FINAL SCORE: Idaho 31, Southern Utah 28
RECORDS: Idaho (3-5, 3-2), Southern Utah (3-5, 3-3)
IDAHO LEADERS
PASSING: Joshua Wood (15-25, 151 YDS, 2 TD)
RUSHING: Damonte Bias (11 ATT, 89 YDS), Hayden Kincheloe (8 ATT, 46 YDS, 1 TD)
RECEIVING: Zack Card (4 REC, 57 YDS), Markel Taylor (2 REC, 27 YDS, 1 TD)
DEFENSE: Zach Wusstig (7 TKL, 1 TFL AST), Mason Krahn (6 TKL, 4 SOLO, 1.5 SACK), Aaron Kinsey (1 TKL, 1 INT)
NOTABLES:
-
Owen Forsman hit a career-long 53-yard field goal to win the game for Idaho.
-
Gus Donnerberg scored his first career touchdown.
-
Markel Taylor scored his first Division I touchdown.
-
Aaron Kinsey recorded his first interception of the season.
-
Freshman Kenny Golston rushed for a career-high 46 yards.
-
Nolan McWilliams notched a career-high 37-yard punt return.
-
Lee Stalker's defense held SUU RB Floyd Chalk, who came into the game top-2 in the FCS in rushing yards, to a season-low 58 on the ground.
MOSCOW, Idaho - Inside a raucous P1FCU Kibbie Dome packed with a season-high 10,369 fans, Owen Forsman drilled a career-long 53-yard field goal in the waning seconds to lift Idaho Football over Southern Utah on Homecoming Day.
A stout performance by Lee Stalker's defense, holding one of the best running backs in the FCS to just 58 yards on the ground, proved to be pivotal in the matchup between two teams coming off of top-15 wins. Joshua Wood led the way for Ian Shoemaker's offense with a pair of touchdown passes, aided by a season-high 89 rushing yards for Damonte Bias, to make it back-to-back wins for the Vandals and their third in four weeks.
Southern Utah, known for a dominant option attack, came out throwing on the first play of the game, but the high throw sailed over the hands of the receiver and into the waiting hands of Aaron Kinsey to give the ball to the offense.
Idaho took over in SUU territory and turned to its ground game. Running back Damonte Bias broke free for a 12-yard gain to start the afternoon, leading to a 35-yard chip shot for Rathdrum native Owen Forsman to give Idaho a 3-0 lead on the offense's opening possession.
The Vandal defense continued to apply pressure on Southern Utah's next possession, with Frederick Lujan III and Mason Krahn keeping the Thunderbirds uncomfortable and forcing a three-and-out.
UI continued to establish its running game, leaning on freshman Kenny Golston out of the RB stable. Golston racked up 18 yards in two carries before a turnover gave the ball back to Southern Utah. Lee Stalker's unit continued to stand tall, and both sides traded possessions while the Vandal offense found its footing.
Southern Utah began to pile up the yardage on the ground, with quarterback Will Burns carrying the ball for much of the drive before the Thunderbirds' Floyd Chalk finished the possession with a touchdown to give SUU a 7-3 lead.
Idaho responded with a pair of runs from Wood before Bias broke free for a 37-yard gain, the longest of his Division I career, to move the Vandals into scoring position. On the following play, Wood moved around in the pocket before finding a wide-open Markel Taylor on the left side of the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown, putting Idaho back in front, 10-7.
Burns continued to challenge the Vandal defense with his legs, breaking loose for a 50-yard gain on a keeper. Idaho bowed up from there, holding the dangerous rushing attack out of the end zone and forcing the Thunderbirds to settle for a 42-yard field goal to even the score at 10-all.
Ian Shoemaker's offense responded with a drive reminiscent of the previous week's performance in Missoula. Wood opened the possession by scrambling out of the pocket and evading multiple defenders for a 36-yard gain. On the next play, the senior connected with wide receiver Nolan McWilliams across the middle. The sophomore pass catcher got caught in a scrum, acrobatically maintaining his footing and scampering into the end zone for a would-be touchdown before a review ruled he was narrowly down by contact.
Homedale, Idaho native Hayden Kincheloe took three consecutive carries toward the end zone before punching it in from a yard out to put Idaho back in front. After a Southern Utah offsides penalty on the extra-point attempt moved the ball closer to the goal line, head coach Thomas Ford Jr. elected to keep the offense on the field for a two-point conversion. Wood connected with Gus Donnerberg to extend the Vandal lead to 18-10, where the score would stand at the half.
SUU received the ball coming out of intermission, staying true to their rushing gameplan. The UI defense continued to force the tricky option attack to stay conservative, causing a third-and-long before Burns found himself again breaking free for a 76-yard scramble up the middle and a score. The two-point try was good, and the score once again tied up at 18.
The two teams traded stops before McWilliams fielded the punt from inside the ten and weaved around Thunderbirds for a career-long 37-yard return to set the offense up near midfield. Short gains through the ground and the air set up a 24-yard completion to Zack Card to bring Idaho into the red zone, where Forsman slotted a field goal from 25 yards out to take the lead, 21-18.
Lee Stalker's defense allowed just one first down the following possession before forcing Southern Utah to punt the ball back. On a 1st-and-10 inside the red zone, Wood rolled out to the right and found Donnerberg back across his left, where the wide-open tight end strolled into the end zone for his first career touchdown and put UI up 10 after the extra point.
Southern Utah responded with an 11-play drive to get into Vandal territory before pressure from Luke Teskey put them behind the chains, forcing a short field goal to cut the deficit back down to seven. With only a few minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Idaho was held to a three-and-out before forcing a fourth-down stop with tight coverage from Isiah Bivins.
Needing to run out the clock, a costly turnover put the ball back in the hands of the visitors with just over a minute left in the contest. The Vandals forced three straight incompletions from Burns before the former Texas Tech baseball star caught his receiver in stride on 4th-and-10 to knot it up at 28-all.
With 75 yards to go in just 42 seconds, Wood found Donnerberg up the middle to set up 2nd-and-short before a deep shot to Ryan Jezioro drew a pass interference to give the Vandals a new set of downs. With the clock under ten seconds, a short pass to Zack Card on the right sideline set up one final attempt for Forsman, and the junior was true from 53 yards away to win the game for Idaho.
UP NEXT: The Vandals will travel to Portland, Oregon for their sixth Big Sky matchup of the 2026 season to take on Portland State on Saturday, Oct. 31. The game will air on ESPN+ and the Vandal Radio Network.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow the Vandals on Facebook, Instagram, and X for the latest updates.
TICKETS: Season tickets, mini plans, and single-game tickets are available here or by calling the Idaho Ticket Office at (208) 885-6466.
