CALDWELL, Idaho – The College of Idaho football team opened up the 2022 season with a 31-3 win over Montana State University-Northern on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Simplot Stadium. The win extends the series unbeaten winning streak for the 'Yotes over the Lights to nine games and is the program's 26
th home win in season opener to go along with 38
th in program history. The recipe for those wins was a solid all-around effort and that was on display in the 2022 opener as College of Idaho outgained MSU-Northern by a 426-133 margin.
After a scoreless first quarter, College of Idaho got on the scoreboard when
Allamar Alexander caught a one-yard pass on third down from
Andy Peters to culminate a 10-play, 69-yard drive. Peters, who was playing in his first game at C of I, completed 10 of 11 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown in the win. Alexander racked up 74 yards on 11 carries to lead the ball carriers in the win. The top tackler for College of Idaho was
Dylan Martinez, who made seven stops in the win.
College of Idaho added to its lead just before the end of the half as Peters moved the 'Yotes down the field on a 10-play, 43-yard drive. The junior transfer from Boise State connected with
Jake Nadley on a 16-yard pass and catch to move the ball into the red zone. The running tandem of
Hunter Gilbert and Alexander moved the ball down to the two yard line before a Lights sack moved the ball to the 12-yard line with the clock winding down. The 'Yotes got three points on a 30-yard field goal by
Spencer Fiske as the clock expired for halftime.
The second half saw reserve running back
Ed Osterberger lead College of Idaho down the field to begin the final 30 minutes. The reserve running back from Boise, Idaho and Timberline High School had six carries for 51 yards to go along with a 26-yard rush by Alexander on the drive. Osterberger out ran the MSU-Northern defenders for a 13-yard touchdown run to help College of Idaho extend the lead to 17-0.
On the next drive, the tandem of
Ryan Hibbs and
Jake Nadley helped stretch the lead to 24-0 in favor of the home team. The big play being a 26-yard touchdown strike by Hibbs to Nadley. Earlier in the drive, the two completed a 12-yard pass and catch.
Down 24-0, MSU-Northern spoiled the shutout bid with its longest drive of the game with an 18 play, 65-yard drive. A pair of third down conversions and a fourth down conversion helped extend the drive for the visitors, who settled for a 25-yard field goal by Kaden Nelson to cut the deficit to 24-3.
On the first drive of the fourth quarter, College of Idaho answered with a 12 play, 82-yard drive that saw Gilbert bounce off a pair of MSU-Northern defenders for a two-yard touchdown run. One of the big plays on the drive was Peters finding Nadley for a 40-yard reception.
Statistically, for the game, College of Idaho completed 10 of 13 third-down conversions and recorded 27 first downs in the win. MSU-Northern was limited to six first downs and was 3 of 14 on third down.
