Return of Onunwor bolsters receiving corps

by Mark Nelke Sports Editor
| September 21, 2017 1:00 AM

The Idaho Vandals tried to look on the bright side after their fourth-quarter fade in a 37-28 loss at Western Michigan last week.

One bright spot was the return of receiver Alfonso Onunwor, who came into this season as Idaho’s leading returning receiver from last year, with 39 catches for 403 yards and a touchdown.

This year, he was injured less than 10 minutes into Idaho’s season opener vs. Sacramento State. He sat out the rest of that game, as well as the next week vs. UNLV.

He returned last week at Western Michigan, and caught four passes for 93 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown.

“It was great to be back there,” Onunwor said this week.

Quarterback Matt Linehan agreed.

“It’s good to have your guy out there,” he said. “He’d been hungry, he’d been ready to go for a couple weeks now. We were excited to have him back, we knew he was going to help our offense, and he did.”

Having Onunwor back, along with other receivers getting healthy and younger receivers stepping up in their absence, is the best-case scenario, Linehan said.

“It was a rough one last week, but I think we showed a lot of good stuff on offense, and we expect a lot more moving forward,” Linehan said of the Western Michigan game, where Idaho led 28-19 after three quarters before getting outscored 18-0 in the fourth.

Tight end Joe Wysocki and slot receiver David Ungerer caught their first touchdown passes as Vandals last week.

“When you go back and watch the tape, there’s definitely something to build on,” Linehan said. “Those first three quarters, we moved the ball against one of the best defenses we’ve faced since I’ve been here.”

That’s all well and good, but wins are even better — Idaho, at 1-2 heading to South Alabama (1-2) for the Sun Belt opener on Saturday, still needs five more wins in its final nine games to become bowl-eligible for the second straight year.

“Every week we just focus on getting better, and make sure we can finish, and when it comes down to the fourth quarter, we just have to finish,” Onunwor said.