Fresh off first-round bye, Idaho football set to host first playoff game in 30 years

MOSCOW, Idaho – For the first time in 30 years, the Idaho Vandals will play host to a Football Championship Subdivision playoff game.

A national television audience will watch the fourth-seeded Vandals (8-3) take on Southern Illinois (8-4) at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Kibbie Dome.

Hosting a postseason game on ESPN2 – a few years ago, that probably would have seemed like an implausible feat for the Vandals, who spent four seasons in the depths of FCS obscurity after moving back to the Big Sky in 2018.

But Idaho has returned to FCS/Big Sky prominence under coach Jason Eck, who took the job in late 2021 knowing that the Vandals had the potential to be in this position.

Eck saw Idaho as a “sleeping giant” in the Big Sky ranks, a program that had all the tools to become relevant again in one of the two best conferences in the FCS.

Playing home games in the postseason – that used to be the norm for Idaho during its heyday in the 1980s and ’90s. Eck had a vision to re-establish that kind of standard in Moscow. Now, postseason football is finally back in the Kibbie Dome.

“This is what I envisioned when I took the job, having playoff games in the Kibbie Dome,” Eck said Monday.

Coming off a first-round bye, the Vandals are set to play their first FCS postseason game at the Kibbie Dome since 1993. The Vandals won that second-round matchup 21-14 over Boston University.

Saturday’s contest will be Idaho’s second nationally televised game of the season. The Vandals lost to Montana – the No. 2 seed in the FCS playoffs – 23-21 on Oct. 14 in a game that was also aired on ESPN2.

“Our last game on ESPN2, we weren’t happy with how we played in the first half,” Eck said. “So, I think that’ll be a motivating factor for our team to come out and play our best football for four quarters.

“It’s really a heckuva deal for our whole university,” Eck added of the national TV viewership. “This is a three-hour advertisement for the University of Idaho on national TV for the second time this year. You couldn’t buy that type of exposure.”

The Vandals are hoping for their third sellout crowd of the year – before this season, the Kibbie Dome hadn’t been full for a game since 2010. The Vandals hosted a packed house against Montana and did so again two weeks later, during a 24-21 win over then-No. 2 Montana State.

“Some of the teams that play outside … their attendance usually dwindles in the postseason, just because it gets so cold,” Eck noted. “Having that dome will hopefully keep the bandwagon full, keep everyone there.

“Hopefully, people are excited (about the nationally televised game) and want to be a part of that atmosphere, and put Idaho’s best foot forward.”

Eck said it’s a positive sign for Idaho that ESPN2 decided to air the Vandals’ game instead of other options, such as Montana/Delaware.

“That’s a great statement about the brand of the University of Idaho, the brand of the Kibbie Dome and the Vandals,” he said. “I know we had good ratings for our ESPN2 game earlier this year.”

Vandals recover during bye

Star Vandals quarterback Gevani McCoy has been a full participant at recent practices and is expected to play this weekend, Eck said.

McCoy missed the Vandals’ regular-season finale, a 63-21 rout of Idaho State, on Nov. 18, due to injury. But Idaho, which finished second in the Big Sky, drew one of the eight coveted seeds for the FCS playoffs and received a much-needed bye for the first round, allowing its players to rest up and take some time off for Thanksgiving.

McCoy landed on the All-Big Sky first-team list and was named one of 30 finalists for the Walter Payton Award (FCS Offensive Player of the Year) after completing his regular season with 2,410 passing yards and 16 touchdowns against seven interceptions.

Backup tailback Nick Romano (482 yards, four TDs) is also back after sustaining an injury during the first half against Idaho State.

The Vandals’ offense will need to be at full strength against a stout Salukis defense that ranks third in the FCS in yards allowed (281.4 per game), fifth in rushing defense (92.9 yards per game) and sixth in scoring defense (15.8 points per game).

Southern Illinois, which finished in the middle of the pack in the Missouri Valley Conference standings, is coming off a 35-0 home win over Nicholls in the first round.

“It’s gonna be a great challenge,” Eck said. “We’re going to have to play our best football, but it’s great to be at home.”