JONESBORO, Ark. – The theme repeated – turnovers and big plays yielded. And the result was very much like what it has been earlier this year as the Idaho Vandals fell 49-35 to Arkansas State in a Sun Belt Conference game.
However, Coach Paul Petrino was impressed with the Vandals' grit.
“I was proud of the way our guys fought,” he said. “I thought our guys really fought hard; played hard. They made some mistakes that you can't make but as far as the will to fight and how hard they played, I was proud of them for that.”
An injury to starter Matt Linehan put redshirt freshman Jake Luton under center in his first collegiate start. Again, Petrino had praise.
“I thought he did some good things,” he said. “First start, you talk about fight. He competed his tail off. He did a good job. Obviously, the more experience you get the better you see some things and read some things. He couldn't have competed any harder than he did.”
Luton finished with 166 yards after completing 24 of 42 passes. He also wound up with 26 rushing yards on nine carries – three of which went for touchdowns. He did have three interceptions.
But to start the game, Luton guided the Vandals on an 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive on his first series as Idaho's starter. Elijhaa Penny capped the drive with a one-yard dive but Luton used a variety of plays and players to cover the distance on the opening drive. Forty-five of the yards were through the air – Dezmon Epps with two for 45, Trent Cowan with two for 13 and Jake Manley with one for eight. The rest were on carries by Aaron Duckworth (14 yards), Penny (eight yards) and Luton for eight on a key first-down run. Austin Rehkow's PAT made it 7-0 with 11:02 to play in the first.
The Red Wolves responded when Warren Ward broke free and romped in from 50 yards out with 8:46 to go in the first for a 7-7 tie.
After trading punts, the Vandals were on the march again but an illegal substitution on fourth-down on the ASU 31 pushed them back to the 36. Luton's pass intended for Epps floated and Rocky Hayes picked it off at the Red Wolves' 16.
Chris Edwards made quick work of that drive when he stepped in front of James Tabary's second-down pass and ran it in to score from the 20. Rehkow's kick made it 14-7 with 14:54 to go in the first half. It was Idaho's first interception return for a touchdown since Bradley Njoku scored against North Dakota in September 2011.
The Red Wolves were quick to respond again – on another big play. Michael Gordon was the ballcarrier on the 59-yard run with 14:15 left in the second quarter for the 14-14 tie.
After forcing another Idaho punt, the Red Wolves gobbled up another big chunk of yardage with Gordon's 55-yard run that gave the ball to ASU at the Idaho 17. The Red Wolves scored two plays later to go up 21-14 with 10:15 left before halftime.
ASU made it 28-14 when Gordon capped a 19-play, 91-yard drive with a 15-yard run with 1:44 to go in the half.
The Red Wolves stretched their lead to 35-14 on Gordon's 10-yard run on ASU's first possession of the second half.
The Vandals responded on their next series when Penny set up Luton's three-yard scoring run with a 68-yard romp. Rekhow's kick made it 35-21 with 7:54 to go in the third.
The Red Wolves scored on their next two series but the Vandals also added a pair of fourth-quarter TDs.
Broc Westlake had 12 tackles for the Vandals with Kaden Ellis adding another 11. In addition to his pick-6, Edwards also had five tackles, one tackle-for-loss, one breakup and one quarterback hurry. Quinton Bradley accounted for two sacks in addition to one fumble recovery and one hurry.
The Vandals finished with 172 rushing yards with Penny covering 99 yards and Duckworth 47. Epps didn't hit 100 yards this time but he had nine catches for 64 yards as Luton utilized seven receivers.
