Coming off bye, ‘recharged’ Vandals begin home stretch
Today, Idaho at Portland State, 1 p.m. • ESPN+
By MARK NELKE
Sports editor
If the Portland State Vikings didn’t have the attention of the Idaho Vandals before ...
They certainly have the Vandals’ attention now.
That’s because last week, quarterback Dante Chachere led Portland State to an impressive road win at Sacramento State, beating a team ranked in the FCS top 10 in the preseason, but has fallen on hard times of late.
“We have to be ready to go; we’ve got to play our best football,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said. “Last week Central Arkansas was ranked, gets beat by 0-9 Utah Tech. So you have to be ready to go every week.”
The Vandals, coming off a bye and hoping for a first-round bye in the FCS playoffs and a home game in the Round of 16, can’t afford any slipups in their final three games.
That begins today, when Idaho (6-3, 3-2 Big Sky) faces Portland State (2-6, 2-3) at 1 p.m. at Hillsboro Stadium.
Chachere led Portland State to a 58-38 win at Sac State, running for 165 yards and four touchdowns, and passing for 245 yards and one score.
“You have to account for him,” Eck said. “He gets his yardage in different ways. They have a good designed quarterback run game, they call some quarterback draws for him, they have a lot of read plays.”
Eck said it’s almost like playing a triple-option team from the old days, where teams have to account for the pitch man, the quarterback and the dive play.
And Chachere is just as dangerous dropping back to pass, then scrambling.
"You might have to have a spy on him,” Eck said. “But you have to make sure the spy can run; it does no good to have a spy that can’t catch him.”
Portland State inside linebackers Peyton Wing and Michael Montgomery, the Vikings’ top two tacklers, were both recruited by Idaho, Eck said.
Idaho was seeded seventh in the one in-season seedings put out by the FCS playoff selection committee. The top eight seeds earn first-round byes in the 24-team playoffs, then host a game in the next round.
Idaho’s three losses were to Oregon (ranked No. 1 in FBS), Montana State (No. 2 in FCS) and UC Davis (No. 4 in FCS). Those three teams have a combined one loss.
The Vandals were seeded fourth last year, and hosted a second-round and a quarterfinal game.
After Portland State, Idaho plays host to Weber State (3-6, 2-3), then travels to Idaho State (4-5, 2-3) to end the regular season. While victories in those games are mandatory to maintain that top-eight seed, style points don’t hurt either.
“But a lot of stuff is going to shake up over the next few weeks,” Eck said, “so we have to make sure we take care of our business, and win football games down the stretch.”
Eck said the bye week has helped the Vandals get some of their injured players back in the lineup.
He said defensive end Malakai Williams, wide receiver Tony Harste and cornerback/punt-kickoff returner Andrew Marshall should be back.
Running back Nate Thomas is “possible” for today, Eck said, but running back Elisha Cummings (ankle) is “probably not” going to play this week.
“We’re refreshed after a bye week,” Eck said. “I think we are recharged.”