Idaho Vandals rested, ready to get back on the field

No. 9 Idaho returns from a week of rest and is ready for the final stretch when the Vandals travel to Oregon to face Portland State at 1 p.m. today.

Both teams return from a bye week as Idaho (6-3, 3-2) wants to complete a strong regular season resume and Portland State (2-6, 2-3) wants to defend its home field in a game that will be streamed on ESPN+.

“We are refreshed after a bye week and excited to play Portland State,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said.

Both teams entered the bye week on an upswing. The Vandals won three of their last four games and the Vikings have won two of their last three. Both teams suffered their lone loss of the stretch against Montana State.

“We have to handle our longest bus ride of the year,” Eck said. “We have to handle (the fact that) it is probably going to be the smallest crowd we play in front of this year, so we have to bring our own energy.”

A week of rest at the perfect time

Idaho got quarterback Jack Layne back against Eastern Washington on Oct. 26. Layne had a strong game behind center going 17-of-28 passing for 235 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

“I think it has been a tremendous boost for the team. I thought he played very well for his first game against Eastern Washington coming off a seven-week absence. That is a lot of time to miss,” Eck said. “I thought he played very well and I think he will play even better this week because there were some things that were a little rusty.”

The sophomore showed signs of why Eck and the Vandals were excited for him to take the reins during fall camp, but was still dealing with a bit of rust. That rust has had ample time to get chipped away with the bye week.

The bye week also allowed the banged up defense of Idaho to get healthy. Defensive end Malakai Williams should be back to play opposite Big Sky sack-leader Keyshawn James-Newby.

Cornerback Andrew Marshall should also play, barring a setback, after missing the last game against the Eagles.

Offensively, freshman wide receiver Tony Harste should be cleared to play and could add more depth in the receiving game.

The running game might need a little more time to get back to full strength as running back Nate Thomas was not listed on the latest depth chart, but could see some playing time, and Eli Cummings will need more time to return.

Freshman running back Deshaun Buchanan has done well in their absense.

Dante Chachere is the PSU offense

Portland State senior quarterback Dante Chachere has been the best dual-threat quarterback in the Big Sky this season. The Viking offense can only go as far as Chachere is able to take it.

“You have to account for him. He gets his yardage in different ways. They have a good designed quarterback run game, they will call some quarterback draws with him. They have a lot of read plays where you really gotta sound,” Eck said. “It almost goes back to almost playing a triple option team — you have to be really sound with everyone doing their job.”

The senior QB is 109-of-189 (57.7%) passing for 1,452 yards with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. Chachere also leads PSU with 98 rushes for 612 yards (second most by a FCS quarterback) and 12 scores on the ground, tied for most by any player in the Big Sky. The Vikings have 3,100 yards offensively in 2024 and Chachere is responsible for 2,064 (66.6%) of them.

The Fresno, Calif., native is nearing several milestones headed into the home games against Idaho. Chachere is 7 passing yards away from 5,000 in his career, 10 rushing yards away from 2,000 all-time and his 6,983 career total yards are eighth all-time in Portland State history.

“Chachere, I think, is one of the best players in our conference. Great dual-threat guy who is great with the run game,” Eck said. “I think they are doing a real good job on offense giving you a lot of unique formations that can cause problems.”

Chachere has spread the ball around through the air and has connected with five different receivers at least 10 times. Quincy Craig leads the Vikings with 30 receptions and Eric Denham has the most receiving yards at 404.

Vikings finding their stride offensively

A 2-6 record is usually a sign of a bad team, but the Vikings have had a bit of a resurgence as of late.

Both of the two Portland State victories have come in its last three games against Idaho State and Sacramento State. The Vikings combined to score 100 points in those two wins.

The loss sandwiched in the middle was against No. 2 Montana State, but even in that loss PSU was able to put up 14 points (seven more than Idaho mustered against the Bobcats).

Just before that stretch, Portland State had UC Davis on the ropes before a late Miles Hastings pass to Trent Tompkins was ruled to cross the plain of the end zone for a late Aggies’ victory.

Swiss cheese defense

Portland State put up triple-digit points combined in its two most-recent wins, but neither one was a complete blowout as the Viking defense gave up 38 points in each contest.

The 45.12 points per game that the PSU defense has allowed this season are the second-worst in the FCS, just slightly ahead of Northwestern State’s 45.22 PPG allowed.

Portland State has given up at least 38 points in 7-of-8 games this season, including giving up a 70-spot to Washington State to start the year. The lone game where the Vikings held an opponent under that threshold was in a 27-26 loss to UC Davis.

The yardage numbers do not get any better for PSU. The Vikings have allowed opponents to gain 561.2 yards per game — nearly 50 more yards a game than any other team in the FCS has allowed this season. Portland State has struggled against the pass, allowing 323.5 passing yards per game — 26.6 yards more per game than any other team in the FCS.

Two battle-tested teams

According to the Massey Ratings, Portland State and Idaho have had two of the five-hardest schedules this season.

Idaho has had the fifth-hardest strength of schedule with a rating of 40.24. The Vandals have played FBS opponents Oregon and Wyoming and five ranked-FCS teams.

Portland State is ranked No. 1 on the strength of schedule rankings with a rating of 42.21. The Vikings have played two ranked-FBS teams in WSU and Boise State and four ranked-FCS opponents.

The basics

What: Idaho (6-3, 3-2) at Portland State (2-6, 2-3)

When: 1 p.m. today

Where: Hillsboro, Ore.

Stream: ESPN+

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.