Box Score
LOGAN, Utah - Stanley Franks knows what it's like to be a receiver. After all, he used to be one. Saturday afternoon, he played like one when he zeroed in on a Leon Jackson pass, darted in front of the intended receiver, grabbed the ball and sprinted down the right sideline to score on a 98-yard interception return.
The touchdown put points on the scoreboard but more importantly it put the spark in the Idaho Vandals as they opened Western Athletic Conference play with a 41-21 victory over Utah State at Romney Stadium.
Coach Dennis Erickson called it the play of the game.
"That turned everything around," said Erickson as the Vandals improved to 2-3 overall and 1-0 in the WAC. "That play turned the momentum; turned how we felt about ourselves at halftime; the enthusiasm we felt at halftime."
Opportune time is the key phrase in describing the impact of Franks' pick. It came with the Vandals trailing 14-10 and the Aggies on a march to the end zone with time slipping away in the first half. Instead of possibly trailing 21-10 at the half, they led 17-14.
"I got a clear look at the ball," Franks said. "Our backs were against the wall right there."
Oddly, the Vandals' backs had been to the wall since they won the toss and gave USU the ball first. After all, a defense that had been playing well against an offense that hadn't score in 2006 sounded like a good bet.
"What can go wrong?" Erickson asked in thinking back to his decision.
For the Vandals on that first possession, everything went wrong. The Aggies marched the length of the field to score their first offensive TD of the season then made the most of a muffed kick return and scored again to put Idaho in a 14-0 hole less than seven minutes into the game.
Once the offense had a chance, though, it took off. With senior quarterback Steve Wichman mixing passes and runs, and occasionally scrambling himself, Idaho hit stride and had its most solid outing of the fall. As steady as the offense was, the defense was flamboyant. After yielding the two early scores, it didnt give up another score until the final two minutes of the game.
And Franks wasnt the only defender to score. When Brandon Ogletree jarred the ball loose from Riley Nelson, Jo Artis Ratti was the man on the spot. He swooped under the ball, found a lane and raced untouched 74 yards to score to put the game out of reach at 41-14 with 7:02 to play.
"It was a good win for us," Erickson said. "I thought our guys showed a lot of character when we got down 14-0."
"It was just a good win. We needed one badly."
Utah State made the most of its first offensive opportunity. The Aggies marched the opening kickoff 71 yards in 10 plays to score their first offensive touchdown of the season when Marcus Cross darted up the middle to score from six yards out with 11:10 left in the first.
Once the Vandal offense had the ball, it, too, made the most of the opportunity. Jayson Bird capped the 11-play, 78-yard drive with an eight-yard TD run on fourth-down-and-inches with 3:23 to in the first. Tino Amancio's PAT kick was good to cut USU's lead to 14-7.
A series of punts ensued before the Vandals struck again, although they stalled a bit on this one and settled for a 19-yard field goal by Amancio. Amancio's kick with 6:52 left in the half capped a 12-play, 67-yard drive that bogged down at the Utah State two after the Vandals had marched to first-down-and-goal at the 10.
The Aggies' next drive was looking to be a productive one. They marched to the Vandal seven before Stanley Franks put the brakes on the drive when he intercepted Jackson's pass at the Idaho two and raced down the right sideline to score with 1:26 left in the half. Amancio's kick gave Idaho its first lead of the game, 17-10.
Idaho punted on its first possession of the second half then forced Utah State to do the same. The Aggies' fake-field-goal-turned-punt gave the ball to the Vandals at their own 18. A short gain was followed by a penalty and a sack to leave them facing third-down-and-13 at their own 15. Wichman, under heavy pressure, unloaded over the middle to find Komar 50 yards downfield for the first down.
Another sack followed before Wichman again went over the middle, this time to Eddie Williams. Six running plays followed, a keeper by Wichman, two runs by Bird and three by Flowers as the Vandals moved to the USU four. Wichman again went to Williams, who pulled the ball in at the goal line, sustained a bone-jarring hit, hung onto the ball and scored with 4:23 left in the third. Amancio's PAT made it 24-14.
The Vandal defense held again and, while it scored, the offense settled for a 42-yard field goal on its next possession. An athletic catch by Marlon Haynes moved the ball into USU territory at the 27. But one running play and two incomplete passes left the Vandals at the 25. Amancio booted his second field goal with his 42-yarder with 56 seconds remaining in the third.
Shiloh Keo set up the Vandals' next TD when he intercepted Jackson deep in Idaho territory and returned the ball to the USU 36. With the exception of a 10-yard scramble by Wichman and Flowers' six-yard scoring run, Bird pushed his way through the Aggie line to set up the TD with 8:35 to play. Amancio was good on the PAT for the 34-14 lead.
For the Vandals, there were a lot of pluses. A running game that has at time struggled, netted 128 yards with Bird, Wichman and Flowers providing the bulk of the yardage. Wichman, who was steady with a 50 percent completion percentage and no interceptions, used six receivers with Max Komar, Marlon Haynes, Lee Smith and Eddie Williams each grabbing two.
In addition to Franks' and Ratti's defensive heroics, true freshman Shiloh Keo had an interception that he returned 33 yards to go with 10 tackles. David Vobora, the nation's second-leading tackler, had nine stops and Ogletree not only forced the fumble that led to Ratti's TD but he had two other tackles-for-loss.
And, sophomore kicker Tino Amancio had a perfect day with two field goals, 19 and 42 yards, and five PATs.
