This is what a football story looks like on our new site.

For the past three years or so, this blog has been our home to get you the information about Vandal athletics you need to know. Well now the time has come that we’ve grown out of our studio apartment and need a new home.

You can now visit us at thevandalnation.com or via a redirect at uiargonaut.com/vandalnation.

The reason for this move — technical and aesthetic.

This blog is hosted by WordPress which limits us in design, file size, file type and embedding options. Basically we could put words and pictures and nothing else.

The new blog which is self-hosted allows us to completely customize our look, utilize thousands of widgets and plugs-in, bring back a live blogging platform and it plain and simple looks better.

you will also notice with the new blog a better relationship with The Argonaut. We will post daily sports stories from every sport for more content along with our usual coverage and analysis. Add on that basketball season is starting and you’ll find more content than ever on Vandal Nation over these next few months.

We want to thank you for your support of Vandal Nation over the past few years and we look forward to welcoming you to our new home. So change your bookmarks and get reading.

Sincerely,

Sean Kramer, VN Manager
Madison McCord, Web Manager
Theo Lawson, Argonaut Sports Editor
Elisa Eiguren, Argonaut Editor-in-Chief

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6BMRTS8

Madison McCord | Vandal Nation
Junior forward Stephen Madison throws down a dunk before the Black and Gold Scrimmage Friday.

The preseason suspension of Idaho center Kyle Barone must have really hurt the Vandal men’s basketball team who have been picked to finish sixth and fifth in the coaches and media polls respectively.

The Vandal women’s team also slipped lower than we projected finishing fifth and sixth in the coaches and media polls respectively.

Three bright spots did arise from the polls though for the Vandals, with three players receiving all-WAC honors. For the men, Barone was picked as a first-team member in both polls after finishing last season as a second-team all-WAC selection. On the women’s team, junior forward Alyssa Charlston was a first-team selection in both polls, while sophomore guard Krissy Karr received second-team placement in both.

On the men’s side, the first-team selections rounded out with preseason Player of the Year Preston Medlin (Utah State), Raheem Appleby (Louisiana Tech), Daniel Mullings (New Mexico State) and Chris Udofia (Denver).

The women’s first-team included Player of the Year Devyn Christensen (Utah State), Whitney Frazier (Louisiana Tech), Diamond Ford (Texas State) and Kacie Sowell (Seattle U) along with Charlston.

Here are the complete coaches and media polls on both sides. What are your thoughts — too high, or two low?

2012-13 Preseason Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll

2012-13 Preseason Men’s Basketball Media Poll

2012-13 Preseason Women’s Basketball Coaches Poll

2012-13 Preseason Women’s Basketball Media Poll

Idaho football interim coach Jason Gesser and Athletic Director Rob Spear discuss the replacement of former coach Robb Akey, expectations for the remainder of the 2012 season and the Vandals’ coaching outlook in the future.

“The President (Duane Nellis) and I believe it is important to make this move now so we can immediately begin the process of hiring a new coach for the 2013 season,” Athletic Director Rob Spear said. “We appreciate Coach Akey’s enthusiasm and dedication to the University of Idaho but this is the right move at this time.”

The termination comes on the heels of Akey’s 70th game as coach of the Vandals, a 70-28 loss at La. Tech. Akey is 20-50 in his five-and-a-half seasons with Idaho and 1-7 this season.

Spear said a search for Akey’s replacement will begin immediately.

News conference audio —

Rob Spear

http://www.uiargonaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/VN-News-Conference-—-Gesser-announced-as-interim-coach-Spear.mp3

Jason Gesser

http://www.uiargonaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/VN-News-Conference-—-Gesser-announced-as-interim-coach.mp3

Akey signed a contract extension in June 2010 following the Vandals’ Humanitarian Bowl victory. The extension was set to extend through 2014. Per terms of the agreement, if terminated, Akey would receive his base annual salary of $165,796.80 per year “until the terms of this agreement ends or until (Akey) obtains employment, which occurs first.”

In Akey’s third season with the Vandals, he led the team to a 8-5 record which included a Humanitarian Bowl victory, Idaho’s second ever bowl victory.

Notable players to play under Akey include San Francisco 49ers left guard Mike Iupati, Houston Texans safety Shiloh Keo and former Chicago Bears quarterback Nathan Enderle.

Idaho starting quarterback Dominique Blackman along with other Vandals took to Twitter following Akey’s termination to express their feelings.

Honestly me or my cousin ken wouldn’t have got a chance if it wasn’t for Akey #RIP86 #akeyarmy

— #itsallforKEN#⃣3⃣ (@vandalsQB3) October 21, 2012

Akey was the glue that held us together. I can say as a team we played for him. Not even for ourselves.We love Akey we need Akey #akeyarmy

— Taylor J Elmo (@TjMO81) October 21, 2012

Wishing nothing but the best for Coach Akey. Great coach/mentor who truly cared for his players. Still a lot of coaching left in him I hope.

— Nathan Enderle (@nenderle) October 21, 2012

Wish Coach Robb Akey the best. Idaho won bowl game in 09, Vandals became our “official” team. Been a rough stretch for a good guy. #Nolte

— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) October 21, 2012

Gesser, who has been on the Idaho staff for two seasons, spent time as a quarterback in the NFL and Canadian Football League after playing his college football at Washington State. Before coming to Idaho, Gesser coached the Eastside Catholic High School Crusaders from Sammamish, Wash., for two seasons.

In a conference call, athletic director Rob Spear has also announced that Idaho will join the Big Sky Conference in all other sports for the 2014-2015 season.

Vandal Football 2013

Date              Opponent                            Conference                     Location                                Series                                                First played

Aug. 31        North Texas                        Sun Belt                             Denton, Texas                  UNT leads 4-5                                            1996

Sept. 7         Wyoming                              Mountain West           Laramie, Wyo.                  Idaho leads 4-2                                        1921

Sept. 14      Northern Illinois             Mid-American               Moscow, Idaho                Tied 3-3                                                          1969

Sept. 21      Washington State          Pac-12                                Pullman, Wash.               WSU leads 69-17-3                                1894

Sept. 28      Temple                                  Big East                              Moscow, Idaho                First meeting                                                        -

Oct. 5            Fresno State                      Mountain West           Moscow, Idaho                Fresno State leads 10-4                     1946

Oct. 12         Arkansas State                 Sun Belt                             Jonesboro, Ark.                Tied 4-4                                                          1975

Oct. 19         Bye

Oct. 26         Mississippi                         SEC                                        Oxford, Miss                       First meeting                                                        -

Nov. 2           New Mexico State          Independent                 Moscow, Idaho                Idaho leads 13-5                                     1971

Nov. 9           Old Dominion                    Colonial                            Moscow, Idaho                First meeting                                                        -

Nov. 16        Bye

Nov. 23        BCS opponent TBA                                                                                                             -

Nov. 30        New Mexico State          Independent                 Las Cruces, N.M.             Idaho leads 13-5                                     1971

As has been rumored, Idaho will remain in the Western Athletic Conference for Olympic sports in 2013, before transitioning to the Big Sky in 2014-2015. Spear confirmed this information with the Idaho Statesman on Friday.

The Vandals’ current 2013 football slate includes games at Wyoming (Sept. 7), vs. Northern Illinois (Sept. 14), at Washington State (Sept. 21) and at Mississippi (Oct. 26).

Contracts for these additional seven games have been signed. The Vandals will host Temple, Fresno State, New Mexico State and Old Dominion. Idaho will visit New Mexico State, Arkansas State and North Texas.

The home-and-home with New Mexico State is something the schools have been working toward since the spring.

Though it’s not as if Idaho hasn’t had to travel long distances to face tough competition this season. This is Idaho’s fifth trip of the season to Texas or further east.

The challenge? Stopping La. Tech’s offense. Check that, the impossibility is stopping La. Tech’s offense. The Bulldogs have the number one offense in the country at 53.8 points-per-game. Their lowest scoring output was in a 44-38 win at Illinois. On top of that, La. Tech has only turned the ball over four times all season, three of them coming at Illinois.

There is a glimmer of hope, and that comes when Idaho will be on offense. La. Tech has a bottom-five defense in the country at No. 117. This is the week where Idaho can, and will have to, get its offense back on track. The running game got back on track last week at Texas State, though this will need to be the week where Idaho needs to operates its methodical offense on all-cylinders.

The most effective way to play defense against La. Tech is for Idaho’s offense to stay on the field, as cliche as it sounds. Methodical drives have been an issue for the Vandals. Both of Idaho’s touchdowns against New Mexico State were set up off of turnovers, while Idaho’s one touchdown at Texas State was set up with big plays. Idaho has struggled when its been forced to drive the length of the field and consistently convert third downs (10-28 the last two weeks).

And well, if nothing else, Idaho has little to lose this weekend.

Necessary Links

— Here’s Theo Lawson’s preview in today’s issue of The Argonaut, in which he talks with cornerback Aaron Grymes and wide receiver Mike Scott about the power that is the La. Tech offense and the soft, fluffy bunny that is their defense

— Also in today’s issue of The Argonaut, I take a look at the program that La. Tech has built in Ruston and why they will continue to grow to bigger and better things — especially under the leadership of coach Sonny Dikes.

— Finally make sure to check back later for a full report of Idaho AD Rob Spear’s news conference regarding the 2013 independent schedule that is expected to be announced at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

Scouting report

Here’s our video scouting report for this weekend’s match-up.

New Mexico State could end up playing three consecutive years at the Kibbie Dome with the schools moving towards independence

Spear said in the interview with Tom Morris he had 12 games lined up as recently as last Friday Oct. 12, but that one school had to pull out. Spear could come out the with the schedule as soon as the next week or two when he gets the 12th game, and likely wouldn’t be announced until the scheduling contracts are actually signed.

That schedule could include a home-and-home with Arkansas State, as reported by Scout.com’s AStateNation, citing Arkansas State’s athletic director. Spear said a contract for that game has not been signed, according to the Idaho Statesman. If the AStateNation report is true, Idaho would play at Arkansas State in 2013 and at the Kibbie Dome in 2014.

Currently, the Vandals have four confirmed scheduled games for both 2013 and 2014, but have only one home game for those seasons so far. Idaho needs five home games each of those seasons to abide by NCAA rules for being an FBS football program.

