FIRST LOOK: No. 10 Idaho celebrates homecoming with victory over No. 25 NAU

No. 10 Idaho celebrated homecoming with a 23-17 victory over No. 25 Northern Arizona for its first Big Sky conference victory Saturday at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome at Moscow.

Northern Arizona (3-3, 1-1) had the ball near midfield down by six with under two minutes to play, but Idaho safety Dwayne McDougle got in front of a PJ London fourth-down pass for a deflection to secure the victory.

The Lumberjacks outgained the Vandals 314 yards to 313 in the tight contest. Idaho (4-2, 1-1) was strong in the running game and gained 189 yards on 42 rushing attempts. Running back Elisha Cummings had 123 yards on 17 carries. Nate Thomas had 67 yards on 15 carries and scored a touchdown.

Freshmen quarterbacks Jack Wagner and Nick Josifek shared quarterback duties in the game, seemingly trading off pass caller duties every two drives.

Wagner played the first two drives at quarterback. On the second drive, it was the Vandal rushing attack that took over. Idaho ran the ball six straight plays for 60 yards to get within the NAU 10-yard line. On the seventh play of the drive, Wagner pulled the ball back in and found tight end Mike Martinez wide open for a touchdown.

Josifek entered the game on the ensuing drive and led Idaho to back-to-back touchdown drives. The first drive was capped off by a Nate Thomas 13-yard touchdown run through a wide open gap in the right side of the line.

Josifek found wide receiver Jordan Dwyer on the next drive for a 23-yard touchdown strike. Dwyer fought through defensive pass interference to make the catch and the Vandals led 20-10 after the extra point.

Late in the second quarter, defensive end Keyshawn James-Newby got to Northern Arizona quarterback Ty Pennington in the backfield for a sack. Pennington was injured on the play and was taken directly to the locker room. He did not return to the game.

Idaho had a balanced offensive attack in the first half. The Vandals had 113 rushing yards on 20 attempts while Wagner and Josifek combined to go 5-for-7 for 104 yards through the air. Cummings and Thomas had eight carries each in the first 30 minutes. Cummings gained 62 yards, Thomas had 40.

In the second half it was a pure defensive battle as neither team could move the ball. After Idaho moved the ball 52 yards on nine plays on its opening drive of the second half, the Vandals did not have another drive where they gained more that 24 yards.

Northern Arizona attempted to take advantage of strong field position, but the Vandal defense stood strong multiple times.

Lumberjack returner J’Wan Evans took a kickoff 63 yards down to the Idaho 37-yard line. After an 8-yard gain, linebacker Jaxton Eck stepped in front of a pass from backup quarterback PJ London for an interception.

On the very next Lumberjack possession, it was UI linebacker Mathias Bertram who intercepted London.

Early in the fourth quarter, Josifek was hit as he attempted a pass and the play was ruled a fumble. Northern Arizona picked up the loose ball and returned it down to the Vandal 5-yard line.

Idaho stood strong at the line, including two stops from the 1-yard line. NAU running back Seth Cromwell attempted to score on third and fourth down, but each time he was unable to go any further than the line of scrimmage.

The Lumberjacks scored late in the fourth quarter on a London 2-yard run to cut the lead to six, 23-17, and they had an opportunity in the final two minutes to win the game, but Idaho’s defense for the third time this season came up with a late-game stop.

NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer was the honorary captain for the Vandals and was out at midfield before the game for the coin toss.