The scope of Idaho’s (1-4, 1-2) season has changed considerably in the days following the Vandals’ improbable upset of the No. 1 team in the country.
Joshua Wood was named the Big Sky’s Offensive Player of the Week. Idaho was named the Stats Perform FCS National Team of the Week. The video of Wood’s game-winning two-point conversion circulated well beyond Moscow.
Now the Vandals have to leave it behind.
Idaho travels to Ogden on Saturday to face Weber State (3-3, 2-1), which is coming off a 42-34 double-overtime victory at Cal Poly.
The challenge for Idaho is considerably different from the one it faced against Montana State. The Bobcats entered the Kibbie Dome with the nation’s top ranking and a 19-game winning streak. Although Weber State does not come into this game carrying the same resume as Montana State, its offense has proven capable of making a game uncomfortable for anyone.
The Wildcats are averaging 37.5 points and 453.5 yards per game, numbers that rank among the Big Sky’s better offensive outputs. Freshman quarterback Nate Dahle has been particularly productive. He has thrown for 1,319 yards and 14 touchdowns through six games and has added 284 rushing yards. Against Cal Poly, Dahle accounted for 308 yards of offense.
Weber has enough talent around him to make the matchup even more difficult. Receiver Noah Kjar leads the Wildcats with 621 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, while running backs Seth Rigtrup and Spencer Ferguson have combined for more than 500 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
For an Idaho defense that has allowed over 40 points per game this season, slowing that group down will be the most important assignment of the afternoon.
The Vandals did show progress on the defensive side of the ball late against Montana State. After allowing the Bobcats to take a 34-20 lead early in the fourth quarter, Idaho shut them out for the remainder of the game. The defense forced a punt with 49 seconds left, giving Wood and the offense an opportunity to complete the comeback.
The next step is sustaining that level of play against a Weber offense that can attack in several ways.
Idaho’s offense also has an opportunity to make life easier on its defense. A consistent ground attack would help keep Weber’s offense on the sideline and take some pressure off Wood. Idaho has increasingly incorporated Damonte Bias into the running game, while Wood has become one of the team’s most effective rushing threats with seven touchdowns on the ground this season.
Wood is coming off another great performance, throwing for 315 yards and rushing for 41, finishing with three total touchdowns. The danger for Idaho is assuming another performance like that will simply happen because it just happened against the best team in the country.
Weber’s defense has given opponents opportunities. The Wildcats allowed 44 points to Portland State two weeks ago, including 248 rushing yards.
That makes Saturday something of a test of whether Idaho can turn Friday’s breakthrough into a more consistent version of itself.
The Vandals spent the first four games of the season searching for a complete performance. They finally found one when they needed it most against Montana State. Doing it again in Ogden would provide a much better indication of whether the program has actually begun to turn a corner.
The matchup also carries some recent history. Idaho won the last meeting 31-24 in 2024, but Weber won 31-29 in Ogden in 2023. The Vandals are returning to Stewart Stadium for the first time since that 2023 meeting.
For Idaho, the formula is relatively simple. Slow down Dahle and the Weber offense, establish enough of a running game to control the pace and protect the football. After everything the Vandals accomplished against Montana State, the most important thing they can show Saturday is that they are capable of bringing the same focus to a game that will not have the same national attention.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Stewart Stadium, with the game airing on ESPN+.