Along with the home game scheduled against North Illinois in 2013, Idaho is likely to play New Mexico State and an FCS school at the Kibbie Dome, in addition to making a return trip to New Mexico State in the same year.

Idaho is allowed to schedule an FCS school to count towards its required five home games. If needed, Idaho would also be able to schedule a game at Pullman’s Martin Stadium or Spokane’s Joe Albi Stadium and have that be considered one of its five home games.

We’ll have more as it comes available.

Idaho 2013 schedule:

Aug. 31 – at Ole Miss
Sep. 07 – at Wyoming
Sep. 14 – v Northern Illinois
Sep. 21 at Washington State

Not confirmed: at Arkansas State, v New Mexico State, at New Mexico State

Idaho 2014 schedule:

Aug. 30 – at Florida
Sep. 13 – v Western Michigan
Sep. 20 – at Ohio
TBA – at Northern Illinois

Not confirmed: v Arkansas State, v New Mexico State, at New Mexico State

On the game itself, it was missed opportunities and the inability to string together consistency in all three phases in the game is what Idaho coach Robb Akey lamented about Saturday’s blowout loss at Texas State. Idaho had gone in to the half down 14-7, scoring the last touchdown of the half. Texas State then scored 24 unanswered in the second half.

“It was a game of opportunity we had plenty of,” he said. “It was a one score game for a long, long period of time. That tells me we had opportunities in all three phases of the game to match the score and put ourselves up. That’s what we didn’t get done.”

On the run defense: “Within that, how do we make that better. We got to stop the run better, that was a big issue for us as Saturday,” he said. “We as coaches have to get guys in places to handle the run better.”

Akey said the offense left some big plays out on the field, saying “we have to make plays when given the opportunity, that’s the bottom line.”

On consistency: “What I’m talking about is getting consistency to come up, but consistency of the good things we’ve done at times. Get that to be more consistent, get this other stuff to go away, fall to the wayside, kick it to the curb. Focus what we’re capable of doing and get these other things out of our mind.”

On not capitalizing on last week’s momentum: “Our whole football family is disappointed in what happened (at Texas State) because we did feel like we had gained some ground. We had accomplished something (in beating New Mexico State), we finally did something we felt we were capable of doing (in losses to Bowling Green and Wyoming).

“Okay, we’ve gained some ground here, we have a chance to get it over the edge and then he were go and we didn’t get it accomplished the way we expected to,” he said. “I can’t let it be the sky falling down, we’ve got to understand, ‘hey, this is how it happened, and this is why it happened.’ This is what we talked about (Sunday) as a team and how we can respond to making it be better.”

On the preparation level for Texas State’s spread-option offense: 

- “Our guys worked hard to be ready for it during the week. Our guys did, our players did, our coaches did…We needed the wrap the guys up better. We made some mistakes within it, certainly. And there’s some things that we can help to make it be more automatic…(The) first time you have to deal with a significant option game like that, yeah, it created a little bit of an issue, no question about it.

- “It’s hard to replicate when you talk about trying to get it done with a scout team that’s not built for that, but I thought our coaching staff and scout players did a good job of doing what they could to get it created.”

- “There were a couple of mistakes we made in the option plays, some of it was just missed tackles. It’s fixable, I know that.”

On starting quarterback Dominique Blackman seemingly taking the loss personally 

- “Your quarterback is going to get more credit than he’s due when you have success, a lot of time they get more blame than their due when success doesn’t happen.”

- “Dominique is working hard to be the starting quarterback that can make things happen in a good way. Dominique is an emotional guy. He is working hard to do it the right way. A comment like that mean he understands that is the way he needs to approach it, each of us need to approach it.”

- “No game is any one persons fault, but being able to be accountable, that’s the first thing each of us need to be able to do. That’s an effort on Dominique’s part to handle it the way a quarterback is supposed to handle it.”

On Louisiana Tech

- “You watch that game Saturday (Texas A&M at La. Tech), that was a hell of a football game. 250 plays in this ball game, it was unreal. Obviously you have a great deal of respect for Louisiana Tech. In regards to the scoreboard they were well out of the picture early in the ball game. They found ways to make plays and fought themselves back in to it. They really battled and made some things happen. They were that close to have the chance to win that ball game. I respect that. This is a damn good football team we’re going to face.”

On the team’s fifth consecutive road game where it has to significantly travel

- “It’s where we’re going to play the game, so that’s where we’re going to be.”

- Akey said with the game being a night game it will give the team an opportunity to get more accommodated to the time change.

On James Baker’s strong performance running the ball

- “I thought J.B. did a nice job. James was one we all recognized yesterday that made a lot of positive things happen throughout the course of the game. He’s very capable,” he said. “He still had a good per carry average, ran the ball hard. He finally made himself the touchdown maker, that was a hell of an effort on that touchdown run.”

Verlin touched a bit more on Kyle Barone, who was suspended indefinitely on Monday and was not present at practice Friday night. Verlin said  he can’t set a specific timetable on when he would return.

Forward Stephen Madison fights his way to the rim.
Courtesy | Spencer Farrin

“What Kyle has to do (to return to the program) is between him and I. Obviously I’m very disappointed in Kyle, that kind of behavior is unacceptable in our program,” Verlin said. “But he is one of our family members. We love him and we’re going to do everything we can to get him on the court as quickly as we can, when he does the things that I think are necessary for him to come back.”

Other information of note from Verlin include:

- Verlin said he’d be surprised if 6-foot-8 CC transfer Marcus Bell doesn’t lead the team in rebounding.

- Verlin said starting spots, most notably in the backcourt, haven’t been handed out yet. Those position battles should carry on throughout fall practice and scrimmages.

Here are the (mostly) raw video interviews we got tonight. Please forgive the quality on the Verlin segment, mid-term chaos didn’t have us as prepared with the technology.

The Bobcats came out of the gate strong ravaging the Houston Cougars in Houston, though Houston has proved not to be the team it was a year ago under Kevin Sumlin. A close game against Nevada, only to turn around and get blown out against New Mexico, leave Texas State somewhat of an anomaly.

The Idaho starting quarterback has confidence erupting from his veins. Can he turn it in to a road victory?

One thing is for sure, the match-up Saturday will be a measuring stick for both programs. Idaho coach Robb Akey is serious about Idaho’s “new” WAC season. As far as he is concerned Idaho is 1-0, undefeated towards his goal of winning the final WAC football championship.

Idaho was able to take advantage of one struggling program last week with a win over New Mexico State, albeit ugly. If Idaho wants its first road win of the season the ugly mistakes are going to have to be cleaned up. Idaho needs to learn how to string together consistency throughout a game and learn how to take hold of momentum.

Idaho pulling out a victory against New Mexico State was never in doubt by the third quarter, but failing to score a touchdown in the second half allowed the Aggies to pull within one possession with under two minutes left to go in the game. That kind of lack of killer instinct will doom Idaho in the future, as we’ve already seen in the loss to Wyoming.

That won’t fly on the road against a scrappy Texas State team. Letting a team hang around in their own building is a recipe to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Of course, this is all assuming Idaho is able to take a lead to hold on to in the first place. Think positive, right?

Will Idaho take heed and go to 2-0 in the WAC? We’ll find out Saturday.

Necessary Links

We ran a feature on Idaho senior kicker Trey Farquhar who has made his last seven kicks, three from over 50.

Our game preview focuses on the improvements the offense hopes to make

In case you missed it, the WAC has expanded, though it doesn’t affect football.

ESPN ran an extensive feature on Idaho’s Kibbie Dome. Wonder what Craig Thompson or Karl Benson would have to say about the Dome…

Key match-ups

Texas State is wildly inconsistent offensively, though when the Bobcats are moving the ball well it’s with efficient passing, balance and by wearing down opposing defenses. The Bobcats run a variation of the run-pass option spread and will look to wear down Idaho defensively. It’s a concern for the Vandals as injuries have taken its toll on the depth of the defense.

Without Conrad Scheidt and James Randall the linebacking core lacks the quality speed behind the starting trio to spell and keep legs fresh. The defensive line isn’t built on speed and running sideline to sideline, it’s built on penetration and power. That could be a blessing if DT Quayshawne Buckley continues to create penetration in the backfield, and make Texas State QB Shaun Rutherford have to think on his feet. The curse will be if anything but happens.

Most importantly? Idaho needs to get off the field on third down. In the three games against Mid-Major competition the Vandals have held opponents to 50-percent or less conversion on third down. It’s something that Idaho shouldn’t struggle with, given the offense does its part.

Which gets to the next key – Run the ball and eat clock. The Bobcats have given up 634 combined rushing yards to Nevada and New Mexico the last two weeks. The last time Idaho faced a struggling rushing defense, Wyoming, the Vandals gained a season high 203 rushing yards. The running game displayed physicality between the tackles in the short run game along with the ability to bust the big play.

Idaho was forced to take more shots down the field last week because the lack of running game meant that Idaho’s offense was incredibly one-dimensional with the short passing game. The ability to run the ball on lesser competition would go a long way towards alleviating the pressure on Idaho QB Dominique Blackman, and allow offensive coordinator Jason Gesser to operate a well rounded offense that imposes itself on its opponent, instead of one that is forced to alter its identity from week to week. Replicating the 82-yard rushing performance from last week simply won’t cut it. See the six second half points Idaho scored when the offense didn’t benefit from turnovers and was forced to drive the length of the field.

Opposing viewpoint

This week we’re joined by Jack Hopkins, who operates the WACJack blog, and former of Bobcat Report.

Vandal Nation: Talk about this Texas State program as a whole. The win over Houston was a big statement, the last four games not so much. How are fans feeling about the transition so far?

Jack Hopkins: I’ve watched the Bobcats play Houston, Texas Tech, Nevada, and New Mexico. Right now I think the people that care passionately about the program are disappointed, but I also think a few have been levelheaded and understand that Texas State wasn’t even a good FCS team last season.

Home attendance outside of the Texas Tech game has been abysmal.  With the Vandals coming to town during Austin City Limits and on the same day of the Texas/Oklahoma Red River Shootout, I don’t expect many fans to see the game.

VN: Talk about the quarterback position. Shaun Rutherford has good numbers on the surface, though some fans I’ve talked to seem iffy on the position so far.

