1989 Idaho Vandals football team

The 1989 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1989 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Vandals, led by first-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.

1989 Idaho Vandals football
Big Sky champion
NCAA Division I-AA First Round, L 21–38 vs. Eastern Illinois
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
AP	No. T-4
Record	9–3 (8–0 Big Sky)
Head coach	John L. Smith (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Dan Cozzetto (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Gordon Shaw (1st season)
Home stadium	Kibbie Dome
Seasons ← 1988 1990 →

1989 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. T–4 Idaho $^	8	–	0	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 6 Montana ^	7	–	1	–	0			11	–	3	–	0
No. 19 Nevada	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Boise State	5	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Eastern Washington	4	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Northern Arizona	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Montana State	2	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Idaho State	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Weber State	1	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll

The Vandals won their third consecutive conference title (fourth in five years), and made the I-AA playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, under a third head coach. Led by senior All-American quarterback John Friesz, Idaho finished the regular season at 9–2 and 8–0 in the Big Sky.

Hired in early January, Smith had been the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Idaho for four seasons (1982–85), all under Dennis Erickson, then went with him in the same capacity to Wyoming and Washington State.^[1][2]

Notable games

Following two non-conference road losses to open the season at Washington State and Portland State,^[3][4] the Vandals won nine straight, which included an undefeated conference record of 8–0. It was the only time in school history that the football team has posted an unblemished conference record.

The Vandals defeated Montana, their only conference loss the previous season, on a Thursday night in the Kibbie Dome in late September, televised by ESPN.^[5][6] Idaho beat Nevada for the third straight year,^[7] only the fourth time in the twelve meetings since the Wolf Pack joined the Big Sky in 1979. The Vandals defeated rival Boise State for the eighth consecutive year, the eighth of twelve straight over the Broncos before a record crowd of 17,600 in the Kibbie Dome.^[8]

Division I-AA playoffs

For the fifth consecutive season, Idaho returned to the 16-team I-AA playoffs. The Vandals, on a nine-game winning streak, hosted Eastern Illinois at home but lost 21–38. The game was played before a sparse crowd at the Kibbie Dome two days after Thanksgiving and ended the Vandals' season at 9–3.^[9]

Notable players

The 1989 team included John Friesz,^[10] a future collegiate hall of fame quarterback as a three-year starter (1987–89). Friesz was the winner of the Walter Payton Award in 1989,^[11][12] and was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the 1990 NFL draft. He was in the NFL for the next decade with four teams.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	2:00 pm	at Washington State*	No. 6	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA (Battle of the Palouse)		L 7–41	33,914	[13]
September 9	7:00 pm	at No. 3 (D-II) Portland State*	No. 6	Civic Stadium Portland, OR		L 20–29	13,359	[3][4]
September 16	7:00 pm	No. 5 (D-II) Sacramento State*		Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID		W 45–3	9,100	[14]
September 23	6:00 pm	at Weber State		Wildcat Stadium Ogden, UT		W 46–33		[15][16]
September 28	5:00 pm	Montana		Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (Little Brown Stein)	ESPN	W 30–24	13,000	[5][6]
October 7	3:00 pm	at Northern Arizona	No. 20	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ		W 41–31	10,842	[17]
October 14	1:00 pm	at Montana State	No. 15	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT		W 41–7	11,187	[18]
October 21	1:00 pm	Eastern Washington	No. 14	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID		W 41–34	12,500	[19]
October 28	1:00 pm	Nevada	No. 9	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID		W 42–22	15,500	[7]
November 4	6:30 pm	at Idaho State	No. 7	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID (rivalry)		W 47–31	10,380	[20]
November 18	7:00 pm	No. 20 Boise State	No. 5	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (rivalry)		W 26–21	17,600	[8]
November 25	1:00 pm	No. 15 Eastern Illinois*	No. 4	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)		L 21–38	6,025	[9]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Roster

1989 Idaho Vandals football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB Pat West QB Steve Nolan Jr QB 13 Doug Nussmeier  Fr WR 16 Lee Allen Sr QB 17 John Friesz Sr FL 25 David Jackson So RB 26 Devon Pearce So WR 30 Kasey Dunn So FL Michael Davis Sr G 50 Mike Rice Jr G 54 Floyd Dorry Fr C 53 Steve Unger Sr OT 62 Shawen Smith So OT 63 Troy Wright Jr G 66 Chris Hoff Jr OT Todd Neu Sr TE 84 Scott Dahlquist Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class SS 3 Brian Smith Sr FS 22 Kris McCall So CB 23 Charlie Oliver Jr CB 33 Terry Green So LB 39 Jimmy Jacobs Jr LB 43 Roger Cecil Jr LB 58 John Rust Jr DT 59 John Sirmon Fr DT 74 Vince Mann So DE 87 Jeff Robinson Fr DE 93 Mike Zeller Sr DE 97 Brian Cockrell Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 14 Thane Doyle So	Head coach John L. Smith (1st year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Dan Cozzetto (OC) Gordon Shaw (DC) Bobby Petrino (QB) Mike Cox (LB) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source:^[21][22]

All-conference

Quarterback John Friesz was named to the all-conference team for a third consecutive year.^[23] He was joined by center Steve Unger, guard Troy Wright, wide receiver Lee Allen, defensive end Mike Zeller, linebacker Roger Cecil, and cornerback Charlie Oliver.^[23] Second team selections included wide receiver Kasey Dunn, tackles Todd Neu and Chuck Yarbro, linebacker John Rust, and safety Brian Smith.^[24]

Friesz was the Big Sky's outstanding offensive player for a third straight year,^[10] repeated as a first-team Kodak All-American in Division I-AA,^[25] and won the Walter Payton Award.^[11][12]

NFL Draft

One Vandal senior was selected in the 1990 NFL draft, which lasted twelve rounds (332 selections).

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
John Friesz	QB	6th	138	San Diego Chargers