Vandals’ errors lead to home loss

MOSCOW, Idaho – The only football team the University of Idaho beat on Saturday was itself.

And that wasn’t easy, because Louisiana-Monroe nearly matched Idaho mistake for mistake. The Vandals spoiled a solid defensive effort with an outbreak of errors, an anemic offense and a wave of penalties in a deflating 16-14 loss to the Indians before 11,798 at the Kibbie Dome.

In describing the contest afterward, Idaho coach Nick Holt started with “sloppy,” progressed to “bad football,” expanded that to “really bad football” and “just bad football” before settling on this:

“It’s the worst football I’ve seen ever.”

Those in attendance might tend to agree. On Showdown Saturday across the nation, it was Sedation Saturday in the Dome. The Vandals (1-5 overall) dropped to 0-2 in the Sun Belt, where they’re alone in last place. Louisiana-Monroe (1-4, 1-1) and Middle Tennessee State (1-2), a winner over Arkansas State, cleared out of the cellar by notching their first conference victories.

“We didn’t play up to our capabilities,” UI receiver Wendell Octave said. “It’s hard because we know we’re better than this team, but I guess with all the mistakes we had it caught up to us.”

Idaho had 13 penalties, allowed five sacks, carelessly burned up timeouts, dropped several catchable passes and missed a key field-goal attempt. Of the Vandals’ 293 total yards, 125 came in the fourth quarter, including 55 on a last-minute scoring drive.

Even that score was a chore. Octave made a diving touchdown catch only to have the play nullified by an illegal shift. The Vandals scored on the next play, another Michael Harrington-to-Octave connection, to pull within 16-14 with 15.4 seconds left.

Idaho’s ensuing on-sides kick was easily fielded by the Indians’ Charles Estes.

“Late in the game we started to get on a roll, but there wasn’t a lot of time left,” said Harrington, who was 25 of 34 for 210 yards, 134 of those in the fourth quarter when Idaho was finally able to connect on some down-field strikes.

Idaho’s chances essentially ended when Harrington was intercepted on fourth-and-15 with 3:48 left, particularly since Idaho used its third and final timeout just before the play.

“Our defense really hung in there and our offense moved the ball when we needed to,” Indians coach Charlie Weatherbie said.

Not to mention the fact that Joel Stelly, who was seventh in the NCAA in punting average entering the game, might have been the best player on the field. He averaged 50.5 yards on eight punts. He pinned Idaho inside its 20 four times and had one downed at the Vandals’ 1-yard line.

Throw in mobile quarterback Steven Jyles’ 66 yards rushing and one touchdown, and his 39-yard TD pass to Estes and the Indians put an end to a nine-game losing streak dating back to last season. They overcame a mind-boggling 16 penalties along the way.

Idaho had its share of chances throughout. The Vandals forced a fumble and recovered at UL-Monroe’s 32 midway through the first quarter. On their first play, they were flagged for holding. Three plays later, they punted.

It was those types of mistakes that had Holt on edge during the post-game interview.

“It’s hard enough for us to get 10 yards for a first down,” he said. “We’d get some momentum and we’d shoot ourselves in the foot.

“We gave up five sacks. It wasn’t like we were playing Tampa Bay and Warren Sapp by any stretch. I know we had two (injured) linemen out (Hank Therien and Jade Tadvick was limited to a few possessions), but other guys had to step it up and we didn’t.”

Holt saved his toughest criticism for himself and his staff.

“We did a bad job as coaches, a really bad job and we’ll addressed that, too,” he said. “A lot of (the penalties) was just foolish stuff that we need to coach better. The thing is as coaches we let these guys get away with it at practice and it shows up on Saturday. I’ve got to do a better job getting this corrected.”

The Indians scored first on Estes’ touchdown catch with 4:59 left in the second quarter, but the PAT was blocked. Idaho had good field position on its next two possessions but came up empty.

Following the motif of the day, Idaho had to overcome itself to score early in the third quarter. Jimmy Labita’s 36-yard punt return led to Jayson Bird’s 7-yard TD run. One problem. As the band played the fight song and the crowd cheered, an official was marking off five yards for an illegal formation. Idaho managed to score two plays later.

Mike Barrow missed wide left on a 43-yard field goal attempt on Idaho’s next series and UL-Monroe immediately capitalized. Jyles faked a handoff out of the shot-gun formation and raced around end from 10 yards out – a play the Indians utilized effectively throughout.

“He could really move,” Vandal linebacker Cole Snyder said. “He made things happen. We played against the exact same thing last weekend (against Eastern Michigan), but this guy was a little better.”

Jyles’ running and another UI infraction – this time for a late hit – fueled a field-goal drive and the Indians led 16-7 early in the fourth quarter.

Idaho entertains Louisiana-Lafayette next Saturday.