Another chance for Vandals to pick off a Mountain West foe

Idaho at San Jose State • Today, 2 p.m. • themw.com, NBC Sports Bay Area 

By MARK NELKE 

Sports editor 

Idaho has had pretty good success against FBS schools in recent years. 

Since 2022, the Vandals own victories at Mountain West foes Wyoming and Nevada. 

And Idaho’s two losses at Washington State, including this year’s season opener, were one-score games. 

"When coach (Jason) Eck was here, he talked about belief,” first-year Idaho coach Thomas Ford Jr. said earlier this week, in his weekly news conference with area media. 

Even if it’s FCS vs. FBS, it’s still Division I football, Ford said. Besides, with the transfer portal these days, FCS teams like Idaho boast several former FBS players. 

“Even if the talent isn’t the same, we believe we can go make plays,” said Ford, whose Vandals (2-1) play at another Mountain West team, San Jose State (0-2), today at 2 p.m. at CEFCU Stadium.

San Jose State was picked to finish third in the Mountain West. But the Spartans dropped their opener 16-14 at home to Central Michigan and lost 38-7 at Texas the following week, “but I think a lot of teams might lose to Texas this season,” Ford said. 

San Jose State was idle last week. 

Inside linebacker Jordan Pollard, who is on the Bronco Nagurski Preseason Watch List, had 15 tackles vs. Central Michigan and has 20 through two games. 

Ford said the battle between Idaho’s offensive line and San Jose State’s defensive line could be one to watch. 

The Vandals have rushed for a net 660 yards in three games, including 286 in last week’s victory over Utah Tech. 

"We have great depth; we have 8-9 guys that could start on any team in the league,” Ford said of his O-line. “That group has taken on the challenge of being the heartbeat of the offense, and coach (Loren) Endsley (a Lake City High grad) has done a good job of getting those guys right.” 

Ford said he is looking for better special teams play this week. The Vandals missed two field goals last week, then switched during the game to Owen Forsman, a redshirt freshman from Lakeland High, who booted two field goals and is now listed at the top of the depth chart at placekicker. 

Idaho also gave up a first down on a fake punt last week, and had a muffed punt. 

“We've got to get better at special teams,” Ford said. “We have to get better at offense and defense, but special teams (mistakes) were more glaring this past week.” 

Ford said running back Elisha Cummings (lower leg injury) will likely not play today. 

San Jose State finished 7-6 last year, losing 41-39 in five overtimes to South Florida in the Hawaii Bowl. 

Today’s matchup will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2012, when Idaho was still in FBS, and San Jose State won 42-13 at Moscow.