Idaho suffers 8th consecutive loss

At least the Idaho Vandals aren’t banging their heads against the wall now.

“It’s heart-breaking,” standout senior linebacker David Vobora said. “Our coach uses the analogy you’re chiseling away at a wall, trying to get through it. You don’t know how thick it is on the other side. Unfortunately, we found out it was a little thicker than we thought. But you’ve got to believe it’s right there, it’s got to be paper thin.”

Thin, yes, but still standing.

The results didn’t change for the Vandals, who lost their eighth consecutive football game, because Louisiana Tech was more opportunistic in a 28-16 win before 10,479 disheartened fans at the Kibbie Dome Saturday afternoon at Moscow, Idaho.

It doesn’t get any easier with Idaho headed to Boise State after a bye next weekend.

This one was different, though.

The Vandals led in the second half for the first time this season against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent and kept it for 12 minutes, 16 seconds, until they allowed one big play and then ran out of gas.

At least freshman running back Deonte Jackson cracked the 1,000-yard barrier, but other than that, this Western Athletic Conference game was more about what the Vandals (1-9, 0-6) didn’t do rather than what the Bulldogs (4-5, 3-3) did.

(21) Boise State 42, San Jose State 7: At Boise, a long kickoff return followed by two long punt returns set up touchdowns that propelled the Broncos past the Spartans.

Marty Tadman sparked two of the momentum-changing plays, first with a 48-yard punt return to set up a score in the third quarter, then with a cross-field lateral that led to a 44-yard punt return by Orlando Scandrick.

Taylor Tharp threw three touchdown passes as Boise State’s offense totaled 434 yards.

Fresno State 38, Utah State 27: At Fresno, Calif., Ryan Mathews ran for two touchdowns and Tom Brandstater threw two touchdown passes as the Bulldogs defeated the Aggies.