SAN JOSE, Calif. ? The storyline was familiar. The result achingly the same.

Idaho started solid, struggled through a couple inconsistent quarters, then rallied only to  come oh-so-close before falling 28-20 in a Western Athletic Conference game at San Jose State Saturday.

“We've got to eliminate shooting ourselves in the foot,” coach Robb Akey said. “We were our own worst enemy today.”

The Vandals (1-5, 0-2 WAC) were penalized 12 times for 95 yards and averaged just 29.5 yards per punt. Those bobbles went a long way in creating poor field positions and causing drives to stall.

“All three phases of the game ? we have to become more consistent,” Akey said. “We have to play more correct.”

There were times when the Vandals did. Particularly in the fourth quarter. Idaho was trailing 28-6 early in the fourth quarter. As it had throughout the third quarter, the defense held. The Spartans were pinned at their own 15 and back to punt. True freshman JoJo Dickson blocked the punt and another true freshman ? Maurice Shaw ? recovered it and romped into the endzone for the touchdown. Tino Amancio's kick closed the gap to 28-13.

Redshirt freshman Eric Hunter provided the next big play when he intercepted Adam Tafralis at the SJSU 48.

The Vandals went to work with their running game. Deonte` Jackson gained 12 yards on four successive carries. Then Brian Nooy ? in at quarterback for the injured Nathan Enderle, found Eddie Williams for another eight yards. Idaho went back to the run with Jackson going for five before Brian Flowers wrapped up the drive with a four-yarder followed by a 19-yard scoring run with 5:27 to play. Amancio's kick made it 28-20.

San Jose State made the most of its next possession. Although the Spartans didn't score, they took 3:24 off the clock so when the Vandals took over on downs, only 2:03 remained. Nooy was intercepted on his first pass.

Again, the Spartans took precious seconds off the clock. When the Vandals next had the ball, just 13 seconds remained. Idaho's last offensive effort ended in Nooy's second interception.

“This team believes,” linebacker David Vobora said. “This team believes we're going be there in the fourth quarter. We just have to find a way not to hurt ourselves early.”

Idaho scored first when Amancio was successful on a 34-yard field goal with 4:31 to play in the first. The drive was the Vandals' second and marked the debut of Quin Ashley at quarterback, although he gave way to Nooy midway through the drive.

San Jose State responded on the next drive when James T. Callier plunged through from the 2. The successful PAT put the Spartans on top 7-3 with 2:47 to go in the first. The key play on the drive was a 48-yard hookup between Adam Tafralis and David Richmond that moved the ball deep into Idaho territory.

The Vandals responded with a score but they still trailed, 7-6, because all they could muster was a 27-yard Amancio field goal despite driving to the SJSU 6. A rush for no gain, a tackle for a 4-yard loss, and an incomplete pass led to the field goal with 12:04 to play in the second quarter.

The teams traded punts before the Spartans put together another scoring drive. This one marked by two big pass plays between Tafralis and Kevin Jurovich ? the first a 27-yarder that moved SJSU into Idaho territory and the second a 20-yarder that set up back-to-back runs by Callier. The second was a one-yard scoring plunge with 5:13 left in the half.

The Spartans made it 21-6 with a length-of-the-field drive on their final possession of the first half. Tafralis floated a 33-yard pass to Jurovich, who caught the ball behind the Vandal secondary for the TD that gave SJSU a 21-6 advantage. Jared Strubeck's third PAT kick of the first half also was good with 33 seconds to go before halftime.

The third quarter was a stalemate but the fourth began with Tafralis hooking up with Jeff Clark for a 13-yard touchdown and a 28-6 lead with 13:41 to play in the game.

Vobora had a career-high 18 tackles as he led five Vandals with double-figure outings. Brandon Ogletree also turned in a career-best with 14, as did Dickson with 11 and Ben Alexander with 10. Shiloh Keo tied a career best with 10.

Jackson continued his stellar freshman campaign with 94 yards on 22 carries, while Flowers' nagging hamstring injury wasn't in evidence as he covered 86 yards on 10 carries.

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