VANDAL FOOTBALL: Superior in every way in rout of Idaho State

MOSCOW — Coming off two sketchy performances, the Idaho Vandals needed a breakout game as a springboard into the FCS playoffs.

Boy, did the Vandals ever get one on Saturday before 9,854 at the Kibbie Dome.

Backup quarterback Jack Layne threw a school record-tying six touchdown passes in a 56-point first half and Idaho crushed Idaho State 63-21.

“Obviously we weren’t happy taking that loss last week at Weber, and our guys came back focused and had great preparation all week,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said. 

Idaho (8-3, 6-2 Big Sky Conference), ranked No. 8 in the FCS coaches poll and No. 6 in the STATS Perform poll, scored four touchdowns in each of the first two quarters to take a 56-0 lead into halftime.

Anthony Woods, who missed last week’s loss at Weber State with an injury, gave the Vandals the lead for good with a 7-yard touchdown run five minutes into the game. Layne hit Hayden Hatten for a 24-yard touchdown and followed with a 45-yard scoring strike to Jordan Dwyer. Jermaine Jackson returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown and Idaho led 28-0 after one quarter.

Layne threw four touchdown passes in the second quarter. He had a 3-yard toss to Jake Cox and a 15-yarder to Jackson for a 42-0 lead 2:48 into the period. Layne added touchdown throws covering 13 yards to Woods and 11 yards to Hatten.

Layne matched Mason Petrino’s six TD passes in a 2018 game.

Starting quarterback Gevani McCoy was held out of the game for “precautionary” reasons, Idaho said. The Vandals said he should be ready to go for the next game, especially if Idaho has a first-round bye. 

Jackson Sharman threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to former Rigby High standout Christian Fredericksen to get Idaho State (3-8, 3-5) on the scoreboard with the only points of the third quarter.

Now, the Vandals wait for today’s FCS playoffs selection show (9:30 a.m., ESPNU) to learn where they sit in the 24-team bracket.

“We really wanted to play our best football, and rest our case with the committee that we’re one of the top eight teams in the country, and deserving of a first-round bye,” Eck said. “I think we’re clearly one of the top eight teams in the country, but we’ll find out tomorrow at 9:30.”

Idaho is hopeful for a top-eight seed, a first-round bye and a home game in the quarterfinals in two weeks.

Layne completed 20 of 26 passes for 275 yards for the Vandals. Woods finished with 115 yards on 18 carries. Dwyer had 100 yards on three catches.

“I’ve been coaching since 1999, and I think Jack Layne is the best backup I’ve ever been around,” Eck said. “And two years in a row, he’s really come up big in the 11th game, and led us to a win in a big game.”

Sharman had 124 yards on 11-of-21 passing with one interception for the Bengals, who had six different players throw passes. Chedon James had 10 receptions for 145 yards.

Idaho State took a step up this season under first-year coach Cody Hawkins, who raised some eyebrows earlier in the week when he said that “Holt Arena is far superior to the Kibbie Dome in every way.”

“I’m sure there was a lot of debate — who had the best dome?,” Eck said. “That’s for you guys (in the media) to debate, but we wanted to make it clear who the best team was from Idaho in the Big Sky Conference. And I think we did that today.

“We were more concerned about who had the best (FCS) team in Idaho, not who had the best dome.

“But I think the Kibbie Dome is the best dome, too,” Eck said with a smile.

Idaho State     0    0    7    14    —    21

Idaho    28    28    0    7    —    63

First quarter

Idaho — Woods 7 run (Chavez kick), 10:00

Idaho — Hatten 24 pass from Layne (Chavez kick), 6:07

Idaho — Dwyer 45 pass from Layne (Chavez kick), 3:06

Idaho — Jackson 79 punt return (Chavez kick), 1:42

Second quarter

Idaho — Cox 3 pass from Layne (Chavez kick), 14:23

Idaho — Jackson 15 pass from Layne (Chavez kick), 12:12

Idaho — Woods 13 pass from Layne (Chavez kick), 8:38

Idaho — Hatten 11 pass from Layne (Chavez kick), 3:04

Third quarter 

ISU —Fredrickson 11 pass from Sharman (Kopcho kick), 6:14

Fourth quarter

ISU — Watts 5 pass from Sharman (Kopcho kick), 10:34

Idaho — Schuster 18 pass from Wagner (Chavez kick), 8:02

ISU — Wallace 28 pass from Cavallero (Kopcho kick), 4:40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — ISU, Gasu 6-24, Sharman 4-22, Taylor 3-11, Cavallero 3-6, Hays 3-5, Cooke 2-(minus 16). Idaho, Woods 18-115, Wagner 3-42, Layne 9-33, Williams 6-29, Matheney 7-23, Jackson 1-18, Romano 2-3.

PASSING — ISU, Sharman 11-21-1-124, Cooke 5-9-1-64, Cavallero 4-5-0-66, Hays 1-3-1-0, Fredrickson 0-1-1-0. Idaho, Layne 20-26-0-275, Wagner 4-5-1-41.

RECEIVING — ISU, James 10-145, Watts 4-8, Wallace 2-56, Fredrickson 2-23, Duarte 2-10, Gasu 1-12. Idaho, Hatten 5-74, Woods 4-24, Dwyer 3-100, Hamper 3-23, Jackson 3-18, Cox 2-16, Romano 2-13, Ivy 1-30, Schuster 1-18.