Idaho nearly surprised Oregon on Saturday. If it wasn’t for NIL, the Vandals might have pulled it off
When Idaho scored in their second upset against No. 3 Oregon on Saturday night to trail the Ducks by just three points midway through the fourth quarter, the Vandals appeared to be on their way to the biggest upset in college football history.
The Ducks, who had defeated all of their FCS opponents over the past 20 years by an average score of 60-13, were a 45 1/2-point favorite. But any dreams of a stunning upset for the Vandals were dashed after Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson scored on a 12-yard pass from quarterback Dillon Gabriel to secure a 24-14 victory for Oregon.
On paper, the Ducks dominated the game, outgaining Idaho 487-217 yards. But make no mistake: The Vandals gave the Ducks trouble. Idaho limited an Oregon team that many predicted would win the national title to less than three yards per carry and without a play longer than 24 yards. Even more impressive, Idaho sacked highly sought-after transfer QB Gabriel three times. Oregon allowed just five sacks last season.
“They won critical situations,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “We didn’t score in the middle eight (the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half), which is unique for us. I also thought they had a good game plan: We’re not going to get beat on shots. We’re going to take what’s in front of us and we’re going to let Oregon beat Oregon — not feel like Idaho had to beat Oregon. They stuck to their identity and did it well.”
The real story of Oregon vs. Idaho, though, is about the reality of college football in 2024.
Thanks in large part to mega booster Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike, the Ducks are considered the gold standard of NIL within the sport because of their well-organized, well-funded school system. Even Georgia’s Kirby Smart joked this summer that he “wishes” he could have some of “that NIL money he shares with Dan Lanning.”
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Meanwhile, the Vandals lost seven of their top players to FBS programs via the transfer portal this offseason, five of whom received NIL deals in the low six figures, Idaho coach Jason Eck said.
“If we had those (five) guys getting paid, I think we probably would have beaten Oregon,” Eck said. “We got sacked four times. Our quarterback, who’s at Oregon State now, can really evade pressure and extend plays.”
Quarterback Gevani McCoy, who transferred to Oregon State, was a 2023 Walter Payton Award finalist after throwing for 5,631 yards, 42 touchdowns and running for five over the last two seasons. McCoy went 9-for-10 in leading the Beavers to a win over Idaho State last weekend. Cornerback Marcus Harris, a first-team All-American who transferred to Cal, set an Idaho record with 36 passes defensed and three interceptions in 2023. He had an interception in his Cal debut that helped the Bears to a win.
Anthony Woods, a first-team All-Big Sky running back who rushed for 1,155 yards and 16 touchdowns, departed for Utah. Linebacker Xe’ree Alexander, who led the Vandals as a true freshman with 75 tackles and two forced fumbles last year, departed for UCF. Cornerback Ormanie Arnold, who had 33 tackles and two interceptions, departed for Cincinnati.
“They’re well-coached and they do a good job of identifying guys,” Lanning said. “They went to (NAIA) Montana Tech to find a player (top pass rusher Keyshawn James-Newby) and to (FCS) Weber State (DB-KR Abraham Williams). Eck does a great job.”
Eck, a 47-year-old former Wisconsin offensive lineman, took over a program reeling from five straight losing seasons. He led the Vandals to seven wins in his debut season in 2022 before going 9-4 and No. 8 in the nation in the FCS last year. Though he’s only been a head coach for a little over two seasons, the job has changed quite a bit in that time — as it does for all college coaches, especially those in the bottom half of the FBS and the FCS.
“It’s definitely been harder than it was when I took this job, and I was hired in December of 2021,” he said. “NIL had just become legal. You didn’t think guys would be recruited off your roster the way they are. It’s just a matter of trying to do it right for the kids, because for some of them it’s money that changes their life.
“The one thing we’re going to try to do with some of our players this year, especially the guys who are younger players — and we’ve got a lot of younger players starting in this game — is have that ‘one more year’ mindset,” Eck said. “Our guys went to Oregon State, Cal, UCF and Cincinnati, they didn’t go to top destinations. ‘Wait one more year. Don’t go to a Power 4 school in the bottom half.'”
