MOSCOW, Idaho - The home opener for the seventh-ranked Idaho Vandals is a blockbuster match-up against the fourth-ranked Sacramento State. The 2-1 Vandals have wins against Lamar and Nevada while the Hornets are 3-0 after topping Nicholls, Texas A&M Commerce and Stanford. Last year's game was a classic with Sacramento State winning 31-28 in Sacramento and this game promises to be another exciting game.
ABOUT IDAHO: Idaho fell to 2-1 on the year after dropping a game against Cal. The Vandals led 17-0 before the Bears grabbed three turnovers and scored 31 unanswered points to pick up the win. Idaho outgained the Bears 387-370. Sophomore
Gevani McCoy has shined in his first three games, passing for 756 yards and four TDs.
Hayden Hatten leads the Vandals with 256 receiving yards and
Anthony Woods has a team-high 265 rushing yards, averaging 6.3 yards per carry.
Tre Thomas has a team-high 19 tackles and 3.0 tackles for loss.
ABOUT SACRAMENTO STATE: Under first-year coach Andy Thompson, the Hornets continue to build on the momentum of former head coach Troy Taylor. Sac State is 3-0, including a 30-23 win over Stanford last week. Kaiden Bennett leads the Hornets in passing yards (676) and rushing yards (239). Three receivers have 100 yards or more, led by Devin Gandy with 179. Returning First-Team All-Conference linebacker Armon Bailey leads the Hornet defense with 22 total tackles a 1.5 tackles for loss. Thompson was named the Defensive Coordinator in 2019 and has a long Big Sky pedigree, he played at Montana and coached at NAU for 13 years, including 10 as the DC.
PICK SIX
1. FINALLY HOME: Idaho is one of just five FCS teams to play three true road games to start the season. The Vandals opened the season 2-0 for the first time since 1994 before with wins over Lamar and Nevada. Idaho fell to California in Berkeley in its final non-conference game of the season. The Vandals are the only Big Sky team not to play a non-conference home team and join Incarnate Word as the only teams that came out of the three-game road stretch with a winning record.
2. TOP 10 MATCH-UP: The Vandals welcome Sacramento State to the Kibbie Dome in the first top 10 match-up in Moscow since Idaho hosted Northern Iowa on Nov. 5, 1994. Idaho and Sacramento State are two of just four teams in the FCS to record wins over FBS opponents. The Vandals rolled over Nevada 33-6 two weeks ago. Sacramento State outlasted Stanford and their former head coach Troy Taylor 30-23 last Saturday. Sacramento State is riding a 22-game regular season win streak and a 19-game Big Sky win streak. Last season's game was a classic, Idaho rallied to take the lead with just over six minutes remaining before the Hornets scored with 1:48 left and rebuffed a Vandal drive in the closing seconds to claim the 31-28 win.
3. IMPACT TRANSFERS: Twelve transfers joined the Idaho roster since the conclusion of last season. Eight of the 12 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 three games this season, the Vandals are far outpacing their numbers from last year at the same point in the season. Idaho is scoring 30.7 points per game compared to 27.0 in 2022. The Idaho defense is giving up just 18.0 points per game, compared to 24.3. The Vandals are averaging over 100 yards more per game on offense while giving up 60 fewer yards. On the ground, Idaho is averaging 5.3 yards per carry compared to 2.9 last season. Another comparison, Idaho averaged the same yards per carry against Pac-12 member Cal last Saturday 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.
