WINLESS WONDERS: AGS FALL TO 0-5
The University of Idaho Vandals overcame a 14-0 deficit to win 41-21 over the Aggies and make it two in a row over their rivals.
It couldn’t have been a better start for USU, as Leon Jackson III started the game seven-for-seven passing and the Aggies marched 71 yards in 10 plays. Marcus Cross plunged in for the historic touchdown from 6 yards out.
USU Head Coach Brent Guy said, “That’s the best we’ve ever started a football game since I’ve been here.”
There was not a cloud in the sky as Idaho fumbled the ensuing kickoff and USU’s Chris James recovered the football in the unseasonably warm weather. Jackson led the offense on a 21-yard touchdown drive that culminated in a 1-yard pass to fullback Jimmy Bohm.
Then, in Guy’s word, USU let up on the gas. Head Coach Dennis Erickson’s Vandals scored the next 41 points in the ball game, turning a USU start as perfect as the fall day’s weather into a nightmare.
“I told the guys we’re not the type of team that can ever let our guard down or lose our focus,” Guy said.
Erickson said, “It was a good win; we needed to win badly. To win one of the road is good no matter what – we’ll take it. We are 2-3, that’s all that matters.”
It was interim offensive coordinator Greg Stevens’ first game calling plays for the Aggie offense and although they moved the ball well for stretches, turnovers proved to be their undoing.
Stevens was critical of his own play-calling, saying, “We made some bad reads and I probably made a bad call on the interception return in the second quarter.”
The return Stevens made a reference to came after Jackson and Cross had moved the Aggies 67 yards and it appeared the Aggies would head into the halftime break leading 21-10. Instead, a pass intended for Cross, who was split wide, sailed too high and Idaho’s Stanley Franks came down with it. He went 98 yards down the east sideline to pay dirt, making the score 17-14 for Idaho.
USU forced Idaho to punt on their first possession of the second half and after a short drive, were lined up in field-goal formation on the Idaho 29. What followed was a play that had many observers scratching their heads.
“The ball was supposed to be snapped to Hamblin and he was going to pooch it and we were going to come down and pin them,” Guy said. Instead, the snap went to the holder, Ryan Bohm, as if USU were going to try the 45-yard field goal. “Bohm had enough sense to stand up and kick the football because he knew what we were doing.”
Bohm’s quick thinking resulted in a net gain of 11 yards of field position for the Ags out of what could have been a broken play. Unfortunately, Idaho made it academic on their next drive.
The Vandals appeared stalled after a Darby Golden sack and a false-start penalty had them in third and 13. But Idaho quarterback Brian Wichman hooked up with Max Komar to the dismay of USU fans, who thought Wichman had crossed the line of scrimmage. The play was reviewed but not overturned and Idaho finished the drive with a 4-yard pass from Wichman to Eddie Williams.
Guy said his team was far from deflated – even after Idaho made it 27-14 late in the third quarter. “Even at the beginning of the fourth quarter all we had to do was score two touchdowns and win 28-27 and I think we still had guys who believed.”
Instead of rallying, however, USU collapsed. Jackson was intercepted by Keo Shiloh and Brian Flowers turned the turnover into a touchdown on the ground for Idaho, who finished with 128 rushing yards.
That made the score 34-14 and on the next USU possession it was heralded true freshman Riley Nelson, who trotted out for the Ags. Nelson looked sharp, finding Otis Nelson for a 25-yard completion on the first pass of his career.
Stevens said, “At the time we put Riley in the game, was a little out of hand and Leon was struggling a little bit. So we put Riley in to see what he could do and he did a pretty good job.”
Nelson’s first drive ended when he was sacked from the blind side and fumbled. The ball was taken cleanly off the bounce by UI’s Jo Artis Ratti and returned 74 yards for another Idaho touchdown.
Yet Nelson showed he was far from rattled by his harsh welcome to Division 1 college football and simply led the Aggies on a 65-yard touchdown drive moments after his fumble. Antraun McDaniel scored the Aggies’ third touchdown of the day on an 8-yard run.
Guy said he didn’t know if Nelson was his new starting quarterback and he would decide sometime this week.
“Riley’s not there yet in terms of the answer, but he made some nice runs and he made some nice throws,” Guy said of the youngster, who scored 84 touchdowns last year as a Parade All-American for 3A state champion Logan High School.
Nelson sounded remarkably similar to Jackson did three years ago, when he was the freshman challenging Travis Cox for the starting quarterback job.
“It’s a dream come true. Ever since Little League, you dream of playing college football and I finally got my opportunity today,” Nelson said.
Guy emphasized that his team has only itself to rely on as they try to turn their 0-5 season around next week against Fresno State.
“Everyone is going to tell us how terrible we are, that we’re not going to win a game. You’re going to hear that stuff out of the media, out of your family, out of your girlfriend, in the classroom – everywhere you go the sky is falling in on you. We’ve got to turn out heads in and not listen to that stuff because you cannot allow it to affect you. We’ve got to be a football team that helps outselves out of this; we’re the only ones that can fight our way out of it…we’re the only ones that can change what happened today.”