Vandals head to Cowboy country looking for first win

Two teams will look for their first victories of the season when No. 7 Idaho travels to Laramie, Wyo., to take on Wyoming of the Football Bowl Subdivision at 12:30 p.m. today on TruTV and streaming on Max.

“They’re very good at home, so it’s gonna be a challenge,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said. “I think we gotta build off of last week’s performance and play better, really, on all sides. But especially offense and special teams, defense can’t rest on their laurels.”

The Vandals pushed then-No. 3 Oregon a lot harder than the Ducks were expecting in a 24-14 loss last week. The Cowboys threw a pick-6 on the second play of the game and were steamrolled by Arizona State 48-7 in their contest.

Idaho has played against one other Mountain West Conference team under Eck — a 33-6 win against Nevada last season.

Wyoming has a first-year head coach in Jay Sawvel, who was previously the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator.

Jack Layne replaced by a Jack and a Layne

The Vandals will be without starting quarterback Jack Layne, who broke his collarbone against the Ducks and will miss several weeks. In his place is Jack Wagner. The redshirt-freshman saw limited action against Oregon and tossed an interception late in the game.

Wagner has the physical ability to take over the job in Layne’s absence, but how will he be able to handle the tough War Memorial Stadium environment?

“He’s had a great week. He’s really prepared well, and I expect him to play very well,” Eck said. “We have a lot of confidence in Jack (Wagner).”

Linebacker Dylan Layne, Jack Layne’s twin brother, returns for Idaho after missing the season opener. Dylan Layne will add depth to a position that was led by Eck’s son, Jaxton Eck, with a team-high 14 tackles in the Oregon game.

Two offenses looking to bounce back

Idaho had to get a little tricky to come up with chunk plays against Oregon last week. The three biggest plays came from a flea flicker, a halfback screen and a direct snap to the running back who then handed it to the quarterback for a touchdown.

The Vandals were only able to gain 217 yards and, surprisingly, were held to 49 yards rushing. Junior running back Elisha Cummings led the team with eight carries for 43 yards, but his big contribution was on the screen pass that he was able to turn into a 34 yard gain.

Fellow junior running back Nate Thomas had 36 total yards on his three touches, so expect to see his number called more on Saturday. The running game will also be helped by Wagner at quarterback and his ability to run the run-pass-option game.

Sophomore wide receiver Jordan Dwyer was held to just two catches and Jason Eck said that he hopes that they can get him more into a groove.

The Cowboys could only muster 118 yards and committed three turnovers against Arizona State.

Starting quarterback Evan Svoboda really struggled in a 6-for-15 performance for 42 yards and two interceptions. Kaden Anderson came into the game late and captained the only scoring drive for Wyoming.

“I know they’re disappointed. Just the history of that program, they’ve been a prideful program,” Eck said. “They won a bowl game last year. ... So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna be a great challenge. We’re gonna have to play better than we played last week to get the win.”

The running game for the Cowboys will go through D.J. Jones. The North Carolina transfer had 17 carries for 43 yards last week. Starting running back Harrison Waylee is out after knee surgery from an injury he suffered on his first carry of a live scrimmage in August.

Cowboy tough

Do not let the blowout loss to Arizona State fool you, the Cowboys have a strong defense.

Things got away from Wyoming early and it had no answer for it. The Sun Devils compiled 499 yards of total offense that included 241 yards on the ground.

Sawvel was the defensive coordinator before taking the Cowboy job and his focus continues to be on holding the opponent to as few points as possible.

“I think they’re a good team. They know what they’re doing defensively. They’ve been running the same system a long time defensively,” Eck said. “So I think they’re gonna come out and play a lot harder and play with pride and execute better than they did last week.”

Anchoring the Wyoming defense is sixth-year senior Shae Suiaunoa. The Houston native had 93 tackles last season and has five sacks in his career.

The two safeties for the Cowboys were busy last week as free safety Wyett Ekeler and strong safety Isaac White led the team in tackles with nine each.

Wyoming finished strong in 2023 behind a solid defensive performance. The Cowboys went 4-1 in their last five games, including a Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl victory over Toledo, and did not give up more than 15 points in any of the four victories.

Who will make the big mistake?

Jason Eck said that the game plan against Oregon was to keep everything in front of the secondary and not give up the big play. He wanted to tempt Dillon Gabriel into forcing a long pass into coverage, but the veteran signal caller did not take the bait.

That is bait that Svoboda might take.

On the first pass of the game against Arizona State, Svoboda looked for a quick pass to the right. Linebacker Zyrus Fiaseu read it perfectly and not only intercepted it, but returned it for a touchdown.

With a relentless Idaho defensive line, Svoboda will be in several situations where he will have to make a quick decision and the Vandals hope he makes an incorrect one.

On the flip side, Wagner has to play within himself. Throughout camp and practice he has shown the ability to rocket a ball down the field and fit passes into tight windows. While he has the ability to make those throws, it is not always the smartest idea to attempt them in a game.

If Wagner can stay composed and play within the game plan and Idaho wins the time of possession battle, there is a high likelihood of success. However if the redshirt freshman allows the size of the moment to get to him and starts to force things, it could make for a long day.

It is usually the case in football, but in this game more than ever, the winner of the turnover battle will most likely win the game.

The basics

What: Idaho at Wyoming

Time: 12:30 p.m. Pacific

Location: War Memorial Stadium, Laramie, Wyo.

TV: TruTV

Radio: KOZE-AM/FM (950/95.5), KZFN-FM (106.1), KORT-AM (1230), KLER-AM (1300)

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