Depleted Vandals victorious over Vikings

Injuries continue to plague the Vandals, but once again Idaho was able to find a way to win.

With only one healthy quarterback on the roster, the Vandals (7-3, 4-2) relied on the rushing attack in a 39-30 victory against Portland State in a Big Sky football contest Saturday in Hillsboro, Ore.

“That was a battle. Portland State is still playing really hard even though their season hasn’t really put them in position for playoff position or anything,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said. “Proud of our team. I really love the way the defense played red-zone defense in the second half. Holding those guys to three field goals in the red zone was huge.”

Sophomore quarterback Jack Layne was ruled out with a nagging wrist injury he suffered last week against Eastern Washington. Run-game QB Rocco Koch was not available as well from injuries suffered in the same game.

UI’s other injured QBs, Nick Josifek and Holden Bea, are already out for the season.

So freshman quarterback Jack Wagner was back under center and wide receiver Mark Hamper took several snaps in the wildcat formation. Wagner was efficient on the day going 11-for-17 passing for 205 yards, one touchdown and no turnovers.

Wide receiver Jordan Dwyer had several big plays in the game and hit triple-digits in receiving yards. The sophomore had five receptions for 109 yards and a great catch by the sideline for a touchdown.

Have yourself a “Day-Day”

The story of the game was freshman running back Deshaun “Day-Day” Buchanan, who ran wild on the Viking defense. Buchanan finished the day with 22 carries for 212 yards and two touchdowns. The freshman played beyond his years as he showed patience in the backfield and attacked any running hole that opened up.

“I’d say that’s definitely something I’ve been able to put in my toolbox since I came to Idaho,” Buchanan said. “Patience is probably just the most important thing you get from experience. So I definitely just added that.”

The 212 yards on the ground by the Chandler, Ariz., native were the most by an Idaho running back since Deonte Jackson rushed for 214 yards against Cal Poly in 2007. It was the 10th best rushing performance in Vandal history. Russell Davis set the record against the Vikings back in 1981 with 345 rushing yards.

Art Williams added 43 yards on nine carries for two more rushing scores.

As a team, Idaho accumulated 257 rushing yards on the day, the second consecutive game that the Vandals topped the 250 yards rushing mark.

“That’s kind of what our program is all about. I mean, both of those guys were guys we recruited out of high school. We believed in those guys, we developed them, and they’re doing a great job for us,” Eck said. “I don’t think we’ve really missed a beat with our running game, even though we’ve had some guys injured.”

Vandal defense got to Chachere

In the postgame news conference, Eck stated that the original goal was to make dual-threat quarterback Dante Chachere rely on his arm. The plan worked, but Chachare was up for the task, going 15-of-21 for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

“I think we tightened up some of the windows and kept him from having some easy throws because he threw the ball well,” Eck said. “We wanted to force him to beat us by throwing the ball, but he was pretty accurate. Credit to him.”

Portland State scored a touchdown on each of its first three drives and did so by taking what the Vandals gave it. Two of the three touchdown drives were 11 plays or more in length. Both of those long drives took a combined 14:07 off the clock.

As has been the case all season long, Idaho learned and adapted defensively. The Vandals upped the pressure and got to Chachare five times. Five different defensive linemen earned a sack in the game. Keyshawn James-Newby, the Big Sky sack leader, earned his first sack since Oct. 5 to up his season total to nine.

“I needed it,” James-Newby said. “It was the dry spot for a couple games, so it had to come around sometime, right?”

PSU led 21-14 in the second quarter before a pair of Buchanan rushing scores of 22 and 13 yards put the Vandals ahead for good.

UI led 28-21 at the half.

The defense came up strongest in the second half when Idaho was able to hold PSU out of the end zone. The Vikings settled for three field goals. The biggest stop came after a punt return error after the Portland State punt came up so short that the blocker didn’t know where it was after it hit him in the shoulder.

The Vikings had the ball to start the drive at the Idaho 25-yard line. With the help of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on PSU, the Vandals were able to make another key late-game stand.

Wild closing sequence

Idaho held a one-point advantage — 31-30 — when the offense took the ball with 5:11 remaining. The Vandals drove the ball down the field on the back of Buchanan, who touched the ball on five consecutive plays. Portland State held strong and forced the Vandals into a fourth-and-3 situation just outside the two-minute warning.

Eck does what he likes to do and gambled by going for it. Williams took the direct snap and found a gap for a 9-yard gain. On the next play, PSU allowed Williams to score to save time as the Vikings hoped Eck would kick the extra point and keep it a one score contest.

At first Idaho set up for swinging gate play in hopes to draw a timeout from Portland State. The Vandals settled for a extra point kick instead, but a penalty on the Vikings allowed Eck to go for two after all. In the exact same play that converted the fourth down, Williams scored and sealed the win for Idaho.

“Once we got the penalty that put it at the one and a half, I just thought their chance of stopping us wasn’t really good,” Eck said. “And essentially, if we made it a nine-point game, that was gonna be really, really difficult for them to have enough time to come back with it being two possessions.”

Idaho 14 14 3 8—39

Portland State 7 14 3 6—30

First quarter

IDA — Williams 7 run (Pope kick), 10:49.

PSU — Thompson 1 run (Uribe kick), 4:11.

IDA — Dwyer 27 pass from Wagner (Pope kick), 1:14.

Second quarter

PSU — Craig 20 pass from Chachere (Uribe kick), 8:38.

PSU — Alvarez 26 pass from Chachere (Uribe kick), 5:40.

IDA — Buchanan 22 run (Pope kick), 2:52.

IDA — Buchanan 13 run (Pope kick), 0:42.

Third quarter

PSU — FG Uribe 44, 10:05.

IDA — FG Pope 25, 5:53.

Fourth quarter

PSU — FG Uribe 27, 14:11.

PSU — FG Uribe 48, 5:11.

IDA — Williams 3 run (Williams run), 1:56.

RUSHING — Idaho, Buchanan 22-212, Williams 9-43, Hamper 3-19, Wagner 2-(minus-16); Portland State, Thompson 15-71, Craig 9-40, Chachere 18-25, Grubb 1-0, Spence 1-(minus-2).

PASSING — Idaho, Wagner 11-17-0-205; Portland State, Chachere 15-21-0-180.

RECEIVING — Idaho, Dwyer 5-109, Hamper 3-62, Mini 1-17, Moore 1-10, Buchanan 1-7; Portland State, Alvarez 5-63, Thompson 2-33, Denham 3-27, Lynch 3-21, Craig 1-20, Beaman 1-16.

Isbelle can be reached at 208-848-2268, risbelle@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyIsbelle.