Vandals sit atop WAC

RUSTON, La. – Jayson Bird rushed for a pair of touchdowns and the Idaho defense forced eight turnovers as the Vandals posted a 24-14 football win over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in a Western Athletic Conference football game Saturday in Ruston, La.

With the win the Vandals (4-3, 3-0) sit alone on top of the WAC standings – for a day at least. Boise State (6-0, 2-0) plays at New Mexico State tonight.

Idaho’s defense countered three turnovers by the Vandals offense with four interceptions and four fumble recoveries.

“We played great defense, particularly in the second half,” said Idaho coach Dennis Erickson. “Offensively, we did what we had to do when we needed to but we had too many turnovers.”

The Vandals are 3-0 in conference play for the first time since the 1999 season when they were in the Sun Belt. Their four wins are more than they’ve had in a season since 1999.

Stanley Franks led the interception parade for Idaho with his sixth pick in the past five games.

Idaho limited Louisiana Tech (1-5, 0-2) to 211 yards of offense.

Idaho QB Steven Wichman completed 14 of 27 passes for 238 yards with one interception and scored a TD on a 7-yard run in the third quarter. Max Komar led Idaho receivers with 101 yards – on just two receptions.

Idaho covered 81 yards in six plays, with Bird scoring on a 5-yard run with 2:30 to go in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.

The Bulldogs bounced back with a pair of TD drives to take a 14-7 lead, but a turnover allowed Idaho to pull even at the half.

Chris Smith picked off a Zac Champion pass at the Idaho 43-yard line. Wichman hit Wendell Octave for 6 yards and connected with Komar for 35 yards. Bird rushed for his second TD on the next play to knot the score.

The Vandals’ third score came after Jaron Williams picked off a pass and returned it to the Bulldogs 32-yard line. Five plays later, Wichman scampered into the end zone for a 21-14 lead. Amancio capped the scoring with a 23-yard field at 10:02 in the fourth.

Idaho 24, La. Tech 14

UI—Bird 5 run (Amancio kick)

LTU—P.Jackson 1 run (Horwedel kick)

LTU—Franklin 11 run (Horwedel kick)

UI—Bird 2 run (Amancio kick)

UI—Wichman 7 run (Amancio kick)

UI—FG Amancio 23

A—19,231.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Idaho, Flowers 12-60, Bird 22-56, Ford 3-21, Wichman 4-5, Lumbala 1-5, Team 2-(minus 3). Louisiana Tech, Franklin 7-46, P.Jackson 10-34, Porter 6-28, Newman 1-(minus 11), Champion 3-(minus 23).

PASSING—Idaho, Wichman 14-27-1-238. Louisiana Tech, Champion 11-26-4-137.

RECEIVING—Idaho, Komar 2-101, Smith-Anderson 2-35, Haynes 2-24, Flowers 2-23, Ford 2-20, Octave 2-10, Ikharo 1-17, Bird 1-8. Louisiana Tech, Wheeler 2-52, James 2-25, Holland 2-23, Newman 2-16, Franklin 1-12, Porter 1-8, P.Jackson 1-1.