The Cougars got off to a slow start, fumbling the ball on the fifth play of their opening drive and once again on their 2nd possession of the 1st Qtr—this time costing them a TD. After holding Washington State to a three-and-out on their next drive Idaho put up a field goal at the end of an 11 play 69 yard drive to go up 10-0 at the end of the 1st Qtr. Could have been worse as Idaho had worked their way down to a first and goal at the WSU 5 yard line. But after loosing five yards due to a false start and unable to move the ball on the ensuing snaps had to settle for the three points. But after that Idaho didn’t score a single point until the 4th Qtr, by then trailing 24-10 to get within seven at 24-17 where the score would stay.
Idaho had the ball for eleven more minutes than Washington State, but the Cougars still out-paced them in first downs 19-13, total yards-just edging them by three in the air 215-212 but by quite a few on the ground, 143-78. Washington State Sophomore QB Cameron Ward had a very respectable night under center connecting on over 60% of his passes, 25-of-40 for 215 yards, 3 TD’s and no interceptions. Junior RB Nakia Watson carried the load on the ground rushing 18 times for 117 yards, averaging 6.5 yards per carry. Freshman QB Gevani McCoy connected on 21-of-32 for the Vandals for 212 yards, 1 TD, but 2 picks while the Cougars stiffled the Idaho running game who, although rushing 10 more times than Washington State, were only able to pick up a total of 67 yards on the night for an average of just under 2 yards per carry. Although hitting all three extra points the Cougar Place Kicker, Sophomore Dean Janikowski, struggled with the field goals as he did at times last year, hitting on only one of three.
It was Cameron Ward’s transfer from Incarnate Word last year, where he led the FCS in TD passes and threw for 4,648 yards, that prompted Jayden de Laura to enter the transfer portal, ending up in Arizona, much to the delight of his new coach. All-in-all it wasn’t pretty but it was a win and a 1-0 start for Head Coach Jake Dickert in his first full year for the Cougars. They’ll have to be a lot better next week as they hit the road to take on Wisconsin in Madison.