The Idaho Vandals (0-1, 0-1) do not have much time to dwell on what went wrong in its season opener.
Four days after surrendering a touchdown with nine seconds left in a 38-34 loss to open the season at Cal Poly, the Vandals will walk into one of the biggest environments on their 2026 schedule Thursday night to face No. 21 Utah.
It is a steep jump in competition, but also an opportunity for Idaho to find out how much its revamped offense can carry against a ranked Big 12 opponent.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where the Utes have sold out 95 consecutive games. Utah went 11-2 last season and is the first AP-ranked opponent Idaho has faced since their 2024 season-opener against No. 3 Oregon.
For Idaho, the most encouraging part of its opener was the performance of senior quarterback Joshua Wood and a passing game that showed an ability to create explosive plays.
Wood threw for a career-high 363 yards and two touchdowns against Cal Poly, completing 18 of 25 passes. He also ran for 42 yards. The 363 passing yards were the most by an Idaho quarterback since 2019.
His favorite target was Tony Harste, who turned in a career game with nine catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yard score that gave the Vandals a 31-24 lead with 6:10 remaining.
Harste’s emergence gives Idaho another dimension entering a game in which Utah will have the size and speed advantage across the field. The junior receiver had 12 catches for 151 yards during the entire 2025 season.
The question now is whether that production can translate against Utah.
The Vandals will be facing a Utes defense that returns linebacker Johnathan Hall, who led Utah with 67 tackles and had six tackles for loss last season. Safety Jackson Bennee, the team’s second-leading tackler in 2025 with 64 tackles, also returns. Utah has added defensive linemen through the transfer portal, including Jireh Moe from San Jose State.
Idaho’s running game will also need to find another gear.
The Vandals managed 119 rushing yards against Cal Poly, with Ferrari Miller leading the way with 44 yards and a touchdown. Idaho has emphasized a more physical, downhill rushing attack under first-year offensive coordinator Ian Shoemaker, but the Vandals will have to establish some balance if they hope to keep Utah’s defense from pinning its ears back.
That could make Wood’s ability to extend plays particularly important.
Idaho’s offensive line returns four starters from last season, and the group will face its most difficult test of the young season against a Utah front that has considerably more size and depth.
On the other side of the ball, Idaho has an equally significant challenge.
Cal Poly accumulated 516 yards in the opener, including 319 through the air and 197 on the ground. The Vandals did show some encouraging signs, recording five tackles for loss and a sack while forcing the Mustangs into several critical fourth-down situations.
Senior linebacker and captain Cruz Hepburn led the way with a career-high 12 tackles. Now he and a largely retooled Idaho defense have to deal with Utah quarterback Devon Dampier.
Dampier started 12 games for the Utes last season and threw for 2,490 yards and 24 touchdowns while rushing for 835 yards and 10 more scores. Running back Wayshawn Parker also returns after rushing for 981 yards and six touchdowns in 2025.
The matchup also marks a significant moment for Utah, who makes their 2026 season debut against the Vandals on Thursday night.
Morgan Scalley, who spent nearly two decades on the Utes’ coaching staff, will make his regular-season debut as the program’s full-time head coach. Scalley took over after Kyle Whittingham stepped down following the 2025 season. He already has one victory as Utah’s head coach, leading the Utes to a 44-22 win over Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Thursday’s game will be the first meeting between the programs since Oct. 2, 1993, when Idaho went into Salt Lake City and defeated Utah 28-17. The programs have met 29 times dating to 1908, but Thursday will be only their second meeting since 1964.
It also gives Idaho another chance to prove that its recent success against FBS opponents was no fluke. The Vandals defeated Nevada 33-6 in 2023 and Wyoming 17-13 in 2024, becoming one of only three FCS programs to record multiple FBS wins since 2023.
The challenge is considerably different this time. Idaho is 0-1 and heading into a stadium that seats more than 51,000 people. Utah is ranked, rested and opening its season at home.
But the Vandals have already shown they can make explosive plays. Now they have to show they can make enough of them, and prevent enough on the other side, to stay within striking distance of one of the country’s top teams.
For a program trying to take the next step in the second year of the Thomas Ford era, there may not be a better measuring stick.