Deshaun Buchanan’s big day leads No. 9 Idaho past Portland State 39-30

Playing shorthanded at the quarterback and running back positions, the Idaho Vandals still turned in an impressive offensive performance during a tight victory over Portland State.

Backup tailback Deshaun Buchanan rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns, and freshman running back Art Williams added two more scores as the ninth-ranked Vandals held off the Vikings 39-30 on Saturday afternoon in a Big Sky matchup at Hillsboro Stadium.

Idaho (7-3, 4-2 Big Sky) won its third consecutive game, but it took a late drive for the heavily favored visitors to separate from Portland State (2-7, 2-4).

“There’s no easy games (in the Big Sky),” Vandals coach Jason Eck said on Idaho’s postgame radio show. “We had to battle all the way to the end to find a way to win. We made a few more plays than they did.”

With Idaho leading 31-30, Buchanan opened the Vandals’ final possession with carries of 21 and 31 yards. Williams converted a fourth-and-2 inside the Vikings’ 10-yard line, then punched in a 3-yard TD run to make the score 37-30 with 1:56 to play. The Vandals opted to go for the knockout punch with a 2-point try, and Williams powered into the end zone to fashion the final score.

The Vandals were missing tailbacks Elisha Cummings and Nate Thomas for unspecified reasons, but Buchanan picked up the slack in a big way. The redshirt freshman from Arizona averaged 9.6 yards per carry, showing off his power and elusiveness on six runs that went for more than 10 yards. Williams, a redshirt freshman out of Meridian, Idaho, had 43 yards on nine rushes.

“Our backs ran their tails off,” Eck said. “(Buchanan) had the big numbers. He kind of had the hot hand … but we went with Art (late). We trusted him, and he did a good job finishing that up.”

Backup quarterback Jack Wagner completed 11 of 17 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown. The redshirt freshman from Tualatin, Oregon, was the Vandals’ only available QB for the game due to injuries, Eck said.

Wagner made his seventh start in place of sophomore Jack Layne, who was a surprise scratch due to an unspecified injury. Layne sustained a shoulder injury during a Week 1 loss to Oregon but returned to the lineup in Idaho’s win over Eastern Washington on Oct. 26. The Vandals were also down backup QBs

“He was accurate. He’s been more accurate as the year has gone on,” Eck said of Wagner. “I’m proud of the way ‘Wags’ played, proud of the way the O-line played and certainly proud of the way the backs played.”

The Vandals led Portland State 28-21 after a first-half shootout that included nearly 450 yards of total offense. The teams traded field goals in the third quarter, then the Vikings cut the deficit to 31-27 early in the fourth on a 27-yard field goal.

Idaho missed a 43-yard field-goal try on the ensuing possession. A muffed punt return by the Vandals set the Vikings up in Idaho territory on the next drive, and Portland State capitalized with a 48-yard field goal to make it 31-30 with 5:11 remaining.

Idaho took advantage of a mishandled punt by the Vikings on the game’s opening possession, which ended with Williams’ first TD run. Portland State tailback Delon Thompson scored on a 1-yard carry on the Vikings’ first drive. The Vandals answered with Jordan Dwyer’s 27-yard TD catch.

The Vikings opened the second quarter with a 13-play TD drive, then took a 21-14 lead on Branden Alvarez’s 26-yard scoring catch with less than 6 minutes left in the first half. Idaho responded with Buchanan’s 22-yard TD run, then the Vandals’ defense forced the first Portland State punt of the game. Idaho ended the first half with a perfectly executed 2-minute drive, taking a 28-21 lead on Buchanan’s 13-yard TD carry.

Neither team led by more than one possession until the closing moments of the back-and-forth game.

Idaho’s defense settled in during the second half, making three red-zone stops and holding the Vikings to nine points. Idaho finished with five sacks.

“To get five sacks on that guy (Portland State quarterback Dante Chachere) is pretty incredible,” Eck said of the Vikings’ athletic QB, who had rushed for more than 150 yards in two of Portland State’s previous three games.

The Vandals outgained Portland State 462-307 .

Dwyer led all receivers with 109 yards and a TD on five catches. Mark Hamper added 62 receiving yards for Idaho.

Chachere completed 14 of 20 passes for 173 yards and two TDs for Portland State but was held to 33 rushing yards. Thompson rushed for 71 yards and a score for the Vikings.

Idaho returns to Moscow next weekend for its final regular-season home game of the year. The Vandals host Weber State at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Kibbie Dome.