1993 Idaho Vandals football team

The 1993 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1993 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Vandals, led by fifth-year head coach John L. Smith, were members of the Big Sky Conference and played their home games at the Kibbie Dome, an indoor facility on campus in Moscow, Idaho.

1993 Idaho Vandals football
NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal, L 16–35 at Youngstown State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 11
Record	11–3 (5–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	John L. Smith (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Scott Linehan (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Craig Bray^[1] (4th season)
Home stadium	Kibbie Dome
Seasons ← 1992 1994 →

1993 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Montana $^	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 11 Idaho ^	5	–	2	–	0			11	–	3	–	0
No. 20 Eastern Washington	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Montana State	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Northern Arizona	3	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Weber State	3	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Boise State	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Idaho State	0	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Led by senior All-American quarterback Doug Nussmeier, Idaho finished the regular season at 9–2 and 5–2 in the Big Sky. The Vandals made the Division I-AA playoffs and advanced to the semifinals. For three weeks in October, Idaho was at the top of the poll in Division I-AA.^[2]

Notable games

Favored to repeat as conference champions,^[3][4] Idaho was ranked sixth in the preseason I-AA poll,^[5] and for the second consecutive year, they visited a Division I-A opponent from the WAC and won. This time it was over Utah in Salt Lake City in early October,^[6][7] and the Vandals were rewarded with the top ranking in I-AA.^[2] In the regular season finale, the Vandals defeated rival Boise State for the twelfth consecutive year, a 49–16 win in Moscow.^{[8][9][10][11]} Two weeks earlier, visiting Montana won the Little Brown Stein for the third consecutive year,^[12][13] and went undefeated in conference play. An upset loss in Bozeman to Montana State on October 23 ended the Vandals' run at the top of the national poll.^[14][15][16]

Division I-AA playoffs

For the eighth time in nine seasons, the Vandals made the 16-team I-AA playoffs and were ranked eleventh in the regular season's final poll.^[17] Idaho went on the road and defeated #4 Northeast Louisiana,^[18] then beat undefeated Boston University in the Kibbie Dome. In the semifinals in Ohio at Youngstown State,^[19] the Vandals fell 35–16 to Jim Tressel's Penguins,^[20] the eventual national champions.^[21]

Notable players and coaches

Senior quarterback Nussmeier, a four-year starter (1990–93), was an All-American and won the Walter Payton Award.^[22][23] He was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the 1994 NFL Draft and played several seasons as a reserve prior to starting his career as a coach. Redshirt freshman defensive end Ryan Phillips was also a four-year starter;^[24] he moved to outside linebacker as a senior in 1996,^[25][26] and was selected in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. He played five seasons in the NFL, including Super Bowl XXXV in January 2001.

Former Vandal quarterback Scott Linehan,^[27] a future NFL head coach, was the offensive coordinator and two future Vandal head coaches were on the staff: Nick Holt (defensive line) and Paul Petrino (receivers).

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	5:00 pm	at Stephen F. Austin*	No. 6	Homer Bryce Stadium Nacogdoches, TX	PSN	W 38–30	11,124	^[28]^[29]
September 11	1:05 pm	Southwest Texas State*	No. 5	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID		W 66–38	9,100	^[30]^[31]
September 18	5:05 pm	at Weber State	No. 4	Wildcat Stadium Ogden, UT		W 56–0	6,094	^[32]^[33]
October 2	7:05 pm	at Utah*	No. 2	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT		W 28–17	25,326	^[6]^[7]
October 9	1:00 pm	at Idaho State	No. 1	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID (rivalry)		W 56–27	11,234	^[34]
October 16	11:07 am	Eastern Washington	No. 1	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	PSN	W 49–10	11,800	^[35]^[36]^[37]
October 23	11:05 am	at Montana State	No. 1	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT		L 35–40	10,957	^[14]^[15]
October 30	6:05 pm	at Northern Arizona	No. 7	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ		W 34–27	8,365	^[38]^[39]
November 6	1:05 pm	No. 5 Montana	No. 6	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (Little Brown Stein)		L 34–54	15,054	^[12]^[13]
November 13	1:05 pm	Lehigh*	No. 11	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID		W 77–14	12,132	^[40]^[41]
November 20	1:05 pm	Boise State	No. 11	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (rivalry)	KTVB	W 49–16	15,085	^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]
November 27	4:00 pm	at No. 4 Northeast Louisiana*	No. 11	Malone Stadium Monroe, LA (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)		W 34–31	10,000	^[18]^[42]^[43]
December 4	1:05 pm	No. 6 Boston University*	No. 11	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)		W 21–14	8,800	^[44]^[45]
December 11	9:00 am	at No. 7 Youngstown State*	No. 11	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH (NCAA Division Semifinal)	PSN	L 16–35	9,644	^[19]^[20]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Roster

1993 Idaho Vandals football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 13 Doug Nussmeier Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach John L. Smith Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

NFL Draft

One Vandal senior was selected in the 1994 NFL Draft, which was seven rounds (222 selections).

