than other teams in the conference. We’re heavy through the whole state of Washington, which is where most of their players come from, They’re a perennial playoff team; that’s what we aspire to be.”

Part of Eastern’s woes this year can be traced to the departure of Barriere. But mostly, the Eagles have had a brutal schedule, with not one, but two, money games vs. big-time foes (Oregon and Florida), and losses to Montana State (7-1, 5-0), Weber State (7-1, 4-1) and Sac State (7-0, 5-0), all ranked in the top 10 in FCS.

Idaho is not scheduled to play Montana State and Weber State this season. Idaho is tied for third with Weber in the Big Sky.

Whether it matters as much to the new coaching staff, certainly the returning Vandal players remember how EWU humiliated the Vandals, 71-21 last year in Cheney.

Since Idaho returned to the Big Sky in 2018, EWU has won three of the five meetings, with both of the Vandals’ victories coming in Moscow.

“It’s a big game; they’ve had a real tough schedule, so their record is not up to their typical par, but they still have a lot of talented players,” Eck said. “We’ll get their best effort on Saturday, and we’re going to have to play really well.”

EWU still features an explosive offense, led now by sixth-year senior Gunner Talkington at quarterback, and wide receiver Freddie Roberson.

Limiting those explosive plays will be key, Eck said.

“They’re an explosive offense, they can score points fast, they can score them in bunches,” he said.

Idaho is ranked 15th in the FCS stats poll and 24th in the AFCA Coaches Poll after its first FCS loss of the season.

The Vandals have 17 takeaways to just five turnovers — good enough for the second-best turnover margin in the FCS.