Gonzaga–Idaho football rivalry
American college sports rivalry From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American college sports rivalry From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Gonzaga–Idaho rivalry was the football game between Gonzaga University and the University of Idaho. The respective campuses, in Spokane, Washington, and Moscow, Idaho, are approximately ninety miles (145 km) apart.
The football teams met 28 times from 1910 to 1941 and Idaho held a slight advantage at 16–10–2 (.607). For the last twenty meetings, from 1921 on, the rivalry was exactly even at 9–9–2 (.500), and the final ten were split at five wins each. They did not meet in 1912, 1917, or 1926, and Idaho did not have a varsity team in 1918.[3] Idaho joined the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) in 1922, while Gonzaga remained independent.
Gonzaga's dominating wins in 1939 and 1940, both shutouts, were led by halfback Tony Canadeo,[4][5] a future member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. With Canadeo in the NFL, Idaho rebounded in 1941 to win 21–7 in Spokane in what was the final game in the series.[6][7][8]
During World War II, Gonzaga did not field a team after 1941,[9][10] while Idaho played in 1942 and went on hiatus in September 1943.[11][12] After the war, Idaho resumed football for the 1945 season, but Gonzaga opted not to, as its program had been in financial difficulty before the war.[13][14][15]
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| Gonzaga victories | Idaho victories |
From 1919 through 1941; Idaho 11–9–2 (.545)
| Head Coach | Team | Games | Seasons | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Higgins | Gonzaga | 1 | 1919 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Gus Dorais | Gonzaga | 5 | 1920–1924 | 1 | 3 | 1 | .300 |
| Clipper Smith | Gonzaga | 4 | 1925–1928 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .833 |
| Matty Mathews | Gonzaga | 1 | 1929 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Ray Flaherty | Gonzaga | 1 | 1930 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Mike Pecarovich | Gonzaga | 8 | 1931–1938 | 3 | 5 | 0 | .375 |
| Puggy Hunton | Gonzaga | 3 | 1939–1941 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 |
| Head Coach | Team | Games | Seasons | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ralph Hutchinson | Idaho | 1 | 1919 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Thomas Kelley | Idaho | 2 | 1920–1921 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Matty Mathews | Idaho | 4 | 1922–1925 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .375 |
| Charles Erb | Idaho | 2 | 1926–1928 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 |
| Leo Calland | Idaho | 6 | 1929–1934 | 3 | 3 | 0 | .500 |
| Ted Bank | Idaho | 6 | 1935–1940 | 3 | 3 | 0 | .500 |
| Francis Schmidt | Idaho | 1 | 1941–1942 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
Idaho holds the overall lead at 70–64 (.522),[21] but Gonzaga has won the last nine, most recently 80–46 in November 2008 at home in the McCarthey Center. The score at halftime was 47–11 and it was the third consecutive non-competitive game in the series.[22]
Prior to both teams joining the new Big Sky Conference as charter members in 1963, Idaho had a large lead in the series at 55–21 (.724). As conference foes, they met two or three times per season and Gonzaga led at 22–13 (.629), plus two wins in tournaments. After sixteen years in the Big Sky, Gonzaga left for the WCAC in the summer of 1979, but the rivalry continued as an annual game (and occasionally biannual). In the next fifteen games through 1990, Idaho went 10–5, but Gonzaga has since dominated at 14–2 (.875). The last seven games in the series have been played on the Gonzaga campus; the last in Idaho was in early 2000.[23] The Vandals' most recent win was 27 years ago in January 1998 at home,[24] and they last won in Spokane in December 1989.[21][25]
After more than a decade, the teams were scheduled to meet in December 2020 in Spokane, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 issues.
Since December 1979, Gonzaga leads 19–12 (.613), all non-league
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| Gonzaga victories | Idaho victories |
In the eleven seasons of baseball in the Big Sky (1964–74), Idaho and Gonzaga each won four league titles. The Vandals were champions in 1964, 1966, 1967, and 1969, while Gonzaga won in 1965, 1971, 1973, and 1974.
Baseball was one of five sports that the Big Sky stopped sponsoring in 1974,[26][27] so both moved to the new Nor-Pac in 1975,[28][29] and continued as conference foes until Idaho dropped its program in May 1980.[30] The last eleven seasons of the baseball rivalry (1970–80) saw the Bulldogs dominate at 33–5 (.868).[31]
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