Vandals fend off winless Northern Colorado

From wire and news services and local reports

GREELEY, Colo. — The Idaho Vandals avoided the trap on Saturday — but just barely.

Marcus Harris picked off a pass and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown with 2:44 left to play to help Idaho fend off winless Northern Colorado 27-13 on Saturday before 3,608 at Nottingham Field.

Idaho (7-2, 5-1 Big Sky Conference), ranked third in the STATS Perform poll and fifth in the FCS coaches poll after knocking off then-No. 2 Montana State 24-21 last week, took a 17-7 lead into the fourth quarter.

Hunter Greene kicked field goals on two straight drives to pull Northern Colorado (0-9, 0-6) within 17-13 with 10:37 left to play. Ricardo Chavez made a short field goal with 4:44 to go and Harris' pick-6 came on a long Shea Kuykendall pass two minutes later on second-and-11 at the Bears' 36-yard line. After the interception, he weaved his way through the UNC offense on the way for the score.

“Just knowing that we needed to get a stop, one way or another,” Harris said. “Just attacking the ball when it came my way was my mindset.”

Idaho took the lead on a 48-yard field goal by Chavez with 5:41 left in the first quarter. Anthony Woods capped a 10-play, 90-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run and the Vandals led 10-0 just 23 seconds into the second quarter.

Kuykendall directed a 16-play, 83-yard drive, capping it with a 5-yard touchdown toss to Kyle Helbig with 42 seconds left before halftime to get Northern Colorado within 10-7.

Gevani McCoy ended a 16-play, 84-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Hatten for a 10-point advantage after three quarters.

McCoy finished with 193 yards on 18-of-25 passing with one interception for the Vandals. Woods rushed for 105 yards on 23 carries. The Vandals totaled 133 yards on the ground.

“Good to see, but we need to run the ball better,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said. “This is three games in a row we haven’t rushed for 200 yards, and that’s what I’d like to get back to.”

Hatten recorded his 30th career touchdown and 13th game with over 100 yards, catching six passes for 104 yards on the day.

Kuykendall completed 14 of 22 passes for 55 yards for the Bears, who were outgained 326 total yards to 186.

Xe'Ree Alexander had a team-high 13 tackles and 3 tackles for loss for Idaho. Tommy McCormick had 11 tackles. Idaho held UNC 55 yards passing.

Idaho travels to Weber State on Saturday.

Idaho    3    7    7    10    —    27

N.Colo    0    7    0    8    —    13

First quarter

IDAHO — FG Chavez 48, 5:41

Second quarter

IDAHO — Woods 1 run (Chavez kick), 14:37

UNC — Helbig 5 pass from Kuykendall (Green kick), :42

Third quarter

IDAHO — Hatten 5 pass from McCoy (Chavez kick), 3:37

Fourth quarter

UNC — FG Green 40, 14:56

UNC — FG Green 25, 10:37

IDAHO — FG Chavez 27, 4:44

IDAHO — Harris 70 interception return (Chavez kick), 2:44

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Idaho, Woods 23-105, Romano 8-29, McCoy 4-(minus 1). UNC, Afari 18-79, Hornbeak 5-25, Meis 4-18, Green 1-12, Robinson 1-7, Randell-Taylor 1-3, Kuykendall 6-(minus 13).

PASSING — Idaho, McCoy 18-25-1-193. UNC, Kuykendall 14-22-1-55.

RECEIVING — Idaho, Hatten 6-104, Jackson 5-35, Cox 3-21, Moore 2-22, Woods 2-11. UNC, Robinson 6-37, Haggerty 2-8, Hornbeak 2-1, Helbig 2-1, Munroe 1-6, Afari 1-2.