MOSCOW OK, so Homecoming games are supposed to be an easy W, but this bordered on being ridiculous.
Scoring on 11 of its first 12 possessions, including all eight in the first half, the University of Idaho crushed Lehigh 77-14 in a non-league game at the UI Kibbie Dome Saturday afternoon.
The Vandals set a dome record for most points, breaking the mark of 66 thye scored earlier this season in beating Southwest Texas State. It's also the second-highest total in school history, short only of the 83 points Idaho scored in 1923 in shutting out the College of Idaho.
Idaho made it look to easy by controlling the line of scrimmage, which allowed the offense to roll up 694 yards and face only seven third-down situations in the game. Defensively, the Vandals' four-man pash rush had Lehigh quarterback Scott Semptimphelter on the run.
The result was a horrible mismatch. Lehigh, at 6-4 overall, was in way over its head while Idaho, 8-2, did what it pleased and even played members of its scout teams in the fourth quarter.
''Idaho just overwhelmed us,'' Lehigh coach Hank Small said. ''Our pride's a lot more banged up than we are phsyically right now.''
Lehigh, which was making only its third trip to play a game west of the Missisippi, doesn't offer athletic scholarships, but does help players with financial aid. That, however, couldn't offset the big difference in talent and speed.
''To be honest with you, I thought it was going to be a closer game than it was,'' Idaho coach John L. Smith said. ''I thought their offense was real good. Looking at it on film. I thought we could move the ball on their defense and do some things with special team. I felt like our skill level was better than theirs and we could execute some things.''
Namely, execute Lehigh with whatever play the Vandals decided to run.
UI quarterback Doug Nussmeier had all day in the pocket and threw for five touchdowns, giving him the Big Sky Conference career record for TD passes with 89. He wound up completing 14-of-20 for 308 yards with one interception.
The running game also abused Lehigh as freshman Joel Thomas had 165 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns while Sherriden May had 122 on 23 attempts and three TDs. In all, Idaho rushed for 350 yards and passed for 349.
''When someone owns the line of scrimmage, that is a bad starting point,'' Small said. ''To me, when you look at it, that's the whole game in one fact. Nussmeier had a lot of time with a four-man rush. He had all the time he needed to sit back there and observe whether to go deep, go real deep, go short or to scramble.
''And we can't pass protect against a four-man rush. With their four-man rush Scott (Semptimphelter, the Lehigh QB) has to run around. With two good passing teams against each other, that's the fundmental end of it right there because you are scrambling with your quarterback and you can't protect him and the other guy has all the time he needs to look around.''
Lehigh, which ranks third in I-AA in passing behind Montana and Idaho, wound up with 260 yards passing as Semptimphelter completed 19-of-34 for 245 yards. Idaho, however, recorded five quarterback sacks and 14 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
''They didn't throw the ball downfield for any big plays and they didn't run the ball down field for any big play either. That's positive,'' UI defensive coordinator Craig Bray said. ''That was our big concern. Their quarterback is good enough to riddle our club if we are not where we are supposed to be. Obviously we didn't shut them down but we made their quarterback scramble and there weren't a lot of places to throw the ball when he did scramble.''
Idaho also found another way to stop Lehigh's offense keep it off the field.
The Vandals took the opening kickoff and went 66 yards in four plays. Nussmeier found Keith Neal on a streak pattern all alone for a 38-yard touchdown pass just 1:51 into the game.
On the TD pass, Lehigh was called for roughing the passer and the penalty was enforced on the kickoff. Thus, Idaho kicked off the from the 50 and Mike Hollis hit a beautiful bouncy onside kick that reserve tight end Andy Gilroy recovered.
This time, Idaho went 32 yards in five plays as Gilroy also got the touchdown on a 2-yard pass from Nussmeier. Just 3:31 into the game, Idaho had a 14-0 lead and Lehigh's offense had still yet to see the field.
That's pretty much how the rest of the game went as well. Idaho has 28 points and 210 yards of offense in the first quarter and then added 28 more in the second quarter for a 56-7 lead. The Vandals had 415 yards at the half as May had 112 yards rushing and three touchdowns while Nussmeier was 12-of-17 for 255 yards and four TDs.
''We kind of got off to a big start,'' Smith said. ''We executed a lot of things well. I think overall we just had more skill and more size.''
''I think we physically matched up pretty good against them,'' UI offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. ''It looks easy when the players are executing their assignments. You can go out in a game like that and overlook somebody and not execute or play hard and things don't look as good. Our emphasis was to do a better job of executing the little things on offense. When you do that, it makes it a lot easier.''
The Vandals' streak of scoring on every possession finally ended on the first series of the third quarter when Nussmeier threw an interception deep in Idaho territory. Lehigh was able to convert for its final score, but then had to watch Idaho convert on its next three possessions as the Vandals emptied the bench.
''It surprised me,'' UI offensive tackle Jody Schnug said of the 77 points. ''At half, we knew we could score when we wanted to because we did. We came out in the second half and the ones (first team) were in for two series and then the twos came in and played a great game and kept it going.''
''They are probably the fastest offense that we have seen teamwise,'' Lehigh safety Jason Mack said. ''Their speed was a big factor. It took us the whole first quarter to adjust. It seemed like every time they (UI receivers) were beating us to our drops. Their speed hurt us and Nussmeier was getting the ball there before we got to our drops. It happened so fast.''
Lehigh0 7 7 017
1Idaho28 28 14 777 UIKeith Neal 38 pass from Doug Nussmeier (Mike Hollis kick)
UIAndy Gilroy 2 pass from Nussmeier (Hollis kick)
UISherriden May 3 run (Hollis kick)
UIMay 1 run (Hollis kick)
LUBrian Klingerman 29 run (Byron Dyson kick)
UIKyle Gary 10 pass from Nussmeier (Hollis kick)
UINussmeier 5 run (Hollis kick)
UIMay 2 run (Hollis kick)
UIPaul Burke 27 pass from Nussmeier (Hollis kick)
LURaphael Stillings 1 run (Dyson kick)
UIAlan Allen 46 pass from Nussmeier (Hollis kick)
UIJoel Thomas 5 run (Hollis kick)
UIThomas 22 run (Hollis kick)
A12,132.
LU UI
First downs 22 31
Rushes-yards41-91 53-350
Passing 260 344
Return Yards 15 56
Comp-Att-Int20-38-0 16-22-1
Punts5-214 1-35
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 2-1
Penalties-Yards 7-62 7-55
Time of Possession 30:50 29:10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHINGLehigh, Brian Klingerman 2-40, Raphael Stillings 11-29, Mark Lookenbill 11-20. Jason Mastropierro 4-11, Scott Semptimphelter 8-7, Bob Aylsworth 5-(-16). Idaho, Joel Thomas 21-165, Sherriden May 23-122, Eric Hisaw 3-28, Doug Nussmeier 3-18, Alan Allen 1-13, David Griffin 2-4.
PASSINGLehigh, Scott Semptimphelter 19-34-0 245, Bob Aylsworth 1-4-0 15. Idaho, Doug Nussmeier 14-20-1 308, Eric Hisaw 2-2-0 36.
RECEIVINGLehigh, Dave Cecchini 9-128, Jason Mastropierro 3-32, Mike Butz 2-28, Kevin Rubin 2-20, Mark Lafeir 2-19, Mark Lookenbill 1-18, Erik Ekstrom 1-15. Idaho, Kyle Gary 6-131, Allen 5-123, Burke 3-50, Keith Neal 1-38, Andy Gilroy 1-2.
