The rivalry didn’t need extra stakes, but Idaho State (6-6) brought its own anyway. Riding a hot streak as of late, the Bengals marched into the Kibbie Dome on Saturday and delivered a statement that had been four decades in the making. Idaho State dominated from the opening quarter, beat Idaho (4-8) 37-16 and left Moscow with its first road win in the series since 1981.
“I’m a petty person,” head coach Thomas Ford Jr. said. “These are the types of things that will stick with me until we play them again. When you lose a game to your rival at your home field, it’s going to be even easier to motivate guys.”
For Idaho, a season defined by tight finishes ended with its only true blowout — a frustrating, penalty-stalled performance that buried the Vandals long before they could settle in.
“Penalties really hurt us,” Ford said. “Anytime you’ve got third-and-20s, it’s not easy to convert. That really hurt us offensively.”
Idaho State entered averaging over 460 yards per game and ranking near the top of the FCS in total offense, passing offense and fewest sacks allowed. The efficiency that has defined their late-season rise made the trip north with them.
Quarterback Jordan Cooke, patient and decisive, orchestrated an offense that looked comfortable from its first possession. His pass to Ian Duarte for a 14-yard touchdown gave ISU a 7-0 lead, and the Bengals never led by fewer than seven again.
Duarte finished with 70 yards on five catches, part of an early stretch where Idaho State carved up the Vandal secondary with short throws and timely quarterback runs.
Idaho had its moments, including a perfectly placed punt downed inside the 10 and a few key stops from linebacker Dylan Layne, but nothing consistent enough to disrupt Idaho State’s tempo or slow the Bengals’ early surge.
Meanwhile, Idaho’s offense couldn’t stay on schedule. Penalties repeatedly erased manageable downs and left quarterback Joshua Wood scrambling through third-and-long situations with little hope of reprieve. He completed a few improvisational plays, including a pair of first downs on a mid-second quarter drive, but his night ended early after injuring his shoulder on a long quarterback counter run.
By halftime, Idaho State had out-gained Idaho 309-107 and held a 17-4 edge in first downs. The Bengals were 7-for-11 on third and fourth down; Idaho was 0-for-6.
“We’ve been really good all season on third down,” Ford said. “But when you’ve got penalties that put you in third-and-forever, that was the difference.”
Idaho State closed the half with a sequence that made the deficit feel insurmountable for Idaho. Cooke absorbed a hit and delivered a 30-yard touchdown to Tsion Nunnally, who finished with 86 yards. Penalties on the play moved the kickoff forward 30 yards, and with 28 seconds left, ISU recovered an onside kick and kicked a field goal to take a 27-0 lead into the break.
With Wood sidelined, true freshman Sawyer Teeney opened the third quarter at quarterback. His task wasn’t easy: command an offense that had barely moved the ball and try to salvage rhythm in a rivalry game that was already tilting sharply the other way.
He responded with maturity well beyond his age.
“Honestly, I thought Sawyer came in and did a phenomenal job,” Ford said. “He had two touchdown drives — those were our only two touchdowns of the game.”
Teeney finished 8-for-12 for 53 yards and threw a touchdown to Nolan McWilliams. With Teeney operating efficiently and running back Nate Thomas finding creases, Idaho outscored ISU 16–10 after halftime. It didn’t change the outcome, but it did provide something Ford refused to overlook.
“It could have been easy to pack it up,” he said. “And our guys didn’t.”
A big reason why the Idaho offense was unable to get into a rhythm was the clutch open-field tackling from Rylan Leathers. But Idaho State’s consistency on conversion downs remained the separating factor. The Bengals finished 9-for-18 on third and fourth down, often converting on designed quarterback runs.
“They ran their quarterback all year, but not quite in the way they did today,” Ford said. “They had a few more called runs where he was keeping the ball. They converted three or four times on those.”
Cooke ended the afternoon with 212 passing yards, 72 rushing yards and four total scores. Running back Dason Brooks hammered out 103 yards on the ground, giving ISU the balance it needed to maintain complete control of the game. The Bengals were perfect in the red zone, scoring touchdowns on all five trips.
Rivalry losses tend to sit with teams longer than any others. Losing this one at home, with ISU carrying the trophy out of Moscow for the first time in 44 years, will only deepen that edge.
That motivation will carry into what Ford believes could be a pivotal offseason. Idaho’s incoming high school class, he said, has a chance to be the highest-rated in program history. Unlike the previous season, the Vandals won’t need as many transfer additions.
“If we stay together as a group and continue to build on what we accomplished this season, the sky’s the limit,” Ford said. “You’re not going to see a coach in America that’s going to work as hard as me.”
The Vandals’ season ends at 4-8, a record that hides how competitive they were most weeks. Saturday stood alone as the exception as the one game that got away early.