Idaho rushes for nearly 300 yards to beat Utah Tech 20-6

MOSCOW, Idaho – So, this is what Idaho football looks like.

The Vandals defeated Utah Tech, 20-6, to improve to 2-1.

“That football game was Vandal football. We are going to be physical. We are going to play very hard, and we are going to play smart,” Idaho coach Thomas Ford Jr. said afterwards.

A week ago, Idaho sweated out an onside kick with 10 seconds remaining to hold off St. Thomas, 37-30, for the season’s first victory.

“Last week didn’t really feel like a win,” said Ford. “Today was very different.”

The Vandals rushed for an impressive 286 yards against Utah Tech led by Art Williams’ career high 144. They held the Trailblazers without a touchdown and limited them to 98 yards on the ground and 149 yards through the air. But for respective 55 and 53-yard field goals from Ilya Uvaydov, the Vandals would have held the Trailblazers scoreless.

“If we can hold teams to field goals we feel good, because we know our offense is going to score,” Ford said.

Idaho led the remainder of the game after Ryan Jezioro broke a scoreless tie early in the second quarter on a six-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Joshua Wood, who went 14 of 25 passing for 119 yards and a touchdown. Wood also ran for 85 yards and another score.

“Playing from the lead and being able to hold onto leads is going to be crucial if we are going to get where we want to go,” said Ford.

Utah Tech came out of the locker room at halftime briefly looking as though it had seized momentum. A drive of a dozen plays concluded with Uvaydov connecting on his 53-yard field goal to bring the Trailblazers within four points, 10-6.

Idaho responded instantly. On Idaho’s first drive in the third quarter, Owen Forsman, who replaced Cameron Pope as the Vandals’ kicker in the second quarter after Pope missed on a pair of field goal tries, covered Uvaydov’s field goal with a 49-yard three pointer of his own. Ford said he recruited Forsman because of Forsman’s leg strength.

“You got to see that on that 49-yarder,” he said.

Idaho put Utah Tech in a nearly impossible situation with 6:27 to play when Wood faked to Williams racing toward the right corner as a safety came up and the Trailblazer defense flowed toward the Vandals running back. Wood kept the ball, worked his way to the left sideline and tight roped down for 18 yards and a touchdown.

It would have been the play of the game until redshirt freshman cornerback Aaron Kinsey laid out to steal a pass Trailblazers quarterback Reggie Graff threw to tight end Eric Olsen virtually off Olsen’s hands at the Idaho 31-yard line with 1:57 to play.

That sealed the win. Although Utah Tech used all three of its time outs, Idaho was able to run out the clock in a half-dozen plays.

Ford said on a talented team Kinsey is one of the most physically gifted players.

“We’ve got confidence in him. He has got to build confidence in himself. He has been doing that the past two weeks,” said Ford.

If Olsen had any remarks after Kinsey plucked that pass, Kinsey acknowledged he didn’t hear them.

“I’m not going to lie. It was so loud in the dome,” he said.

Williams and Nate Thomas, who finished with 32 yards rushing, took over the running load from senior starter Elisha Cummings, who left the game in the first half with 20 yards rushing and two pass receptions for two yards. Ford said Cummings suffered a knee injury.

“It doesn’t sound like something that will keep him out a long time,” Ford said hopefully. “But until we get the injury report I don’t really know.”

Williams made the most of the opportunity. His 16 carries included a long run of 68 yards.

“It was an inside zone play. I was just keeping it tight,” he said. “The ‘backer blitzed. Somebody came up,” and Williams left a stream of Trailblazer defenders behind. If Utah Tech safety Justin Houston had not taken a wide enough angle to force Williams out of bounds at the 20-yard line, he would have scored.

Williams gave a nod to Idaho’s offensive line, “I wouldn’t be able to do it without the guys up front,” and to his quarterback. “Teams knowing how versatile Josh is and having to honor the run makes a huge difference,” he said. It can make a back with 144 yards actually eager to carry out fakes.

“(Wood) pulls it, it’s like a relief,” Williams acknowledged. “I know he is going to make a play. It makes my job easier.”