JH: Several Bobcat fans would like to strip this funky run-first spread zone-read option offense and install a system with more drop back passing.

Tyler Arndt, Rutherford’s backup, would be better suited to running that kind of scheme. Rutherford’s history of fumbling made many fans wish for a change, though it looks like the best option in this scheme might be the third string quarterback, Duke DeLancelotti.

There’s not much to complain about Rutherford’s command of the offense this season, except for that it looks like the other team I’ve seen that runs it, New Mexico, has figured out how to play both a passing and a running QB for sixty minutes.  Franchione likes to use Rutherford until the team has fallen behind to the point where he needs a passer, and Arndt is then inserted.

VN: Marcus Curry. Dynamic and explosive, it looks like. Talk about what this kid is capable of, has he been everything fans expected this season?

JH: Curry, believe it or not, has probably been underused this season.

He had five carries for seventeen yards against the Lobos, then eight for 33 the week before against Nevada. Curry also met Duke Johnson that week. While he shares carries with Terrance Franks, Curry also only has 79 yards combined in the four games since his outburst in Houston for 131.

The coaches need to figure out a way to get him the ball, as Curry is one of the most talented backs in the conference.

VN: What’s the environment like for a game at San Marcos? Has it ramped up now that the Bobcats are in the WAC?

JH: I’ll be honest – I haven’t made a game all season.  From what I know, the opener against Texas Tech was fantastic outside the scoreboard, rain dropped the Nevada attendance to a laughable number, and not many fans were enthused to see old Southland foe Stephen F. Austin.

I think the excitement for the WAC was for the one that contained Fresno State, Nevada, and Hawaii – not the one that gets scrapped after a season and then follows with a trip to the Sun Belt.  That’s nothing against the Vandals or Idaho, as I’m sure you feel the same way.

VN: The Bobcats have given up at least 34 points in their last four games. What’s the reason behind the defense struggling so mightily?

JH: Both of the lines are dinged up and a little lighter than most FBS teams counter with.  This funky offense I described earlier is meant to devour time of possession.

When it’s coming off the field repeatedly, the defense is wearing down.  Texas Tech, Nevada, and New Mexico bottled the Bobcats up early and often, and really weren’t threatened after halftime.

Wrapping up:

Kick-off will be 4 PST/5 MT. Television is the Vandal sports network, which includes Altitude in Moscow and should be available anywhere from Spokane to Boise, so check your local listing.

You can also tune-in to the Vandal Radio Network with Tom Morris on the call. Check your local listings for that as well.

Utah Valley and Cal-State Bakersfield have accepted invitations to the Western Athletic Conference, the WAC announced this morning. The addition of the two schools is with the intention of preserving the WAC as a non-football playing conference, as the two schools do not sponsor football.

The two schools move the conference to six teams for non-football sports, joining Seattle, Denver, Idaho and New Mexico State (NMSU and Idaho have plans of taking football independent). Thanks to a two-year grace period, the WAC will still hold on to its automatic bid to NCAA Championship tournaments despite being below the required minimum of seven schools.

Despite conversations with the Big Sky, the University of Idaho will still most likely be one of those schools playing WAC olympic sports for the 2013-14 calendar. As of today Idaho has not withdrawn from the WAC, nor has the school stated intentions to withdraw from the WAC.

“Relative to Idaho, we do not have assurances that Idaho will be part of the WAC long term,” Interim WAC commissioner Jeff Hurd said during a conference call with reporters this morning. “I have to work under the assumption that Idaho is a WAC member and, until we are told differently.”

Instead, it’s likely Idaho will staying in the WAC in 2013-14 because of the money it would receive courtesy of the departing WAC members forfeiting conference revenue.

WAC bylaws state that schools that declare intentions to leave the following year forfeit conference revenue for the final year in the conference. In the case of 2012-13, Utah State, La. Tech, Texas State, Texas-San Antonio, Texas-Arlington and San Jose State will all be leaving the conference on July 1, 2013. Hurd said a majority of the money will go to the football playing schools remaining in the conference – Idaho and New Mexico State.  Seattle and Denver will also receive a share, but a minority one due to not participating in football.

This is money that Idaho wouldn’t receive if it chooses to leave for the Big Sky for the 2013-14 season, Hurd said.

We’ll have more as it becomes available.

Victory!!!

That’s about the attitude Idaho coach Robb Akey had Monday when addressing the media about Idaho’s 26-18 victory over New Mexico State Saturday at the Kibbie Dome.

“There’s so much more that we can do well. We’re going to finish things better…You’re going to continue to have the ability to grow and build,” Akey said.

New Mexico State is a pretty bad team, and they played like it. Now six games through the season the Aggies are the only team in the WAC without a victory over an FBS school, providing both Texas-San Antonio and Idaho with WAC-opener victories.

Idaho also took advantage of playing the struggling Aggies to push the ball down the field in the passing game with varying success. Idaho quarterback Dominique Blackman said after the game the plan was to open the playbook up because the team felt the North Carolina game exposed Idaho’s over-use of the short passing game.

“There’s an old saying, take what they give you until they give you the game,” Akey said. “I think you always look at how you can attack different opponents and how can you grow with the things that you do. You saw us take some more shots that way, and I think we can connect on a few of those also.”

Here are the rest of Akey’s comments from Monday:

Quick hit(s):

- Akey said the Vandals got out of Saturday fairly unscathed injury wise. Safety Trey Williams should have much more availability against Texas State, Akey said.

On the performance of WR Jahrie Level: “He’s got a good ability to go get the football. He’s got a nice burst to him to, it’s important to him and he works at it. If he can keep that ball in there a little more high and tight, he’s really doing a good job and he’s doing it in a physical way too…If he makes a mistake he knows it, he wants to get it fixed.”

On the performance of the offensive line: “You’re seeing development. Working together. There’s a core in there that’s operating as a unit of five. They’re understanding where it is they need to be…There’s a toughness and great pride in that group in how they get some things done.”

On the personal foul penalties/Unnecessary conduct: “It falls in to the theme of sudden change in some respects…we don’t need to create our own adversity. That’s not acceptable, we need to get that taken care of and understand there’s a right way to play the game, and they do. It’s being addressed and we’ll get it fixed. That could cost us very dearly, and damn near did.”

On kicker Trey Farquhar, who has not missed at the Kibbie Dome this year:  “He’s in a good flow about how he’s doing thing. He’s worked hard at it in the off-season…I think he’s pushing himself, he’s driving himself, he wants to be a factor.”

In response to Farquhar’s post-game comments about never wanting to know the distance in which he’s kicking from, Akey said he might have accidentally told him the distance on the 55-yard attempt (and make) before the half.

“He keeps his distance from me, and when it’s time to go he goes,” Akey said. “I might have mentioned it to him. We had called a timeout to be able to kick the one at the end of the half. Fairly long for some guys, pretty good for him, that one would have gone for another seven yards.”

I asked him ‘is it too long?’ Because we could put the offense back out there, and he just gave me a look.”

Western Athletic Conference – Now accepting applications.

Welcome back to the hundreds, or thousands, of University of Idaho alumni making the trek back to the Palouse for the weekend. The weekend festivities will be plenty, though the one that we all specifically have our eyes on is of course the football game on Saturday.

Though, it may be safe to say that the football program saw better days while some of those alumni were in Moscow.

The Idaho football team that will greet the Homecoming crowd sit at an embarrassing 0-5. Getting blown out of the water in two money games, losing at home to an FCS school and relinquishing a fourth quarter lead to Wyoming to lose in overtime accentuate how the season has gone. Oh, yeah, there is that whole conference-less thing Idaho has going for it as well.

There is good news, however! That news comes in the form of Idaho’s opponent, the 1-4 New Mexico State Aggies, on a four game losing streak after winning their opener against Big Sky Sacramento State. They also are without a conference next season.

Both athletic departments have announced intentions to become FBS independents, scheduling contracts permitting. That includes the Vandals and Aggies playing a home-and-home in 2013. So, while this game may not be of particular importance to the WAC as a whole, it could mean something for these two programs with the mini-rivalry that will be brewing between them.

Karl Benson left for, uh, brighter things in the Sun Belt. He left quite a legacy in the WAC.

Call it the ‘Karl Benson legacy cup’. Because make no doubt about it, this underlying storyline will not go away.

Both Idaho coach Robb Akey and New Mexico State coach DeWayne Walker have been adamant the adversity of the conference re-alignment madness hasn’t taken the focus away from the football field in 2012. The results on the field (1-9 combined between the two) might make it fair to ask whether or not that actually holds true. Either that, or the success of the WAC schools with conference invites next year is just a huge coincidence.

But, hey, it’s Homecoming. In the moment, a win is always something to be positive about, even if the ultimate effect of the win is small. The Idaho fan base has been beaten and dragged through the mud the last six months with the situation. Now, the Idaho football team gets to look in the mirror at a team eerily similar to them, getting a 60-minute gut-check to give their fans something to smile about, for at least one Saturday. But make no mistake about it, the Aggies of New Mexico State are doing the same thing.

Welcome home, Vandals.

Key match-ups

What is there to say after a 66-0 loss?

Put on your training wheels, Vandals, because it’s back to the basics.

- Quarterback pressure…Cutting down big plays - Here’s a fun statistic. Idaho opponents are 5/5 in hitting at least one passing play for 20 or more yards against the Vandal pass defense. Idaho’s last two opponents did it over 10 times combined.

Meet Andrew Manley. New Mexico States’s rocket armed sophomore quarterback averaging 7.91 yards per pass attempt. The deep ball is something New Mexico State likes to do, though something the offense has struggled doing consistently due to issues in protection. The Vandal defense, on the other hand, has shown a good knack at getting in to the backfield and flushing the quarterback their last two home games.

The Vandals have shown an awful ability at making opposing quarterbacks eat Kibbie Dome turf, instead letting Kyle Padron and Brett Smith make play after play from outside the pocket. If Idaho pins its ears back and gets after Manley this just might be the game when the big plays are kept to a minimum.

- Take care of the football - Yes, this is how bad it has been for Idaho. We are resorting to the gross overuse of football success cliches. Though, sadly, this one applies greatly to the Vandals. Turnovers have done the Vandals in twice, in a big way.

