WMU leaves UI behind
MOSCOW, Idaho – Plopped in a folding chair in front of reporters, Deonte Jackson tried to explain how Saturday’s football game careened out of control so quickly. Turnovers, penalties, sacks … there were too many miscues from the Vandals to mention in one sound bite.
And they all seemed to happen in an instant during the third quarter.
“Probably faster than I could blink my eye, actually,” Jackson said.
After providing its fans a glimmer of sunshine to open the second half, Idaho unraveled in a 51-28 loss to Western Michigan. Approximately 10,000 fans at the Kibbie Dome watched the Vandals slip to 1-2 on the season.
The Broncos of Kalamazoo reeled off 23 unanswered points to snatch control of this non-conference encounter. Their rapid-fire flurry came after UI evened the score at 14-all with Jackson’s slippery 2-yard touchdown run less than 3 minutes into the third quarter.
The scamper was preceded by a perfectly executed onside kick recovered by UI’s Eric Greenwood. As soon as the skinny receiver landed on the ball, Idaho coach Robb Akey celebrated with his patented sideline leap.
But the Vandals’ delirium didn’t last long. WMU (2-1) responded with a lightning-quick 80-yard scoring drive, then recovered Dewey Hale’s fumble on the ensuing kickoff return.
“It really just seemed that after we had fumbled the kick return,” Akey said, “things went seriously south at that point in time.”
The Broncos padded their lead with a dandy 5-yard TD run from Brandon West. Three plays later, their cushion ballooned to 30-14 after Josh Price corralled Nathan Enderle in the end zone.
Idaho’s nightmarish third quarter didn’t stop there, however. Price’s sack and safety was followed by Julien Schneider’s 43-yard return, which was compounded by a 15-yard personal foul penalty on the Vandals.
“We’re still a young team and we’ve got to get those little things corrected,” tight end Eddie Williams said. “We firmly believe that we beat ourselves. It was 2-on-1 in that game. It was Idaho and Western Michigan versus Idaho. That’s why we lost.”
For his part, Williams had a superb game. The senior finished with nine catches for 161 yards, easily the best performance of his four-year career.
Meanwhile, Enderle passed for 334 yards and Jackson tallied 110 yards on 21 carries. Yet those solid numbers couldn’t mask Idaho’s shortcomings.
One of the chief problems was a leaky offensive line that yielded five sacks. Enderle was hurried throughout, including in the opening minutes when he tossed an interception while getting hit. Louis Delmas pranced 47 yards on the play for a TD.
Then there was UI’s kickoff return team, which “was horrendous today,” Akey said, “so the field position was worse. And so we started off in a hole.”
The average starting field position for the Vandals was the 21-yard line, but they routinely failed to get past the 15 on kickoffs. WMU, on the other hand, seemed to be in primo position all afternoon.
“Field position was key in this game,” Broncos coach Bill Cubit said. “It was the best I have seen us play on kickoffs in years. We made them have to go 80 and 85 yards, and if you can do that, you will have a better chance of stopping them.
“Fortunately for us, we got them pinned deep a lot.”
While the Broncos sputtered early to generate yardage, their offense shredded the UI defense in the third quarter. After Idaho had tied the game, West picked up 54 of his 95 rushing yards on the next drive. Most of the time, he sliced through gaping holes.
WMU’s passing game also picked up steam as the game went along. Quarterback Tim Hiller completed 23 of 31 attempts for 241 yards and four TDs. Two of those went to Brandon Ledbetter during the club’s third-quarter surge.