Taking care of business

MOSCOW — Not being used to being the hunted, Idaho’s football team found itself in an unusual position in this bounceback season.

Down 21-14 midway through the second quarter Saturday against Big Sky foe Portland State, the Vandals eventually found their footing, even going to their bag of tricks and came out on the other side with their best start to a conference season in almost three decades.

Idaho scored 42 unanswered points and continued its improbable march so far in 2022, disposing of Portland State 56-21 to set up a showdown next week at No. 2 Sacramento State between two of the top teams not just in the conference, but the nation.

“They had a good plan on how to attack us,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said. “We stepped up and played better (in the second half). Our effort is better and that’s how we want to go out and play.”

The Vikings (2-5, 1-3) came in ready to go, and after the teams traded long touchdown passes midway through the first quarter, Portland State held a 14-7 advantage.

Idaho (5-2, 4-0) countered with an Elisha Cummings 7-yard scoring catch that tied it at the end of the quarter. However, Vikings quarterback Dante Chachere found paydirt from six yards out to finish a 10-play drive that seemed to give Portland State momentum and a seven-point edge with 4:25 left before halftime.

Au contraire, mon frere. Just when it seemed like the Vikings had things on their side, the Vandals responded just before halftime with a 32-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Gevani McCoy to junior receiver Jermaine Jackson to tie it at 21.

Uncle Mo came back home. From there, Idaho rode that wave and outscored Portland State 35-0 in the second half.

“The defense really answered the challenge in the second half,” Eck said. “That’s what we’ve done all year: respond to adversity.”

Here are some takeaways from the Vandals’ first perfect conference start after four games since 1994:

JJ and HH

Jackson and sophomore Hayden Hatten have been forced to step into huge roles with the injuries at the receiver position. The duo have responded for the better part of the season, and they combined for 174 yards and three scores in this one.

“We had a lot of depth coming into the year,” Hatten said. “So (Jackson) and I kind of view this as our receiver room now. If anyone is going to make a play, it’s going to be us.”

Jackson was on the back end of a 63-yard touchdown pass from McCoy in the first and had the second-quarter score that gave Idaho a shot in the arm going into the locker room. He finished with four catches for 132 yards and two scores.

Hatten had an incredible one-handed catch on the edge of the end line in the third quarter to give the Vandals a 35-21 edge. He got behind the defender, contorted his body, stretched his left arm out and suctioned the ball into his grasp while getting one foot inbounds.

“Having coach Matt (Linehan) as a receivers coach, we’re always catching balls from a guy who can throw it,” Hatten said. “That’s just one of our drills we call it ‘easy ups’ but you have to get creative with it.”

Rushing attack and offensive line

The Vandals only allowed two sacks last week in their 30-23 win against then-No. 2 Montana. In this one, McCoy hit the deck five times, the most times he’s been sacked since the Sept. 3 game at Washington State.

While the line regressed in pass protection, it made up for it by opening up running lanes. Idaho finished with 571 yards of total offense, including 306 on the ground.

Junior Aundre Carter, who came in during the fourth quarter with the rest of the reserves, finished with 92 yards total, including 83 on a run where he started up the middle, bounced to the outside, stiff-armed defensive back Broderick Harrell to the ground and was off to the races before being corralled at the 1-yard line.

“I was a backup in college so I never liked putting the backups in to just take a knee,” Eck said. “He’s done a lot on special teams and he deserved it. That’s the longest run we’ve had all year, putting the pressure on the other guys.”

Freshman runner Anthony Woods eclipsed 100 yards for the first time, going for 139 yards on 15 carries. The usual shifty runner that makes people miss in the open field earned every bit of his output. He ran over defenders and shoved a couple of guys off as well.

“I feel comfortable,” Woods said. “It feels like everybody has my back. We all go out there and play hard for each other.”

Defense runs the table again

Ludicrous. That’s the word that comes to mind when thinking about how good the Vandals have been at taking the ball away.

