Vandals starting to believe

by MARK NELKE
Sports Editor | October 30, 2015 8:58 PM

Their first road win since 2011.

Then, back-to-back wins for the first time since 2009.

If the Idaho Vandals football team isn’t careful, this winning thing could get contagious.

Idaho (3-4, 2-2 Sun Belt) goes for its first three-game winning streak since ’09 today at New Mexico State (0-7, 0-3).

“I think it just helps putting back-to-back wins,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “Guys coming to practice feeling good about themselves, and believing. We were in some games early in the year where I’m not sure we 100 percent believed we were going to win, and now I believe our guys believe that.”

While Petrino is confident in his remaining receivers, with Idaho missing its top three pass-catchers for this game, don’t be surprised if the Vandals turn into Ground Paul for this game. New Mexico State is ranked 125th out of 127 FBS teams in rushing defense. The Aggies are allowing 291.4 yards per game on the ground.

Vandal running back Elijhaa Penny is coming off career highs of 36 carries and 184 yards vs. Louisiana-Monroe last week.

(Of course, Idaho is ranked 122nd in rushing defense, yielding 255.6 yards per game.)

Idaho is a slight favorite today, but has lost in its last two trips to Las Cruces, in 2011 and 2013.