The Vandals return home looking to bounce back against Cal Poly

The No. 13 Idaho Vandals return home to the P1FCU Kibbie Dome today at 1 p.m. looking for a good game against the Cal Poly Mustangs.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

The Vandals are 4-3 overall and 1-2 in Big Sky competition and no longer have their sights set on the Big Sky Conference title, but are focused on finishing the season strong against the weaker part of their roster.

Idaho has played five consecutive ranked Football Championship Subdivision teams, but has no plans to play another ranked opponent until a possible postseason run. This stretch of play begins at home against Cal Poly, which is also trying to rebound from a 56-10 loss to UC Davis.

“Cal Poly has struggled at times. They had a good win against Northern Colorado a few weeks ago that impressed me,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said. “Even though we are probably the favorites in this game, there were a lot of underdogs in this league who won last week.”

The Mustangs are 2-4 this year and 1-2 in the conference, with their only two wins coming against NCAA Division II Western Oregon and Northern Colorado (1-6).

Injuries are piling up on Idaho's offense

The quarterback room needs a few collarbone donors at this point, as freshman Nick Josifek joined sophomore Jack Layne with the same injury after breaking his collarbone in a 38-7 loss to Montana State last week.

The good news is that Layne is making good progress and was back on the field at practice on Tuesday. He was still barred from participating in any practices and did not go under center at any point, but he was able to pass the football around with his teammates. With bye week just two weeks away, Idaho has a chance to slowly bring him back and try to have him ready for November 9th at Portland State. That would give Layne three games away from possible postseason action.

Jack Wagner will once again start at quarterback after splitting time with Josifek against Northern Arizona and seemingly being used as the second QB against Montana State. The freshman will have a good opportunity to hit the ball against a weaker Cal Poly secondary.

The Mustangs allowed 293.33 yards through the air per game and only managed four interceptions.

The running back cupboard will be just as empty as running back Nate Thomas was unable to play against the Bobcats last week and Eli Cummings was unable to finish the game.

“It’s a chance for guys to improve,” Eck said. “That's what life is about. You don't have control over what happens, you just have to control your reaction and what happens next. I think we’ll have guys ready to step up and excited to rally around them.”

First-year running back Art Williams fumbled the ball last week, opening the door for freshman Deshaun Buchanan, who made good use of his opportunity. Buchanan led Idaho with 49 rushing yards on nine carries. Both Buchanan and Williams will see increased touches if Thomas and Cummings are unable to participate.

Players to watch at Cal Poly

Sophomore quarterback Bo Kelly has struggled under center for the Mustangs this season. Kelly is 77 of 124 (62.1%) for 847 yards in six games. The sophomore has more interceptions (five) than passing touchdowns (four) this year.

Cal Poly has also used junior Jaden Jones, sophomore Richie Watts and sophomore Jackson Akins in sporadic playing time at quarterback this season.

Freshman running back Aiden Ramos has twice as many rushing attempts as anyone on the Mustangs, but carries the ball at just 3.8 yards per carry.

Similar to Idaho, Cal Poly has two main targets in the passing game. Junior Michael Briscoe and senior Giancarlo Woods combined for 672 of the team's 1,338 total receiving yards.

Briscoe has over 100 yards receiving in two of the last three games. Woods has had at least three catches in every game this season.

Senior defensive end Elijah Ponder is a threat to opposing quarterbacks. Last year, Ponder had 10 sacks and set a program record with 17 quarterback hurries.