Back at home, Idaho is ‘ready to go’ after tough loss to UC Davis

Sep. 30—If Idaho had to suffer a bad beat in a frustrating 28-26 loss at University of California Davis a week ago, conditions could not be much better for the Vandals (3-2, 0-1 in the Big Sky Conference) to get well this week.

They are in Moscow for only the second game this season to face Northern Arizona (3-2, 1-0) for homecoming. The Lumberjacks made the Football Championship Subdivision rankings at number 24 after stifling Sacramento State’s offense in handing the 10th-ranked Hornets a 34-16 defeat, and Idaho has drifted down the rankings from fourth to 10th after losing to the Aggies. But in his weekly media conference, Idaho coach Jason Eck was confident the Vandals will rally from that setback, even though they are dealing with injuries.

Eck says the players have come back from California with lessons learned.

“It is huge to be back at home,” Eck said.

While the players don’t practice on Mondays, conditioning is ongoing, and “we had an outstanding lift this morning,” he added.

After bolting to a 14-0 lead in the first three series against the Aggies, the Vandals lost focus, allowed themselves to have their defensive substitutions disrupted by the UCD up-tempo offense, and they got down by 11 points in the third quarter before rallying behind backup quarterback Nick Josifek in the final period with a field goal and a touchdown before a two-point conversion pass that would have tied the game sailed long. An onside kick attempt failed and after gaining possession, the Aggies were able to run out the clock.

“We even responded well when we were down by 11,” Eck said. “We’ll be ready to go” against NAU .

The coach also took some responsibility for the loss.

“There is a lot to learn,” he said. “There is a lot I can learn. I can certainly coach better than I did last week.”

Vandals running backs Elisha Cummings and Nate…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/back-home-idaho-ready-tough-020100875.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-10-01 02:01:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.