At Bowling Green it was an ill-timed Dominique Blackman turnover that led way to a Bowling Green touchdown to put the Vandals down 21-6. Late in the fourth quarter, while driving to tie, WR Jahrie Level fumbled the drive away.

A fourth quarter turnover did Idaho in against Wyoming as well, when Blackman fumbled away an opportunity to put the Vandals up by two touchdowns. Instead, the Cowboys took three plays to tie the game up and eventually won because of it.

New Mexico State has only forced two turnovers during its four game losing streak, but did force Sacramento State in to three.

The Idaho offense has shown the ability to put together dominating, methodical drives. New Mexico State’s defense? They’ve shown the ability to get passed all over – Opponents average 8.47 yards per passing attempt.

It’s not like Idaho is any better defensively, the Vandals give up 9.30 yards per passing attempt and have only forced six turnovers.

The moral of this story? Flip a coin and take your pick. These teams have performed equally as poor in similar areas. Turnovers and big plays – Whichever team gets more will probably walk out of the Kibbie Dome with its first victory of 2012 over an FBS team.

Opposing viewpoint

This week we are welcomed by our real good friends over at Bleed Crimson, a great source for New Mexico State football news.

Vandal Nation — Four straight losses, including winnable games against New Mexico and UTSA, probably put a sour taste in Aggies fans’ mouths. It probably had some correlation with Aggie Memorial Stadium being pretty empty on Saturday.

It’s kind of a mirror image of what’s happening in Idaho. What’s the general perception of the program?

Bleed Crimson — Right now the general perception of the program is that this is just a really bad team.

Whether that’s a fair perception or not, it is what it is, and until the football team starts winning games, the perception will probably remain that way.

The truth of the matter is that the Aggies lost 17 starters off of last year’s team.  You’d be hard pressed to find any mid-major team or even any BCS team in the country that could lose 17 starters and come out and play well, particularly the bottom 40 teams in the FBS.

VN — Is DeWayne Walker on the hot-seat to you?

BC — In a word?  No.  Not at all.  In my mind right now the reason the Aggie football team is where it’s at right now is a lack of commitment from the university — and I’m talking strictly financial support.

The coordinator positions are underpaid, which is a big reason the Aggies have been unable to find a good defensive or offensive coordinator.

The Aggies had a very good offensive coordinator last year in Doug Martin, but BCS money lured him away (and we certainly don’t blame him for jumping at the opportunity).

The Aggies also only have one strength and conditioning coach for the entire football team, which as you know, strength and conditioning is a vital part of a football program’s success.

If you look at three of the teams in the WAC who sit atop the standings right now, Louisiana Tech, Utah State, San Jose State, all three of those teams were just gawd-awful just a few years ago.  In fact, the Aggies drubbed Utah State AND Louisiana Tech to end the 2006 season, winning 42-20 and 50-23 respectively.

Necessary Links

Here is our piece on the coaches feel of the conference storyline

Our game preview for the print edition

Bleed Crimson’s weekly interview with NMSU coach DeWayne Walker

Vandal homecoming speak-out

We gave you, the University of Idaho alumni, the opportunity to speak out on favorite memories, thoughts on the football program and favorite Vandal traditions.

Lindgren enjoying the Tom Cable-Sun Belt era

watching Brian lindgren throw for 683 only to be benched going into sr year for Michael Harrington….. good times

— Sam Parry (@samparry) October 4, 2012

Being with Vandals who will be at the game regardless of score. Not just about FB, rather camaraderie, tradition, family.

— Nick Groff (@N_Groff) October 4, 2012

heading back for a coincidental wedding Moscow over Homecoming. The parade and bonfire is always great. #GoVandals

— Peter Soeth (@milehighsoapbox) October 5, 2012

I hope Moscow turns out in force for the parade and the game. These players need to find some hope cause it feels like everything is going against them.

- Aaron Cruse on Facebook (click for his full response)

I am still excited to see what our team can become. Dom Blackman is a legit QB and makes our team viable. Not ready to write of this season just yet.

- Dan Neuenfeld on Facebook

Complete household cleaning is needed! Spear on down need to go!

- Dave Bridges on Facebook

We are 0-5, that’s the state. We need to expedite the events center and get basketball out of the dome. The Big Sky may be our best option.

- Tom Bithell on Facebook

Wrapping up

Kick-off is its usual time, 2 p.m. at the Kibbie Dome. Tune in to KUOI.org for the radio broadcast. The game will be televised on ESPN3.

“Obviously we didn’t play well, and we didn’t give ourselves an opportunity. They jumped off fast, it got ugly, it got out of control. Thank God it’s over, it’s history, we’re back home,” Akey said.

That’s the gist of what he had to say about the game. Instead, the coach used the news conference to push his attention to the future – A homecoming match-up between the FBS’ two newest Independent hopefuls. The New Mexico State Aggies are in the same position as Idaho, as the school has announced its intention to explore the independence route the same as Idaho. In fact, the schools are planning on playing a home and home next season – as in playing twice in one year.

As the athletic directors of the two schools work to finalize scheduling contracts that will allow both to stay afloat as FBS programs, it’s the head coaches that will work to solve the more immediate problem on the field.

Idaho sits at 0-5 on the year. New Mexico State is 1-4, with its only win against FCS Sacramento State.

“A week ago we’re sitting here in this same news conference talking about looking for a way to make one more play  and find a way to make it happen and get ourselves over the top,” Akey said. “That’s the same team that we are. We’re going to make that happen this week.”

Vandal fans should hope so. This just might the most winnable game left on the schedule. Idaho faces four more road contests and it’s two remaining home opponents have a combined 9-1 record (that lone loss is San Jose State’s three point loss at Stanford).

It can’t hurt that it’s also Homecoming week, in which the alumni visiting Moscow for the weekend could help to swell the hurting attendance at the Kibbie Dome.

“It’s homecoming, so why don’t y’all come on home. we’d love to have you and we got space available for you,” Akey said. “We’re all Vandals. And we want to see this team perform well. Obviously we all want the results of celebrating a victory, all singing the fight song. The corner club having a packed house with everybody happy after the game, that’s what we all expect.”

Here are the rest of Akey’s comments:

Quick Hits: 

- TE Taylor Elmo suffered a shoulder injury Saturday, Akey said. It’s not clear if that will make him unavailable on Saturday

- DE Benson Mayowa did not travel to North Carolina with the team, but Akey expects him to be available this weekend.

- MLB Su’a Tuala was able to play Saturday against North Carolina, but the hamstring injury is still a factor

- Also an intriguing storyline is the resignation of New Mexico State President Barbara Couture, who had served as the President of the WAC Board of directors.

On Blackman’s four interceptions: “Do I think that’s characteristic of him in a big game? No. I think it happened on that given day, unfortunately.”   “Throw that all on him? I don’t think so. To dissect that North Carolina experience, we don’t need to re-live that.”

On the challenge of keeping the team confident: “I hope that we have our minds ready to come back.  That to me is the challenge right now. They don’t need to re-live what took place in north Carolina. We’ve washed that thing away yesterday. We need to pay attention to something we have an effect on. It’s my responsibility and honor to be able to help them find a way to do it and see what they can do, because everybody else is telling us what we can’t do, we don’t need to listen to them.”

On struggles defending the deep ball: “We got to continue to work on technique and work on finishing that better. So that’s the technique of everybody involved,” he said. “The best coverage I’ve ever seen is a quarterback laying on his back.”

On the strength the WAC has shown in the first half of the season: “When we got started with the conference season I felt like anybody could make anything happen within here. Everybody is looking at us saying Idaho’s not going to be in that mix, well don’t count us out. We haven’t started the WAC play yet. But I do think there’s some damn good teams in this conference.”

On DeWayne Walker and NMSU’s similar conf. situation: Akey talked about the time that Walker was in Moscow watching his daughter compete in the WAC track and field championships last spring and the conversations they had about the similar situations they were in.

“We were talking about what goes on…We’re both fighting some similar battles in a lot of ways. He’s a guy I got a lot of respect for,” he said.

On communication between Akey and AD Rob Spear on schedule: “We’ve talked about it quite a bit, since we’ve got thrown in to this in the last couple months now. There’s been a lot of change to it. A lot of finality needs to get set in. We just visited a little more about it last week. Hopefully we can get some contracts secured so we can let everybody know what it is going on there. Some days it looks better than others, some days I’m looking for there to be another change. It’s on a better swing right now.”

Akey also brought up the impact that this situation has on recruiting, while also saying it’s easier to walk into a prospective recruit’s house for a recruiting visit with a new bowl ring as opposed to an old one. Akey said he’s also had some conversations with players that have approached him about Idaho’s situation but that the focus is still on this season.

“Certainly there’s going to be some of my younger guys…that are returning that are going to have some questions and I’m going to be honest with them and answer everything we can,” he said.

But it was the same song and dance for the Vandals, relinquishing a fourth quarter lead to the Wyoming Cowboys and falling in overtime. Quarterback Dominique Blackman’s fumble on the one yard early in the fourth quarter seemed to be the turning point. It turned an opportunity for Idaho to go up two touchdowns in to an opportunity that Wyoming seized to tie the game.

With Idaho sitting at 0-4 for the first time since Nick Holt was the head coach (2005) it would imaginably be hard to stay positive, but that’s what Robb Akey is choosing to do.

“We’re one outcome of a play away, one inch away and I got to make sure our guys see that. I’m sick for our players to not have the win coming out of that game…We played that game well,” Akey said. “You look at the growth that our team has made and that’s what I’m going to focus at.”

Those positives Akey focused on was mainly on the offensive side of the ball. The offense totaled over 500 yards of offense and scored a season high 37 points, which is more than Idaho had scored the previous three games combined (30).

Those positives will need to continue for Idaho from here. They’ll play on the road at North Carolina next week before coming home to face New Mexico State at the Kibbie Dome during Homecoming weekend.

Here are Robb Akey’s comments on the week:

Quick hits: 

- Akey said starting MLB Su’a Tuala left Saturday’s game with a hamstring issue. His availability against North Carolina will be a game time decision, he said. Matt Willis will be in the conversation there if Tuala can’t go.

- Starting OLB Conrad Scheidt will “probably going to be out for quite a while,” Akey said. He has a fractured bone in his face.