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Doug Nussmeier	QB	4th	116	New Orleans Saints

References

1. "College Football; WSU hires Bray; UI moves Holt to D coordinator". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. May 4, 1994. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
2. "Idaho claims No. 1". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. October 5, 1993. p. 1B.
3. "Vandals figure to control Sky". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. August 11, 1993. p. 1B.
4. "Big Sky coaches like Vandals". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. Associated Press. August 11, 1993. p. 1B.
5. "Football: I-AA poll". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. Associated Press. August 25, 1993. p. 2B.
6. Sahlberg, Bert (October 2, 1993). "Idaho after upset". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
7. Sahlberg, Bert (October 3, 1993). "Vandals WAC one more D-I". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
8. Sahlberg, Bert (November 20, 1993). "WSU, Idaho renew respective rivalries". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
9. Meehan, Jim (November 20, 1993). "Boise State nice finale for Vandals". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. C1.
10. Sahlberg, Bert (November 21, 1993). "Vandals: 'Nuss-said". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
11. Miedema, Laurence (November 22, 1993). "Same old story: Idaho over BSU". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. p. 1C.
12. Sahlberg, Bert (November 6, 1993). "Griz, UI line up potent offenses". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
13. Sahlberg, Bert (November 7, 1993). "Sky falls on Idaho". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
14. Meehan, Jim (October 23, 1993). "MSU encountering UI team on cruise control". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. C2.
15. Meehan, Jim (October 24, 1993). "Idaho shows nothing in 40-35 defeat at MSU". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. C3.
16. "UI drops to 7th; Eagle honored". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. October 26, 1993. p. C2.
17. "Sports Network final I-AA poll". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 23, 1993. p. 1B.
18. Mallett, Rodney (November 28, 1993). "Nussmeier comes up big for UI". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. C1.
19. Sahlberg, Bert (December 11, 1993). "Vandals, Penguins collide". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
20. Sahlberg, Bert (December 12, 1993). "Penguins put UI on ice". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
21. "Penguins capture I-AA football title". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. Associated Press. December 20, 1993. p. 3C.
22. Sahlberg, Bert (December 13, 1993). "Nussmeier wins Payton award". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
23. Miedema, Laurence (December 13, 1993). "Nussmeier wins highest honor". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. p. 1C.
24. Sullivan, Tim (August 18, 1994). "Vandals boast experience on talented defensive line". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. p. 1D.
25. Sullivan, Tim (August 28, 1996). "Linebacker life suits Idaho sack-master Phillips". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. p. 1B.
26. Sahlberg, Bert (April 19, 1997). "Idaho: Phillips' daredevil hobby catches recruiters' eyes". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
27. Jacobson, Bryan (August 22, 1992). "Back in the fold". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. p. 1D.
28. Sahlberg, Bert (September 2, 1993). "It's Rolaids time for Idaho". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. D.
29. "May-day for Lumberjacks". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). September 3, 1993. p. D.
30. Sahlberg, Bert (September 11, 1993). "UI hoping to stay out of dutch". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
31. Sahlberg, Bert (September 12, 1993). "Vandals roll up big numbers in victory". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
32. Sahlberg, Bert (September 18, 1993). "Wildcats no dummies against Vandals". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
33. Sahlberg, Bert (September 19, 1993). "Domination". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
34. Sahlberg, Bert (October 10, 1993). "Vandals start slow, finish fast". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
35. Meehan, Jim (October 16, 1993). "EWU plan: hold Idaho to 30". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. C1.
36. Meehan, Jim (October 17, 1993). "EWU gives UI green light". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. C1.
37. Miedema, Laurence (October 18, 1993). "Hurting Nuss leads UI". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. p. 1C.
38. "NAU hosts Vandals in Big Sky". Prescott Courier. Arizona. Associated Press. October 29, 1993. p. 13A.
39. "Idaho edges NAU, 34-27, gets ready for Montana". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. October 31, 1993. p. C5.
40. Sahlberg, Bert (November 14, 1993). "Engineering disaster". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
41. Meehan, Jim (November 14, 1993). "Idaho Applies 77-14 Shellacking to Defenseless Lehigh". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Wash. p. C5 – via Newspapers.com.
42. Sahlberg, Bert (November 27, 1993). "Idaho bucking history, Indians". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
43. "Nussmeier guides UI by Indians". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. November 28, 1993. p. 1B.
44. Sahlberg, Bert (December 4, 1993). "Terriers hope to bite Vandals". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
45. Sahlberg, Bert (December 5, 1993). "Idaho chases BU into doghouse". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.

External links

• Gem of the Mountains: 1994 University of Idaho yearbook – 1993 football season
• Official game program: Idaho at Utah – October 2, 1993
• Idaho Argonaut – student newspaper – 1993 editions