Oct. 30—If the recent past is a guide, Idaho should have little trouble from Portland State as the resurgent Vandals (3-5, 3-2 Big Sky) pursue a third straight win.
Last year, Idaho rolled the Vikings in the Kibbie Dome 45-6.
The trouble is you don't know what Portland State you are getting. In 2024, the playoff-bound Vandals ventured to Hillsboro Stadium to face the struggling 2-6 Vikings and were happy to escape with a 39-30 win as Art Williams ran for a touchdown with less than two minutes to play and Idaho was successful on a two-point conversion. The Vandals lead the series 15-2. But the Vikings regularly make it interesting.
This year, one of PSU's wins is over Weber State, something Idaho couldn't accomplish. Getting out to an early lead and staying ahead will be a big emphasis for the Vandals against the Vikings, according to Idaho coach Thomas Ford Jr.
"If we let them hang around, there is a lot of fight in that team," he said.
Here are three things to watch:
1. Joshua Wood. Last year the Vandals quarterback threw for four touchdowns against the Vikings. This year PSU is still having problems stopping the pass, giving up 321.6 yards and 43.3 points per game, and lately Wood can't be stopped. He leads the league in total offense, having thrown for 2,189 yards and 14 touchdowns against six interceptions. For good measure, he is also the Big Sky's 16th-best runner, accounting for 396 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. In Idaho's back-to-back victories against Montana and Southern Utah, Wood passed for 335 yards and three touchdowns, and for 151 yards and two scores, respectively.
2. Portland State's offense. Junior running back Delon Thompson has rushed for 643 yards and five touchdowns, an average of 4.9 yards per carry, and he has 18 pass receptions for 154 yards. Tight end Tanner Beaman has 28 receptions for 347 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and senior wide receiver Terence Loville, the seventh-overall ranked receiver in the Big Sky, has made 36 receptions for 553 yards with two touchdowns. The Vikings play a pair of quarterbacks. In five games, Gabe Downing has completed 78 of 137 passes for 664 yards with five interceptions and two touchdowns. In four games, Tyrese Smith has completed 56 of 101 throws for 664 yards with one interception and two touchdowns.
3. If it comes down to field goals, a pair of kickers can come through in the clutch. PSU's Joshua Hossman-Lees has completed 8 of 10 field goals and 16 of 17 extra points, good for second in the Big Sky. Right behind him in third place is Idaho's Owen Forsman. He has been good on 11 of 15 field goal tries and is a perfect 24 of 24 on extra points. Hossman-Lees was named the Big Sky and Stats Perform special team player of the week Sept. 28 after going 3-for-3 on field goals, with a long kick of 43 yards, and 5-for-5 on extra points in the Vikings' win against Weber State. Forsman had a terrible day against the Wildcats, missing on all three of his field goal attempts in inclement weather in Ogden. But he has rallied since then. The junior from Rathdrum's Lakeland High School duplicated Hossman-Lees' honors this past week. Forsman was named Big Sky and Stats Perform special team player of the week after going 3-for-3 on field goals against Southern Utah, including a walk-off career-long 53-yarder with one second left on the clock to propel the Vandals to a 31-28 victory.
