Vandal defense shines in win over UNLV

MOSCOW - The Idaho Vandals were oh-so-close to notching their second shutout of the fall but UNLV, in the waning moments of Saturday night's interconference game, foiled the bid.

The touchdown pass with 1:19 to play, however, didn't spoil the day as Idaho won 30-7 to move to 2-1 on the season as it dropped UNLV to 0-3. In eight quarters in the Kibbie Dome this fall, the Vandals have yielded just six points and 457 total yards - 187 of those were before Saturday's boisterous crowd of 15,390.

"It was the best defensive performance we've had since I've been here," said Vandal senior defensive end Aaron Lavarias, who had three tackles for loss (two were sacks), one forced fumble, and one quarterback hurry. "I thought we played really well."

That was the consensus among the team.

"I like the way the defense played tonight," said Idaho coach Robb Akey, after watching his team romp through the UNLV front to the tune of 11 tackles for loss (six of which were sacks) for 61 yards in losses by the Rebels.

Not to be outdone by the defensive front, senior safety Shiloh Keo led a venture that included his third interception in as many games and a total of three deflected passes.

The Vandals set the tone early when they took the opening kickoff, marched 69 yards and scored when Deonte Jackson leaped over the line for a 1-yard TD with 8:29 left in the first quarter. Idaho forced the Rebels to punt and, although its second drive was steady, it resorted to Trey Farquhar for the second score - a 50-yard field goal, the third longest of his career. With 4:43 left in the first, the Vandals led 10-0.

Quarterback Nathan Enderle was 15 of 27 for 210 yards. Again, he mixed passes throughout the ranks with Saturday night's leaders - among the eight receivers who caught at least one pass, tight end Daniel Hardy and running back Kama Bailey with three each. Hardy covered 82 yards to Bailey's 33.

The running backs also were set on making a mark Saturday. They did their share in balancing the offense and keeping the Rebels wondering what was next. Princeton McCarty had 63 of the 122 net with Jackson scoring twice.

That being said, the Vandals' offensive production dropped in the second half. After 24 points and 274 yards in the first, in the second they tagged on two field goals -one in the third and the other in the fourth, and had just 58 total yards.

Idaho travels to Colorado State (0-3) on Saturday.