No. 7 Idaho set for marquee FCS game against No. 3 Montana State on ESPN2

MOSCOW, Idaho – Play a schedule laden with nationally ranked teams, it seems, and eventually you will get a star turn.

Idaho will face its sixth nationally ranked Football Bowl Subdivision or Football Championship Subdivision foe Saturday when the 7th-ranked Vandals travel to Bozeman to take on 3rd-ranked Montana State. ESPN2 will televise it as the FCS game of the week.

Idaho, 4-2, after dispatching 25th-ranked Northern Arizona at homecoming, has the resume. MSU, 6-0, has the record. The Bobcats, however, following a season-opening comeback win against FBS New Mexico, have been beating up on the likes of FCS also-rans Northern Colorado, Idaho State, Mercyhurst, Maine and Utah Tech.

The Vandals sneaked by MSU last season, 24-21, and Vandals coach Jason Eck said at his weekly press conference that regardless of who the Bobcats have played, Idaho will be tangling with a more than worthy opponent. Idaho took FBS 3rd-ranked Oregon into the fourth quarter before dropping a close 24-14 decision in the Vandals’ own opening game, and Eck said “I wouldn’t say Montana State is quite Oregon, but they are probably the second-best team we are going to play.

“Oregon took us lightly. These guys will not take us lightly. They are a deserving favorite, a good challenge for us.”

Nonetheless, with the possible exception of the Lobos, Eck said MSU has not faced as physically talented a team as Idaho.

“I think we will be a challenge for them. We are one of the best opponents if not the best opponent they have faced this year.”

The Bobcats feature senior quarterback Tommy Mellott. He has 2,474 career rushing yards, including 11 100-yard rushing games, and he has run for 29 touchdowns. He has also thrown for 3,241 career passing yards.

Idaho will likely counter with the duo of Jack Wagner and Nick Josifek, who have split time with the Vandals after starting quarterback Jack Layne went down late in the opening game with a collarbone injury. Layne has had his arm out of a sling for more than a week, and Eck is hopeful he will be able to return at some point this season. Against the Bobcats, though, Idaho coaches will evaluate Wagner and Josifek in practice this week and will make a decision on who will start after Wednesday, according to Eck. If the Vandals follow their season-long pattern, both will play.

MSU and Idaho are similar in that each team is built to play with a lead and control a game with its ground attack, Eck said. The Bobcats are averaging 6.6 yards per carry, which Eck called “outstanding.”

To force MSU to throw, he said, Idaho’s defense “will have to get them to third downs. Get them to two minutes.

“The key is to get them into passing situations.” On third downs when the Bobcats are ahead of the chains and can run, said Eck, “they have a 53 percent conversion rate.”

For its part, Idaho has been able to hammer the running back tandem of Elisha Cummings and Nate Thomas at opponents. Cummings has rushed for 408 yards this year with a touchdown, and he ran for 119 yards against NAU. Thomas has accounted for 326 yards and five touchdowns. While Eck is hopeful Thomas will be available against MSU, he was wearing an ice pack on a shoulder after the NAU game.

On defense, the Bobcats have a similar philosophy to Idaho.

“On third down, like us, they like to get more speed on the field, more pass rushers. They do a really good job with that,” Eck said.

Idaho’s own elite edge rusher, Keyshawn James-Newby, got a crucial sack against NAU that knocked Lumberjacks quarterback Ty Pennington out of the game near the end of the first half. Pennington’s replacement, PJ London, threw a pair of interceptions in the second half.

James-Newby is sure to face more than one blocker against the Bobcats. But that means others on the defensive front will have opportunities. Malakai Williams, Eck pointed out, recorded a sack in each of Idaho’s last two games.

The Vandals are used to playing late games, having done so against Abilene Christian and University of California Davis. They will kick it off against Montana State at 7:15, PDT, 8:15 MDT. Eck expects the Bobcat fans will provide a hostile environment.

“Montana has got a culture that enjoys cold beverages,” he said. “I am sure they will be fueled up by 8:15.”