MOSCOW, Idaho - The third-ranked Vandals head out on the road for the fifth time in the first six games this season. Idaho has fared well on the road with the only loss coming at Power-5 Cal, a game which Idaho led 17-0. Cal Poly is 2-3 on the season with wins over San Diego and Lincoln(Ca.). Lossed came to San Jose St., Portland St. and UC Davis. 

ABOUT IDAHO: The Vandals are the third-ranked team in both FCS polls this week after a 44-36 win over No. 19 Eastern Washington. Idaho running back Anthony Woods racked up 211 yards and five touchdowns in the win over the Eagles as the Vandals dominated the rushing attack. Woods leads the Big Sky in rushing touchdowns and yards. Gevani McCoy is one of the most efficient passers in the FCS and Hayden Hatten is among the leaders in the FCS in yards. The Vandal defense is a solid unit, among the leaders in FCS in passing yards allowed and total defense. Tommy McCormick and Tre Thomas lead Idaho with 29 total tackles. Keyshawn James-Newby has a team-high three sacks. 

ABOUT CAL POLY: Head coach Paul Wulff knows the Palouse, the former EWU and Washington State head coach is in his first season at Cal Poly. Washington transfer Sam Huard leads the offense with 862 passing yards and eight touchdowns, but missed last week's game with an injury. Three running backs have over 100 yards rushing and a touchdown on the season. Ethan Calvert leads the Poly defense with 33 total tackles.   
1. RUSHING ATTACK ON THE RISE: Behind improved offensive line performance and the explosive play of Anthony Woods and Nick Romano, the Vandals have leaned more on the run attack than any other time in head coach Jason Eck's tenure as head coach. Over the last two games, Woods has rushed for 328 yards and six touchdowns, including 211 and five TDs against Eastern Washington. Romano has added 160 rushing yards of his own, including 132 against the Eagles. Woods now leads the Big Sky in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns this season, despite playing a schedule that included two ranked teams and two FBS schools. Romano has a pair of touchdowns, one receiving and one rushing. 

2. FIRST TRIP TO SLO: The Vandals and Mustangs have faced each other three times in history and once since Idaho returned to the FCS, but the Vandals have never made the trip to San Luis Obispo. The Vandals are 3-0 all time against Cal Poly, including a 21-9 win over the Mustangs in 2019. The first meeting of the programs came in 1996. The Vandals are familiar with head coach Paul Wulff who had head coaching stints at Eastern Washington and Washington State. 

3. IMPACT TRANSFERS: Eleven transfers joined the Idaho roster since the conclusion of last season. Eight of the 11 transfers are listed on the Vandal two-deep and three players, defensive tackle Jahkari Larmond, linebacker Tre Thomas and edge rusher Keyshawn James-Newby are listed as starters for the Vandals. Larmond has made his presence felt with disruptive play in the middle of the Vandal defense. Thomas brings three-years of starting experience from South Dakota and James-Newby racked up nine sacks and 14.5 tackles, leading the NAIA's Frontier Conference while at Montana Tech. Turon Ivy Jr. started game two and took the opening pass 75 yards for a touchdown. 

4. YEAR-TO-YEAR IMPROVEMENT: Through four games this season, the Vandals are outpacing their numbers from last year at the same point in the season. Idaho is scoring 34.4 points per game compared to 32.6 in 2022. The Idaho defense is giving up just 23.4 points per game, compared to 23.6. The Vandals are averaging nearly 47.6 yards more per game. On the ground, Idaho is averaging 5.5 yards per carry compared to 3.9 last season. Another comparison, Idaho averaged the same yards per carry against Pac-12 member Cal as they did against non-scholarship Drake in week three of 2022. 

5. MORE BEEF IN THE TRENCHES: The biggest difference year-to-year on the offensive line and defensive line for the Vandals may be improved strength and weight. Of the nine returners on the Vandal two-deep for the offensive line, the weight gain is over 11 pounds on average per player. Last year, not a single player who started a game at defensive tackle weighed over 270. This season, not a single player on the defensive line two-deep weighs less than 275. 

6. STAFF CONSISTENCY: With an FCS program that had a winning season, it is not unreasonable to assume that many members of the successful coaching staff would get poached by bigger programs. In the case of the 2022 Idaho Vandals only one coach, safeties coach Tyler Yelk, left and he took an assistant job with the Philadelphia Eagles. Coach Jason Eck hired Bobby Jay, the Defensive Coordinator of the University of San Diego Toreros.