2023 Idaho Vandals football team

2023 Idaho Vandals football
NCAA Division I Quarterfinal, L 22–30 vs. Albany
Conference	Big Sky
Ranking
STATS	No. 8
FCS Coaches	No. T–4
Record	9–4 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Jason Eck (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Luke Schleusner (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread option
Defensive coordinator	Rob Aurich (2nd season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Kibbie Dome

2023 Big Sky Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Montana $^		7	–	1					13	–	2
No. 8 Idaho ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 9 Montana State ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Northern Arizona		5	–	3					5	–	6
No. 24 UC Davis		5	–	3					7	–	4
No. 13 Sacramento State ^		4	–	4					8	–	5
Portland State		4	–	4					5	–	6
Weber State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Eastern Washington		3	–	5					4	–	7
Idaho State		3	–	5					3	–	8
Cal Poly		1	–	7					3	–	8
Northern Colorado		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2023 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by second-year head coach Jason Eck, the Vandals were 8–3 (6–2 in Big Sky, 2nd) in the regular season, and played their home games on campus at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho.

Seeded fourth in the 24-team FCS playoffs, Idaho received a bye in the first round and hosted two games, but fell in the quarterfinals to Albany to finish at 9–4 (.692).

Preseason

Polls

On July 23, 2023, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Vandals were predicted to finish fifth in the Big Sky by the coaches and second by the media.

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana State	120 (10)
2	UC Davis	96 (1)
3	Sacramento State	94 (1)
4	Weber State	91
5	Idaho	89
6	Montana	84
7	Eastern Washington	52
8	Portland State	45
9	Northern Arizona	44
10	Northern Colorado	37
11	Cal Poly	25
12	Idaho State	15

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana State	447 (26)
2	Idaho	410 (8)
3	Montana	359 (2)
4	Sacramento State	334 (3)
5	UC Davis	330
6	Weber State	320
7	Eastern Washington	216
8	Northern Arizona	178
9	Portland State	167
10	Northern Colorado	109
11	Cal Poly	103
12	Idaho State	69

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	5:00 pm	at Lamar*	No. 8	Provost Umphrey Stadium Beaumont, TX	ESPN+	W 42–17	5,321
September 9	4:00 p.m.	at Nevada*	No. 7	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	KNSN-TV	W 33–6	19,852
September 16	1:00 p.m.	at California*	No. 5	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	P12N	L 17–31	36,810
September 23	1:00 p.m.	No. 4 Sacramento State	No. 7	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	ESPN+	W 36–27	9,433
September 30	1:00 p.m.	at No. 19 Eastern Washington	No. 4	Roos Field Cheney, WA	ESPN+	W 44–36	8,347
October 7	5:00 p.m.	at Cal Poly	No. 3	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	ESPN+	W 42–14	6,028
October 14	7:30 p.m.	No. 16 Montana	No. 3	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (Little Brown Stein)	ESPN2	L 21–23	14,218
October 28	1:00 p.m.	No. 2 Montana State	No. 9	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	ESPN+	W 24–21	13,073
November 4	12:00 p.m.	at Northern Colorado	No. 3	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	W 27–13	3,608
November 11	12:00 p.m.	at Weber State	No. 4	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	ESPN+	L 29–31	8,741
November 18	4:00 p.m.	Idaho State	No. 6	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (rivalry)	ESPN+	W 63–21	9,854
December 2	7:00 p.m.	No. 14 Southern Illinois*	No. 4	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (FCS Second Round)	ESPN2	W 20–17 OT	9,224
December 9	7:00 p.m.	No. 9 Albany*	No. 4	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (FCS Quarterfinal)	ESPN+	L 22–30	9,372
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries

at Lamar

See also: 2023 Lamar Cardinals football team

No. 8 Idaho Vandals (0–0) at Lamar Cardinals (0–0) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Vandals	14	14	7	7	42
Cardinals	0	0	3	14	17