Idaho had a season-best three turnovers, and now has a turnover differential of plus-11 for the year.

Sophomore Tommy McCormick notched his fourth interception of the season by picking off Chachere in the third quarter and returning it 34 yards to the 1.

“He likes to be ‘Turnover Tommy’ not ‘Touchdown Tommy,’” Eck said. “He wanted to help (pad) our rushing stats out by getting us down to the one.”

The pass rush racked up a season-high four sacks. Senior defensive end Leo Tamba had back-to-back sacks in the third, and seniors Nate DeGraw and Fa’avae Fa’avae each had one.

Ludicrous. That’s the word that comes to mind when thinking about how good the Vandals have been at taking the ball away.

Idaho had a season-best three turnovers, and now has a turnover differential of plus-11 for the year.

Sophomore Tommy McCormick notched his fourth interception of the season by picking off Chachere in the third quarter and returning it 34 yards to the 1.

“He likes to be ‘Turnover Tommy’ not ‘Touchdown Tommy,’” Eck said. “He wanted to help (pad) our rushing stats out by getting us down to the one.”

The pass rush racked up a season-high four sacks. Senior defensive end Leo Tamba had back-to-back sacks in the third, and seniors Nate DeGraw and Fa’avae Fa’avae each had one.

Portland St. 14 7 0 0 — 21

Idaho 14 7 14 21 — 56

First Quarter

PSU: Siofele 2 run (Smith kick), 8:49.

UI: Jackson 63 pass from McCoy (Chavez kick), 8:06.

PSU: Kelly 63 pass from Chachere (Smith kick), 6:28.

UI: Cummings 7 pass from McCoy (Chavez kick), 2:10.

Second Quarter

PSU: Chachere 6 run (Smith kick), 4:25.

UI: Jackson 32 pass from McCoy (Chavez kick), :18.

Third Quarter

UI: McCoy 14 pass from Cummings (Chavez kick), 11:37.

UI: Hatten 6 pass from McCoy (Chavez kick), :22.

Fourth Quarter

UI: Johnson 16 run (Chavez kick), 10:32.

UI: Woods 1 run (Chavez kick), 9:57.

UI: Johnson 1 run (Chavez kick), 1:54.

A: 7,357.

PSU UI

First downs 17 21

Rushes-yards 40-128 40-309

Passing 205 262

Comp-Att-Int 12-25-3 11-20-0

Return Yards 35 0

Punts-Avg. 7-36.9 4-44.0

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1

Penalties-Yards 4-35 3-40

Time of Possession 30:17 29:43

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Portland State, Siofele 11-42, McGee 8-41, Daigbe 6-21, Chachere 11-10, Malary 2-10, Easterling 2-4. Idaho, Woods 15-139, Carter 5-92, Jackson 2-28, Cummings 5-26, Johnson 6-26, McCoy 7-5.

PASSING: Portland State, Chachere 12-25-3-205. Idaho, McCoy 10-19-0-248, Cummings 1-1-0-14.

RECEIVING: Portland State, Kelly 6-119, Bennett 2-38, Talalemotu 2-22, McGee 1-16, Rodriguez 1-10. Idaho, Jackson 4-132, Hatten 3-47, Cummings 2-62, McCoy 1-14, Whitney 1-7.

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks.

Idaho 56, Portland State 21

Stars of the game

Idaho receiver JERMAINE JACKSON had four catches for 132 yards and two scores. Running back ANTHONY WOODS had 16 carries for 139 yards and a score. Defensive end LEO TAMBA had two sacks.

Key plays

McCoy connected with Jackson for a 63-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to tie the game at 7. Freshman Elisha Cummings found McCoy on a 14-yard reverse pass for a score to give Idaho its first lead 28-21 early in the third. Hayden Hatten had a one-handed touchdown grab in the end zone to give Idaho a 35-21 with 22 seconds left in the third.

Up next

Idaho (5-2, 4-0) will play at 6 p.m. next Saturday at Sacramento State (7-0, 4-0).