KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Saturday was a day of redemption for Idaho's Vandals as they put a disappointing loss behind them and rallied with all three phases of the game to spoil Western Michigan's Homecoming with a 33-13 victory at Waldo Stadium.

"We understood the game plan," said safety Shiloh Keo, who was a key cog in the Idaho defense holding the nation's top passer - Alex Carder to 14-of-33 with one interception and just 104 yards.

Carder spent the cool, sometimes drizzly afternoon being chased down by an aggressive Vandal defense that tallied three sacks, four tackles for loss, six pass breakups and four quarterback hurries. It also netted two turnovers.

"We've been talking about it all week," Keo said. "This was a chance to get back on track."

Early on neither team seemed in sync. Finally, though, all three phases of the game came together to thwart WMU's last dogged attempts to keep the Vandals within range.

Idaho scored the final three TDS of the game - first on fourth-and-four on a Nathan Enderle to Taylor Elmo pass, then on Justin Hernandez' recovery of an errant punt in the WMU end zone, and finally on Trey Farquhar's 29-yard field goal with 5:30 to play.

"I'd like to praise our defense," said Enderle, who had a career high 30 pass completions. "We put them in some tough situations and they responded."

Coach Robb Akey also had praise for the defense.

"I like the way we got back into things," said Akey, whose teams takes a 3-2 non-conference mark into its bye week. "We had a team that came out in the second half, played well, and finished."

The Vandals settled for the sure points on their first drive after marching - largely on Enderle's arm, to the WMU five on the game's first drive. Trey Farquhar's 22-yard field goal with 8½ minutes left in the first was good for a 3-0 Idaho lead.

The remainder of the first quarter was uneventful in that neither team could score and punts and penalties were the norm.

The Broncos matched Idaho's field goal with one of their own with 13:59 left in the first half when Jon Potter's 34-yarder was good to tie the game at 3.

Idaho's offense sputtered again on its next drive but Shiloh Keo gave it life on a fake punt. The snap went directly to Keo and he sprinted 35 yards up the middle of the field into WMU territory. By the time the Broncos caught up with him, he was at the WMU 30. Enderle hooked up with Kama Bailey to score on a 30-yard pass on the next play. With 11:55 left in the second, the Vandals went up 10-3.

The Vandals expanded their lead to 17-3 when Enderle hooked up with Justin Veltung for a 24-yard scoring play with 6:55 before the half to cap an eight-play, 69-yard drive.

WMU responded with a score of its own with 1:55 left in the half when it made the most of a short field (made possible by an Enderle fumble). The Broncos covered the 18 yards in five plays with a seven-yard pass from Alex Carder to Ansel Ponder accounting for the TD.

Idaho had one last opportunity but Farquhar's 49-yard field goal was wide right as time expired to end the half with the Vandals leading 17-10, even though they dominated statistically - 295 yards to 99 for the Broncos.

The third quarter was a back-and-forth struggle during which neither team performed particularly efficiently. The Vandals were ever so slightly more productive with a touchdown - a four-yard pass from Enderle to Taylor Elmo with 1:28 left in the period. But in staying with the tone of the quarter, Farquhar's PAT attempt hit the upright and the Vandals were left with a 23-13 lead.

Special teams made the next big play when WMU fumbled the snap on a fourth-quarter punt and, after numerous bounces and bobbles, Justin Hernandez recovered the ball in the end zone to push the Vandals ahead 30-13 with about 8½ minutes left in the game.