It’s no secret that things have not gone as planned through the first seven games of head coach Thomas Ford Jr.’s tenure in Moscow. After starting the season 2-1, the Idaho Vandals have lost four consecutive games, dropping them out of the FCS rankings and falling to an unprecedented 0-3 in Big Sky Conference play.
“There’s nothing else we can do besides get better. We’re really focused on the process. We’ve never quit; not one time in our five losses that we’ve had this season,” Ford said. “I don’t see why we’d start doing that now. I know I’m not quitting on anything. I know our coaches aren’t quitting on anything. We’ve got to do a better job getting our guys in a position to be more successful, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
The most recent bump in the road for this rebuilding Idaho team was a 21-14 loss in the Che-Scow Cup against Eastern Washington (3-4, 2-1) on Saturday. A week after losing to Northern Colorado in a Homecoming game where the defense looked helpless, it was the offense that prevented the team from breaking the skid in this one.
The absence of starting quarterback Joshua Wood and his backup Sawyer Teeny was detrimental to the offense in this game. Idaho used three different quarterbacks in the loss, and the offense didn’t find any type of rhythm until late in the second half for the second straight game.
Idaho had the ball to begin the game and failed to convert a fourth down conversion attempt inside the 30-yard line on their own side of the field. This was just one of four turnovers on downs for the Vandals in this game. Combined, they went 6 for 22 on 3rd and 4th down conversions, which is an issue that Ford says needs to be addressed and fixed.
After a 75-yard drive that was led primarily by Rocco Koch’s legs, the Vandals scored the first touchdown of the game courtesy of a beautiful slot fade route from Marquawn McCraney for a 26-yard score.
McCraney was an excellent route runner throughout the game and was targeted 10 times in a breakout performance. He caught seven passes for 105 yards. He was heavily recruited as a safety coming out of high school, but he wanted to play receiver and chose Idaho for the opportunity to be a wideout.
“I think this young man right here showed that he’s going to be a very good wide receiver in this league,” Ford said. “He’s going to be a guy that you’re going to see a lot more of as we move forward at the season and beyond.”
Koch had another great week on the ground, rushing for 81 yards. However, when Jack Wagner went down with a lower leg injury, the Vandals turned to Koch to use his arm, and he did not look comfortable in the pocket, failing to complete a pass.
After McCraney’s touchdown, the offense had 10 straight drives without a score. Both defenses were efficient in this game.
“We were in control the entire game on defense,” said Eastern Washington’s head coach, Aaron Best. “That was a dream for a head coach to game-manage. It didn’t matter what the situation was, our guys went back out there and fought. that’s what this conference is.”
The Idaho defense forced multiple turnovers, including on a play early in the second quarter where Isiah King tipped the ball in the air and Jhamell Blenman hauled in his first career interception.
“If we could play better complimentary football on the offensive side, we’re gonna have great success,” Ford said. “Credit to Coach Denison for really getting that group going and credit to our leadership on that side of the football as well. Defensively, there’s a lot to build from and they’ve corrected a lot of things that we had not been doing well throughout this season.”
However, just three plays after Blenmann’s pick, Idaho returned the favor as quarterback Jack Wagner threw an interception. Even before going out of the game with an injury, Wagner was inefficient at going through his progressions.
There were several instances in this game where Eastern Washington had a big moment that gave them full momentum. The first was following a botched Eagle snap that set them up for a 2nd and 32, which they ended up picking up and eventually scoring a field goal on the drive.
Just moments later, after an Idaho three-and-out, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Dylan Layne moved the Eagles deep into Vandal territory. On the very next play, EWU scored on a nine-yard pass to Miles Williams. Williams, who hadn’t found the endzone in over a year prior to this game, scored two.
Eastern had a 13-7 lead with 44 seconds left on the clock. Thanks to an excellent route from McCraney, Idaho was able to get to the opposing 31. However, instead of attempting a 49-yard field goal, they elected to take a shot towards the endzone, which resulted in a strip sack to end the half.
Defensively, it was a great game for Matyus McClain pressuring the quarterback, and the Idaho secondary did a good job of limiting deep passes. However, the Eagles’ quarterback, Nate Bell, rushed for 134 yards.
After EWU took a 21-7 lead, Idaho was given a second chance when Noah Cronquist muffed a punt that was recovered by Dylin McIntyre. However, Idaho immediately turned it over on downs. After that drive, Nick Josifek replaced Koch.
Josifek started the play of the game for Idaho, heaving a 40-yard pass to the endzone on 4th and 10, which Michael Graves somehow came down with amidst three defenders.
“I think our group will continue to get better. They’re going to continue to believe, and I hope that the Vandal fans continue to give me grace and patience to get this group going because again, this isn’t the same group that we’ve had, right?” Ford said. “We don’t have a bunch of veteran players. I think you’re really seeing our youth on display in a lot of areas. I do know this. A negative attitude has never helped anybody.”
The Vandals will look to get back in the win column against winless Portland State at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome next Saturday Oct 25 at 1 p.m.
Liam Bradford can be reached at [email protected].