Vandals football (1-4, 1-1) shocked the college football world on Friday night in Moscow, recovering from a 34-20 fourth quarter deficit to stun FCS #1 ranked, defending FCS national champion Montana State (5-1, 2-1) 35-34 in one of the biggest victories in program history. Idaho’s win is their first against an FCS #1 ranked opponent in program history, snapping the Bobcats’ 19 game winning streak.
The Wildcats started the contest with the football, and managed to march straight down to the Idaho four yard line. But the Vandal defense would hold firm, and the Bobcats would settle for a field goal to open the scoring.
On Idaho’s first offensive play from scrimmage, quarterback Joshua Wood connected on a 75 yard deep ball with wide receiver Ryan Jezorio, who exploited a blown coverage to give the Vandals a 7-3 lead.
After a three and out for each squad, the Bobcats found their groove, scoring in just four plays to regain the lead. The Vandals would put together back to back possessions ending in field goals and forced a Bobcat three and out to jump back out in front 13-10.
Montana State jumped back ahead with another long drive, but the back and forth game flow continued when running back Damonte Bias capped another solid Vandal drive with his first Division I touchdown.
The lead wouldn’t last long however, and the Bobcats would hold a 24-20 advantage going into the halftime break. After forcing an Idaho three and out to open the half, Montana State drove down the field and bled a ton of time off the clock, but another Vandal defensive stand held them to just three.
The Bobcats would take full advantage of an interception and increase the lead to 34-20 with 13:29 remaining in the contest. Idaho would respond on their next drive however, with Joshua Wood running it in from a yard out to cut the deficit to 34-27 and keep his team in it.
Another defensive stand forced Montana State into a long field goal attempt, which sailed wide left. The two teams would trade three and outs again, with the Bobcats able to bleed all but 49 seconds off the clock after a touchback following a punt. The Vandals were out of timeouts.
Two solid scrambles from Wood opened the possession, followed by a completion and good hustle to get out of bounds from Tony Harste to stop the clock at 14 seconds.
Wood then evaded pressure and found Noah West-Baranco over the middle to the Bobcat 25 for a first down, with the tight end being ruled down with one second remaining.
Per NCAA rules, the clock stops on a first down in the final two minutes of each half, meaning the Vandals would have a chance at one final play. The Bobcats would then elect to call a timeout in an attempt to get their defense into a better structure.
With a single second on the clock, Wood would avoid pressure from his right, step up in the pocket, and connect with Ryan Jezorio yet again in the middle of the end zone, who again exploited a blown coverage and adjusted to make the catch for the score.
As chaos reigned, head coach Thomas Ford Jr. made the “no-brainer decision” that his club was going for the win on a two point conversion attempt.
Instead of an extra point try, the Vandal offense executed a design quarterback draw with fake motion from a receiver left to right, with Wood keeping the ball himself and barreling through defenders into the end zone to secure one of the wildest victories from the jaws of defeat you will ever see in the game of football.
Pandemonium ensued, as the Kibbie Dome faithful stormed the field to celebrate the monumental upset and the first victory of the season, Idaho’s first ever win against an FCS #1 ranked opponent.
The Vandals haven’t lost in Moscow against the ‘Cats since 1990, and their last two home wins have come with Montana State ranked #2 in 2023 and now #1 in 2026.
Joshua Wood turned in another outstanding performance, shrugging off a second half interception to finish with over 300 yards passing and two touchdowns, along with another score on the ground.
Ryan Jezorio scored the Vandals first and last touchdowns of the evening, posting a career high 147 receiving yards alongside the two scores.
Safety Zach Wusstig helped anchor a strong defensive performance with a career high 11 tackles, and defensive tackle Mitch Jaskowiak picked up his first career solo sack.
“I told the guys the last two weeks when we beat this team, everyone in the country will be surprised, but not one single person in that room will be surprised, and that was the case”, said coach Ford postgame.
“I’m just so proud of these guys for their resolve. People probably hear me in these press conferences after the losses and they hear me talk about this “together” team and that we never quit and they think it’s just cliche and it’s just [nonsense]. It’s not and it’s clear that it’s not. What we have here is very special and I am incredibly grateful to be the head football coach at the University of Idaho.”
The monumental victory will be a huge boost for the Vandals efforts in getting the season back on the right track. Back to back road games are next on the schedule, first on Oct. 10 in Ogden against Weber State, then in Missoula against Montana on Oct. 17