Gonzaga–Idaho football rivalry

Gonzaga Bulldogs Idaho Vandals
Sport	Football
First meeting	October 15, 1910 [1][2] Idaho, 46–6
Latest meeting	October 10, 1941 Idaho, 21–7
Statistics
Meetings total	28
All-time series	Idaho leads, 16–10–2 (.607)
Largest victory	Idaho, 54–3 (1913)
Longest win streak	Idaho, 5 (1910–1915)
Current win streak	Idaho, 1 (1941–present)

100km
62miles

Gonzaga

Idaho

  

Locations of Gonzaga and Idaho

The Gonzaga–Idaho rivalry was the football game between Gonzaga University and the University of Idaho. The respective campuses, in Spokane, Washington, and Moscow, Idaho, are approximately ninety miles (145 km) apart.

The football teams met 28 times from 1910 to 1941 and Idaho held a slight advantage at 16–10–2 (.607). For the last twenty meetings, from 1921 on, the rivalry was exactly even at 9–9–2 (.500), and the final ten were split at five wins each. They did not meet in 1912, 1917, or 1926, and Idaho did not have a varsity team in 1918.^[3] Idaho joined the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) in 1922, while Gonzaga remained independent.

Gonzaga's dominating wins in 1939 and 1940, both shutouts, were led by halfback Tony Canadeo,^[4][5] a future member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. With Canadeo in the NFL, Idaho rebounded in 1941 to win 21–7 in Spokane in what was the final game in the series.^[6][7][8]

During World War II, Gonzaga did not field a team after 1941,^[9][10] while Idaho played in 1942 and went on hiatus in September 1943.^[11][12] After the war, Idaho resumed football for the 1945 season, but Gonzaga opted not to, as its program had been in financial difficulty before the war.^[13][14][15]

Gonzaga victories

Idaho victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 October 15, 1910 Moscow, ID Idaho 46–6 2 October 14, 1911 Moscow, ID Idaho 22–0 3 October 11, 1913 Spokane, WA Idaho 54–3 4 October 10, 1914 Moscow, ID Idaho 5–3 5 November 13, 1915 Spokane, WA Idaho 6–3 6 October 14, 1916 Moscow, ID Gonzaga 21–6 7 November 15, 1919 Spokane, WA Idaho 13–7 8 November 27, 1920 Spokane, WA Idaho 10–7 9 November 19, 1921 Spokane, WA Idaho 6–0 10 November 25, 1922 Spokane, WA Gonzaga 14–7 11 November 3, 1923 Moscow, ID Idaho 23–0 12 October 4, 1924 Spokane, WA Tie 0–0 13 October 24, 1925 Spokane, WA Gonzaga 12–3 14 November 26, 1927 Spokane, WA Gonzaga 13–0 15 October 6, 1928 Spokane, WA Tie 6–6 No. Date Location Winner Score 16 November 16, 1929 Moscow, ID Gonzaga 20–14 17 November 1, 1930 Spokane, WA Idaho 26–0 18 October 31, 1930 Moscow, ID Idaho 7–6 19 October 8, 1932 Spokane, WA Gonzaga 20–7 20 November 30, 1933 Spokane, WA Idaho 20–12 21 October 6, 1934 Moscow, ID Gonzaga 24–20 22 October 5, 1935 Spokane, WA Gonzaga 7–6 23 October 31, 1936 Spokane, WA Idaho 18–0 24 November 13, 1937 Spokane, WA Idaho 6–0 25 October 15, 1938 Moscow, ID Idaho 26–12 26 October 13, 1939 Spokane, WA Gonzaga 19–0 27 October 12, 1940 Moscow, ID Gonzaga 25–0 28 October 10, 1941 Spokane, WA Idaho 21–7 Series: Idaho leads 16–10–2

Source:^[16]

• The only one to serve as head coach for both programs was Matty Mathews,
  who was 1–2–1 while with Idaho (1922–1925), and won during his only season with Gonzaga in 1929.
• Idaho's 1918 team was non-varsity, composed of Student Army Training Corps (SATC) players.^[17]
  After the Armistice ended World War I on November 11, they played a limited schedule; the first two games were against Gonzaga.^[18]
  The opener in Moscow on November 16 was a 13–7 Idaho win,^[19] and the next week in Spokane was a 7–7 tie.^[20]

From 1919 through 1941; Idaho 11–9–2 (.545)

Head Coach	Team	Games	Seasons	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
William Higgins	Gonzaga	1	1919	0	1	0	.000
Gus Dorais	Gonzaga	5	1920–1924	1	3	1	.300
Clipper Smith	Gonzaga	4	1925–1928	2	0	1	.833
Matty Mathews	Gonzaga	1	1929	1	0	0	1.000
Ray Flaherty	Gonzaga	1	1930	0	1	0	.000
Mike Pecarovich	Gonzaga	8	1931–1938	3	5	0	.375
Puggy Hunton	Gonzaga	3	1939–1941	2	1	0	.667

