VANDAL NOTES: Back to the bowl-eligible business

Back-to-back thrashings at the hands of Power 5 schools Washington and Washington State in the past two weeks hasn’t altered the objective of the Idaho Vandals football team.

One win down, at least five more go to to reach their stated goal of being bowl-eligible.

“We’ll show what our character is now,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “We’ve got to have a great week of practice, and get a win. It’s time to get after it.”

That time is tonight, when Idaho (1-2) visits UNLV (1-2) at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas.

A win tonight for Idaho would springboard the Vandals into conference play, which begins next week. A loss would narrow the margin for error for achieving said bowl eligibility.

“We have to go out there and move the ball and score the points, and we have to do a good job stopping the run,” Petrino said.

Notes: Idaho won the last meeting between the two teams, 30-7 in 2010 in Moscow, a season the Vandals finished 6-7 ... Kris Cinkovich, in his fourth year as Idaho assistant head coach/offensive coordinator/offensive line coach, was head coach for Las Vegas High for nine seasons before joining UNLV to coach the Rebels’ wide receivers from 2004-09 ... UNLV’s second-year head coach, Tony Sanchez, came from perennial power Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas.