MOSCOW, Id. — Mason Petrino finished with 19-of-23 pass completions for 161 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Vandals to a 31-12 win over Southern Utah in Idaho's homecoming game at the Kibbie Dome on Saturday.
The Vandals improved to a 3-4 overall record and 2-3 in the Big Sky Conference. Southern Utah fell to 1-6, 1-3.
Petrino split the work between his running backs and receivers from the start of the game. On the first drive, Petrino connected on all five of his passes and led five more plays on the ground, including the final three-yard run by Cutrell Haywood that put Idaho on the board.
The Vandals nearly scored again at the end of the first quarter. With one yard to go, Petrino attempted to take the ball into the end zone himself. but he ran into trouble and flipped the ball to running back Isaiah Saunders, who was caught off guard and dropped the ball. The Vandals settled for a field goal to step up their lead, 10-0.
The Vandals had another opportunity to capitalize in the second quarter when they pulled within one yard of the end zone with less than 10 minutes left. Saunders dove over defenders for the score, extending Idaho's lead to 17-0.
Idaho held Southern Utah scoreless for 46 minutes. The Thunderbirds finally broke through for a touchdown in the beginning of the fourth quarter to narrow Idaho's lead to 31-6.
Idaho outgained the Thunderbirds 468-361. The Vandals put up 200 yards on the ground and had 161 passing yards.
Saunders led the ground with 25 carries for 96 yards and a score. Walker followed with 12 carries for a 115 yards.
Haywood finished the day with seven catches for 71 yards and a game-high three touchdowns.
Idaho travels to Cheney next to face Eastern Washington at Roos Field on Oct. 27 at noon.
