Arizona too much for Idaho

A young University of Idaho football team couldn’t match the speed and elusiveness of Nic Grigsby or the pinpoint accuracy of Willie Tuitama as the Vandals dropped their season opener 70-0 to Arizona on a warm but wet Saturday night in Tucson, Ariz.

“That was a very, very, very poor performance,” coach Robb Akey said. “I am very disappointed. … There was nothing we did right.”

To wit:

•Arizona had 521 yards total offense to 112 for the Vandals.

• Idaho quarterbacks were intercepted four times.

•The Vandals lost one of two fumbles.

•The Wildcats scored on an 87-yard return that initially was a muffed punt deep in Arizona territory. It was the play that pushed Arizona ahead 21-0.

By halftime – in a game delayed by 62 minutes because of lightning flashing around Arizona Stadium – the Wildcats had amassed 359 total yards in piling up 49 points, while the Vandals covered just 76 yards and were scoreless. Tuitama accounted for 179 of those yards on 17-of-21 passing; Grigsby carried 19 times for 169 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

“Everything went wrong,” Vandals senior center and co-captain Adam Korby said. “Arizona played a great game but we shot ourselves in the foot. … We didn’t show the team we are. We didn’t play the game we wanted to play.”

Further compounding the Vandals’ woes, offensive tackle Tyrone Novikoff sat out part of the first half and all of the second with a shoulder sprain – the same injury with the same result sustained in the early going by nose tackle Aaron Lavarias. And tight end Peter Bjorvik was out with a hamstring pulled in the pregame warmup.

“We have a lot to learn from this game,” said safety Shiloh Korby, a junior who shares captain duties with Korby and Eddie Williams. “We didn’t play our best. For all the hard work we put in, we didn’t show it. I commend them on their efforts and how they played us.”

The Wildcats’ 14-point first-quarter was troublesome for the Vandals. The 35-point second quarter, which led to a 49-0 halftime score, was devastating.

Central Washington 44, Dixie State 38 (OT): Junior running back J.R. Hasty scored on the Wildcats’ first offensive play from scrimmage in overtime, helping 11th-ranked CWU escape Hansen Stadium in St. George, Utah, with a victory.

Hasty scored after senior J.R. Jamerson intercepted a Dexter Hill pass in the end zone during Dixie State’s possession to start overtime.

Central Washington scored 23 of the game’s final 30 points, overcoming a 31-21 deficit late in the third quarter.

The game was the Wildcats’ first overtime game since in four seasons and first overtime win since 2002.

Junior Buddy Wood (Riverside High School) led the Central defense with 10 tackles.

It was the season and Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams.