The Idaho Vandals attempted an onside kick in their FCS quarterfinal playoff game against Montana State on Friday, and it did not go well.
Idaho had kicked a field goal to tie the game at 10 during the third quarter of their game at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana. Following the tying field goal, the Vandals decided to attempt an onside kick. Unfortunately, their kick mostly went sideways and made it impossible for them to recover.
Take a look at this bad onside kick attempt:
Very bad onside kick attempt from Idaho, it basically went sideways pic.twitter.com/LX64aFsspA
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) December 14, 2024
Not only did the attempt not go well, but it also completely changed the game.
Montana State recovered at the Idaho 38 and then scored a touchdown to go up 17-10. They didn’t look back from there and went up by as much as 52-10 before the Vandals finally scored again. Yes, after that botched onside kick, Montana State went on a 42-0 run. Yikes.
Sometimes onside kicks can surprise an opponent and work out well. Other times they give the opponent a short field and change the game’s momentum, like what happened to Idaho.
