| Year: | 1948 |
| Team: | Idaho Vandals |
| Sport: | football |
| Conference: | Pacific Coast Conference |
| Short Conf: | PCC |
| Record: | 3–6 |
| Conf Record: | 1–5 |
| Head Coach: | Dixie Howell |
| Hc Year: | 2nd |
| Stadium: | Neale Stadium |
The 1948 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1948 college football season. The Vandals were led by second-year head coach Dixie Howell and were members of the Pacific Coast Conference.
Idaho was ranked at No. 90 in the final Litkenhous Difference by Score System ratings for 1948.[1]
Home games were played on campus at Neale Stadium in Moscow, with one game in Boise at Public School Field.[2]
Idaho was overall and won one of their six PCC games; future schedules had fewer conference matchups. A night game was played in late September in Salt Lake City, a loss to Utah.[3] [4]
The Vandals' losing streak in the Battle of the Palouse with neighbor Washington State reached twenty games, with a loss in Pullman on October 30.[5] [6] Idaho tied the Cougars two years later, but the winless streak continued
In the rivalry game with Montana in Moscow a week earlier, Idaho won to regain the Little Brown Stein.[7] [8] Montana won it back two years later with a one-point then the Vandals won eight straight, through 1959.
No Vandals were named to the All-Coast team; honorable mention were tackles Carl Kiilsgaard and Will Overgaard, guard Wilbur Ruleman, and back John Brogan.[9] [10]
Two juniors from the 1948 Vandals were selected in the 1950 NFL draft:[11]
| Player | Position | Round | Pick | Franchise | |
| Carl Kiilsgaard | 61 | Chicago Cardinals | |||
| Jerry Diehl | HB | 360 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
Three sophomores were selected in the 1951 NFL draft:[12]
| Player | Position | Round | Pick | Franchise | |
| Bill Fray | 191 | New York Yanks | |||
| King Block | FB | 250 | Detroit Lions | ||
| Jim Chadband | HB | 335 | New York Yanks |