OGDEN, Utah - Idaho Vandal football gave up untimely big plays and had two turnovers, falling to Weber State 31-29 Saturday on the road in Ogden, Utah.
The Vandals jumped out to a 10-0 lead after a 32-yard field goal on the first drive and a one-yard touchdown run from Nick Romano after a long drive with 10:08 to play in the second.
Weber State got on the board with a touchdown with 6:19 to play in the second. Idaho responded with a 53-yard field goal by Ricardo Chavez, matching his career-long, but Weber State scored with 47 seconds to play in the second to take a 14-13 lead into the half.
The Wildcats extended their lead to 21-13 with 9:53 to play in the third before Idaho tied the game with a Romano four-yard score and a Gevani McCoy two-point conversion run with 6:03 remaining in the third quarter.
After trading possessions, Weber State returned a punt 71 yards to set up a 13-yard touchdown rush to give Weber a 28-21 lead late in the third quarter.
Weber State forced a fumble with 9:21 to play in Wildcat territory, but the Vandals forced a punt before turning the ball over on downs deep in Idaho territory to set up a chip-shot field goal for Weber State to extend their lead to 31-21.
Idaho drove the field and scored on a pass from McCoy to Hatten with 12 seconds to play and added a two-point conversion, but the Vandals couldn't recover the onside kick and Weber State held on for the two-point win.
Idaho outgained Weber State 418 to 291, including a 346-152 advantage in the air, but struggled to get the ground game going in the absence of the Big Sky's leading rusher Anthony Woods.
McCoy was 33-51 for 346 yards and a touchdown, tying his career-high in passing yards. He passed Brian Brennen and Steve Olson to move to the no. 9 spot on the Idaho all-time career passing-yards list, surpassing 5,000 career yards. He now sits at 5,336 career yards. McCoy also moved into a tie with Brennan for ninth on the Vandal all-time career passing touchdown list with 42.
Hatten grabbed a career-high 14 receptions for 175 yards and a touchdown. He surpassed the 3,000-career reception yards mark, now sitting at 3,129. His touchdown was his 31st-career receiving touchdown.
Xe'Ree Alexander tallied a team-high nine tackles and a tackle for loss. Marcus Harris had two pass breakups and and now has 33 career passes defended, just one behind Charlie Oliver's Idaho record of 34.
The loss drops Idaho to 7-3 on the year, with two FCS losses coming by a combined four points. Weber State is 5-5 on the season with a pair of wins over ranked teams in UNI and Idaho.
The Vandals close the regular-season at home for senior day against Idaho State, Saturday at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome at 4 p.m. Tickets are available at govandals.com/tickets.
