Vandal Thumping Raises Big Questions Utah State’s Win Has Idaho Looking For Answers

Goodbye to “The Streak.” Goodbye Big West title hopes. Goodbye No. 1-rated defense in the conference. Goodbye, perhaps, to senior quarterback Brian Brennan, who injured his ankle in Idaho’s 63-17 eyesore of a loss to Utah State on Saturday.

Hello questions.

Questions such as: How can a season turn so sour so quickly? How can Utah State, which torched Idaho’s 21-game Kibbie Dome winning streak, be SO much bigger and faster than the Vandals? How could Nevada, which thumped UI 42-23 a week ago, be so much better?

And this week’s question: What is the state of Idaho’s confidence as it faces a hot Eastern Washington outfit this Saturday at Albi Stadium?

Some of the answers are apparent. Idaho is undersized on defense and has been getting manhandled the last two weeks. When the Vandals try to blitz, they’re giving up big pass plays by the bundle. Utah State had six plays gain 30 yards or more in building a 35-10 lead at half.

And the Vandals are battered. Injuries are pressing freshmen into action. Sometimes freshmen are replacing freshmen. Cornerback Dennis Gibbs, a 170-pounder, was at free safety last Saturday and at linebacker, sparingly, against USU. Brennan’s status wasn’t known, but X-rays apparently showed no broken bones. He was twisted like a pretzel while being sacked for the sixth time in the third quarter. Ed Dean finished up.

“I told our young guys in the locker room, ‘Just take a look across the field, fellas, if you want to see what it takes to win in this league. Take a look at their guys because we’re not there right now,” UI coach Chris Tormey said. “We’ve got a long way to go.”

For the second straight week, the numbers weren’t pretty. Idaho (4-4 overall, 1-2 Big West) has never been beaten worse or given up more points in the Kibbie Dome. UI, which yielded 595 yards last week to Nevada, surrendered 443 in the first half and 662 overall to the Aggies (4-4, 2-0).

And, of course, the 21-game Dome streak is history.

“They have words for that… apropos, fitting,” said USU coach John L. Smith, the former Vandals coach who was responsible for the first nine wins of ‘The Streak.’ “We wanted to (end it) and I want to thank my guys for doing that.”

The end came early.

USU’s Johndale Carty intercepted two Brennan passes in the first quarter, each leading to Aggies’ TDs. Melvin Blue, a bulldozing 225-running back who finished with 224 yards and three touchdowns, swept left end and found little resistance on a 34-yard score to make it 14-0.

Minutes later quarterback Matt Sauk zipped a pass to Steve Smith at Idaho’s 45 and he ran away from the Vandals secondary to complete an 81-yard TD.

Idaho rallied, briefly, scoring on Anthony Tenner’s 17-yard run and Troy Scott’s field goal.

But trailing 28-10 just 46 seconds before half, Idaho surrendered a 72-yard kick return. Sauk snuck in from the 1 to break Idaho’s will.

“We couldn’t stop the running game, the passing game, we couldn’t get pressure on the quarterback and we had major problems with coverage,” Tormey said.

UI’s offense, meanwhile, is unable to cap drives. Idaho crossed into USU territory on six of 10 first-half possessions, but scored just 10 points.

“When we’ve played badly in the past, we’ve been able to come back and play better the next week and we thought that would happen today,” Tormey said. “We were just no match up front.”

No doubt about it.

Utah State 63, UI 17

Utah St. 14 21 14 14 - 63

Idaho 0 10 7 0 - 17

USU-Jenkins 28 pass from Sauk (Bohn kick failed) USU-Blue 34 run (Blue rush) USU-Smith 81 pass from Sauk (Bohn kick failed) USU-Jenkins 58 pass from Sauk (Jenkins pass) UI-Tenner 14 run (T. Scott kick) UI-T. Scott 24 FG USU-Sauk 1 run (Bohn kick) USU-Blue 19 run (Bohn kick) USU-Blue 3 run (Bohn kick) UI-Wilson 12 pass from Dean (T. Scott kick) USU-T. Johnson 2 run (Bohn kick) USU-Miller 43 fumble recovery (Bohn kick) A-11,103.

USU UI First downs 22 21 Rushes-yards 48-266 34-79 Passing 396 225 Comp-Att-Int 14-28-2 18-49-3 Return Yards 79 35 Punts-Avg. 3-53.0 10-38.2 Fumbles-Lost 4-3 1-1 Penalties-Yards 9-88 7-65 Time of Possession 30:47 29:13 RUSHING-USU, Blue 33-224, T. Johnson 9-32, Benza 1-14, Arguello 2-3, Sauk 3-(-7). UI, Tenner 13-41, J. Thomas 8-31, Dean 2-14, Presimonico 1-6, Brennan 10-(-13).

PASSING-USU, Sauk 14-28-2-396. UI, Brennan 12-36-2-160, Dean 6-13-1-65.

RECEIVING-USU, Smith 4-183, Jenkins 3-98, Damuni 2-35, Brumfield 2-12, McBride 1-35, Blue 1-26, Chavez 1-7. UI, Wilson 10-140, Price 5-47, Alderson 1-15, Ah Hi 1-14, Taylor 1-9.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo