Almost 6,000 people entered the Kibbie Dome on Saturday to watch Jason Eck coach his first home game as the Vandals head coach.
Idaho won the coin toss and deferred, giving Drake the ball to start the game. The Vandal defense was able to get the Bulldogs off the field quick, setting Idaho up on their own 42. With 58 yards to go to the endzone, redshirt freshman quarterback Gevani McCoy showed off his arm strength. He hit redshirt sophomore wide receiver Hayden Hatten for a 22-yard gain, made a couple handoffs, threw a few check-downs, then hit redshirt junior WR Jermaine Jackson for a 20-yard touchdown to put the Vandals up 7-0.
Drake then retook the field with just over eight minutes to go in the first. They were able to drive to the Vandals 21-yard line before they had a fourth down. On fourth-and-one, the offense stayed on the field. Idaho was hoping for a stop, but an offsides penalty gave Drake five yards and reset the downs. From there, Drake would pick up 19-yards on a pass from senior QB Ian Corwin to junior WR Trey Radocha. The Bulldogs then rushed the ball in on second-and-three to tie the game 7-7.
The Vandals got the ball back, but were forced to punt after a three-and- out. Junior punter Ricardo Chavez was able to pin Drake back on their own 19, but Corwin aired it out on the first play of the drive to Radocha for 78 yards. Drake then punched it in three yards to go up 14-7.
After getting the ball back, Idaho had a four-minute, nine-yard drive. It was during this drive that Vandal fans would get to see 2021-2022 Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year, freshman Jack Layne, take his first snaps of his college career.
“We knew by about the middle of the week that in the first series of the second quarter, Jack was gonna go in,” Eck said.
Layne had a solid first drive, hitting senior tight end Connor Whitney for eight yards on fourth-and-six to keep the drive alive. He was then able to march the Vandals to the Drake 21 where Chavez hit a 31-yard field goal, making the score 14-10.
After once again getting Drake off the field quickly, the Vandals started to get freshman RB Anthony Woods involved. Woods got his second touch of the day to start the drive with a 32-yard run. Layne would then hit Hatten before Woods would rush twice for 12 more yards. Senior RB Roshaun Johnson subbed in for Woods to dive four yards into the end zone, putting Idaho up 17-14.
It would be another disappointing drive for Drake as they only held to ball for one minute before giving the Vandals 2:18 to try and score. The Vandals made a valiant attempt to get into the endzone again, but with five seconds left on the clock, Chavez came out on fourth-and-seven to put his second field goal of the night through the uprights, putting the Vandals up 20-14 to end the half.
The second half started off rough with the Vandals having a three-and-out to start and then the Bulldogs having one right after. On fourth-and-19, Drake graduate student punter kicked the ball 43 yards where it landed directly in the hands of Jackson. Jackson would then execute the most exciting play of the day, running the punt back 79 yards for a touchdown.
“Credit to the dudes that were blocking for me,” Jackson said. “I just took my time with it back there, found a hole and hit it.”
Despite now being up 26-14, Eck kept his offense out there for the two-point conversion. McCoy found sophomore WR Zach Borisch in the end zone to put Idaho up 28-14.
Drake would have another quick three-and-out, putting Idaho back on the field just over a minute later. The punt would fall to the ground, placing the Vandals at their own 28. Despite a few good rushing plays from Woods and McCoy, and a couple deep passes, an eight-yard sack to McCoy would freeze the Vandal offense. McCoy was able to hit Hatten to bring up a third-and-seven, but Idaho was unable to convert on the next play. Chavez would head on to the field to hit his third field-goal of the night, this time from 44-yards out, putting Idaho up 31-14.
Once again, the Vandal defense would quickly get Drake off the field, bringing the offense in with 3:30 left to go in the third. The Bulldogs were able to hold the Vandals to a three play, one-minute-long drive, but they couldn’t stop Idaho from scoring. Chavez came out again to hit his fourth, and final, field goal of the night. He drilled it from 36 to put Idaho up 34-14.
After a few disappointing drives from both teams, the Idaho offense came back on the field and went to work. On the first play of the drive, Layne aired it out to Jackson for a 64-yard reception, placing the Vandals 14 yards from the endzone. Sophomore RB Elisha Cummings took the hand-off on three straight drives to get the touchdown. Idaho would once again go for two and convert it. The Vandals went up 42-14 which turned out to be the final score.
Idaho starts in-conference play against Northern Arizona University on Sept. 24 at 1 p.m.
James Taurman-Aldrich can be reached at arg-sports.uidaho.edu or on Twitter @jamesaldrich25