Idaho Vandals Football Athletic Media Relations | Football Contact: Mike Walsh | C: 208-921-7396 | O: 208-885-0245 | E: [email protected]
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IDAHO VANDALS FOOTBALL ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS | FOOTBALL CONTACT: MIKE WALSH | C: 208-921-7396 | O: 208-885-0245 | E: [email protected] 2018 SCHEDULE 0-0 (0-0 BIG SKY) GAME 1 - AT FRESNO STATE HOME: 0-0 AWAY: 0-0 SEPT. 1 | 7 PM (PT) | FRESNO, CALIF. | BULLDOG STADIUM (41,031) at FRESNO STATE SATURDAY, SEPT. 1 7 P.M. PT IDAHO SERIES HISTORY FRESNO STATE FRESNO, CALIF. (BULLDOG STADIUM) FACEBOOK VANDALS BULLDOGS Record Fresno State leads 11-4 WESTERN NEW MEXICO Record 0-0 (0-0 Big Sky) Last Meeting Oct. 5, 2013 Record 0-0 (0-0 Mountain West) SATURDAY, SEPT. 8 2 P.M. PT Road Record (Streak) 0-0 (W 1) Fresno State 61, Idaho 14 Home Record (Streak) 0-0 (W 2) MOSCOW, IDAHO (KIBBIE DOME) PLUTO TV Head Coach Paul Petrino Moscow Head Coach Jeff Tedford Record at Idaho 19-41 (Sixth Year) Idaho Streak L 10 Record at Fresno State 10-4 (Second Year) at UC DAVIS * Career Record Same Idaho at Home 2-7 Career Record 82-57 (13th Year) SATURDAY, SEPT. 22 4 P.M. PT Idaho on Road 2-4 Website GoBulldogs.com DAVIS, CALIF. (AGGIE STADIUM) ELEVEN SPORTS Website GoVandals.com Twitter @VandalFootball First Meeting 1946 Twitter @FresnoStateFB PORTLAND STATE * SATURDAY, SEPT. 29 2 P.M. PT MOSCOW, IDAHO (KIBBIE DOME) SWX / PLUTO TV BROADCAST INFORMATION at IDAHO STATE * TELEVISION CHANNEL FINDER RADIO SATURDAY, OCT. 6 3:35 P.M. MT POCATELLO, IDAHO (HOLT ARENA) PLUTO TV Facebook Saturday’s game will be produced by Vandal Radio Network at MONTANA STATE * Play-by-Play Dan Hellie Stadium and broadcast exclusively Play-by-Play Dennis Patchin SATURDAY, OCT. 13 2 P.M. MT Analyst David Carr on Facebook. A link is available at Analyst Ryan Phillips BOZEMAN, MONT. (BOBCAT STADIUM) ROOT SPORTS Reporter Kelli Johnson GoVandals.com. Network Affiliates See Page 22 Live Stream GoVandals.com SOUTHERN UTAH * SATURDAY, OCT. 20 2 P.M. PT MOSCOW, IDAHO (KIBBIE DOME) SWX / PLUTO TV PICK SIX at EASTERN WASHINGTON * 1. THE GAME: The next chapter of University of Idaho football begins Saturday (Sept. 1), at Fresno State SATURDAY, OCT. 27 NOON PT in the 2018 season opener for both teams. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. PT from Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, CHENEY, WASH. (ROOS FIELD) ROOT SPORTS Calif., and will be broadcast exclusively on Facebook. NORTH DAKOTA * 2. ABOUT FRESNO STATE: Head coach Jeff Tedford led the Bulldogs to the Mountain West SATURDAY, NOV. 3 2 P.M. PT Conference West Division title last season in his first year at the helm of his alma mater. Fresno State was MOSCOW, IDAHO (KIBBIE DOME) SWX / PLUTO TV predicted to repeat as division champions in 2018. The Bulldogs return 17 starters from last season, including first-team All-MW linebacker Jeff Allison. The Vandals and Bulldogs have met 15 times previously, including MONTANA * seven times as league opponents in the Western Athletic Conference from 2005-11. SATURDAY, NOV. 10 3:30 P.M. PT MOSCOW, IDAHO (KIBBIE DOME) ROOT SPORTS 3. THE RETURN: This season, Idaho football returns to the Big Sky Conference and the Football at FLORIDA Championship Subdivision. The Vandals previously won eight conference titles as a charter member of the Big SATURDAY, NOV. 17 TBD ET Sky from 1963-95. Idaho qualified for the national playoffs 11 times in their final 14 years at the then-Division GAINESVILLE, FLA. (BEN HILL GRIFFIN STADIUM) TBD I-AA level. A 22-year run in the Football Bowl Subdivision netted a 3-0 record in bowl games, including a win in the 2016 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Five current Vandals started in the latest bowl victory. * Big Sky Conference games Sixth-year head coach Paul Petrino was an assistant coach on Idaho’s last Big Sky championship team in 1992. All times local to site and subject to change Petrino coached running backs and wide receivers during his three-year stint as an assistant in Moscow from 1992-94, his first Division I coaching job. Among his wide receivers on the 1992 championship team was Walt BIG SKY STANDINGS Saunders, father of Vandal senior running back Isaiah Saunders. 