The Idaho Vandals took to Laramie, Wyoming to face the Wyoming Cowboys on Saturday, in which the Vandals came out with a 17-13 victory in a defensive affair.
Both teams came into the game 0-1, with two completely separate types of losses, Idaho coming off a near upset, falling 24-14 to the Oregon Ducks, meanwhile Wyoming had been blown out 48-7 by Arizona State.
Idaho’s defense dominated once again, posting four sacks, and pressured Wyoming’s Evan Svoboda many times in the matchup. Svoboda, who faced pressure all game, only completed 10 of his 24 passing attempts, leading the Cowboys to 6-16 on third downs.
Senior Edge Keyshawn James-Newby shined for the second week in a row against FBS competition, posting three sacks and four tackles. James-Newby currently sits at five sacks, leading the entire FCS.
The Vandals saw their offensive struggles again, going 1-13 on third downs, and struggled with some discipline, having committed 11 penalties amounting to 73 penalty yards.
The run game was able to get going this week, where redshirt junior Nate Thomas tallied 64 yards, and redshirt junior Elisha Cummings posted 52 yards and a touchdown. The offense as a whole had 124 rushing yards compared to last week’s 49.
Redshirt freshman Jack Wagner saw his first start, stepping into the starting role after Jack Layne suffered a collarbone injury in the 4th quarter vs Oregon, ruling him out indefinitely. Wagner went 12-21 with 101 yards and a touchdown.
Idaho, after a was clicking on all cylinders to start the game, after a Wyoming 48 yard field goal and Idaho’s opening drive where they went 3-and-out, the Vandals went on to score on their next three possessions, putting themselves up 17-10 going into half.
The second half, however, was a lot of the opposite. The game saw 10 punts in the final 30 minutes of play, and two turnover on downs from the Vandals. Wyoming put up the only points of the second half, hitting a chip-shot field goal from 22 yards to make it 17-13.
And then, in Wyoming’s final three drives, the Idaho defense stood tall, ending each drive with a sack and the eventual game-winning sack by redshirt sophomore Xavier Slayton on the Cowboys’ hail-mary attempt.
After the victory, Idaho moved up two spots in the FCS rankings, now sitting as the No. 5 team in the country for FCS.
The Idaho Vandals are back home and will be playing their home opener next Saturday against the UAlbany Great Danes. UAlbany, who eliminated Idaho from the NCAA FCS playoffs just last season, is fresh off of a win against Long Island University and is looking for another to move up past their #17 ranking at this point in the season. Idaho looks to start their non-conference FCS schedule and 2024 home opener with a win on Sep. 14 at 1 p.m. at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome.