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Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
Idaho loses heartbreaker to Cal Poly
- Story byLewiston Tribune, Idaho
- Idaho loses heartbreaker to Cal Poly
Aug. 29—On fourth-and-8 from Idaho 's 34-yard line, all the Vandals' defense needed to do was stop the Cal Poly Mustangs from having a gleam of hope.
Fifth-year Cal Poly quarterback Anthony Grigsby Jr. had other plans.
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He scrambled to the right side and then found junior receiver Tayvion McCoy for a 34-yard TD on a post route.
Game over.
Cal Poly won 38-34 on Friday at Mustang Memorial Field in San Luis Obispo, Calif., in a season-opening thriller that surely captivated a national audience on ESPN.
"At the end of the day, we didn't make enough plays," Idaho coach Thomas Ford Jr. said of his team in a postgame radio interview. "There were opportunities to make plays out there, especially defensively, and we didn't make them. We got to tackle better. We got to stay on top of routes better. And when we play better coverage, we've got to be more sticky.
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"It just was a very frustrating situation, but we just didn't make enough plays to win the game."
Idaho's attempted comeback
Idaho's offense didn't look great in the first half, but in the second half the unit came out strong, scoring on its first five drives in the second half.
To take the lead late in the contest, senior quarterback Joshua Wood found junior receiver Tony Harste out running free past his cornerback for a 75-yard touchdown pass. The TD put Idaho up 31-24.
A drive earlier, Wood hit junior receiver Ryan Jezioro for a 65-yard gain on a deep pass in the middle of the field. The protection was excellent and gave Wood plenty of time to load up and fire the pass.
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Two plays later, Wood found Harste for a 5-yard touchdown pass on a crossing route. This cut the lead to 24-22.
Idaho decided to go for the 2-point conversion to tie up the game.
Offensive coordinator Ian Shoemaker called a designed shovel pass to junior tight end Noah West-Baranco. Wood connected as West-Baranco dove into the end zone to tie the game at 24-24.
Harste finished the game with nine grabs for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Ford called Harste "an absolute stud" and said the more opportunities he gets, the more plays he could create downfield.
Ryan Jezioro had three catches for 93 yards.
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Wood was 18-for-25 passing for 363 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran the ball 11 times for 42 yards.
Ford said that he felt encouraged by the offense's success, especially late in the game.
"We created a lot of explosive plays offensively," Ford said. "Our wide receivers and our quarterback and our offensive line all did a really good job in the pass game. I thought our running backs really did a good job when they were called to run the football. But you love to see the explosive plays. You love to see guys getting open downfield, so it's definitely encouraging offensively."
However, the defense let the Vandals down, allowing the Mustangs to score touchdowns on their final two drives of the game.
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Ford said he wants to see the Vandals' secondary get better for future games.
"Improve in the secondary," Ford said. "I mean, there was just way too many opportunities to make a play, and we just flat out didn't. We're in position, and we don't make a play on the ball. We've just got to get better in the secondary. ... At the end of the day, in the back end, we've got to make more plays."
Cal Poly's offensive execution
Grigsby was the difference-maker for the Mustangs on Friday.
He finished the game 26-for-35 passing for 319 yards and had four touchdown passes.
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He also rushed the ball 14 times for 62 yards and one touchdown.
Cal Poly had multiple touchdowns in crucial situations on third or fourth downs, including the game-winning play.
For the first score of the day, Grigsby found junior tight end Alek Marshall for a 17-yard touchdown on a third-and-12 to make it 7-0.
A few possessions later, Grigsby scrambled to the right after some pressure and then hit senior receiver Fidel Pitts in the front right of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown on a third-and-6 to push the lead to 21-10.
Grigsby found four different receivers on each touchdown pass.
McCoy finished the game with 10 catches on 12 targets and had 170 yards with the game-winning TD. He also had one rush for 18 yards.
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Pitts finished the game with five catches for 70 yards and one score.
Extra points
The Vandals relied on kicker Owen Forsman for multiple crucial field goals.
Forsman had the go-ahead field goal with a 40-yarder with 1 minute, 3 seconds left in the contest. He gave the Vandals a 34-31 lead.
He got the first Idaho score of the game off a 23-yard field goal to make it 7-3.
Then he hit two in the third quarter, including a 40-yarder to put the Vandals within a score at 23-13. Then Forsman had a 44-yarder to make it 21-16.
Idaho also committed eight penalties for a total of 61 yards.
Up next
Idaho has a short week and will play Utah of the Football Bowl Subdivision, the No. 21-ranked team in the Associated Press preseason poll, at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
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Just five days away, Idaho will have to play again.
"I think anytime you're getting into a short week, it's always a little bit more challenging," Ford said. "But I know that these guys have a real sour taste in their mouth after tonight, and I'm sure they're going to get back to work tomorrow and get after it and start getting the game plan together for Utah."
Cal Poly 38, Idaho 34
FIRST QUARTER
CP — Marshall 17 pass from Grigsby (Thayer kick), 11:44.
IDA — FG Forsman 23, 2:47.
SECOND QUARTER
CP — Palau 1 pass from Grigsby (Thayer kick), 9:49
IDA — Miller 7 run (Forsman kick), 4:45.
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CP — Pitts 16 pass from Grigsby (Thayer kick), 1:53.
THIRD QUARTER
IDA — FG Forsman 40, 11:02.
IDA — FG Forsman 44, 1:42.
FOURTH QUARTER
CP — FG Thayer 28, 11:40.
IDA — Harste 5 pass from Wood (West-Baranco pass from Wood), 9:55.
IDA — Harste 75 pass from Wood (Forsman kick), 6:10.
CP — Grigsby 15 run (Thayer kick), 2:16.
IDA — FG Forsman 40, 1:03.
CP — McCoy 34 pass from Grigsby (Thayer kick), 0:09.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Idaho, Miller 12-44, Wood 11-42, Bias 6-30, Kincheloe 2-4, Carter 1-0, Superales 1-0. Cal Poly, Green 15-71, Grigsby 14-62, Paiau 11-48, McCoy 1-18, Wheatley 1-(-2).
Passing — Idaho, Wood 18-25-0—363. Cal Poly, Grigsby 26-35-0—319.
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Receiving — Idaho, Harste 9-180, Card 4-78, Jezioro 3-93, West-Baranco 1-11, Miller 1-1. Cal Poly, McCoy 10-170, Pitts 5-70, Marshall 4-31, Paiau 3-9, Green 2-29, Hall 1-8, Anderson 1-2.
Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, tjunt@lmtribune.com or on X @TrevorJunt.