- S Trey Williams will be day to day. He sprained an ankle on the last play of the game against Wyoming. Akey hopes to have him available.

- The team will leave Thursday for North Carolina, instead of the typical Friday departure. Akey said it helped Idaho last year against Virginia.

On the game: “It was a hell of a football game, one hell of a football game. Our players fought their every eleven tails off, and they battled. And we were one play away, from sitting here talking about how happy we are we finally got that monkey off of our back, we finally got ourselves rolling and we’re excited because we won a dog gone game.”

“We’re one outcome of a play away, one inch away and I got to make sure our guys see that. I’m sick for our players to not have the win coming out of that game…We played that game well,”

“We ran out of time, we weren’t able to win the game. Is that good enough? No. Was that improvement from the first week? Yes. That’s what we call growth and that’s what I have to pay attention to.”

“I like the way our guys prepared to play, I like the way they come in, we flew around the field and we made plays. We played the whole damn game with expectations of winning, and you saw our guys carry themselves that way.”

“We needed to make one more play, is the way I look at it. That’s monster growth from the first game, in regards to just doing things better. Is 0-4 good? Absolutely not. There’s nothing good about that. You play this to win. But I have to focus them on, hey, this is what’s getting better…this is why you need to lay it on the line, one more time.”

(And from later in the news conference): “I’ll let everybody else have their fun with the negative crap, and there’s plenty of it out there. We’re going to focus on this and by focusing on that we have the opportunity to build up more.”

On how Blackman is playing: “I think he’s come a long ways in a lot of ways. His decision making is pretty strong, for the most part. I keep working with him on his focus. I love the swagger and the confidence that comes with Dom. It also needs to be focused and channeled. He makes a great play, we make a great play as an offense and he’s hooting and hollering, that’s great but let’s get focused let’s get the next play ready to go.”

“The thing that I appreciate with Dominique is if he’s made a mistake he’s understood what it was and how to fix it,”

On the difference from last year’s demeanor of handling adversity: “This is a completely different team than we had a year ago. Are we better at responding to it? Yeah. Do we need to be better at it (now)? Yeah.”

On North Carolina: “They’re a good football team. Boy, they accelerate. They’re gonna run as many plays as they possibly can…They are capable of getting a stretch play executed and lined back up and already snapped the ball again in 13 seconds…They’re one of the fast-paced offenses and they do it well.”

“They’re gonna knock out the sun with their offensive line. The small guy is (6-foot-4), 300 pounds. That’s the little fella. They’re big, they’re athletic, they’re damn good. Their quarterback is a good player and they make plays.”

On Idaho’s problems defending the deep ball: “We got to do a better job of making plays on the ball, cut big plays to minimum and we can do that by making plays on the ball, in the air, that high hanging ball and make plays on those. Those have an opportunity to be our ball too, and let that be the case. Get it knocked away, get it intercepted, get the guy sealed out of there.”

On travel: “They call stuff jetlag for a reason, and that’s for people that aren’t going to play a physical game. But that’s where the game is going to be kicked off and we have to get our butts there on time and we will.”

On the team leaving Thursday for North Carolina, instead of the typical Friday take off: “We put a lot of research in to whether that was worth it…the research came out that was the right thing to do. It was very obvious that was the right thing to do, I could see that the way our guys carried themselves (last year against Virginia).”

The students section Saturday v Wyoming

On the crowd at the Kibbie Dome: It makes a huge difference. If our dome is packed it’s as loud as can be. We were just at LSU, I’ve been at Ohio State with 110,000 people. (If) our dome full, with the students there and the fans fired up about it is louder than any of those. Because it’s all right there, it’s magnified, because it’s coming right back off of the roof and it’s there…There are games I come out here and the ear I didn’t have a headset on is ringing more than the one from the coaches screaming in that one.

“We’re capable of that being the case. I understand completely well that the fans want to come watch a winning team. Now we’ve got a great base, and I want those people to understand, I appreciate that. There’s a crew that are here every single week, and I love them to death and our players do too and it means everything to them.”

“I would love to see this placed packed at all points and time. We’ve got that ability just in our population from Couer D’Alene to Lewiston…We can fill this place up every week. And our players are working their tails off, did any of us like the outcome of the Wyoming? No. But you can’t tell me that wasn’t an exciting football game.”

On Trey Farquhar, who was 3-3 against Wyoming: “I’m still on his butt about kickoffs, sometimes his kickoffs are like my (golf) driving, you’re not quite sure where they’re gonna end up…I won’t hesitate to send him out there. We lost yards in overtime and threw him out there knowing we were going to have points on the board.”

Todd Handley is expected to be involved in the offense Saturday

The opponent this week is the Wyoming Cowboys, who the Vandals see when they look at themselves in the mirror. Wyoming is the same 0-3 as Idaho and in almost identical fashion. Wyoming lost close to a MAC opponent in week two, lost to a BCS opponent in Texas in week one and fell to a Big Sky opponent in Cal Poly without their starting quarterback.

“I’ve never experienced this before, it’s all new ground to me. It’s not where I want to be, I know it’s not where Idaho wants to be. Both teams are very similar in a lot of way,” Wyoming coach Dave Christensen said.

With their backs against the wall before a conference game is even played, coach Robb Akey isn’t ready to concede the season yet.

“Is any football team in the country that hasn’t won a game yet have great confidence? I would doubt it,” he said. “Certainly that is my challenge as the coach, is to make sure the guys do see how the parts have come together.”

A win against Wyoming is critical if Idaho still harbors any dreams of making it back to a bowl game, since the schedule hardly gets any easier. Future dates on the road against North Carolina, La. Tech, BYU and Utah State mean the margin for error is close to zero.

Key match-ups

Ground it out. The Cowboys are giving up 269 rushing yards per game over their first three contests. Idaho, on the other hand, has only rushed for 44 yards per game over their first three. Despite gaining only 39 yards as a team last week at LSU, the Vandals showed signs of life in the second half with a 14-yard run from Todd Handley (the first of his collegiate career) and a 21-yard rush from Ryan Bass.

The lack of running production wasn’t for lack of effort. The Vandals handed the ball off 24 times, compared to only 12 times the week before against Bowling Green.

“We’ve been focusing a lot more on it this week,” offensive coordinator Jason Gesser said. “That’s an attitude right there…..(That) we’re gonna hit you down the throat with the ball, our runningbacks have to have an attitude, our O-Line has to have an attitude…It’s not just one facet or one position, it’s the whole offense.”

Last week Handley carried the ball six times for 20 yards and is expected to have a bigger role in the offense this week. Handley is the best home run threat the Vandals have in the backfield and is ready for the opportunity this week.

“Whenever I get in I’ll go full speed, 100 percent and hopefully things will open up,” Handley said “We have to get rolling…what we’ve seen on film is that we’re going to have a lot of opportunities to get a run game going this week.”

Wyoming ranks in the top 20 in the country in pass defense, though that number is misleading. Cal Poly only threw the ball 13 times for 34 yards, because they also tallied over 300 yards of offense on the ground that week. The week before Toledo threw the ball for over 300 yards and four touchdowns. If there was ever a week for Idaho to have a balanced and effective offense with the starting quarterback, at home, this is going to be the week. Expect the Vandals to come out and try to establish methodical clock eating drives to gain momentum, and confidence, early.

Necessary Links:

Here is our game story on this week’s match-up from the print edition

Here is our story on the Ken McRoyal flag that the team will run out on to the field with every game

Here’s some practice reports from Troy Warzocha of the Lewiston Tribune

Opposing viewpoint

For the third week in a row we’ve been approached by an SBNation blog to do a Q and A. This week it’s Cowboy Altitude, the Wyoming blog.

Wrapping up

- Idaho has been shuffling up the offense line a bit, Akey said after practice Tuesday. The main change is AJ Jones getting looks at left guard. Akey said Kyle Salm is also in the conversation at right tackle.

- Wide receiver Jahrie Level suffered a rolled ankle in practice Tuesday, Akey said. Akey said he hopes to have Level available Saturday.

- Wyoming defensive coordinator is none other than Chris Tormey, the man responsible for the first Humanitarian Bowl banner hanging in the Kibbie Dome.

Where to watch

- Like with every Vandal home game, you can hear the radio call on KUOI 89.3 FM and online at kuoi.org. Madison McCord will take care of the play-by-play duties while Sean Kramer steps into the booth for the first time doing the color commentary. the Vandal Nation 4th and Downtown pre-game show starts at 1:30 p.m. with kickoff scheduled at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.

Dominique Blackman threw for two touchdowns and four interceptions against LSU
Courtesy | Ilya Pinchuk

Unfortunately for Idaho, football games are sixty minutes.

Idaho went in to the half down 28-14, but 35 unanswered second half points from the Tigers gave everybody the game that was pretty much expected.

“There are things within the game that we’re going to build from. Battles within the battle that if you can do it part of the time I think you have an opportunity to do it all the time,” coach Robb Akey said. “I’m not big on saying ‘this was great’ because if it was great the score wouldn’t have read like it did.”

Despite giving up a touchdown to end the first half, the Vandals once again had an opportunity to pull within a touchdown in the third quarter after forcing LSU to punt on the opening possession of the second half. LSU defensive end Lavar Edwards pulled down a Blackman pass at the line of scrimmage and ran it in from 23-yards out to make it a 35-14 game.

“The way that we took the field and started the game, our guys showed and our guys competed and we played physical for as long as we could against an opponent like that,” Akey said.

The talent differential between the two teams was on full display in the second half when the Tigers kept bullying Idaho in the trenches on both sides of the ball, scoring four rushing touchdowns while holding the Vandals to only 21 yards on the ground in the second half.

“Did I have some guys that battled their tails off until they couldn’t any longer? Yes. But that’s it. It is what it is. You play a game for sixty minutes and that’s the only thing that matters,” Akey said. ”The size and the mass and the speed that they came with…they wore us down and out there’s no question about it.”

There’s only so many moral victories Idaho can pull away from a 49-point loss, even if the team that they lost to will likely be playing in a January bowl game.

