VANDAL NOTES: Back to that winning attitude

Saturday, Troy at Idaho, 2 p.m., ESPN3, 92.5 FM

Getting back to picking on somebody their own size, the Idaho Vandals looked Saturday night like the team with bowl aspirations as they beat UNLV 33-30 in overtime in Las Vegas.

The surprise, if any, might have been that the Vandals came in as two-touchdown underdogs against a fairly ordinary team from the Mountain West Conference.

Individually, after a pair of rough outings, Idaho quarterback Matt Linehan looked more like the QB the Vandals were hoping for when the season started. He completed 17 of 35 passes for 249 yards and the winning touchdown pass in overtime. He also rushed for a touchdown, and kept several other drives alive with his legs.

“It was just a great job by Matt,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “Like I told the offense last Sunday, ‘Let’s see that Matt back that makes plays and jumps up and shows emotion, and has fire ... ‘

“He had some big crucial plays where he did that — when he ran in for a touchdown, when he ran for a first down early in the game, and in overtime, when he ran for a first down. Those were three huge plays that he made with his legs.

“As a quarterback, in this day and age, you’ve got to be a willing runner.”

Dee-fense: Idaho sophomore Kaden Elliss was named Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week after having two interceptions vs. UNLV, including one returned for a touchdown.

“And he dropped another one that he could have had for a touchdown,” Petrino said. “He’s fast and long, and when you can get longer and faster, you can get in the passing lanes. He just ran around and caused havoc all day long.”

Petrino also singled out other Vandals who shined on defense — linebacker Ed Hall with his 15 tackles, nearly double his previous career high of eight.

“They had a big quarterback who ran hard, and he did a good job of tackling him, Petrino said.

Tueni Lupeamanu had eight tackles at defensive tackle. Safeties Jayshawn Jordan and Russell Siavii also played well, Petrino said, and “that was the best game (defensive lineman) Glen (Antoine) has played since he got here.”