Vandals get back on track
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Saturday was a day of redemption for Idaho’s Vandals as they put a disappointing loss behind them and rallied with all three phases of the game to spoil Western Michigan’s homecoming with a 33-13 victory before 18,508 at Waldo Stadium.
“We understood the game plan,” said Vandal safety Shiloh Keo, who was a key cog in the Idaho defense holding the nation’s top passer — Alex Carder — to 14 of 33 in the air with one interception and just 104 yards.
Carder spent the cool, sometimes drizzly afternoon being chased down by an aggressive Vandal defense that tallied three sacks, four tackles for loss, six pass breakups and four quarterback hurries. It also netted two turnovers.
“We’ve been talking about it all week,” Keo said. “This was a chance to get back on track.”
Early on neither team seemed in sync. Finally, though, all three phases of the game came together to thwart WMU’s last dogged attempts to keep the Vandals (3-2) within range.
Idaho scored the final three TDs of the game — first on fourth and 4 on a Nathan Enderle-to-Taylor Elmo pass, then on Justin Hernandez’s recovery of an errant punt snap in the WMU (1-3) end zone, and finally on Trey Farquhar’s 29-yard field goal with 5:30 to play.
“I’d like to praise our defense,” said Enderle, who had a career-high 30 pass completions. “We put them in some tough situations and they responded.”
Coach Robb Akey also had praise for the defense.
“I like the way we got back into things,” said Akey, whose team heads into its bye week, before opening Western Athletic Conference play Oct. 16 at Louisiana Tech. “We had a team that came out in the second half, played well, and finished.”
The Vandals settled for the sure points on their first drive after marching — largely on Enderle’s arm — to the WMU five on the game’s first drive. Trey Farquhar’s 22-yard field goal was good for a 3-0 Idaho lead.
The Broncos matched Idaho’s field goal with one of their own with 13:59 left in the first half when Jon Potter’s 34-yarder was good to tie the game at 3.
Idaho’s offense sputtered again on its next drive, but Keo gave it life on a fake punt. The snap went directly to Keo and he sprinted 35 yards up the middle of the field into WMU territory. By the time the Broncos caught up with him, he was at the WMU 30. Enderle hooked up with Kama Bailey to score on a 30-yard pass on the next play. With 11:55 left in the second, the Vandals went up 10-3.
The Vandals expanded their lead to 17-3 when Enderle hooked up with Justin Veltung for a 24-yard scoring play with 6:55 before the half to cap an eight-play, 69-yard drive.
WMU responded with a score of its own with 1:55 left in the half when it made the most of a short field (made possible by an Enderle fumble). The Broncos covered the 18 yards in five plays with a 7-yard pass from Alex Carder to Ansel Ponder accounting for the TD.
Idaho had one last opportunity, but Farquhar’s 49-yard field goal was wide right as time expired to end the half with the Vandals leading 17-10, even though they dominated statistically — 295 yards to 99 for the Broncos.