Back to drawing board for Idaho

SEATTLE – The University of Idaho football team took a step backward Saturday, physically and metaphorically.

For a program that has lost 41 of its last 50 games, that’s not easy to do. After a somewhat promising start, the Vandals spent most of the second and third quarters backpedaling, piling up negative-yardage plays and paying dearly in the form of a 34-6 loss to Washington before an announced crowd of 61,183 at Husky Stadium.

The Vandals’ young offensive line, depleted by a couple of injuries, was overwhelmed. Idaho’s defense, stuck with its back to its goal line throughout, actually kept the score from becoming more lopsided. Special teams contributed, too, with punting miscues twice setting up UW in ideal field position.

“I’m disappointed,” Idaho coach Nick Holt said. “We competed for the most part, but when you can’t run the ball, that’s what happens. You get your quarterback killed.

“We’re trying to run the ball. It’s just when you’re getting stuffed and you can’t make first downs running, then they pressure on second down and you don’t have enough guys to protect or guys are going the wrong way. I applaud Washington’s defensive coaches. That’s exactly what I would have done, too.”

He won’t be applauding this: Idaho gave up seven sacks, a handful of tackles-for-loss and finished with minus-4 yards rushing. Roughly a quarter of Idaho’s 61 offensive plays went the wrong direction.

“It’s frustrating at times,” said Idaho quarterback Steven Wichman, who threw the ball well when given time. “We knew they were going to come after us. Sometimes they got in there. A lot of times they got in there.”

It turned into a feel-good afternoon for the Huskies (1-2), who had lost eight straight games.

Louis Rankin had 115 yards rushing, including a 48-yard touchdown in which he outsprinted two defensive backs midway through the second quarter. Isaiah Stanback didn’t complete a pass to his own team until the second quarter, but he warmed up to throw for 145 yards and one TD. Stanback constantly sidestepped pass-rushers to pick up 35 yards rushing, including a 5-yard score on a bootleg.

This stadium is a house of horrors for Idaho, which has lost here five times in the last six years. The Vandals (0-3) came in thinking they had a reasonable shot at an upset, but they were undone by turnovers, missed tackles and penalties, which tilted the field-position battle UW’s way.

“I don’t ever remember starting on their side of the field,” Idaho safety Dan Dykes said.

The Vandals escaped an early jam when UW had first-and-goal at the 2. Linebacker David Vobora forced Stanback to fumble on an option play, leading to a 10-yard loss. Evan Knudson then missed a short field goal.

Dykes intercepted Stanback on UW’s next series and Idaho quickly moved into Husky territory. Just as quickly, the Vandals retreated back across the 50-yard line with two sacks and a penalty.

The Huskies finally converted on fourth-and-goal at the 1 when James Sims plowed over right guard with 11:28 left in the second quarter. Illustrating the teams’ difference in short-yardage situations, Idaho tried a quarterback sneak on third and fourth downs at UW’s 28 and gained about 6 inches. But it needed about 12 inches and turned over the ball on downs.

Two plays later, Washington was back in the end zone on Rankin’s cut-back TD run.

Idaho sputtered inside UW’s 5 and settled for Mike Barrow’s 30-yard field goal, but the Huskies matched that with a Knudson field goal on the last play of the half.

The Vandals had a chance to cut into the 17-3 deficit with a promising drive at the outset of the third quarter, but Wichman was sacked for an 8-yard loss. T.J. Conley’s punt never got airborne as snapper Joel Jones missed his blocking assignment, allowing Mike Mapuolesega to smother the kick.

That started an ugly sequence for Idaho. Washington took over at UI’s 43 and scored a TD. An interception put UW in business at Idaho’s 26 and the Huskies quickly scored again. Finally, Conley shanked a punt that gave Washington the ball at the 27. UW scored three plays later to build a 34-3 lead with 3:14 left in the third quarter.

Washington 34, Idaho 6

UW—Sims 1 run (Knudson kick)

UW—Rankin 48 run (Knudson kick)

UI—FG Barrow 30

UW—FG Knudson 18

UW—Stanback 5 run (Knudson kick)

UW—FG Knudson 28

UW—Kirton 6 pass from Stanback (Knudson kick)

UI—FG Barrow 38

A—61,183.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Idaho, Brown 10-34, Sherman 5-13, Hicks 3-6, Lumbala 2-6, Team 1-(minus 14), Wichman 10-(minus 49). Washington, Rankin 19-115, Stanback 5-35, Sims 8-23, Sampson 2-13, Singleton 3-6, Paus 1-1, Team 1-(minus 1).

PASSING—Idaho, Wichman 19-28-2-187, Harrington 1-2-0-3. Washington, Stanback 9-16-1-145, Paus 1-2-0-3.

RECEIVING—Idaho, D. Smith 6-70, Greer 4-24, Belton 2-26, Askew 2-15, Lumbala 2-14, L. Smith 1-32, Sherman 1-3, Octave 1-3, Brown 1-3. Washington, Kirton 3-32, Sampson 2-14, Russo 2-10, Chambers 1-45, Shackelford 1-38, Rankin 1-9.