Vandals tight end Jake Cox scored his team’s first touchdown of the third quarter. Photo: Ben Lonergan/The Red/USA Today
Idaho now has a collective and hopes to raise $100,000 by the portal’s opening in December, Eck said.
Eck knows his team’s performance against the Ducks will likely draw more interest from a bunch of FBS programs looking for help. Defensive tackle Dallas Afalava, a 6-1, 290-pound sophomore, gave Oregon trouble from the inside and had one sack; sophomore cornerback Andrew Marshall had nine tackles and broke up one pass. The 6-foot, 186-pound Southern California native was an under-the-radar recruit who the Vandals feared a Boise State or Colorado State would turn up late in the recruiting process. Now there’s game film of him playing well against a top-five opponent with speedy receivers.
“He’s going to get attention, and our idea is maybe stay another year (here) and maybe you can get $500,000 (from a Power 4 school) — don’t just go for $100,000,” Eck said, though of course there’s no guarantee of that. “They (Oregon) tested him early, tried to go deep on him. Couldn’t hit it. … He didn’t give up big plays against all those receivers. They didn’t beat him one-on-one.”
Idaho cornerbacks coach Stanley Franks Jr. came to the Vandals from Washington State. He saw how the Cougars had scouting staffs that scoured the lower ranks to study all-conference players. For many FCS coaches or lower-level FBS coaches, investing in recruits who then leave for bigger programs can be a double-edged sword, but Franks understands that for many of those players, the chance to earn life-changing money to help their families is something they can’t pass up.
Before Harris transferred to Cal, he came into Franks’ office to talk to him. “He acted like it was a tough decision,” Franks said. “I said, ‘This is a no-brainer. Go bless your family.’ There was no doubt he could play at that next level.
“We use that as a recruiting tool. We need to recruit Mountain West-caliber guys: ‘Come here, develop and play, and then bless your family your last couple years in college.’ You want to develop these guys as much as you can. I tell them, we’re developing cats here. Why would you go somewhere else where I could sit on the bench just because of a logo? We turn it around as a positive.”
Eck has always viewed Idaho as a developing program. He and his coaches talk to recruits about that, and in this new era, when you have a cornerbacks coach who has developed two players who will probably make $300,000 combined this year, he said, that’s a feather in his recruiting cap. At this level, you have to be that way for coaches, Eck said. Last offseason, three coaches left for FBS jobs — two to San Diego State, one to Oregon State.
“That’s part of our selling point: We need to have that for coaches who come here as well,” he said. “We’re going to help you get better and get bigger opportunities. Same with players. Hopefully not everyone want to to leave.”
Part of the pitch in hopes of retaining players is to remind them that if you can play in the FCS, the NFL will see you. Former Vandal long snapper Hogan Hatten was just added to the Detroit Lions’ 53-man roster.
“I really don’t think it helps you with the NFL,” Eck said. “As long as you’re an FCS school, every team is still going to come through here and scout. But it’s hard to discourage someone from even making $150,000 if their family doesn’t have any money.”
At Idaho, Eck figures he can pay his top players $10,000-$15,000 a year — nowhere near the six-figure sums some Power 4 schools might offer, of course. They recently were able to cover the cost of their players, which works out to about $2,500 a semester.
There’s another prospect Eck has been thinking about, a young player who had a great game against the Ducks and who may now be on the radar of some FBS teams: his son, Jaxton. Jaxton, a linebacker, had a game-high 14 tackles, including a pair of plays where he caught dynamic Ducks receiver Johnson in space.
“Yeah, that’ll be interesting,” Eck said with a laugh. One of the FBS head coaches he knows texted him after the game and mentioned Jaxton. “It might have been a joke. We’ll see.”
(Image: Dan Goldfarb/ The Athletic; Photos: Young Kwak / AP; Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty)
