1990 Idaho Vandals football team

The 1990 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1990 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Vandals were led by second-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.

1990 Idaho Vandals football
NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal, L 27–28 at Georgia Southern
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	9–4 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	John L. Smith (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Bobby Petrino (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Craig Bray (1st season)
Home stadium	Kibbie Dome
Seasons ← 1989 1991 →

1990 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Nevada $^	7	–	1	–	0			13	–	2	–	0
No. 10 Boise State ^	6	–	2	–	0			10	–	4	–	0
No. 13 Idaho ^	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	4	–	0
Montana	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Northern Arizona	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Weber State	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Eastern Washington	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Montana State	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Idaho State	1	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll

The three-time defending conference champion Vandals made the I-AA playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, under a third head coach. With future college hall of fame quarterback John Friesz in the NFL, Idaho was led by redshirt freshman Doug Nussmeier;^[1] they finished the regular season at 8–3 and 6–2 in the Big Sky. Nussmeier's season was ended by a broken right ankle in early October,^[2] and fifth-year senior Steve Nolan guided the team to seven consecutive wins,^[3] including a ninth-straight victory over rival Boise State.

The season ended in the quarterfinals in December, where Idaho lost by one point at Georgia Southern,^[4][5] the eventual national champion.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 1	1:00 p.m.	Montana State		Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	L 24–27	9,800	[6]
September 8	5:00 p.m.	at Southwest Texas State*		Bobcat Stadium San Marcos, TX	W 38–35	9,431	[7]
September 15	1:00 p.m.	at Oregon*		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	L 23–55	29,637
September 22	1:00 p.m.	Weber State		Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	W 37–27	8,100	[8]
September 29	1:00 p.m.	at No. 10 Nevada		Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	L 28–31 OT	16,125	[9]
October 6	1:00 p.m.	Chico State*		Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	W 59–21	7,600	[2]
October 13	2:00 p.m.	Idaho State		Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (rivalry)	W 41–20	14,100	[10]
October 20	1:00 p.m.	at Eastern Washington		Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	W 51–28	7,500	[11]
November 3	1:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona		Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	W 52–7	10,100	[12]
November 10	11:00 a.m.	at No. 19 Montana	No. 17	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (Little Brown Stein)	W 35–14	10,720	[13]
November 17	12:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Boise State	No. 14	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID (rivalry)	W 21–14	23,273	[14][15][16][17][18][19]
November 24	11:00 a.m.	at No. 6 Southwest Missouri State*	No. 13	Briggs Stadium Springfield, MO (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	W 41–35	8,750	[20][3]
December 1	9:30 a.m.	at No. 3 Georgia Southern*	No. 13	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	L 27–28	11,571	[4][5]
*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

1990 Idaho Vandals football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR Yo Murphy So QB Steve Nolan Sr QB 13 Doug Nussmeier Fr RB Roman Carter RB 26 Devon Pearce Jr WR 30 Kasey Dunn Jr C 50 Mike Rice Sr G 54 Floyd Dorry So G 66 Chris Hoff Sr OT Jody Schnug Fr OT Chuck Yarbro Sr OT Eric Wiker Jr TE 84 Scott Dahlquist Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class FS 22 Kris McCall Jr CB 23 Charlie Oliver Sr SS 33 Terry Green Jr CB 35 Jeff Jordan So CB Noah Ramsey DB Josh Moore LB 39 Jimmy Jacobs Sr LB 43 Roger Cecil Sr LB Mark Matthews Sr LB Robert Munk Jr LB Will Saffo So DT 59 John Sirmon So DE 87 Jeff Robinson So DE Gerry Keating Sr DE Billy Sims So DT 97 Brian Cockrell So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 14 Thane Doyle Jr P Joe Carrasco Sr	Head coach John L. Smith (2nd year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Bobby Petrino (OC) Craig Bray (DC) Mike Cox (LB) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source:^[15][21][22]

All-conference

Four Vandals made the all-conference team: running back Devon Pearce, wide receiver Kasey Dunn, cornerback Charlie Oliver, and defensive end Jeff Robinson.^{[23][24][25][26]} Second team selections were guard Chris Hoff, tight end Scott Dahlquist, linebacker Jimmy Jacobs, and punter Joe Carrasco. Honorable mention were quarterback Steve Nolan, center Mike Rice, return specialist Roman Carter, and linebacker Mark Matthews.^[23][25]

Pearce shared the Big Sky's outstanding offensive player award with quarterback Jamie Martin of Weber State.^[27][28]