Idaho looks for 3 W’s in a row against Cal

The No. 5 Idaho Football team finds itself in a unique situation ahead of its Week 3 matchup against the Pac-12’s California at 1 p.m. today at California Memorial Stadium (Pac-12 Network).

The Vandals face their second test from the Football Bowl Subdivision in as many weeks after their 33-6 win over Nevada.

A second consecutive FBS win will improve Idaho’s positioning in the eyes of the Football Championship Subdivision playoff committee. But a loss will have little to no effect on the Vandals’ positioning.

“There’s no pressure on us,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said. “We’re going to play loose and give it our best shot. I think we’ll have to make another jump and play better. We’ll have to play our best football, and we’ll probably need a little help from them.”

A victory will make Idaho the first team from the Football Championship Subdivision to collect two FBS wins in a season since Portland State in 2015.

Here’s how Idaho could pick up a historic win:

Going to be won in the trenches

It’s not every day that Idaho’s 315-pound defensive tackle, Jahkari Larmond, isn’t the biggest player on the field. But the Golden Bears’ offensive and defensive linemen are stout, weighing an average of 312 and 290 pounds, respectively.

Idaho’s front five has struggled up to this point, allowing four sacks, which is tied for the second most in the Big Sky Conference, and Cal will be their biggest test to date.

“I can live with times when you lose some one-on-one battles when you’re blocking the right guy, communicating well, and using the right technique,” Eck said. “We need to be at a higher level of accountability for communicating, getting the counts right and using the right technique.”

Idaho’s big boys will also need to move the Golden Bear’s big bodies on the interior in order to get some production from its inside run game.

Last week, sophomore running back Anthony Woods had 72 yards rushing on 18 carries (3.9 per carry).

On defense, the Vandals will have to contain one of the Pac-12’s most dynamic running backs, Jadyn Ott.

The sophomore runner has received a heavy workload so far, recording 40 carries for 270 yards and three touchdowns. In the Golden Bears’ 58-21 win over North Texas on Sept. 2, Ott had 20 carries for 192 yards and two touchdowns.

“He’s a heck of a player,” Eck said. “I think the key to our success is going to be limiting their big plays, and they were able to get a couple against North Texas.”

The Vandals’ front four, who have overperformed up to this point, will have their hands full with Ott. But they’ll also be tasked with keeping mobile quarterback Sam Jackson in the pocket.

“He can do some things with his feet,” Eck said. “That was something we struggled with last week, and we have to clean that up.”

Win the turnover battle

Cal’s defense is a stingy group, creating seven takeaways two weeks into the season. But the Golden Bears offense has been a little loose with the ball, turning it over six times.

“That’s something we have to take advantage of,” Eck said. “And we have to do a good job of protecting it because they’ve been outstanding at creating turnovers.”

California’s defense doesn’t try to disguise what it does; it has its packages and will match certain personnel.

“They’re good tacklers, and they’re good with strip attempts,” Eck said. “They mix in some man but they play some zone too, which lets them read the quarterback’s eyes, which leads to some interceptions. It’s a well-coached defense.”

Turn 3 into 6

Idaho kicking specialist Ricard Chavez earned the FedEx Ground FCS national special teams player of the week after going 4-for-4 on field goal attempts and averaging 65 yards per punt against Nevada.

While the award will look nice in Chavez’s trophy case, the Vandals will have to do a better job in the red zone against California.

Idaho took six trips to the red zone against the Pack and was forced to settle for three points twice.

The Vandals suffered mental lapses on both field goal drives, with the first coming during the second quarter when Idaho’s offensive line allowed a free rusher to sack quarterback Gevani McCoy for an eight-yard loss.

The second shortcoming came on a holding penalty on Abe Christensen in the fourth quarter following a pickup of six by running back Nick Romano.

“We have to be better in those situations,” Eck said. “We weren’t good in the red zone, scoring touchdowns. You’re not going to beat a Pac-12 team not scoring touchdowns in the red zone.”

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks