Fresh(man) approach
MOSCOW — Idaho’s youth movement was on display in a variety of ways Saturday as the Vandals held off Temple for a 26-24 victory in front of announced crowd of 15,323 at the Kibbie Dome.
Freshmen accounted for all the points as Idaho (1-4) grabbed its first win since beating New Mexico State last October to snap the program’s 10-game losing streak.
“The guys that can contribute, that’s the guys we want on the field,” said true freshman kicker Austin Rehkow, who converted four of five field goals and scored all nine of Idaho’s second-half points.
Rehkow’s words have certainly been the philosophy of first-year head coach Paul Petrino since taking over the program that prior to Saturday had just three wins in its previous 28 games.
“We are going to start the guys that practice the best,” Petrino said. “We are going to give the ball to guys that practice the best. People are seeing that. You have seen that at running back week to week.”
Richard Montgomery got the call on Saturday. The speedy true freshman scored both of Idaho’s touchdowns as the Vandals took a 17-3 lead during the first half.
The first came on a 64-yard pass play that saw Montgomery sneak out of the backfield and receive a perfect strike from redshirt freshman quarterback Chad Chalich.
Chalich and Montgomery connected again on a 36-yard pass play on a second quarter scoring drive. Montgomery scored on a 5-yard dash four plays later. Rehkow then booted the first of his field goals with 1 minute, 21 seconds left until halftime to give Idaho a two-touchdown advantage.
The Vandals held Temple (0-4) to a Nick Visco field goal in the first half.
“It was great defense,” Petrino said, whose team entered the game giving up more than 42 points per game. “They stiffened and they fought. They tackled well.”
Temple managed to find a few more holes in the Idaho defense in the second half. The Owls scored on their first possession of the second half, but Rehkow responded with field goals of 30 and 38 yards.
Temple added two more touchdowns, including a Kenny Harper scoring run with 3:32 left in the game. But a 25-yard field goal from Rehkow midway through the fourth quarter and a designed running play by Chalich in third-down situation on Idaho’s last possession allowed the Vandals to run the clock down to 10 seconds before two final plays by Temple.
“Coach just put me in a situation where I can be successful,” said Chalich, the former Coeur d’Alene High star. “He believed in me to get that first down on third and 10 to really win the game.”
Freshman defensive back Jordan Grabski secured the Idaho victory when he knocked down a Hail Mary attempt by Owls quarterback Connor Reilly.
Chalich took all the snaps at quarterback, finishing with 310 yards passing and 114 yards rushing. Scott Linehan was the last Vandal QB to pass for more than 200 yards and rush for 100 when he did it against Eastern Washington in 1984. Linehan threw for 248 and rushed for 104. Doug Nussmeier was the last Vandal QB to rush for 100 yards in a game, rushing for 107 and passing for 198 against Boise State in 1993.
“It starts up front, (the offensive line) they get it going,” Chalich said. “I thought they did a great job up front keeping the D-Line off me, because they had a great D-Line.”
With true freshman Steven Matlock starting at tackle, the offensive line allowed only two sacks in helping Idaho gain 478 yards of offense.
Deon Watson, another redshirt freshman and Chalich’s longtime teammate from Coeur d’Alene, also added five catches for 33 yards.
With his youngest daughter sitting next to him in the press conference after the game and his first win as a college head coach, Petrino was optimistic about Idaho’s future.
“Come next year and in the future from then on out,” Petrino said, “everybody in the Sun Belt (Conference) better look out, because we will be the ones that are the big bullies, whooping everyone.”