Defense saves the day for 'Dogs
Defense and special teams make
up for a struggling offense as Bulldogs win 40-10 over Vandals
Daniel Bickley
/ The University of Idaho Argonaut
Marcus McCauley takes
down Idaho’s Lee Smith in Saturday’s 40-10 victory.
McCauley contributed to a smothering defense that led to the demise
of the Vandals. |
By Keanan Lamb
The Collegian
Saturday’s loss to No.
24 Fresno State (5-1 overall, 3-0 WAC) was expected from the Idaho football
team.
The Bulldogs came into the game averaging 44 points a game, 30- point
margin of victor, and leading the nation in third-down conversions at
more than 50 percent. Fresno State coach Pat Hill’s squad came close
to matching all those numbers with its 40-10 win over Idaho (1-6, 1-3)
at the Kibbie Dome.
Despite the final score, the Vandals hung with the Bulldogs through the
first half. The Vandals opened the game with a five-play, 80-yard drive
culminating in a 9-yard touchdown run by freshman running back Jason Lee
Brown. Sophomore tailback Rolly Lumbala had the highlight of the drive,
a 46-yard scamper that set up Brown’s run.
On the reciprocating drive, Bulldog running back Wendell Mathis fumbled
the pitch from quarterback Paul Pinegar and Vandal linebacker Mike Anderson
recovered it, which sent the 15,000-plus fans in attendance into a frenzy.
Fresno State leads the nation in punt-return average, something Idaho
coach Nick Holt knew would be a factor in the game.
“They are a phenomenal team with an excellent special teams,”
Holt said earlier in the week.
His concerns were validated after Mathis’ fumble.
A quick three-and-out ensued as the Bulldog defense buckled down and receiver
Joe Fernandez took Vandal kicker Mike Barrow’s punt 72 yards to
tie the score.
On Idaho’s next drive, another three-and-out followed by a botched
snap forced Barrow to illegally kick the ball off the turf.
Unfortunately, the ball was driven straight to special-teamer Jaron Fairman
who ran the ball back 26 yards for Fresno State’s second punt- return
touchdown of the quarter.
“There are three facets in the game of football and we did well
on two of those,” Hill said. “Our special teams was outstanding
and our defense really played very, very well.”
For the rest of the game, Vandal quaterback Steve Wichman was unable to
orchestrate the offense as well as he did on the opening drive.
“First half we really thought we were in the game,” said Wichman.
“We felt like they weren’t doing anything we couldn’t
handle, and we felt like we had the momentum.”
With the Vandals trailing at halftime by only six points, the team was
optimistic.
Fresno State came out of halftime and immediately began playing at the
level expected of them, scoring 24 unanswered points in the second half,
including a 58-yard touchdown run by Mathis.
Pinegar completed 21 of 33 passes for 228 yards and had one touchdown.
“Second half we got the offense going,” Hill said. “Give
Idaho credit; they did a good job on team defense. It’s a team victory
and I’ll take it.”
Comment
on this story in the Sports forum >>
|
