Idaho fends off Northern Arizona 23-17 before raucous homecoming crowd

MOSCOW, Idaho – An enthusiastic and engaged Idaho homecoming crowd saw the 10th-ranked Vandals grab an early 6-0 lead, lose it, reestablish control of the game narrative and almost lose the thread again before a goal line stand, a fourth quarter interception, and a Northern Arizona incomplete pass on fourth-and-seven with 50 seconds remaining finally drained the 25th-ranked Lumberjacks of magic and allowed Idaho to secure a 23-17 win.

With the victory, the Vandals are now 4-2 heading into a potentially consequential matchup at 3rd-ranked Montana State Oct. 12. “That’s a huge game on national TV,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said.

Northern Arizona slips to 3-3 with the loss.

“This is the third time this year somebody has come down with two minutes to win the game and (the Vandals) have not allowed them to,” Eck said after fending off NAU.

“Getting a win on homecoming is what homecoming is about,” said Idaho’s leading rusher Elisha Cummings. He ran for 119 yards on 17 attempts. His 42-yard burst in the first quarter set up the Vandals’ first touchdown – an easy nine-yard pitch-and-catch from quarterback Jack Wagner to tight end Mike Martinez, who had slipped unnoticed out of the left side of the formation and stood alone in the end zone.

Cummings was working on another long scamper early in the third quarter when he ran away from the pursuing middle of NAU’s defense until he slipped after 10 yards when his feet went out from under him.

The Lumberjacks were fearless about crowding the box with as many as eight defenders to try to stop Idaho’s ground game, and they presented Idaho quarterbacks Wagner and Nick Josifek with a dizzying array of multiple shifting on most downs.

But Cummings said the Vandals were not caught unaware.

“We prepared really good early in the week. The looks were almost the exact same in the game. We knew exactly what the defensive line was going to do and what they would stem to.”

Eck noted Idaho’s effective running “particularly in the first half.”

Nate Thomas followed Cummings with 67 yards on 15 carries, and he went across the goal line untouched from seven yards out for Idaho’s second score, which allowed the Vandals to regain the lead, 13-7. Overall, they finished with 192 yards on the ground in 40 attempts.

NAU got as close in the first half as 13-10 as Marcus Lye hammered a 50-yard field goal with 4:43 to play in the second quarter. But Idaho widened its edge to 20-10 on the next possession when Josifek linked up with Jordan Dwyer on a 23-yard pass that Dwyer took away from NAU cornerback Mikale Greer, who was face guarding him in the end zone.

The most impactful play of the half, though, and maybe even the game, might have come with 1:12 left. Idaho defensive end Keyshawn James-Newby, who had been battling to a stalemate all game with NAU tackle Ethan Kramer, slipped to Kramer’s inside and sacked Lumberjack quarterback Ty Pennington.

Pennington stayed down for minutes. He finally got up and walked to the locker room holding his helmet and assisted by a trainer. He did not return for the second half. Pennington’s stat line was 12 of 17 passing for 114 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. He had helped the Lumberjacks seize a first-quarter lead, 7-6, with a 50-yard touchdown pass to tight end Bryza White.

PJ London, who replaced Pennington in the second half, finished 10 of 14 passing for just 80 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions.

“Pennington is a really good quarterback,” said Eck. He noted of London “it’s a tough situation to come in against our defense.

“Any time you impact a game by hitting the quarterback, that’s a good thing…I hope he is not hurt.”

While NAU played London out of necessity, the Vandals went with Wagner and Josifek by choice, according to Eck. “Those were planned rotations.” Josifek completed six of seven passing attempts for 109 yards and a touchdown, and Wagner completed two of six attempts for 15 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 12 yards, including a pair of key first downs, Eck said.

NAU, however, almost exploited a Josifek fumble to get back into the game early in the fourth quarter. Defensive tackle Cory Hall hit Josifek as he was releasing a pass, and fellow defensive lineman Tausagafou Ho Ching recovered for the Lumberjacks near the goal line.

One four tries from inside the five-yard line, Idaho stoned the Lumberjacks as they tried to jam the ball in with a quarterback, a fullback and a pair of running backs.

“That defensive stop on the goal line was inspiring. That’s what we play for,” said Idaho linebacker Mathias Bertram.

In addition to assisting on the goal line stand, Bertram stopped another NAU drive in the fourth quarter when he camped under an underthrown London pass and picked it off.

“It was in the air for a while. I knew I had to come down with it,” he said.

Idaho’s leading tackler, linebacker Jaxton Eck, with 10, also intercepted a pass in the third quarter.

On the possession preceding that pick, Vandal kicker Cameron Pope atoned for missing the point-after kick on Idaho’s first touchdown by converting a 40-yard field goal to put the Vandals ahead, 23-10.

The lead looked especially important after NAU capped a 62-yard drive with just over four minutes to play when London scored from two yards out.

The Idaho alums, who came close to filling the Kibbie Dome, got their money’s worth with the back-and-forth homecoming victory.

“The energy here, the atmosphere, was as good as any place in the country,” Eck said.