SAN JOSE, Calf. - The University of Idaho could not overcome a horrendous start and wound up with a 26-18 loss at San Jose State University. The Vandals wrap up their inaugural Western Athletic Conference campaign with a 2-9 overall record, 2-6 and a tie for sixth in the league.

As for Saturday's season finale at Spartan Stadium, UI coach Nick Holt knew his team faced a steep uphill climb if it were to successfully overcome a three-interception first quarter by Wichman.

"You cannot throw three interceptions in the first quarter and expect to be successful," Holt said. "We started to generate something late in the game but it was too little too late."

Not only were the interceptions troublesome for the Vandals in the early going but they also lost running back Tracy Ford to an ankle sprain in the first minutes of the game.

"It was hard to get consistency with that kind of stuff," Holt said.

The Vandals had to turn to senior Antwaun Sherman, who has been hobbled by an ankle sprain throughout the latter part of the season, to add balance to Rolly Lumbala on the ground. Sherman proved effective. He finished with 18 carries for 73 yards as UI piled up a season-high 165 yards. Wes Williams added 48 on four carries. Lumbala had 21 yards on eight tries.

Wichman finished with 135 yards on 14-of-34 passing with the four interceptions.

Senior linebacker Cole Snyder wrapped up his career with 17 tackles, which includes 2 tackles for loss. He also accounted for four UI points with second-quarter safety and a return of a blocked PAT in the third.

Field position was UI's undoing in the early going. The Vandals' first three drives ended in interceptions.

While they averted disaster on the first by holding the Spartans to a net gain of two yards, they paid a high price on the second when Rufus Skillern hooked up with John Broussard to score on a 61-yard pass play with 10:10 to play in the first.

The Vandals held after the next interception, which had given the Spartans the ball at their own 49. However, a running game rendered less effective by the early injury to Ford continued to struggle, which, coupled with the errant air attack left the Vandals in punt mode.

The speedy Davis made the big play on the Spartans' next drive when he hooked up with Adam Tafralis for a 39-yard gain to advance the ball into Vandal territory. J.T. Callier finished the drive with a one-yard run with just six seconds gone in the second quarter for a 14-0 SJSU lead.

Idaho's lone score of the lackluster first half was a safety when Snyder caught Davis in the end zone with 13:22 left in the first half.

The second half started much like the first - with San Jose State intercepting passes. Powell nabbed his third of the game when he hauled in one of Wichman's passes near midfield and returned it to the UI 22. As it had for much of the evening, the Vandal defense was stout and the Spartans had to settle for a 36-yard field goal by Jared Strubeck with 9:42 to go in the third.

The Vandals finally scored their first TD of the season when Williams took the ball from Lumbala to score on a 37-yard reverse with 4:02 left in the third. Mike Barrow's kick made it 17-9.

En route to scoring their next TD, the Spartans converted on a fourth-down at the Idaho 36 then scored when Broussard pulled in a 17-yard pass from Tafralis with 11 seconds left in the third. On the PAT, however, Jeff Edwards' block led to Snyder's defensive PAT and instead of trailing 24-9, the Vandals were down 23-11.

The Spartans went up 26-11 on Strubeck's 20-yard field goal with 4:48 to play.

Idaho responded with a 62-yard drive (courtesy of a 38-yard kick off return by Williams) to close to within 26-18 with 3:17 to play. Sherman capped the drive, which started with back-to-back incompletions, with a two-yard run. The drives to big plays were a 23-yard pickup by Sherman and an 18-yard pass from Wichman to Lumbala, which gave UI the ball at the SJSU two.

The onsides kick was recovered by the Vandals but they were flagged for touching the ball too early and the ball went to the Spartans. The UI defense held, however, and Idaho had one last chance.

The first play was an 18-yard hookup between Wichman and Smith but that play was followed by an incompletion, a fumble by Wichman and two more incomplete passes.