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Dec. 9—MOSCOW, Idaho — When last seen, Montana State was trampling over the corpse of an injury-depleted Idaho in October, 38-7.
Now the Bobcats and Vandals meet for a second time Friday, again in Bozeman, this time in the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. And the Vandals feel they have some unfinished business.
Idaho coach Jason Eck, in his regularly scheduled news conference Monday acknowledged being on the receiving end of a “butt whupping” by Montana State in the previous meeting.
“We are going to have to play a perfect game to pull this off,” he said.
Idaho abandons its climate-controlled home in the Kibbie Dome for the outdoors of Bobcat Stadium in December, where temperatures are forecast to be in the 20s. The Vandals, winners of six straight since their loss to the ‘Cats, bring the momentum of a runaway freight train and a roster at full strength after dispatching Lehigh, 34-13, in the second round of the FCS playoffs.
Vandals quarterback Jack Layne, who passed for 318 yards and three touchdowns against Lehigh, didn’t even get to play the Bobcats in October, as he was recovering from a broken collarbone. But he says assertively “it can’t be cold enough in my opinion. I love the adversity of the elements.”
In addition to Layne being sidelined in the first matchup in Bozeman, Idaho’s third-string quarterback, Nick Josifek, who started against MSU, was knocked out with an injury and second-team quarterback Jack Wagner, who was also hurt, had to finish the game. Starting running back Nate Thomas was injured and did not play, and fellow starter Elisha Cummings was hurt after just six carries. Safety Mathias Bertram was ejected for targeting.
“Things did kind of snowball on us,” Eck said.
In 2023, when Idaho beat MSU in Moscow, 24-21, the Vandals jumped out to a 10-0 lead, and against…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/blowout-first-meeting-idaho-hopes-030300331.html
Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Publish date : 2024-12-10 03:03:00
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