at Provost Umphrey Stadium • Beaumont, TX

• Date: August 31, 2023
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CDT
• Game attendance: 5,321
• TV: ESPN+

at Nevada

See also: 2023 Nevada Wolf Pack football team

No. 7 Idaho Vandals (1–0) at Nevada Wolf Pack (0–1) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Vandals	0	0	0	0	0
Wolf Pack	0	0	0	0	0

at Mackay Stadium • Reno, NV

• Date: September 9, 2023
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 19,852
• TV: KNSN-TV

at California

See also: 2023 California Golden Bears football team

No. 5 Idaho Vandals (2–0) at California Golden Bears (1–1) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Vandals	10	7	0	0	17
Golden Bears	0	14	14	3	31

at California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA

• Date: September 16, 2023
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 36,810
• TV: Pac-12 Network

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter

vs No. 4 Sacramento State

See also: 2023 Sacramento State Hornets football team

No. 4 Sacramento State (3–0) vs No. 7 Idaho Vandals (2–1) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Hornets	3	7	7	10	27
No. 7 Vandals	3	10	14	9	36

at Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID

• Date: September 23, 2023
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 9,433
• TV: ESPN+

at No. 19 Eastern Washington

See also: 2023 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

No. 4 Idaho Vandals (3–1) at No. 19 Eastern Washington (2–2) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Vandals	7	14	10	13	44
No. 19 Eagles	7	14	7	8	36

at Roos Field • Cheney, WA

• Date: September 30, 2023
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 8,347
• TV: ESPN+

at Cal Poly

See also: 2023 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

No. 3 Idaho Vandals (4–1) at Cal Poly Mustangs (2–3) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Vandals	7	21	7	7	42
Mustangs	0	7	0	7	14

at Mustang Memorial Field • San Luis Obispo, CA

• Date: October 7, 2023
• Game time: 5:00 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 6,028
• TV: ESPN+

vs No. 16 Montana

See also: 2023 Montana State Bobcats football team and Little Brown Stein

No. 16 Montana Grizzlies (5–1) vs No. 3 Idaho Vandals (5–1) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Grizzlies	10	10	0	3	23
No. 3 Vandals	0	7	0	14	21

at Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID

• Date: October 14, 2023
• Game time: 7:30 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 14,218
• TV: ESPN2

vs No. 2 Montana State

See also: 2023 Montana State Bobcats football team

No. 2 Montana State Bobcats (6–1) vs No. 9 Idaho Vandals (5–2) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Bobcats	0	0	14	7	21
No. 9 Vandals	3	7	0	14	24

at Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID

• Date: October 28, 2023
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 13,073
• TV: ESPN+

at Northern Colorado

See also: 2023 Northern Colorado Bears football team

No. 3 Idaho Vandals (6–2) at Northern Colorado Bears (0–8) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Vandals	3	7	7	10	27
Bears	0	7	0	6	13

at Nottingham Field • Greeley, CO

• Date: November 4, 2023
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. MDT
• Game attendance: 3,608
• TV: ESPN+

at Weber State

See also: 2023 Weber State Wildcats football team

No. 4 Idaho Vandals (7–2) at Weber State Wildcats (4–5) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Vandals	3	10	8	8	29
Wildcats	0	14	14	3	31

at Stewart Stadium • Ogden, UT

• Date: November 11, 2023
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 8,741
• TV: ESPN+

vs Idaho State

See also: 2023 Idaho State Bengals football team and Idaho–Idaho State football rivalry

Idaho State Bengals (3–7) vs No. 6 Idaho Vandals (7–3) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals	0	0	7	14	21
No. 6 Vandals	28	28	0	7	63

at Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID

• Date: November 18, 2023
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 9,854
• TV: ESPN+

Rankings

See also: 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	8	7	5 (1)	7	4	3	3	10	9	3	4	6	4
Coaches	13	12	10	10	5	3	3	8	8	5	4	8	4