Win would ease another season of pain

When two teams are wrapping up losing and/or disappointing seasons, the result often boils down to which team really wants to be there.

Before last year’s money-grab finale at Florida, the Idaho Vandals had won three straight season-enders.

Of course, one of them was the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl victory over Colorado State in 2016.

Before that, Idaho concluded a 4-8 season in 2015 with a 38-31 home victory over Texas State in Sun Belt Conference play.

In 2017, the Vandals finished 4-8 after a 24-10 win at Georgia State, in what was Idaho’s final game in the Sun Belt.

So even though Idaho (4-7, 2-5 Big Sky Conference) won’t make the FCS playoffs for a second straight season since dropping down from the FBS level in 2018, the Vandals will be hoping for a little boost heading into the offseason when they play at Northern Arizona (4-7, 2-5) today at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Ariz.

“It helps you going into the offseason,” seventh-year Idaho coach Paul Petrino said of a season-ending win. “It helps recruiting ... it helps everything.”

For reference, Idaho was picked to finish eighth in the 13-team Big Sky by the league’s coaches and media. The Vandals are currently in a five-way tie for eighth, and could finish as high as sixth.

NAU is looking to avoid its worst record since 2011.

Lumberjacks quarterback Case Cookus is wrapping up a record-setting career. He has become NAU’s career leader in passing yards (11,632, the fourth highest in Big Sky history) and passing touchdowns (102). This year, he leads FCS with 333.1 passing yards per game.

“He’s been one of the best quarterbacks in the league since he was a sophomore,” Petrino said.

Brandon Porter, a sophomore wide receiver, has 76 catches for 1,048 yards this season. He’s seven receptions sky of NAU’s single-season record, and he’s 161 yards away from the Lumberjacks’ single-season yardage record.

“Eighteen (Porter) can make plays, make people miss,” Petrino said. “And they will run the ball, too, so we have to stop both phases.”

“It’s going to come down to who wants to play in the game,” said Rahsaan Crawford, a redshirt junior defensive lineman at Idaho. “Which group of guys is not worried about the holidays, which group is worried about finishing the season strong.”