ATHENS, Ohio – Close never is quite good enough but it doesn't mean there hasn't been progress for the Idaho Vandals.

Coach Paul Petrino pin-pointed two drives that came up short as most costly in the Idaho Vandals 36-24 non-conference loss to Ohio University.

But the fight and courage made him proud.

“We're fighting harder for each other,” Petrino said. “That's what I was proud of. Our guys fought their tails off. We just have to execute better but the fight, the want – it's there now. That's what makes me proud. There's no reason to hang your head when you fight as hard as you can.”

Matt Linehan became the first freshman quarterback in school history to notch three 300-yard plus games with his 353 yards on 33 of 55 passing. Josh McCain had five for 149, while Justin Podrabsky had eight for 74. Elijhaa Penny came in to lead the ground game with 58 yards on 16 carries.

The big play hit the Vandal defense on the Bobcats' first possession when a 42-yard pickup by Oliver Grimard advanced the ball to the Idaho 24 and ultimately to Ohio's first score – a 12-yard pass from Derrius Vick to Sebastian Smith with 10:12 left in the first.

The Bobcats made it 10-0 with a 32-yard field goal to start the second quarter. The kick was set up when Quentin Poling killed a promising Idaho drive when he intercepted a Linehan pass and returned it to the Bobcats at their own 26.

A 27-yard punt return – after a 60-yard Austin Rekhow punt, sent the Bobcats on their way to their third score – a one-yard run by A.J. Ouellette with 10:19 left in the second.

The Vandals lit the scoreboard with 5:22 left in the first half when Penny pushed over from inches out to cap a 15-play, 76-yard drive. Linehan went successfully to the air during the drive by completing seven of nine passes and mixing runs to Penny.

Idaho's defense stepped up on the Bobcats' next possession when, after a TD was called back because of an ineligible receiver downfield, it forced an incomplete pass and Quinton Bradley sacked  Vick for 13 yards. The Vandals took over on their own 13. They drove to within inches of the goal line but this time Penny couldn't push throw and Ohio took over on downs with seven seconds left in the half.

Ohio went up 20-7 on a 23-yard field goal by Josiah Yazdani, which capped a drive that started with a 34-yard kickoff return and a 45-yard pass completion.

The Vandals responded with a Linehan to McCain pass that needed a replay to confirm McCain was inbounds on the 34-yard reception. Rehkow's kick made it 20-14 with eight minutes left in the third.

Idaho help on Ohio's next possession and the Vandals took over when Yazdani's 50-yard field goal attempt was wide left and short.

The Vandals' next drive stalled, too, but Rehkow came on to boot a 47-yard field goal – the longest of his collegiate career, to pull Idaho to within 20-17 with 2:34 left in the third quarter.

Again, the Idaho defense rose to the occasion with some heavy pressure on quarterback J.D. Sprague, who replaced Vick who left the game in the first half with an injury, and forced a punt just over one minute left in the third quarter.

Sprague marched the Bobcats' on their next possession with big pass plays – 29, 38 and a diving 15-yarder, to set up Yazdani's 25-yard field goal with 9:40 left in the game.

But, on third-and-long, Linehan was intercepted by Poling, who returned the ball to the Idaho five to put Ohio in position to score again – this time on a one-yard keeper by Sprague. The two-point conversion attempted failed and the Bobcats were up 29-24 with 7:25 to play.

The Vandals answered less than a minute later when Linehan found McCain crossing behind the defense. McCain completed the 52-yard scoring play, which, along with Rehkow's kick, made it 29-24 with 6:34 to go in the game.