Head Coach	Team	Games	Seasons	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.
Ralph Hutchinson	Idaho	1	1919	1	0	0	1.000
Thomas Kelley	Idaho	2	1920–1921	2	0	0	1.000
Matty Mathews	Idaho	4	1922–1925	1	2	1	.375
Charles Erb	Idaho	2	1926–1928	0	1	1	.250
Leo Calland	Idaho	6	1929–1934	3	3	0	.500
Ted Bank	Idaho	6	1935–1940	3	3	0	.500
Francis Schmidt	Idaho	1	1941–1942	1	0	0	1.000

Idaho holds the overall lead at 70–64 (.522),^[21] but Gonzaga has won the last nine, most recently 80–46 in November 2008 at home in the McCarthey Center. The score at halftime was 47–11 and it was the third consecutive non-competitive game in the series.^[22]

Prior to both teams joining the new Big Sky Conference as charter members in 1963, Idaho had a large lead in the series at 55–21 (.724). As conference foes, they met two or three times per season and Gonzaga led at 22–13 (.629), plus two wins in tournaments. After sixteen years in the Big Sky, Gonzaga left for the WCAC in the summer of 1979, but the rivalry continued as an annual game (and occasionally biannual). In the next fifteen games through 1990, Idaho went 10–5, but Gonzaga has since dominated at 14–2 (.875). The last seven games in the series have been played on the Gonzaga campus; the last in Idaho was in early 2000.^[23] The Vandals' most recent win was 28 years ago in January 1998 at home,^[24] and they last won in Spokane in December 1989.^[21][25]

After more than a decade, the teams were scheduled to meet in December 2020 in Spokane, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 issues.

Since December 1979, Gonzaga leads 19–12 (.613), all non-league

Gonzaga victories

Idaho victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 December 21, 1979 Moscow Idaho 50–49 2 December 6, 1980 Spokane Idaho 73–69 3 January 2, 1982 Moscow Idaho 65–57 4 January 8, 1983 Spokane Idaho 54–51 5 January 7, 1984 Moscow Gonzaga 59–52 6 January 2, 1985 Spokane Gonzaga 56–54 7 December 14, 1985 Spokane Gonzaga 72–61 8 January 4, 1986 Moscow Idaho 61–60 9 December 5, 1986 Moscow Idaho 62–55 10 November 27, 1987 Spokane^ Idaho 64–60 11 December 22, 1987 Spokane Gonzaga 77–57 12 November 26, 1988 Spokane^ Idaho 80–72OT 13 January 3, 1988 Moscow Gonzaga 66–63 14 January 5, 1989 Spokane Idaho 67–47 15 January 4, 1990 Moscow Idaho 70–66 16 December 22, 1991 Spokane Gonzaga 80–62 No. Date Location Winner Score 17 December 21, 1992 Moscow Idaho 82–64 18 December 21, 1993 Spokane Gonzaga 76–69 19 December 6, 1994 Moscow Gonzaga 64–58 20 January 3, 1995 Spokane Gonzaga 75–55 21 December 6, 1997 Spokane Gonzaga 76–60 22 January 5, 1998 Moscow Idaho 71–64 23 December 22, 1998 Spokane Gonzaga 94–55 24 January 4, 2000 Moscow Gonzaga 60–49 25 November 25, 2000 Spokane Gonzaga 92–42 26 November 21, 2003 Spokane Gonzaga 84–63 27 November 24, 2004 Spokane Gonzaga 88–74 28 November 18, 2005 Spokane Gonzaga 69–60 29 November 26, 2006 Spokane Gonzaga 76–51 30 November 13, 2007 Spokane Gonzaga 80–43 31 November 18, 2008 Spokane Gonzaga 80–46 Series: Gonzaga leads 19–12

^ Two games were played at the Spokane Coliseum (Nov 1987, Nov 1988), both won by Idaho

Source:^[21]

In the eleven seasons of baseball in the Big Sky (1964–74), Idaho and Gonzaga each won four league titles. The Vandals were champions in 1964, 1966, 1967, and 1969, while Gonzaga won in 1965, 1971, 1973, and 1974.

Baseball was one of five sports that the Big Sky stopped sponsoring in 1974,^[26][27] so both moved to the new Nor-Pac in 1975,^[28][29] and continued as conference foes until Idaho dropped its program in May 1980.^[30] The last eleven seasons of the baseball rivalry (1970–80) saw the Bulldogs dominate at 33–5 (.868).^[31]

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games