MOSCOW, Idaho - The Idaho Vandals may have started slow but they finished strong in winning their home opener 45-0 over North Dakota before a rowdy crowd of 11, 466 as they notched their first shutout since 1997.

This time, credit the defense behind the leadership of senior safety Shiloh Keo who thwarted three North Dakota red zone surges with one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and a 44-yard interception return that had the Thursday night crowd in an uproar. It was an exclamation point for a defense that felt it had something to prove.

"As a whole," said Keo, who also had eight total tackles (seven solo and an assist) to back Tre'Shawn Robinson's game-leading nine, "offensive and defensively, we were kind of slow in the beginning. But, at the end of the day, we came and did what we wanted to do. The offensive moved the ball consistently and our defense held in there and we made some big plays and got the ball back to the offense."

Keo's two turnovers were but half the Vandals' tally for the night. Defensive end Andre Ferguson also had a fumble recovery and linebacker JoJo Dickson had at interception he returned 31 yards.

While coach Robb Akey said he would have liked to see more sacks than the one by Homer Mauga, he was quick to note that didn't translate to an absence of pressure. With two apiece from Aaron Lavarias and Robert Siavii, Idaho had eight quarterback hurries and two pass breakups.

"That guy had nowhere to go," he said of UND's Jake Landry, who did complete 19-of-34 passes but covered only 122 yards.

In contrast, Idaho's Nathan Enderle completed 23-of-37 for 311 yards and one TD, although he was intercepted once. Backup Brian Reader came in and completed four-of-nine for 88 yards and a touchdown. Between them, they used 11 receivers with Daniel Hardy and Eric Greenwood each pulling in four - Hardy for 82 yards and Greenwood for 41. The yardage leader was Armauni Johnson, whose three catches were worth 86 yards and a TD.

The running game delivered a punch with junior Princeton McCarty leading the way with 89 yards on 12 carries. Kama Bailey, another junior, had 50 yards of the Vandals' total 148.

Akey had the luxury Thursday night of having his team win comfortable, yet with a clear uptick possible on the horizon.

"If you can win the game comfortably and still have things to work on, that's a great sign," he said. "I do see how much better we're capable of performing.

"We accomplished our goals tonight. We grew up by doing that tonight."

The Vandals clearly controlled the first half but the scoreboard didn't show the domination after the end of two quarters. Even with more than double UND's offense, they still led just 17-0. Apparently, the halftime conversations were effective.

The Vandals came out on the attack in the second half. First, they were successful on an onside kick with lanky Eric Greenwood pulling in the ball and balancing on the sideline to give Idaho the ball at the Idaho 40. Six plays later, they were up 24-0 on Troy Vital's one-yard run.

The defense held on UND's next possession and Idaho went 69 yards with Enderle and Greenwood connecting to score from two yards out with 8:50 left in the third for a 31-0 Vandal lead. UND drove to Idaho's 25 before Keo started his run of heroics by grabbing a ball midair that Aaron Grymes had batted away from Josh Murray.

The teams traded punts before the Fighting Sioux made their most serious threat of the night when they drove to the Vandal 14. Enter Keo again. He grabbed Landry's pass and the two and rambled 44 yards to the Idaho 46. Reader was under center and on first-and-10, he found Johnson for a 54-yard TD with 13:51 left in the game.

McCarty wrapped up the scoring when he capped an eight-play, 71-yard drive with a 27 yard scamper.