Vandals Disheartened By Setback

Idaho didn’t have any answers on the football field - and nothing changed afterward.

The Vandals were speechless trying to explain a humbling 31-14 Big West Conference setback to Utah State in front of 14,217 at Romney Stadium on Saturday.

“Why we would have a drop-off and not compete with so much riding on it, I don’t know,” coach Tom Cable said. “There’s going to be some soul-searching that needs to be done.”

And some help from others if Idaho (3-5, 1-1 Big West) is to capture the Big West title. The Vandals, who have a bye next Saturday, probably will have to win out and hope for stumbles by Utah State (3-4, 2-0), Boise State (5-2, 1-0) and New Mexico State (3-4, 1-0).

“I could never imagine we could come out and play like we did,” defensive tackle Wil Beck said. “That I could come out and play like I did.”

Especially after Idaho had shown steady improvement over the last month. UI had won 3 of 4 games, trimmed its turnovers and its defense had become dependable.

Seemingly, that team never took the field Saturday. The Vandals gained a quiet 406 yards, were unable to take advantage of a suspect secondary and, aside from Willie Alderson’s 80-yard run, gained 2 yards per rushing attempt.

The defense wasn’t any better. It allowed 569 yards, including 421 passing yards to sophomore quarterback Jose Fuentes, whose best effort in five previous starts was 240 yards.

Aaron Jones had eight catches for 233 yards. With the game in hand, USU didn’t throw Jones’ way in the final 18 minutes, leaving him 10 yards shy of a school record. Jones’ damage mostly came against Cleavon Bradshaw, Idaho’s top cornerback.

“They had a lot of plays that were throwing me off,” said Bradshaw, who admitted to overlooking the Aggies. “They have a lot of routes where they run a deep comeback (pattern), and that’s what I had in my mind. But they threw the deep fade on me.

“They kind of played me today.”

He wasn’t alone.

Despite sleepwalking through the first half, Idaho trailed just 17-14. The fog appeared to be lifting when Duval Seamster downed a punt at USU’s 1-yard line. It took the Aggies just 3:14 to cover the 99 yards as Jones caught three passes for 68 yards.

For all of Fuentes’ passing yards, it was his reception on a trick play that broke Idaho’s will. He handed the ball off to David Fiefia, who jetted right, stopped and floated a pass back to Fuentes in the left flat. No Vandal was within 10 yards.

The score put USU up 24-14 late in the third quarter and Idaho never mounted a response.

“No disrespect to them, but we really felt the biggest matchup of the game was our defense being more athletic and having more speed than they have on the other side of the field,” Cable said.

If there was a mismatch, it was in USU’s favor. Emmett White rushed for 128 yards, but his biggest contribution came on a broken play. As Fuentes was flushed from the pocket, White snuck out on a delayed screen. He took Fuentes’ pass in stride, pulled away from linebacker Chris Nofoaiga and raced 74 yards to put the Aggies on top 31-14 midway through the fourth quarter.

“That long touchdown was my man leaking out of the backfield,” said Nofoaiga, who had 14 tackles.

Idaho’s offense had its own problems to deal with. Alderson’s burst up the middle set up Idaho’s first touchdown early in the second quarter and he added a short TD run just before half. Other than those two possessions, Idaho couldn’t sustain drives. Several times Idaho faced third-and-7 or so and completed passes that fell a couple of yards shy of a first down.

On fourth-and-3 from USU’s 49 late in the second quarter, Welsh hit Jeffrey Townsley on a screen. He ran sideways instead of making the yardage necessary for a first down. He was stopped a yard short and left the field with Cable barking in his ear.

On a fourth-and-1 late in the third quarter, a lineman false-started as Idaho readied to take the snap. The Vandals were forced to punt.

Aggies 31, Vandals 14

Idaho 0 14 0 0 - 14

Utah St. 0 17 7 7 - 31

IdaAlderson 1 run (Davis kick) USUFG Bohn 40 USU-Jones 24 pass from Fuentes (Bohn kick) USU-White 4 run (Bohn kick) Ida-Alderson 1 run (Davis kick) USU-Fuentes 18 pass from Fiefia (Bohn kick) USU-White 74 pass from Fuentes (Bohn kick) A-14,217.

UI USU

First downs 20 21

Rushes-yards 36-155 37-130

Passing 251 439

Comp-Att-Int 27-45-1 20-36-0

Return Yards 71 50

Punts-Avg. 9-36 7-44

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-2

Penalties-Yards 6-40 4-40

Time of Possession 29:51 30:09

RUSHING-Idaho, Alderson 25-155, Gerstner 2-15, Jelmberg 1-1, Ah Hi 2-(minus 1), Welsh 6-(minus 15). USU, White 29-128, Fiefia 2-10, Roberts 1-6, Fuentes 5-(minus 14).

PASSING-Idaho, Welsh 27-45-1-251. USU, Fuentes 19-35-0-421, Fiefia 1-1-0-18.

RECEIVING-Idaho, Jelmberg 7-51, Townsley 5-66, Roberg 4-30, Lacy 3-49, Alderson 3-20, Jones 2-18, O’Connell 1-8, Belser 1-8, Gerstner 1-1. USU, Jones 8-233, Poppinga 3-24, White 2-84, Stallworth 2-31, Sanders 2-31, Fuentes 1-18, Fiefia 1-9, Roberts 1-9.