Woolridge bowls over clumsy Aztecs
MOSCOW, Idaho – It was the definition of a head-shaking, calamitous start. An interception taken to the house, a quarterback injury, a fumbled handoff exchange – all these were back-breaking developments in their own right.
But to the delight of fans at the Kibbie Dome, the mistakes weren’t Idaho’s.
The Vandals instead feasted on San Diego State’s foibles and parlayed a rousing defensive outing into a 34-20 victory Saturday.
A crowd of 10,324 in the refurnished Dome saw Idaho cap its second win in three games with a flourish and witnessed a breakout performance from bruising tailback DeMaundray Woolridge.
The Washington State transfer, who lingered away from football for two seasons, unleashed two electric touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The last was a 53-yard scamper in which the 241-pound Wooldridge bulldozed through the line and sprinted untouched past the Aztecs’ secondary.
The breakaway run with 2:31 left sealed the Vandals first non-conference win over an FBS team since 2004.
“Everybody calls him the bowling ball and all that,” Idaho tight end Daniel Hardy said of Woolridge, who rushed for 93 yards. “But he tries to tell us all the time in practice, ‘Man, I’ve got speed, too.’ He’s about 235, but he can move.”
The Aztecs (1-2) were plagued by two ghastly turnovers that staked Idaho to a 17-3 lead. They also lost starting quarterback Ryan Lindley with a hand injury for most of the second quarter before the sophomore returned.
“We just can’t turn the ball over,” SDSU coach Brady Hoke said. “We can’t have penalties – and we had some dumb penalties.”
San Diego State was penalized nine times for 85 yards in its 12th straight road loss outside the Mountain West. Two of those flags were pass interference calls on back-to-back plays that set up Wooldridge’ first TD run, a rugged 7-yarder.
With SDSU driving on its first possession, UI linebacker JoJo Dickson bolted in front Vincent Brown, snagged Lindley’s pass and pranced 74 yards untouched for the first score of the game.
The Vandals took advantage of another Aztecs turnover midway through the second quarter. In Drew Westling’s first snap after replacing Lindley, Brandon Sullivan bobbled the handoff exchange and UI’s Aaron Lavarias recovered at the SDSU 19.
The Vandals wound up with a 29-yard field goal that put them up 17-3.
Colorado State 35, Nevada 20: Grant Stucker accounted for three scores while wide receiver Dion Morton threw a touchdown pass and hauled in another, leading the Rams over Nevada at Fort Collins, Colo. The Rams are 3-0 for the first time in 15 years. They are 6-0 against the Wolf Pack (0-2) in Fort Collins.
Louisiana Tech 48, Nicholls State 13: Ross Jenkins threw for 357 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs (1-2) to a win over the Colonels (1-2) at Ruston, La.
Texas A&M 38, Utah State 30: Jerrod Johnson threw three of his four TD passes to freshman Uzoma Nwachukwu and Texas A&M (2-0) overcame injuries to two of its top playmakers in a win over Utah State (0-2) at College Station, Texas.