When the going gets tough for Vandals ...
The more physical the foe this year, it seems the better the Idaho Vandals have played.
That’s a good thing today, when Montana (5-3, 3-3 Big Sky) and Idaho (4-5, 3-4) renew their rivalry at the Kibbie Dome.
“I would still say their identity is toughness,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said of Montana. “They’ve always had some good hard-nosed football players.”
Last week, the Vandals rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to beat North Dakota, a team with playoff aspirations coming into the game.
“We’ve fought all year long,” Petrino said. “That’s a credit to them, to keep grinding and keep improving. And to come back from a couple of early defeats that you’d like to forget forever, that says a lot about their character. The teams that want to line up and beat you up, are the teams we play pretty good against. We’ll have another game similar to that this week — Montana is all about toughness.”
While Idaho has been touting its “return” to the Big Sky, Montana has been celebrating its own return — that of head coach Bobby Hauck, who guided the Grizzlies from 2003-09.
Hauck’s first season in Missoula marked the last year Idaho and the Griz played for the Little Brown Stein. Montana has been in possession of the Stein since its 41-28 victory that 2003 day in Missoula.
“When you talk to some of the older fellows, this game was a huge, huge game in these parts,” said Hauck, who played at Montana in the 1980s. “We’re excited to play this game again.”
Montana junior quarterback Dalton Sneed has passed for 2,149 yards and 17 touchdowns this season, with seven interceptions. He’s also the Grizzlies’ leading rusher with 525 yards and five TDs.
Junior Jerry Louie-McGee, the former Lake City High standout, is second in receiving with 38 catches, two for touchdowns. He’s also averaging 10.1 yards on 22 punt returns.
“We’re a young team getting better,” said Hauck, whose squad is coming off a 57-14 win at Southern Utah.
Idaho’s four Big Sky losses are to teams who are a combined 19-5 in league games. The Vandals, in their home finale, are 4-0 at the Dome this season.
Hauck said Idaho senior linebacker Kaden Elliss is “a beast ... he’s making plays all over the place. He’s tough to handle. He’s a real, real problem.”
Hauck also had praise for Idaho quarterback Mason Petrino.
“That’s a tough, tough position to be in, when you’re the head coach’s son, playing quarterback,” Hauck said. “There’s a lot of strain to that. He’s certainly done a nice job of working under the weight of that, and he’s performed well. He makes them go. He makes a lot of plays, both by design, and when it breaks down he makes plays by scrambling. He’s just got an innate sense of where guys are.”