The biggest moral victory though is that Idaho’s next opponent is perhaps its most winnable remaining out of conference game. On Saturday the Wyoming Cowboys will come in to the Kibbie Dome with the same 0-3 mark as Idaho – and in similar fashion. The Cowboys have dropped a ‘guarantee’ game to Texas, lost close to MAC opponent in Toledo and lost week to Big Sky opponent Cal Poly.

Considering the combined 0-6 record of both teams one could imagine two teams pulling out all of the stops for a season saving victory. Akey said that he doesn’t think desperation will play a part in this game, pointing out the growth he believes his team has made over the last three weeks.

“I don’t see it as being desperate,” he said. “The way I look at it is our football team is ready to make something happen. I’m anxious to be playing an opponent that’s more along the lines of like us.”

Here are the rest of our notes from Akey’s Monday news conference:

On the end of the first half when the Vandals punted back to LSU, who scored with 37 seconds left to go up by two touchdowns: “You trade shots and made some things happen with the No. 2 team in the country. It’s 21-14 and we got an opportunity where we’re calling a timeout trying to make sure we (have) enough time when we get the ball back, and our defense gets us the ball back.”We get an opportunity to go down and even the score so you’re going to battle it out for a half, to see who can win with the No. 2 team in the country. There are some things you can build from within that, certainly.”

Which led in to thoughts about the second half: Akey said what hurt them the most was “in the blink of an eye” going down four scores, referring to Lavar Edwards pick six five minutes in to the half and Kenny Hilliard’s 71-yard run eight minutes in to the half which gave LSU control of the game.

Akey also mentioned LSU’s 10 play 74 yard touchdown drive that culminated in a touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter in which LSU ran the ball eight times to assert their physicality and will on the Vandals. That score put LSU on top 56-14.

“They got big and ran the football. Believe it or not the No. 2 team in the country is bigger, stronger, faster than we are.” he said.

On Dominique Blackman’s four interceptions: “I think two of the four were great plays by their defense, I think two of the four we’d like have like to made a little better decision of throw. Four interceptions, I don’t care who you’re playing against is unacceptable and he’ll be the first one to tell you that also.”

On visiting Ken McRoyal’s grave the day prior to the game: “For the guys that went I do believe it was a positive,” he said. “I gotta believe it helped provide closure for some of our guys.”

The Ken McRoyal flag flying in McRoyal’s native Louisiana

“They got to where they were telling some stories. It was upbeat, which I think was a good thing.  It helped us…it’s probably one of those things that’s necessary when you have the opportunity to do it.”

Not every player went, as it was a player’s choice to go, Akey said. Some of McRoyal’s family was also there.

On the team’s record and confidence level:  “The confidence level, that’s one of the things that I talk to my team about. There’s a few things that we’ve got to make sure that we do control. Our mental fortitude and the toughness we go about those things,” he said. “Our attitude and our expectation. That’s one of the things that you battle. It’s hard to come off a scoreboard the way that scoreboard read.”

“Is any football team in the country that hasn’t won a game yet have great confidence? I would doubt it. This football team, we’ve been able to point out, and certainly that is my challenge as the coach, is to make sure the guys do see how the parts have come together and how if we will do things the right way, the things that have become better…That’s what I think enables us that opportunity.”

Other notes: 

- Not much to report on injuries. Akey said that two players might be questionable to play this Saturday, and that two that weren’t able to play Saturday against LSU might be able to play against Wyoming. CB Tracy Carter is one of the players that didn’t start against LSU.

- Akey said that RB Todd Handley will be involved in the running game going forward. Handley had six carries for 20 yards against LSU, including a 14 yard run off left tackle in the first carry of his collegiate career.

“Hopefully he’ll challenge those other guys, push them a little bit more also,” Akey said.

- Akey said he’d like to see some more consistency out of Starting X receiver Najee Lovett. Lovett had eight catches for 105 yards against Eastern Washington, but only has six catches for 44 yards in the last two games combined.

In the heart of the Bayou they call it Death Valley, where teams that come in dreaming of upsets and victory often leave mauled and demoralized. LSU has won 19-straight at Tiger Stadium.

Regardless, the Vandals are well aware of the challenge that awaits them there.

The LSU mascot, Mike VI. He’s cute.

“Everything we do has to be another notch higher, another speed. That’s what they’re really good at, speed,” center Mike Marboe said. “That’s the biggest thing preparation wise, everything they do…is so much faster than anything we’ve ever seen.”

Speed, indeed. That speed kept the usually potent Washington offense touchdown-less and held quarterback Keith Price to 4.4 yards per passing attempt. The beat down of the Huskies moved LSU to 2-0 on the year, and 2-0 at Tiger Stadium with an average margin of victory of 32.5 points. 

“They call it Death Valley for a couple reasons,” coach Robb Akey said. “I think a lot of people have lost a game before they ever go in there, and that’s talking about SEC teams.”

“Is there mental work that needed to be done (for us)? Absolutely. I’ll tell you what, this (LSU) football team is damn good. They’re going to be in the hunt for it all,” Akey said.

Over 92,000 purple and gold clad fans will be present to watch said national title contender against the Vandals.

“There won’t be anything fake about that noise, it’s gonna be loud,” Akey said.

Idaho tried to replicate the conditions in practice as best they could with loud speakers that would follow the team up and down the field at the line of scrimmage. At one point offensive coordinator Jason Gesser and quarterback Dominique Blackman walked over to signal that they wanted it louder. Safe to say they’ll get that request granted on Saturday.

As for Mike VI…

“That tiger is gonna be there…I’m sure they’ll have him located so we can see those fangs. It’ll be like going to the zoo,” Akey said jokingly. “Bringing the tiger out to practice didn’t seem to help Washington much,  I had two of them ready to go so we (didn’t) bring them out this week.”

Key match-ups

Idaho would love for this to be the week that RB Ryan Bass gets on track

Mono e mono. That’s how LSU is going to line-up on offense much of the time to challenge the Vandals to stop them from running the football, at their core at least. Washington couldn’t stop it last week, so the Tigers didn’t try to do much of anything else late in the game.

“It’s just getting in the mindset that they’re going to run it all game. Every down it’s going to be a hard down for us,” defensive tackle Jesse Davis said. ”(We’ve got to) hold the ball and let the linebackers fill it. They’re going to be doing what they’ve been doing, run the same plays, hit us in the mouth.”

LSU is averaging 279 rushing yards per game in their first two, including 242 last week against Washington.

Unfortunately for Idaho, for the first time since JaMarcus Russell the Tigers also feature a competent starting quarterback. One Zach Mettenberger who went 12-18 for 195 yards and a touchdown against Washington last week, mostly in the first half. Considering that the Vandals have allowed ten passing plays of 20 yards or more in their first two games, it’s conceivable to think that the Tigers let Mettenberger loose in the first quarter throwing the ball down the field.

Where Idaho should probably measure its success is what it can do offensively against a defense that is easily on pace to finish top five in the nation. The Tigers have given up an average of 201 total yards and 8.5 points in their first two games. It starts up front for the Tigers, who had four sacks and seven quarterback hurries against Washington’s Keith Price.

Those numbers spell danger for Idaho’s offensive line, who gave up six sacks of Dominique Blackman last week at Bowling Green, while having only opened up large enough holes for Idaho’s backs to average 2.9 yards a carry so far on the year.

The ability for Idaho to design plays to get Blackman out of the pocket as well as call plays that allow for Blackman to get the ball out very quickly will be key. Yards will be few and far between for the Vandals so setting themselves up for manageable third downs might be the only way for Idaho to be able to move the ball on this defense.

Either way, LSU is going to have more speed, strength and talent at almost every position than Idaho. But the Vandals might have a better punter.

Necessary links

Our very extensive game preview from The Argonaut

We were guests on ‘The Geaux Show’ previewing the game. Skip forward to the 18th minute for the preview portion of the show.

Here is our piece examining the money that Idaho gets for playing in these types of games.

The Spokesman-Review has this piece on Rob Spear’s dilemma with the 2013 schedule

Opposing viewpoint

We welcome Stephen Baker from SB Nation’s ‘And the Valley Shook’ LSU blog for this week’s edition of the opposing viewpoint

Vandal Nation: Les Miles is talking a lot about how Arkansas losing to La. Monroe is reason for his team to be on edge while facing Idaho. He’s also talking a lot about how he respects how we’ve played our first two games. Is this just typical posturing from a head coach trying to not give the other team locker room material or is he really worried about a letdown after dismantling the Huskies last week?

Stephen Baker: I don’t think he’s worried about losing, but he is worried about a letdown. As great as LSU looked against UW, that’s how sloppy the team looked against North Texas. It’s not like the UW game was perfect either, as the receivers dropped a lot of balls. This game is LSU’s last chance to clean stuff up before SEC play, so I do think something at stake from Miles’ perspective. No more mistakes.

VN: The perception out west is that the SEC schedules an incredible amount of cupcake games like this for their out of conference. Is it hard as a fan to get up for these types of games when OoC games like USC – Auburn or UW – LSU are pretty few and far between?

Baker: Well, I think every conference schedules their fair share of cupcakes. Check out the Big 12 schedule or pretty much every Pac-12 team that isn’t USC. That said, I think LSU’s out of conference schedule this season is a travesty. Last year was so great precisely because LSU played so many great teams OOC, and while I don’t begrudge a team one or two cupcakes, LSU is playing (no offense to Idaho fans) three of them, including FCS Towson. Now, I know the reason LSU is playing Towson is because TCU backed out of the game due to adding a conference game in their schedule change and Towson was the only team LSU could find on such short notice to fill that specific weekend. But three cupcakes and the toughest OOC game a home date with Washington? That’s pitiful.

LSU at least has the “late replacement” excuse and a tough-ish SEC schedule by getting Florida and South Carolina as its East opponents. LSU will still have a tough overall schedule, but it is sorely missing that marquee out of conference game that should have been TCU. I’m ticked about it, but part of the reason LSU couldn’t find a major conference dance partner is because no one wanted to step up to the plate and schedule a tough OOC game. It sucks. Fans pay a lot of money for season tickets and they are paying primarily for games no one wants to watch.

VN: Introduce us to Zach Mettenberger. We’ve already faced two pretty decent quarterbacks, is it just going to get worse for us this week?

