‘There’s no pressure on us’: Coming off blowout win over FBS opponent, Idaho poised to compete with Pac-12’s Cal

MOSCOW, Idaho – After starting its season with two lopsided wins, Idaho’s football team is feeling highly confident. Ahead of a Week 3 matchup with a Pac-12 opponent, the Vandals aren’t feeling any pressure.

Idaho (2-0), ranked No. 5 in the STATS Football Championship Subdivision poll, is stocked with momentum after handling Football Bowl Subdivision foe Nevada 33-6 on Saturday in Reno. The victory broke Idaho’s eight-game skid against FBS teams, dating back to 2018.

“I think we’ve made some steps and improved to get over that (FBS) hump,” Vandals coach Jason Eck said Monday. “That was our goal this year, to take another step, and not just be one of the 24 best (FCS) teams, but to try to be more of an upper-echelon team.”

In Eck’s second year, Idaho has become an FCS heavyweight – a clear championship contender in the loaded Big Sky Conference, which has six teams ranked in the nation’s top 16.

They’ll be underdogs this weekend, to be sure, but the Vandals may have the tools to challenge this Pac-12 opponent.

They boast a big-play offense and a staunch defense, and will bring a poised mindset into the Bay Area. The Vandals shouldn’t be an easy out for the California Golden Bears.

Looking for a second consecutive road win against an FBS team, Idaho meets Cal (1-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

A win would be an early season boost for Idaho’s FCS playoff odds. A loss wouldn’t count against the Vandals.

Idaho will “play loose, play hard” and play with nothing to lose, Eck noted.

“I think we’ll be confident and battle,” he said.

“There’s no pressure on us in this one. We’re going to turn it loose and give them our best shot.”

The Vandals are off to their first 2-0 start in 25 years and hope to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 1994.

Idaho is also seeking its first win over a Pac-12 team since 2000, when the Vandals topped Washington State 38-34 in Pullman. The Vandals have lost 24 straight games to Pac-12 opponents since then.

A win over Cal would mark another accomplishment for Idaho – as a member of the Big Sky Conference, the Vandals have never beaten two FBS (formerly Division I-A) opponents in the same season. The Golden Bears have never lost to an FCS team. Cal is 4-0 against Idaho. The teams met four times in the 1930s, when both were members of the Pacific Coast Conference.

“This is going to be a difficult battle,” Eck said. “We gotta be ready to play. This is a challenge, but I believe in our team. I believe we’ve risen to a lot of challenges over time, and this is certainly going to be one.”

After blowout wins over Lamar and Nevada, the Vandals’ offense sits sixth in the FCS rankings in yards per game (480) and 15th in scoring (37.5 points per game). Idaho totaled 463 yards last weekend while holding the Wolf Pack to 266 yards.

Idaho’s defense ranks third nationally in yards allowed (227 per game) and is tied for 23rd in takeaways (four). The Vandals forced three turnovers and made six tackles for loss versus Nevada.

“We’re pretty confident, but we gotta make sure we get down to Earth, because everyone’s gonna be telling us how wonderful we are all week, and we gotta get better,” Eck said. “We can’t rest on where we’re at right now. If we don’t improve a lot this week in practice, we’re not gonna be in a position to win this game.

“We can certainly play better. That’s the message to the team. We’re gonna need it, because Cal is by far the best team we’ve played.”

The Vandals will need to be at their best against the Bears, who are led by a strong defensive front and one of the country’s best young tailbacks in Jaydn Ott. Cal stomped North Texas 58-21 in Week 1 before falling 14-10 at home against Auburn on Saturday.

Notable

Idaho cashes in

FCS programs schedule one or two “guaranteed-revenue” games per year against FBS programs. The FCS teams receive payouts from the FBS programs, which usually get an easy home win in return.

The payouts from such games are vital to teams from the FCS, which operate with considerably smaller budgets than programs from Division I’s higher level.

The Vandals left Reno with a win and $400,000 from the University of Nevada. Idaho was one of three FCS teams last weekend to defeat an FBS opponent.

The Vandals will bring in $650,000 from Cal.

Vandals kicker honored

Idaho kicker/punter Ricardo Chavez was named STATS Perform’s national special teams player of the week on Monday. Chavez went 3 for 3 on field-goal attempts against Nevada, with a long of 43 yards, and averaged 65 yards on two punts.

Idaho wide receiver Terez Traynor reacts after the Vandals defeated the Nevada Wolf Pack in a nonconference football game Saturday.