MOSCOW, Idaho ? The agony of the big play.
That's what the Idaho Vandals were feeling after Saturday's 42-35 non-conference loss to Northern Illinois before 12,461 at the Kibbie Dome.
After a steady march to gave Idaho a 7-0 early lead, the Vandals yielded five successive Northern Illinois scores ? one off a busted coverage, one off an intercepted pass, one on a blocked punt that was recovered in the end zone, and yet another on a fumble recovered in the end zone. By the time the NIU flurry ended Idaho trailed 35-7 and time was waning in the first half.
Shiloh Keo provided the spark the ignited a second-half resurgence when he wove his way to a school-record 100-yard punt return. That shaved NIU's lead by seven points ? to 35-14 with :34 left in the first half ? but more importantly set the tone for an Idaho second half that the Vandals can only wish they had executed in the first.
“We spotted them three scores and lost by one,” coach Robb Akey said after the Vandals dropped to 1-3. “That's the ballgame in a nutshell.
“I think, in some ways today, we were our own worst enemy.... We can't dig ourselves into that hole.”
The hole did provide too steep from which to escape ? but barely. Freshman quarterback Nathan Enderle hit where he missed in the first half and wound up with 308 of his career-best 423 passing yards in the second half. He was 19-of-33 over the final two quarters as opposed to eight-of-21 in the first two.
He mixed his throws to a variety of receivers with Max Komar, Maurice Shaw, Jayson Bird and Peter Bjorvik winding up with five each and Eddie Williams pulling in four, Steve Brown two and Rolly Lumbala one.
Deonte` Jackson continued his impressive ways with 111 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries ? even though he missed the fourth quarter with an ankle sprain. Bird added another 52 on the ground as the Vandals churned through a whopping 95 plays.
“I thought we battled back at the end and showed a lot of heart,” Enderle said. “But you can't spot a team 21 points in the first half. ... We fought back hard at the end. We just couldn't quite get it done.”
The second-half rally began when Jackson capped a six-play, 80-yard scoring drive with an eight-yard run to trim NIU's lead to 35-21. The Huskies responded with a length-of-the-field drive of their own for a 42-21 lead on Justin Anderson's 11-yard run midway through the third.
Enderle marched the Vandals to two fourth-quarter scores ? a nine-play, 92-yarder capped Shaw's 10-yard TD reception and a six-play, 63-yarder that culminated in Williams' 15-yard score ? to close to within 42-35 with 1:01 to play.
Eric Greenwood recovered the ensuing onside kick and Idaho was eyeing the end zone from its own 47. Enderle's first pass missed its mark but he hooked up successively with Bird for 10 and Bjorvik for 25 to move the Vandals to the NIU 18. But, the NIU was suffocating on the next four plays and the Huskies took over on downs with nine seconds to play.
“I do think we grew up a lot in the second half,” Akey said. “We've got to build from that. I'm very disappointed that we did not win this ballgame, but maybe we gained something from what we had to come back and attempt to do at the end.”
Defensively, David Vobora had 12 tackles and Ratti had 10. Keo, who also had an interception to add to his highlight reel, had seven stops as did Chris Smith and Andrew Blevins, who started in place of the injured Ben Alexander.
