‘We just had to lock in’: Idaho comes to life in third quarter to beat Cal Poly 34-29

MOSCOW, Idaho – Many strange and, for Idaho, just enough fortunate things happened in a 34-29 win against Cal Poly with a degree of difficulty that was off the charts.

The Vandals’ season may have been saved in the third quarter.

Instead of losing focus after being down 14-6 in a game they were expected to easily win , the Vandals drew even with the surprisingly efficient and motivated Mustangs after Idaho played probably its most frustrating half of football this season.

Cal Poly came into the Kibbie Dome with a modest 2-4 season record, 1-2 in the Big Sky Conference.

After Idaho was handled by third-ranked Montana State a week ago, the Vandals were being cuffed by the Mustangs 14-6 until they finished a seven-play 93-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Jack Wagner to tight end Mike Martinez. Freshman Rocco Koch spelled Wagner at quarterback to run for a 2-point conversion.

The 6-foot-6, 265-pound Martinez plucked Wagner’s pass off his shoe tops.

“That was one of the best catches I have ever seen, for him to go down and get it low for as big as he is,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said.

The drive seemed to jolt the Vandals into life. They scored three more touchdowns through the remainder of the third and the early fourth quarters. Almost until the final seconds, however, fate seemed determined to let the Mustangs write the final narrative.

The Vandals looked like winners when they gained 16 yards on a flea flicker that began with a lateral to Jordan Dwyer, who returned the ball to Wagner, who hit Dwyer downfield with a pass. A false start backed up the Vandals 5 yards. But Wagner quickly answered with a long pass to Mark Hamper, and an added-on facemask penalty gave Idaho the ball at the 2-yard line. Koch scored again from there.

The tone changed, however, when Cameron Pope’s extra-point attempt was blocked, and Brian Dukes scooped up the ball for the Mustangs and returned it the length of the field for two points for Cal Poly.

Idaho’s 20-16 lead wasn’t looking comfortable. Undeterred, Wagner capped a three-play, 76-yard drive with a 21-yard touchdown to Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar and found Dwyer with a 21-yard touchdown to put the Vandals up 34-16.

But Cal Poly answered with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. Bo Kelly hooked up with Giancarlo Woods in the corner of the end zone on a 4-yard scoring pass to conclude a 12-play, 81-yard drive with 3:27 to play.

For Idaho, it looked as though a 34-23 lead was going to stand up in the final minute, until Art Williams fumbled and Kai Rapoila recovered for Cal Poly and ran for a touchdown to cut Idaho’s lead to 34-29. Cal Poly went for a 2-point conversion, and Zion Hill broke a tackle and was free for a moment before being hauled down short of the goal line.

Cal Poly tried an onside kick that Idaho’s Cruz Hepburn leaped on when the ball had only traveled 5 yards. Finally, Vandals tight end Alex Moore legally recovered a second onside attempt, and Idaho ran out the clock to improve to 5-3, 2-2 in the Big Sky.

“I was proud to get a win,” Eck said. “All conference wins are good wins.”

But Eck acknowledged that Idaho’s first-half lethargy was concerning.

“If we kept playing the way we were playing in the first half, we were going to lose that game,” he said. “We were playing the first half like we were trying to get the game over with.”

“There was a lot of stuff there in the first half,” Dwyer said. “We just had to calm down and execute better.”

Dwyer had seven receptions for 87 yards. Hamper led the Vandals with 103 receiving yards on four big catches.

Wagner threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns, with an interception.

Williams gave the Vandals 86 rushing yards on 15 carries. Eck pointed to Koch’s touchdown, and especially his 2-point conversion run, as important to Idaho’s win.

“The 2-point conversion loomed large,” Eck said. “If we did not make it, they would just need to kick a field goal to tie.”

Pope kicked two field goals when Idaho was struggling to get anything going in the first half and had a long kick of 44 yards.

Kelly led Cal Poly with 268 yards passing, a pair of touchdowns and an interception.

Richie Watts completed both of his passes for 12 yards and a touchdown. Woods made eight catches for 102 yards with a pair of touchdowns for the Mustangs, and Michael Briscoe broke a 50-yard run on his lone carry to lead Cal Poly.

The Mustangs largely thwarted Idaho’s pass rush with quick drops and throws.

Eck said defensive end Keyshawn James-Newby derailed a Cal Poly fourth-quarter drive.

After he was flagged for being offsides on a close call, James-Newby kept his composure and on the next play tipped a Kelly pass that linebacker Isiah King intercepted.

“We just had to lock in and execute,” James-Newby said. “The first half started slow for the defense. We just had to respond.

“You see all that weird stuff, everything going on in the first half, you’ve just got to respond.”