Option 'D'

MOSCOW — The Idaho Vandals held Cal Poly’s triple option offense to 145 yards — an average of 3.0 yards per play — and shut down the Mustangs 21-9 in Big Sky Conference football Saturday afternoon before 6,424 at the Kibbie Dome.

“The triple-option’s scary, and it’s hard to go against, and coach (Mike) Breske did an awesome job, and the rest of the staff ... the players did a great job, and they did a great job,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said.

“I would no way ever say going up against the option’s easy, especially since I grew up beating everybody running the option,” he added. “Probably the biggest thing you have to do, running it or defending it, is win the one-on-one tackles, and we won the one-on-one tackles. That’s where you give up the big plays.”

Meanwhile, the running game for Idaho (4-5, 2-3 Big Sky) wasn’t too shabby.

Freshman Aundre Carter, who missed the last two games due to injuries, had 23 carries for 179 yards — both season highs — and a career-high tying two touchdowns for the Vandals. It was the most yards on the ground by a Vandal since Elijhaa Penny went for 192 on Halloween in 2015.

“It was good to have him back, wasn’t it,” Petrino said. “He’s just big and physical, and runs hard. And he won some one-on-ones.”

Mason Petrino, who missed the last game with an injury, was 13 of 22 passing for 138 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Cotton that gave Idaho a 21-3 lead early in the fourth quarter.

“The best thing he did was his checks,” Paul Petrino said. “On both of those touchdown runs by Aundre, he checked to those runs, because of the defense they were in.”

Colton Richardson, who started two weeks ago and led Idaho to a victory over Idaho State, missed Saturday’s game due to injury.

The Vandals have won back-to-back games for the first time since closing the 2016 season five consecutive wins culminating with a 61-50 win over Colorado State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

Cal Poly’s Colton Theaker opened the scoring with a 44-yard field goal midway through the first quarter. Idaho got into Mustangs territory on two of its next three possessions but failed to convert on fourth-and-2 from the 35 and missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt. Later, a six-play, 82-yard drive capped by Carter’s 37-yard touchdown run made it 7-3 with 2:08 left in the first half.

Cal Poly (2-7, 1-5) marched into Vandals territory on the opening drive of the third quarter but, on fourth-and-5 at the 30, Idaho’s Tre Walker stopped Xavier Moore for a 4-yard loss. On the ensuing Vandals possession, Carter had seven carries for 55 yards including a 1-yard TD run. After the Mustangs went three-and-out, Petrino led an eight-play, 55-yard drive, scrambling for a 7-yard gain on fourth-and-6 before hitting Cotton for the touchdown two plays later.

The Mustangs finished with 242 total yards and completed just four passes — all to J.J. Koski, who finished with 97 yards receiving. Jalen Hamler, who was 4-of-12 passing for 97 yards with an interception, scored on a 7-yard run to cap the scoring with 2:47 left.

Linebacker Christian Elliss led the way for the Vandal defense, finishing with 13 tackles. The defense held Cal Poly to under 50 yards passing until the touchdown drive late in the fourth.

Idaho 21, Cal Poly 9

Cal Poly 3 0 0 6 — 9

Idaho 0 7 7 7 — 21

First Quarter

CP—FG Theaker 44, 7:27.

Second Quarter

IDHO—Carter 37 run (Coffey kick), 2:08.

Third Quarter

IDHO—Carter 1 run (Coffey kick), 3:53.

Fourth Quarter

IDHO—Cotton 22 pass from Petrino (Coffey kick), 14:06.

CP—Hamler 7 run (run failed), 2:47.

CP IDHO

First downs 13 21

Rushes-yards 48-145 46-244

Passing 97 138

Comp-Att-Int 4-12-1 13-22-0

Return Yards 22 53

Punts-Avg. 6-39.7 4-42.5

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0

Penalty-Yards 3-45 6-55

Time of Possession 28:56 31:04

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Cal Poly, D. Hernandez 9-66, D. Tran-Sampson 17-56, T. Nahhas 5-13, W. Semone 1-12, J. Campbell 1-6, X. Moore 3-1, J. Koski 1-(minus 2), J. Hamler 11-(minus 7). Idaho, A. Carter 23-179, M. Petrino 9-28, D. Thigpen 9-23, N. Romano 4-15.

PASSING—Cal Poly, J. Hamler 4-12-1-97. Idaho, M. Petrino 13-22-0-138.

RECEIVING—Cal Poly, J. Koski 4-97. Idaho, J. Cotton 5-65, C. Haywood 6-58, C. Whitney 1-8, N. Romano 1-7.