Joshua Wood’s Final-Play Rally Gives Idaho Stunning 35-34 Victory Over No. 1 Montana State

The game will be remembered as the “Miracle in Moscow.”

Joshua Wood threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Jezioro on the final play and then scored on the two-point conversion to complete Idaho’s stunning 35-34 victory over defending FCS national champion Montana State. The result ended the No. 1 Bobcats’ 19-game winning streak in Moscow, Idaho.

Wood used five plays and 49 seconds to drive the Vandals, who improved to 1-4 and 1-1 in the Big Sky, 80 yards for their first win over a No. 1 team.

THE MIRACLE IN MOSCOW. pic.twitter.com/1XWldrp60N

— Idaho Football (@VandalFootball) October 3, 2026

On what appeared to be the final play, Wood scrambled laterally and completed a 23-yard pass to Noah West-Baranco, who was brought down at the Montana State 25 as the stadium clock reached zero. Officials determined that there was still one second remaining when West-Baranco’s knee touched the ground. Because it was a first down, they stopped the clock and reset the chains.

As Idaho moved quickly to the line for what should have been the final snap, Montana State head coach Brent Vigen called a timeout.

“Well, they said they looked at it,” Vigen said about the officials’ clock decision. “It’s one of those situations where you call a timeout or you don’t. Ultimately, they made the play. I hope there was a second left.”

After the timeout, Wood found Jezioro in the end zone to cut the deficit to 34-33. Idaho head coach Thomas Ford Jr. immediately opted for the two-point conversion, and Wood carried it up the middle for the improbable win.

“Excited, proud — all of those things would be absolute understatements,” Ford told reporters after the game. “We knew we had a really talented football team. We knew we had guys that could make plays, and we knew that we matched up really well with this team.”

“Like I told the guys the last two weeks: ‘When we beat this team, everyone in the country will be surprised.’ But not one single person in that room will be surprised. And that was the case.”

The upset echoed a familiar storyline. In 2023, the then-No. 2 Bobcats were upset by Idaho 24-21 on their last previous trip to the Kibbie Dome.

“Certainly, give Idaho credit,” Vigen said. “We knew they weren’t going to quit. We left a lot of things out there today.”

Wood completed 19 of 25 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns while adding 41 yards and a touchdown on 15 rushes. Jezioro scored twice and finished with six receptions for 147 yards.

Patrick Duchien had two touchdown passes and a scoring run to help Montana State take a 34-20 lead early in the fourth quarter, after a first half in which the lead changed hands six times before the Bobcats entered the break ahead 24-20.

Wood fired a 75-yard scoring strike to Jezioro on Idaho’s first play from scrimmage to give the Vandals a 7-3 lead, but Duchien connected with Carter Dahlke for a 20-yard touchdown, and Montana State led 10-7 after one quarter.

Owen Forsman kicked two field goals to give Idaho the lead, but Jared White answered with a 32-yard touchdown run to put Montana State ahead 17-13.

Damonte Bias scored on a 15-yard run with 2:22 remaining in the first half before Duchien completed seven straight passes, finding Dane Steel for a 15-yard touchdown and a four-point lead at the half.

Myles Sansted kicked a 26-yard field goal in the third quarter, and Duchien scored on a 2-yard keeper early in the fourth to build the 34-20 advantage.

Wood scored on a 1-yard run with 9:54 remaining to turn it into a one-score game.

Duchien finished with 249 passing yards on 23-of-32 completions and 92 rushing yards on 14 carries.

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