4. PRESEASON ACCOLADES: Three Vandals landed on the TEAM BSC OVERALL Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team, as voted on by select media VANDALS EARN Cal Poly 0-0 0-0 members who cover the league. Cade Coffey (punter), Kaden Elliss Eastern Washington 0-0 0-0 (linebacker) and Noah Johnson (offensive guard) each earned spots on PRESEASON Idaho 0-0 0-0 the 31-player all-league team. The same trio was named to Phil Steele’s Idaho State 0-0 0-0 Preseason All-America Team, including Johnson getting a first-team nod. ALL-AMERICA HONORS Montana 0-0 0-0 He and Elliss were also named preseason All-Americans by STATS. Montana State 0-0 0-0 Northern Arizona 0-0 0-0 5. CLOSE ONLY COUNTS IN...: The Vandals played a school- STATS Northern Colorado 0-0 0-0 record seven games decided by one possession last season. All seven Noah Johnson (OL) Second Team Portland State 0-0 0-0 came in Sun Belt Conference play. Idaho went 2-5 in those contests, Kaden Elliss (LB) Third Team Sacramento State 0-0 0-0 suffering its five conference losses by a combined 24 points. Southern Utah 0-0 0-0 UC Davis 0-0 0-0 6. A MAN WHO CAN DO BOTH: Idaho senior Kaden Elliss is Weber State 0-0 0-0 expected to play a substantial role on both sides of the ball for the Vandals. PHIL STEELE Elliss, a preseason All-American at linebacker, will take a significant Noah Johnson (OL) First Team North Dakota is competing as an FCS independent this season, but will amount of snaps on offense as a tight end, wide receiver and full back. Kaden Elliss (LB) Third Team play a Big Sky schedule. North Dakota’s results will not count in the Big Last season Elliss was a second-team All-Sun Belt selection at linebacker Cade Coffey (P) Third Team Sky standings, but the games will count for opponents. with 80 tackles, including 16 for loss and six sacks. He also made seven receptions for 156 yards and two touchdowns in limited action at tight end. IDAHO FOOTBALL | GAME NOTES IT STARTS AT THE TOP HEAD COACH PAUL PETRINO EXPERIENCE IDAHO 2013-PRESENT ► 2016 SUN BELT CONFERENCE COACH OF THE YEAR Head coach/receivers Paul Petrino enters his sixth season as Idaho’s head coach, leading ARKANSAS 2012 the Vandals in their return to the Big Sky Conference. The move Offensive coordinator also returns Petrino to his football roots. The Montana native got Quarterbacks his first taste of Division I coaching as an assistant at Idaho from 1992-94, including the Vandals’ last Big Sky title in 1992 and three ILLINOIS 2010-11 consecutive NCAA Playoff appearances. Offensive coordinator The 2017 team featured the first five-year class of Vandals under Receivers Petrino. Among that group was record-setting quarterback Matt Linehan, 1,000-yard rusher Aaron Duckworth and Academic All- ARKANSAS 2008-09 America wide receiver Jacob Sannon. Offensive coordinator A four-year starter under Petrino, Linehan surpassed some of the most sacred names in Vandal football Receivers history. He became the program’s all-time leader in completions and when his senior season was cut three games short by injury, Linehan finished just shy of Doug Nussmeier’s record for career passing yards. ATLANTA FALCONS 2007 Receivers Idaho played a school-record seven one-possession games in 2017, including its five conference losses coming by a combined 24 points, on the way to finishing 4-8. Still, the team featured 10 all-conference selections. For the first time since 2008 three Vandals picked up first-team accolades, including Duckworth LOUISVILLE 2003-06 who became the first Idaho running back to earn first-team all-league honors since 2000. Offensive coordinator Receivers Petrino’s head coaching career thus far is highlighted by Idaho’s 2016 campaign. He guided the Vandals to bowl eligbility for the first time since 2009 - and won their bowl game in record-setting and entertaining fashion. SOUTHERN MISS. 2000-02 For his efforts, Petrino was voted the 2016 Sun Belt Coach of the Year. Quarterbacks The Vandals’ bowl eligibility was the result of their posting their best regular-season record since the 1998 team (Idaho’s first bowl team) went 8-3. They wrapped up the year 9-4 after beating Colorado State 61-50 in LOUISVILLE 1998-99 the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – largely recognized as one of the most entertaining of the bowl season. It was Receivers the highest-scoring bowl game of 2016 and Linehan, who was named game MVP, had one of the top pass efficiency ratings of any quarterback involved in postseason play. UTAH STATE 1995-97 The bowl victory was the culmination of not just gritty, determined efforts week-in and week-out during 2016, Receivers but of the first four years of Petrino’s reign. After back-to-back one-victory seasons, the Vandals were 4-8 in Special teams 2015. That marked the beginning of the on-field visibility of the process that started in December 2012 when Petrino was hired. IDAHO 1992-94 From the minute he arrived on the University of Idaho campus, Petrino infused the Vandals with an intensity Running backs that reverberated around the Kibbie Dome and throughout the Vandal Family. His practices mirror his Receivers personality – focused, intense and determined.