Idaho’s football season has rarely followed a predictable path. The Vandals have endured lopsided losses and close defeats, but they have also delivered wins against highly-ranked opponents, including a 42-35 upset of No. 7 Montana on Saturday.
Through the swings, Owen Forsman has become a steady presence in Idaho’s kicking game. The junior from Rathdrum has taken over as the Vandals’ starting placekicker, becoming a significant contributor in several high-scoring games this season.
Forsman did not grow up playing football. He spent nine years focused on soccer before trying football as a freshman at Lakeland High School. Less than four years later, he had earned a Division I scholarship and committed to Idaho.
The transition looked promising until an injury to his ankle threatened to undo the progress he had made.
“I partially tore three of the ligaments in my ankle,” Forsman said of the injury he suffered during his senior season at Lakeland.
The injury came while Forsman was playing linebacker. He had already committed to Idaho before his senior season, and he had little reason to expect that a routine tackle would leave him questioning his future as a kicker.
The injury required a long recovery and left Forsman dealing with lingering tightness. For a kicker, whose job depends on precise, repeatable movement through the foot and ankle, the setback was especially difficult.
“It’s like a pitcher breaking his hand,” Forsman said.
The injury also changed his relationship with the sport. Forsman wondered whether his ankle would heal properly and whether he would be able to perform at the level that had earned him a place at Idaho.
That uncertainty was a sharp contrast to the excitement he felt during his rise at Lakeland.
Forsman had spent much of his childhood playing club soccer in Spokane. As he approached high school, he began to see fewer opportunities to advance in soccer without traveling farther west. Lakeland coaches encouraged him to try kicking for the football team, opening a door he had not seriously considered before.
The skills translated naturally.
Soccer had developed the leg speed and power he needed, but football kicking required him to rebuild his technique around a stationary ball.
Seth Harrison, a former All-American kicker at Eastern Washington, helped guide Forsman through the process. Harrison mentored him throughout high school and continued to help him develop after he arrived at Idaho. Forsman credits those training sessions with helping him turn potential into a college opportunity.
He began attending kicking camps around the Northwest and received an offer from Idaho during the summer before his senior year. It was his only Division I offer.
“I was so stoked,” Forsman said.
Idaho appealed to him because it was close to home, he liked the coaching staff and the program made him feel wanted.
The start of his college career, however, was not what he envisioned.
Forsman said he struggled during his first spring at Idaho, making only about 30% of his field-goal attempts. Coming off the ankle injury, he had to relearn parts of his kicking motion. The early results left him wondering whether he belonged at the Division I level.
He spent the next stretch of his career working to get back to the form that had drawn college coaches to him. After a redshirt season in 2024, Forsman got his first opportunity to kick field goals in 2025.
“I just felt like I’d come full circle and that people trusted me,” he said. “I was back on track.”
That experience helped set the stage for this season. Forsman spent the summer working extensively with Harrison in Spokane, refining his form and committing himself to the position.
Forsman has made eight field goals through the first seven games and is perfect on extra points. He also made six extra points in Idaho’s win at Montana, helping the Vandals complete a signature victory on the road against a Big Sky rival.
In a position where opportunities can be separated by long stretches of inactivity, Forsman has learned to remain engaged with the team before shifting his attention to the kick itself.
He does not try to think through every possible outcome when he steps onto the field. Instead, he relies on preparation.
“The kick is made before you ever walk on the field,” Forsman said. “It’s so mental that as long as you believe 100% and just do what you’ve practiced thousands of times, you’ll execute it.”
When a kick goes wrong, he tries to move on rather than carry the mistake into the next opportunity.
Idaho’s season still has work ahead. Despite a pair of upset victories, consistency remains the challenge. Forsman cannot control every possession or result. He can control his preparation, his approach and what happens the next time he gets a chance to earn the Vandals three points.
That is a lesson Harrison helped instill in him years ago: all a player can control is what he does next.