Vandals break drought by dodging Aggies
MOSCOW, Idaho – The moment Chase Holbrook’s desperation fling landed softly in cornerback Isaac Butts’ hands, the bedlam began. Idaho football players pranced onto the field, the student body rushed en masse down the aisles and coach Robb Akey was drenched with Gatorade.
Watching the wild celebration unfold at the Kibbie Dome, you would have thought the Vandals had just captured the WAC championship. Yet for a team that had gone two-plus years without a conference win, Saturday’s 20-14 breakthrough over New Mexico State probably felt just as satisfying.
“There’s about a 750,000-ton gorilla (that) just got ripped off our backs today,” Akey said with a grin plastered on his face. “I tell you what, I am as happy as I can be for those kids. They’ve been busting their butts.”
Idaho (2-7, 1-4) shed a 23-game losing streak to FBS competition and a 17-game WAC skid by holding off the Aggies in front of an announced homecoming crowd of 15,010. The victory wasn’t sealed until Butts intercepted Holbrook inside Idaho’s 5-yard line as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
Moments later, a horde of Vandals players and students formed a mosh pit at midfield, bouncing up and down on the Idaho logo. The festive scene seemed a tad over the top for a win against the 3-4 Aggies.
Then again, maybe it wasn’t.
“Oh, it’s humorous,” linebacker Justin Allen said of students storming the field. “But it’s fun. They haven’t had a good victory here in a while, so it’s acceptable. … It’s good to get some excitement back in the Dome.”
Most of the roars during the game were directed to the Vandals’ defense. Spearheaded by Allen and lineman Josh Shaw, Idaho held NMSU scoreless in the second half and stopped the Aggies on three of four fourth-down tries.
Shaw sacked Holbrook twice and Allen came up with an interception and fumble recovery. It was a startling turnaround for a unit that came into the game ranked last in the FBS in total defense.
“The defense played their butts off today,” center Adam Korby said. “They played the best game of their season, and we won because of them.”
On top of the defense’s sterling day, Idaho cranked out 271 rushing yards, 160 coming from speedy scatback Princeton McCarty. The freshman gave the Vandals a spark from the start.
McCarty accounted for all of the team’s 67 yards in an impressive opening drive. He punctuated the march by darting to the outside, then cutting back to the middle and outrunning several defenders for a 54-yard TD scamper.
New Mexico State responded with two Holbrook-to-Chris Williams TD passes in the second quarter. But after that, the Idaho defense clamped down.
“It was nice to see those kids playing with confidence,” Akey said. “And they couldn’t wait to get back on the field.”
It was a good thing too, because quarterback Nathan Enderle never found a rhythm. He finished with 59 yards on 7-of-18 passing. Sandwiched around Tino Amancio’s 52- and 51-yard field goals, the offense sputtered to consecutive three-and-outs.
But after each failed possession, Vandals defenders mustered momentum-sustaining stops.
“I am proud of Coach Akey and his team,” Aggies coach Hal Mumme said. “They came out fired up and they obviously wanted to win this game. You just got to give all credit to the Vandals. They outplayed us.”
Notes
The Vandals played with just five healthy defensive backs. Safety Jeromy Jones, the replacement for regular starter Shiloh Keo, missed the game with an unidentified injury. Backup cornerback Eric Hunter also missed the contest, as did linebacker JoJo Dickson.