The skies have been so dark in Vandal Nation that even the smallest glimpse of light had been long forgotten and unimaginable. A season ravaged by everything that a team could encounter, the sun finally broke the clouds this past weekend as Idaho mounted a huge fourth quarter comeback to take down the San Jose State Spartans 31-29 in Spartan Stadium.
The game started off in usual Vandal fashion, with a multitude of turnovers that put them in an early hole. The first of those turnovers happened on the first drive for the Vandals, when WR Mike Scott fumbled the ball after catching a pass from QB Taylor Davis. The turnover left the Spartans on the Idaho 19 and led to them taking an early 3-0. DB Mathew Harvey would commit the second turnover of the game when he fumbled the ball on the following kickoff and gave SJSU good enough field position to make the game 10-0. SJSU’s RB Tyler Ervin would rush for a touchdown later in the quarter to make it a 17-0 game in favor of the Spartans.
The third and final turnover in the game would come later in the first quarter when a deflected Davis pass was intercepted by SJSU’s Pompey Festejo, which eventually led to a SJSU field goal, extending their lead to 20-0. This seemed to energize the Vandals in a way fans haven’t seen all season.
After getting stopped at the line on the first play, Davis connected on four consecutive passes, including a monster 37 yard pass to TE/WR Michael LaGrone to put the Vandals in scoring position at the SJSU 13 yard line. RBs Princeton McCarty and Kama Bailey could rush Idaho closer to the end zone, with Bailey taking it in from two yards out to make it 20-7 SJSU.
That newly gained momentum would take a backseat though due to poor play from the offensive line. Davis would find himself sacked six times in the game, including being sacked for a safety which gave the Spartans a 22-7 lead. Idaho would answer back with a 55 yard field goal from Trey Farquhar to leave is San Jose 22 Idaho 10 going into the second half.
The third quarter was relatively quiet for both teams. SJSU looked gassed and complacent while Idaho struggled to get into a rhythm. Neither team looked impressive nor did they really make any big plays as it became apparent that the few adjustments that were made at half had seemingly began to work.
The Vandals would find that rhythm they needed in a big way in the fourth. Davis would find Scott on a 49 yard pass that put Idaho on the SJSU 20 yard line. Two handoffs to later, Bailey found the endzone again to make it a five point game. Davis would hit LaGrone five minutes later to give Idaho a 25-23 advantage following a successful 2 point conversion run by Korey Toomer. With the lead now in hand, Idaho’s defense continued to choke the life out of SJSU, forcing them into a three and out on the next drive.
On the next Idaho drive, the Vandals went back to the man that had been hot all game and was the sole reason why they were still in the game, Kama Bailey. After two handoffs that went for short yardage, Bailey broke out the wheels on 3rd and five, sprinting 70 yards to the SJSU 10 yard line and forcing the Spartans to use their final time-out. RB Ryan Bass would take two handoffs of his own, scoring to giving Idaho a ten point advantage heading into the final minutes of the game.
SJSU was not ready to be defeated so easily. QB Matt Faulkner moved the ball incredibly well, hitting WRs Noel Grigsby and Kyle Nunn for 10+ yard passes before finding a huge gap in the Idaho secondary, hitting TE Ryan Otten for a 47 yard touchdown. SJSU’s following onside kick was too short though and Idaho managed to hang on.
Bailey’s performance was one of the best Idaho has seen out of a running back in a long time. His 163 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the day were the most productive rushing stats since McCarty rushed for 160 against New Mexico State back in 2008. To find the next best performance, one has to go back to 2007 when former Idaho RB Deonte Jackson rushed for 214 yards against Cal Poly. In both games, McCarty and Jackson only managed to record one touchdown.
QB Davis looked great in his second start throwing for 162 yards and one touchdown on 13 of 20 passing. LaGrone led all receivers with four catches for 65 yards, with Scott closing behind at 51 yards and four catches.
“I’m proud of our players but more than anything I’m happy for them,” Coach Robb Akey said following the game. “We certainly made it as hard as we could.”
Idaho, now 2-7, will hit the road to play BYU in Logan in what should be a tough out of conference match-up for the Vandals as they look to keep the momentum rolling.
“I’m not going to tell you everything was beautiful – but the score was.”
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