Woods, Hatten, Woods help Idaho Vandals open season with 42-17 victory over Lamar Cardinals

BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) — Gevani McCoy threw two touchdown passes to Hayden Hatten, Anthony Woods ran for two scores and Idaho opened the season with a 42-17 victory over Lamar on Thursday night.

McCoy was 14 of 19 for 164 of Idaho’s 224 yards passing with his two TD passes plus an interception. Woods rushed for 138 of the Vandals’ 273 yards rushing on 13 carries including a 93-yarder, the second-longest run in Vandals history.

Hatten, last season’s Big Sky Conference offensive MVP, had 86 yards on six receptions and threw a 45-yard TD to a wide-open Nick Romano off a double pass. Hatten is one TD catch away from tying Idaho’s career record of 27 set by Jerry Hendren (1967-69).

The Vandals, ranked No. 13 in the FCS coaches poll, finished with 497 yards offense.

Idaho led 28-0 at halftime on McCoy’s TD passes to Hatten of 6 and 20 yards and Woods’ scoring runs of 6 and 9 yards.

The Vandals led 42-3 before Lamar scored twice in the final five minutes. Robert Coleman threw for 119 yards with a TD and interception for the Cardinals, who managed just 71 yards on the ground.

Pete Rossomando made his debut as the Cardinals’ head coach. He came from Charlotte where he spent two seasons, including the final four games of the 2022 season as interim head coach.

Idaho is at Nevada and Lamar goes to Louisiana-Monroe for Sept. 9 games.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll