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 University of Idaho wide receiver Maurice Shaw outruns Idaho State University defensive back Keith Goins Jr. to make a touchdown during the Sep 6 football game in the Kibbie Dome. The Vandals lost their game against Utah State University 17-42 on Saturday. File Photo
The University of Idaho football team played three quarters of solid football this weekend against Utah State but couldn’t hang on to win.
The game went back and forth for the better part of three quarters and the Vandals held the lead at 17-14 with 2 minutes to play in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was a different story altogether as the Aggies went on to score 21 unanswered points en route to a 42-17 loss.
“This football team has to play better than it did,” Idaho coach Robb Akey said. “The defense has to stop people. You tackle the guy who has the football. You be where you’re supposed to be even if the guy who’s usually there isn’t.”
The Vandals didn’t come out of the game unscathed on the injury front either as co-team captain Shiloh Keo went down with a shoulder injury in the first half.
“Shiloh hurt his shoulder early in the ballgame and I think we certainly felt that impact a little bit and not only in his playmaking ability but his leadership ability too,” Akey said.
Keo could be out with the injury for anywhere from two to four weeks.
Another notable injury was sustained by receiver Maurice Shaw, who went down with a high ankle sprain early in the second quarter.
“Those things sometimes are worse than breaking a leg I swear,” Akey said. “The formula is telling us it could be as many as three weeks.”
Akey said the Vandals have been making improvements over the season but must begin to produce now.
“The fact of the matter is we had a competitive situation and we’ve got to close things out,” Akey said. “We’re getting closer to getting the thing nailed down but we have to fast forward and have it happen now.”
Eddie Williams had another solid performance logging 5 receptions for 70 yards and 1 touchdown.
“Eddie is a competitive son of a gun,” Akey said. “People know him and he’s still making plays against them. He played well in this game making receptions and blocking.”
As a total offense the Vandals were outgained by more than 300 yards. The finaly tally was 271 yards to 580 yards.
Punter T.J. Conley also continued his dominance on special teams by booting a 74-yard punt and increasing his average for the game to 51.8 yards per punt.
After last week’s performance, in which Conley averaged well over 50 yards per punt, he has landed himself on the Ray Guy Watch list which awards the nation’s best punter every year.
Conley had accumulated 7,303 yards coming into the Utah State contest and has since brought his total up to 7,562.
“We contributed to stopping us as much as they did,” Akey said. “The perfect game is hard to play. If we play more perfect than the other team we have success.”
The Vandals will head to sunny San Diego next week to take on the San Diego State Aztecs at Qualcomm Stadium.
The Aztecs, from the Mountain West Conference, have started their season 0-3 and are hunting for their first victory.
“It’s how you react when the game is on the line. When things aren’t going your way, how are you going to respond? It’s character and it’s growing, it’s getting stronger, we’re getting closer,” Akey said.
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