The “Mettensavior” will be the best QB Idaho has faced this year

Baker: “The Mettensavior” has a big arm and gives LSU a legitimate threat at quarterback. He’s completing about 70% of his passes and he has the confidence to put the ball in tight spaces. It leads to the occasional poor decision as he trusts his arm a little too much, but he is just bursting with talent. The most discouraging thing is that his primary role is still to hand the ball off to the stable of future NFL running backs. He threw only four second half passes against Washington, and LSU still scored 41 points. The passing game just keeps you honest so LSU can beat you with the rubber hose that is the running game.

VN: The Honey Badger was noticeably in attendance at Tiger Stadium for the win against Washington. Has his absence been noticeable on the field yet, or would you have to wait for conference play to really assess that impact on the defense?

Baker: I thought it would be a big deal, but the two Jalens, Mills and Collins, have been pretty spectacular so far in coverage. LSU is shutting down opposing quarterbacks almost completely, as there’s just no one open. LSU is missing those big plays on defense and momentum shifting turnovers which Mathieu provided, but the pass defense is still remarkable.

VN: What was your reaction to Washington coach Steve Sarkisian bringing a live tiger to practice to simulate the environment of Mike VI? Robb Akey did say he would bring two of them this week…..

Baker: I thought it was kind of cool, but Sarkisian probably needed to spend more time preparing for LSU’s defensive front four. LSU’s ends especially are just a nightmare to gameplan for, and Washington had no answers for a team that could generate intense pressure without blitzing.

Best/Worst case scenarios & what we’d like to find out

Best: The Vandals take the opening kickoff, set up good field position and take less than five plays for Dominique Blackman to hit Mike Scott in the back of the endzone for the go ahead touchdown. It doesn’t provide Idaho with enough momentum to actually win the game, though it does give Idaho enough confidence to ultimately make the game competitive enough for a Vandal moral victory. LSU pulls away for good in the third quarter, but coasts through the second half. Idaho loses 41-17.

Worst case: No points. Five first downs. Blackman is getting hammered so hard that Akey has to take him out in the second quarter. LSU wins 61-0.

The Idaho State Board of Education declares that Boise State is the ‘Supreme Flagship Institution of Idaho and the Universe.’

What we’d like to find out: How Idaho’s offense can stand up to one of the elite defenses in college football. With Idaho’s season on the line next week against Wyoming the Vandals will have to show some forms of life, mainly in breaking some decent runs, pass protecting and being able to convert on third downs. Granted, most of this would likely come in the second half but that would be good enough.

Wrapping up

- For Idaho residents, the game will be blacked out in the state of Idaho on ESPN Gameplan, and can only be viewed by purchasing it via TigerVision. Click here for ordering information. The game is still available in Washington and elsewhere on ESPN Gameplan (except Louisiana) and of course will be available on the Vandal radio network (check local listings).

- We will be live tweeting the game from the Vandal Nation twitter.

- Our special food for this week will be gumbo jambalaya. Check the argonaut food blog, Crumbs, on Saturday for our recipe.

Not a ton to report, they were pretty standard practices. The mood around practice was pretty relaxed and fairly business oriented. Perhaps the reality of the situation that they will be playing at LSU Tiger’s Stadium on Saturday hasn’t set in yet, or maybe they’re trying to keep their excitement leveled for such an opportunity.

Two loud speakers were present at both Tuesday and Wednesday’s practice to simulate crowd noise and at one point Jason Gesser and Dominique Blackman walked over to signal that they wanted it louder.

After the practices we were able to talk to some coaches and players on the match-up, and we’ll have other notes from the week below that.

- Defensive Coordinator Mark Criner spoke on the differences of the LSU offense compared to the more pass oriented offenses the team faced against Eastern Washington and Bowling Green. He noted that they, at times, will have up to eight blockers at the line of scrimmage including the running backs and the challenges that that presents for the already struggling Idaho pass rush. He said that it’s opportunities that arise when LSU releases the tight ends and backs that Idaho will have to take advantage of in order to get pressure on Mettenberger. Picking and choosing when to send pressure will be critical, he said.

On LSU’s dominant run game he said that they have to be able to control it with their gap control defense. “When they spread it they’re back to human a little,” he said.

He talked about Idaho’s struggles against the pass the last two weeks, saying that they’ve played a lot of press coverage lately and that it’s been the third down plays that are really killing them. He brought up the play of Solomon Dixon, who filled in for Tracy Carter against Bowling Green after he left the game with a knee injury, bringing up one play in which he played great coverage on a deep ball, but wasn’t able to make the play because of trying to squeeze the receiver to the sideline instead of turning him inside to make the play. “That’s where we have to get better,” he said.

And on whether or not Idaho has a shot on Saturday, he said “We have to play consistent, you never know what can happen…Why not us?”

- Linebacker Rob Siavii has played in these type of guarantee games his entire career including games at Arizona, Washington and Nebraska.
“It’s way better playing against a top ten team. You get a better feel, you get to play the best and it really brings the best out of you as a player,” he said. “I look forward to playing these types of teams because we can show the World what you can do,” he said.

On playing six out of conference games before getting in to WAC play – “It doesn’t really affect much, we can only take each game, game by game. As soon as this one gets over we worry about the next one.”

On what a win in this game would mean he said “It’s huge. Not only to this University but to all the underdog schools around the nation.”

- Defensive Tackle Jesse Davis talked about the difference in playing against the run heavy LSU from the pass heavy Eagles and Falcons – “We’ve always been a pretty good team going against the run, it’s not really a switch to us. It’s just getting in the mindset that they’re going to run it all game. Every down it’s going to be a hard down for us.”

On LSU’s offensive line compared to others he has faced – “It’s really no different in my mind. I’ve seen a lot of offensive line. They’re just a bigger size…it’s just going to be the same for me, just have to look hard at it.”

- Wide receiver coach Mike Levenseller - On the ability of his receivers to be able to find space against the LSU secondary – “There’s a reason they’re ranked where they are in the country. They’re big, fast, strong, run to the football. Match that intensity, that’s our challenge.”

On getting his kids ready to play at Tiger Stadium – “I’m more worried about me. I’ve never been to LSU. I’ve been to a lot of places and this is one of the places I’ve never been, I’m looking forward to the experience.”

And of course, your weekly Robb Akey-isms - On playing so many of these guarantee games – “In the perfect world you’d like to play one of these games. It’s a very good thing, for a number of reasons. The competition level, number one. The experience of being there. Our conference is not going to be that same caliber.”

He continues – “You look for a game where you’re supposed to be the upper team. We had one of those and we screwed it up, unfortunately. I’d like the other ones to be comparable to our conference…that has been the ultimate goal. The way some things have worked with the scheduling we have a couple more (guarantee games) in the last couple of years, it is what it is. I’m excited to go play this game. It’s going to be a great opportunity for our players, it’s got a national stage to it. (LSU) happens to be one of the most unique venues in college football. In that regard there’s a lot of ways that we can benefit from this.

“The thing that is tough if you are playing too many of these games it can be tough physically and mentally on your ability to go compete for the WAC conference championship. It is what it is and we’re anxious to go play this week. We’re going to make it be a good thing.”

On if he gets a say in the amount of games such as this that are scheduled he said “I get an opportunity to express my opinion but I’m not the one who puts it together.” That person is of course the athletic director, Rob Spear.

Programming note

The game has been blacked out in the state of Idaho on ESPN Gameplan, meaning the only way that Idaho residents can watch the game is by purchasing it at TigerVision or finding a friendly neighborhood bar or watch party that’s purchased the game. Click here for details on how to purchase it.
As far as we’re concerned the game is fully available on ESPN Gameplan in Washington, meaning Pullman and Spokane fans should be good to go. Since ESPN3.com is freely available on college campuses it’s only eight miles away that the game will be able to be streamed for free at Washington State University. Imagine that.

Additional notes - 

- On the injury front defensive tackle Quayshawne Buckley and cornerback Tracy Carter were both non-participants after suffering knee injuries at Bowling Green. Criner said he expects both to participate at Thursday’s closed practice and hopes they are available Saturday.

- This is the second consecutive year that Idaho is playing at least two BCS conference teams, in addition to BYU in Provo. Idaho received $2.075 Million from those games in 2011 and will receive $2.35 Million from such games this year.

Jahrie Level led Idaho in receiving Saturday against Bowling Green with 10 receptions for 119 yards
Courtesy | Ilya Pinchuk

Down 14-6 with 3:36 left in the third quarter it was an ill-timed Dominique Blackman interception that spurred Bowling Green on a touchdown drive to make it a two possession game. After drawing back within one score Idaho WR Jahrie Level fumbled with 3:41 left in the game giving the Falcons an opportunity to run out the clock.

“We did things better, we competed better, our football team united better, we responded to adversity better. We  still need to win the damn game that we had an opportunity to win,” Akey said. “Not the finish we wanted, not happy with that. Did we grow? Yes. Do we have room to continue to get better? Yes. And that’s what we’re going to pay attention to. I saw life, I feel like we have grown.”

It won’t get any easier from here. The Vandals will now travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to face an LSU team that dismantled Washington 41-3 last Saturday.

“We’ve got nothing to lose, we’re gonna go pin our ears back, get after it,” Akey said.

More on nothing to lose below. Here are the rest of our notes from Monday’s news conference with coach Akey:

- On if Dominique Blackman’s 30-37 352 yard performance was expected: “He was our starting quarterback for a reason. What you saw with him throwing the football is what we expected. He did a lot of things very well, obviously you’re making some pretty good choices.”
Akey brought up Blackman’s costly third quarter interception saying that those will things Blackman will get better at as he progresses.
“He knew he knew better. He will make the right decision.”

- On how the loss at Bowling Green played out: Akey said he was pleased with the fact that his team was only down a point at halftime though displeased with the way the third quarter played out, noting the Falcons scoring on Blackman’s interception to put them ahead 21-6.
“That was a rough swing there but our team continued to battle, we responded to that adversity, that was a step forward,” he said.
Solomon Dixon’s interception that set up the Idaho touchdown drive was how the Vandals responded.
“Being able to capitalize that was huge, we had been battling our tails off, felt like we were in a good place at that point and time.”

