Idaho, Portland State meet desperate for first Big Sky win
Who needs a win more when they meet Saturday in the Kibbie Dome? Portland State is 0-7. Idaho (2-5, 0-3 Big Sky Conference) is riding a four-game losing streak after being ranked in the Football Championship Subdivision top 10 to start the season.
Surely the Vandals had more invested in this year after reaching the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs the past two seasons. Now their hopes of making the playoffs for a fourth straight year depend upon them running the table in their last five games and gaining wins against nationally ranked Northern Arizona and UC Davis.
But it all starts Saturday against the Vikings.
“It is college football in the Big Sky. You are inches away from being the hero or the goat,” PSU coach Bruce Barnum said.
The Vandals will be heartened by the return of starting quarterback Joshua Wood. He has missed Idaho’s last two games after spraining a knee against Montana on Sept. 27. But Wood has been cleared by his doctor to play Saturday.
While the Vandals and Vikings have both suffered through “what if” kinds of seasons, PSU is coming off a 43-27 loss to Weber State in which the Vikings committed five turnovers that negated a credible defensive performance against the Wildcats.
“We have to be able to run the football, and we can’t have five turnovers. We need our defense to keep playing the way they are,” Barnum said of PSU’s chances against the Vandals
“They will do everything in their power to win the game. We are in the same situation,” Vandals coach Thomas Ford Jr. said.
While Idaho played Washington State to a 13-10 decision, San Jose State to 31-28, Montana to 41-30, resurgent Northern Colorado to a frustrating 49-33 defeat and dedicated Big Sky rival Eastern Washington to an equally frustrating 21-14 loss a week ago, the Vandals are hoping for significantly better fortune against PSU. Wood was instrumental in Idaho’s wins against St. Thomas and Utah Tech, throwing for a cumulative 400 yards with three touchdowns and an interception and running for 172 yards with two touchdowns.
“All indications are that Joshua will be back in the lineup for us this week,” Ford said. For the season, Wood has completed 78 of 130 passes for 927 yards and six touchdowns, and he has rushed for 346 yards and another six touchdowns.
Wood says the Vandals are still focused on making the playoffs.
“There is no quit, no doubt in this Idaho team at all,” he said. “Make the playoffs. That goal was never out the window. We believe in this team and in ourselves.”
Wood will have to keep an eye out for PSU edge rusher Spencer Elliott, who has seven tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and two quarterback hurries this year.
The Vikings’ top performer on offense is running back Delon Thompson, with 261 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
PSU and Idaho have played 17 times. The Vandals hold a 15-2 edge. They have won five of the last six games and have never lost to the Vikings in the Kibbie Dome. Idaho saw an eight-game win streak in the dome come to an end against Northern Colorado. The game against PSU will be the Vandals’ first home game since then.
“A win would be huge,” said Ford. “We want to start a new win streak in the dome.”