Vandals’ head coach Jason Eck must have worked on his halftime speeches as Idaho has shut out their opponent in the second half for the second straight week.
Idaho got the ball first, but instantly they were pushed back five yards on a false start call. False starts have plagued the Vandals this season, and usually lead to disaster, but that wasn’t the case this time around. The run game has been crucial for Idaho this season, and they leaned on it heavily during the seven-minute-long, 13 play drive. Senior and freshman running backs Roshaun Johnson and Anthony Woods combined for 51 yards. Johnson lowered his shoulder to get into the endzone, putting Idaho up 7-0.
Northern Arizona went the same distance in the same amount of plays, but they only took 4:37 to do it. Sophomore quarterback RJ Martinez utilized his arm, but the biggest gains were made on handoffs to sophomore running back Draycen Hall. Although Hall made the biggest gains, Martinez completed a five-yard pass into the endzone on fourth-and-three to tie the game up.
The next drive was all Woods as he broke off for 17 and 20 yard runs. Despite the effort to get two-yards away from a touchdown, another false start backed Idaho up five-yards. Junior kicker Ricardo Chavez came out to kick his seventh field-goal of the season. It went straight through the uprights to put Idaho up 10-7.
After three scoring drives, a team would finally be forced to punt. Despite gaining 15 yards off a roughing the passer call on the Vandals, the Lumberjacks were unable to capitalize. On fourth-and-16, redshirt freshman punter Eemil Herranen punted for 29 yards, placing Idaho on their own 12.
With nine minutes left in the half and 88-yards to go, Idaho started to march down the field. After a couple hand-offs to Woods and a check-down pass to senior tight end Connor Whitney, redshirt freshman QB Gevani McCoy got to work. He hit redshirt sophomore Michael Graves for back-to-back first downs. Just a few minutes later, Idaho flipped to the trick section of the playbook. McCoy took the snap, pitched it to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Hayden Hatten and then Hatten hit redshirt junior WR Jermaine Jackson for a 30-yard pick-up. With three yards to go, McCoy handed it off to Johnson for a one-yard gain then hit Whitney on a two-yard pass to go up 17-7.
After Idaho’s score, NAU had three minutes to go 51 yards. They were able to get 24 yards away from the endzone to set redshirt sophomore kicker Collin Robbins up to kick the 47-yard field goal, making the score 17-10 at halftime.
The Lumberjacks got the ball to start, but an intentional grounding call on second-and-10 and an incomplete pass on third-and-15 forced them to punt 27 seconds into the quarter. The punt went out at the Idaho 43-yard line, putting the Vandals 57 yards from the endzone.
McCoy started the drive by hitting Jackson 42 yards downfield to put Idaho within striking distance of a score. A sack to McCoy, pass for no gain and false start stopped Idaho’s momentum, forcing Chavez to come out for his second, and final, field goal attempt of the day. It went through the uprights as he stayed a perfect 100% for field goals this season.
The action stalled on the next two drives before sophomore defensive back Tommy McCormick ensured the second half shutout on a diving interception on the nine-yard line.
The next two drives would also be punts, but a 28-yard return from Jackson would set the Vandals up nicely on the NAU 39-yard line. The play calls alternated between handoffs and passes, but at the end of the drive, the ball would get placed in Johnson’s hands and he would dive towards the pylon to put Idaho up 27-10 near the end the game.
In the backfield, McCoy led in passing with 184 yards on 18/20 attempts. Hatten also had 30 yards on the trick play. Johnson led the team in rushing with 85 yards on 25 carries. Woods had 84 yards on 18 carries.
On the receiving side of things, Jackson led with 96 yards on five receptions. Graves and Hatten also had five receptions, but they had 50 yards and 49 yards respectively.
On the defensive side of the ball Fa’avae Fa’avae, just as he has every game this season, led the team in tackles with eight. McCormick wasn’t far behind with seven, plus he had the sole interception of the game. Sophomore defensive lineman Kemari Bailey continued to make his presence known in the backfield as he got one sack, his third of the season. Redshirt senior DL Juliano Falaniko also got back there, sacking the QB for a 15-yard loss and his second full sack of the season.
The Vandals now sit at 2-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play. They play Northern Colorado on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Kibbie Dome for homecoming.
James Taurman-Aldrich can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jamesaldrich25