Vandals thumped by Idaho State in finale

By MARK NELKE 

Sports writer 

A season which began with high hopes ended in disappointment for the Idaho Vandals on senior day Saturday. 

The Vandals trailed by 27 points at halftime en route to a 37-16 loss to the Idaho State Bengals in the season finale for both teams before 7,428 at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome. 

“Obviously not the way we wanted to send our seniors out, but that’s a very nice team across the field,” first-year Idaho coach Thomas Ford Jr. said of Idaho State. “Coach (Cody) Hawkins has done a nice job with that program; they’re improving rapidly. I know that this program will do the same in a year from now.” 

Idaho (4-8, 2-6 Big Sky) saw its streak of three straight trips to the FCS playoffs end. The four wins for the Vandals were the fewest since Idaho won four games in 2021, the last of five straight losing seasons which triggered the end of Paul Petrino’s run as Idaho coach after nine seasons.

“You have to take a step back and look at the roster that we had, and the lack of experience that we had," Ford said. “Those early losses in close games, that tells the story of a young team. If the ball bounces our way in a couple of those other games, we could easily be 8-4. But at the end of the day, we didn’t live up to what we wanted to do, and that was be a playoff team. You’re not going to see a head coach that’s going to work harder in America to get this team back to the playoffs.” 

Idaho State (6-6, 5-3) jumped out to a 27-0 halftime lead and went on to beat Idaho for the first time in a full season since 2018 — the Vandals’ first season back in FCS after 22 seasons in FBS. 

(ISU also beat Idaho in the COVID-shortened spring season of 2021.) 

Idaho State, which finished with its best record since going 6-5 in 2018 under Rob Phenicie, dominated the first half.  

ISU junior Jordan Cooke threw for two touchdowns, both in the first half. The first was a 14-yarder to Ian Duarte, formerly of Eagle High, to make it 10-0 late in the first quater. 

Tsion Nunnally, a transfer from Washington State, then got behind the Idaho defensive back down the left sideline and hauled in a 30-yard TD pass in the end zone from Cooke to make it 24-0 with 28 seconds left in the first half.  

The Vandals were called for roughing the passer on the play. That, coupled with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Idaho, meant ISU kicked off from the Vandal 35.  

The Bengals tried an onside kick and recovered, and moments later Trajan Sinatra kicked a 33-yard field goal on the last play of the half. 

Cooke also ran for a pair of scores, one in each half. 

ISU outgained Idaho 404-259 in total yards. Dason Brooks ran for 103 yards for the Bengals and topped the 1,000-yard mark. Nunnally caught six passes for 86 yards, and Duarte had five receptions for 70 yards. 

“They just do a good job of spreading you out,” Ford said of ISU. “When you play zone, you’re going to give up some of those (short completions). Where we needed to be a little better was on third downs, when the quarterback moves. He did a great job of extending plays all season, and we just didn’t have great eyes in the secondary when we were either in man coverage in some spots, or when he did extend the play and move out of the pocket.” 

Idaho quarterback Joshua Wood suffered a shoulder injury when he took a hit on a long run late in the first half. 

True freshman Sawyer Teeney played the second half and led Idaho on its two touchdown drives, including his first collegiate TD pass, a 21-yarder to Nolan McWilliams late in the fourth quarter. 

Idaho was without two of its top three running backs due to injury, including Eli Cummings. The Vandals were also missing several wide receivers due to injury, including two of their top three pass-catching wideouts. 

In three seasons under Cody Hawkins, ISU went from one win the year before he arrived to 3, 5 and 6 victories. 

"I think you saw over the last month what this team is capable of," said Hawkins, whose team won its last four games. "Now the task is keeping this momentum going into the offseason and attacking it with the confidence that we can play this kind of football."

Recruiting for transfers for next season begins today, Ford said. The early signing period is Dec. 3-5, and the transfer portal opens Jan. 2. 

Ford said Idaho has nearly 20 high school kids committed; he hopes to only need to sign around 10 transfers. Last year, they needed nearly 30, he said.  

“If we stay together, we can be pretty special,” Ford said. 

Idaho St.     10    17    0    10    —    37 

Idaho     0    0    8    8    —    16 

First quarter 

ISU — FG Sinatra 39, 10:17 

ISU — Duarte 14 pass from Cooke (Sinatra kick), :50 

Second quarter 

ISU — Cooke 1 run (Sinatra kick), 6:01 

ISU — Nunnally 30 pass from Cook (Sinatra kick), :28 

ISU — FG Sinatra 33, :00 

Third quarter 

IDAHO — Thomas 16 run (Koch run), 3:36 

Fourth quarter 

ISU — Cooke 9 run (Sinatra kick), 11:47 

ISU — FG Sinatra 19, 7:06 

IDAHO — McWilliams 21 pass from Teeney (Matheney pass from Teeney), 1:57 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

RUSHING — ISU, Brooks 23-103, Cooke 13-72, Burton 2-10, Sudbury 1-6, Harsin 2-4, Team 1-(minus 1), Duarte 2-(minus 2). Idaho, Thomas 15-66, Wood 2-29, McCraney 1-23, Teeney 5-11, Matheney 2-5, Kincheloe 1-(minus 1). 

PASSING — ISU, Cooke 20-33-0-212. Idaho, Wood 9-13-1-73, Teeney 8-12, 8-12-0-53. 

RECEIVING — ISU, Nunnaly 6-86, Duarte 5-70, Morgan 4-38, Burton 3-7, Shulikov 2-11. Idaho, McWilliams 5-49, McCraney 4-42, Bogan 3-11, Swanson 2-15, Thomas 2-13, Matheney 1-(minus 4).