On only 23 rushing yards from Ryan Bass and James Baker: “We were able to move the ball throwing it and that had a little something to do with it,” he said.
The Vandals top two backs only touched the ball 12 times compared to the 45 passes that were called for Blackman (including plays he scrambled out or was sacked on).
“We were able to move the ball throwing it and that had a little something to do with it. In a perfect world I’d like to see as close to a 50/50 blend as you can. I do think we could have had more of a concerted effort to the running game, stuck with it a little bit more,” he said. “The run game is a little bit different, some times you need to bang it away and then you pop those runs, it takes some patience. Six yards is not what I anticipated it to be.”
Akey didn’t discount the possibility of giving Justin Parkins and Todd Handley some looks.

In case you are wondering, Washington runningbacks totaled 50 yards on the ground last week, mostly in the fourth quarter.

On Idaho’s model of scheduling ‘guarantee’ games: Akey says he champions the A-B-C model of a BCS program money game, a comparable opponent and one “where you’re supposed to be the stronger opponent.” He said that he believes games against this caliber of opponent does help.
“I do think that when you’ve gone through (the-preseason) that you’ve seen the whole workings and then you go in to conference play, you know what you’re working with.”
Akey brought up 2005, when he was defensive coordinator at Washington State, when the Cougars went 3-0 to start the year against Idaho, Nevada and Grambling State only to lose seven straight in Pac-10 play.

On the challenges of going to Baton Rouge: “They call it Death Valley for a couple reasons. They are a physical football team, I think a lot of people have lost a game before they ever go in there, and that’s talking about SEC teams,” Akey said. “We aren’t quite an SEC team, though if that conference wanted us we’d be happy to go.”

He goes on: “It’ll be a hell of an experience for our players in that respect. We’ve got nothing to lose, we’re gonna go pin our ears back, get after it. If we don’t win the football game we’re going to make everybody happy because they all told us we couldn’t, and should we play our tails off and make some things happen and you get that opportunity than we can be the favorite football team in America with exception of the state of Louisiana.”

The Vandals hit the practice field Tuesday afternoon, we’ll have more from that.

The H-Bowl table at the Corner Club in Moscow

It was the two-point conversion that re-defined what football was at the University of Idaho. The standard to which coach Robb Akey’s program is held was set on December 30, 2009 when Nathan Enderle hit Preston Davis in the back of the endzone, and pandemonium ensued. The play spurred Idaho to a 43-42 victory in the Humanitarian Bowl over Bowling Green, its second bowl victory since becoming a Football Subdivision program.

The names that led Idaho to glory during the night of destiny in Bronco Stadium…Shiloh Keo, Enderle, Max Komar, Mike Iupati, DeMaundray Woolridge…have all since phased out of the program, and it just hasn’t been the same since.

The Vandals have posted an 8-18 record from the start of the 2010 campaign, 6-7 in 2010 and 2-10 in 2011. Rock bottom may very well have come last Thursday evening losing 20-3 to Big Sky Eastern Washington – Idaho has now lost 11 of its last 13 games.

If the fortunes of the program are going to turn around any time soon it will have to come this Saturday, and not an opponent in this country is more appropriate for Idaho to do it against than the very same Bowling Green State Falcons from the night of destiny.

Regardless of the mini-grudge rivalry the two programs have going on, this game will be as critical as any for bowl eligibility. The next three games on Idaho’s schedule look like this: At LSU, vs. Wyoming and at North Carolina. If Idaho cannot pull out a victory against the Falcons then 0-5 could be a realistic and terrifying reality.

The game on Saturday will be the rubber match of the series between the two schools, Bowling Green won at the Kibbie Dome in last year’s season opener 32-15.

The game will also be the first start for Idaho starting quarterback Dominique Blackman, who sat out last week against Eastern Washington.

Key match-ups

Idaho’s 2011 season pretty much went downhill after Bowling Green quarterback Matt Schilz hit Eugene Cooper for 76-yards down the sideline for a touchdown, to tie the game at 7. Schilz ended up slinging for 291 yards on 9.4 yards per attempt, and the deep ball became an achilles heel for the Vandal pass defense all season long. That was the case again last weekend when Eastern Washington’s Brandon Kaufman caught five balls for 148 yards, including a long of 58-yards. Kaufman was wide open on nearly all of his receptions.

Schilz gives Aaron Grymes the chills.

“We try to take away the deep balls, make them throw short ball so we can rally to them, rather them getting them get the deep ball and let them get their crowd sparked up,” cornerback Tracy Carter said. “(Last week) was mostly miscommunication and missed assignments. As a defense we got to step up and come together, talk more on the field.”

Schilz aired the ball out 49 times against Florida last weekend, completing less than half of them, however. If Idaho is able to get as much pressure on Schilz as they were able to get on Kyle Padron last Thursday then it is conceivable to think that the Vandals can make some things happen turnovers and three & out wise. The numbers don’t necessarily back it up (zero sacks, 412 total yards given up) but Idaho played admirably defensively against Eastern Washington considering Idaho lost the time of possession and field position battles.

Punter Bobby Cowan will have to be considerably better than he was against Eastern, having only averaged 36 yards per punt Thursday night.

Offensively, it’s completely up in the air the difference that quarterback Dominique Blackman will have on the Vandals. Not just from last week with Logan Bushnell, but last season even with Brian Reader and Taylor Davis. Blackman is a physically imposing pocket presence that will be able to stand tall and strong in the pocket, delivering accurate intermediate passes. The offense will be predicated on him getting the ball out to his receivers quickly and letting them make the plays. It’s an offense that Bushnell, bless his soul, just wasn’t able to execute last week. What Blackman brings as an on-field vocal leader, and if that helps, will also be something to watch.

We’ll get our first look at Blackman running the Gesser offense

The offensive line will need to be significantly better than they were, but senior A.J. Jones perhaps getting the start at right guard could make a difference on Blackman’s blind side. Jones was practicing with the ones a bit during Wednesday’s practice, coach Akey said that he will be involved there but not making it clear if he will replace Spencer Beale or not. Establishing the run with Ryan Bass and James Baker will be an emphasis to get the offense rolling – Florida hammered the Falcons for 6.9 yards per rush last week, then again Bass and Baker aren’t quite SEC athletes.

We’ll have more on the Falcon quarterback and defensive front below.

 Necessary Links

The Mid-American Conference blog ‘Hustlebelt’ has their preview of the game

Here is our news feature on Dominique Blackman making his first start

Check back tomorrow morning for links from us, the Spokesman and Lewiston Tribune.

Opposing perspective

Matt Sussman, a Bowling Green graduate and proprietor of the Hustlebelt blog was kind enough to join us for this week’s opposing perspective.

Vandal Nation: What’s the mood around the Falcon fan base about the Idaho program? Obviously the H-Bowl loss spiraled Bowling Green in to a dismal 2010 season, but after dismantling Idaho in the 2011 opener the Falcons got back on track just a little. Is there still a little bit of a grudge there for the Vandals? Or is this just a winnable OoC game after the money game at Florida?

Matt Sussman: At least for me, the Humanitarian Bowl loss was tempered by the fact that Freddie Barnes set the NCAA record for receptions in a season that game. But the loss still sucked, and the following year was expectedly painful given all that outgoing inherited talent such as Barnes and Tyler Sheehan. I was really excited at the Idaho victory last year, yes because of a slight revenge factor, but we saw new dimensions in their game such as, jeez, an actual no-foolin’ running game. (I was also partial to the 81-yard punt that rolled through the end zone.) UI’s loss to EWU definitely perks up the confidence for fans at least, but even they know a bad game on BG’s part can lead to an obvious loss.

VN: Tell us about Matt Schilz a little bit. He put on a deep ball clinic at the Kibbie Dome last season and looked fairly effective. He put the ball in the air 49 times at Florida and completed less than half of them, put that performance in to context a bit for us.

MS: I’d say the jury is still out on Schilz as a quarterback that can lead this team to a division title. He put together a great 12-play, 89-yard touchdown drive against UF, then on other possessions he just couldn’t find the right guy to save his life. And on other plays, there were just some ridiculous drops by de-facto primary receiver Shaun Joplin. That’s another monkey wrench thrown into this equation: they didn’t lose many seniors, but those that did leave were mostly wideouts. UI will be a good test for everybody on that offense.

VN:  The directions of both programs since the H-Bowl in 2009 seems pretty similar. Both programs had a season where they missed a bowl game by one game, and both programs had a 2-10 dismal year. Both programs enter this game at an 0-1 clip. It seems like from the outside looking in that Dave Clawson needs a bowl game for people to feel good about him coming back next year, as is the case with Robb Akey in Idaho. And this seems like a swing game that both programs need to get there.

MS: You always want a team with a losing record to improve, and improving from 5-7 would almost guarantee a bowl (given all the sanctions fluttering around the country). Any other finish to the season and the mood sours on Clawson, which has never been all that negative in the first place. If they lose to Idaho, depending on the type of loss this could certainly put some urgency on the program to do well in MAC play to save Clawson’s hide.

VN: How is Bowling Green defensively? Florida’s offensive struggles throwing the ball are well documented, but Bowling Green was still able to keep the Gators in check for most of the game until late. Are you surprised by that defensive performance?

MS: For the first time since I’ve cared about the team (12 years) this defense fascinates the heck out of me. They return 18 players on their defensive two-deep but they’re still incredibly young (Phil Steele rated their roster as 10th youngest in FBS). I’ve just never heard of those two things together before. What they’ve been relatively good at, even last year, is third down, and we saw that against Florida too (5-for-16 against). But they are prone to allowing the big run or the big play, and that always hurts ‘em. Given their relative experience I knew their defense would be an emerging positive but despite the loss, holding UF to 27 was a big win.

Best/Worse/Likely scenarios

Best: Idaho gets off to a quick start defensively, rushing the passer, being aggressive against the run and getting Schilz out of a rhythm early, which wasn’t the case last year. On offense, Blackman is able to distribute the ball around and sustain methodical drives letting Idaho eat clock and gain confidence in the Jason Gesser offense. The Vandals look night and day from last week, winning 27-17.

Worse: Can it get much worse than last week? If the offensive line completely fails to support Blackman it will. If the relatively immobile Blackman is always dealing with two or more guys in his face most plays its unlikely that the first time Division I-FBS starter gets off to a comfortable start as was the case last week with Bushnell. Defensively, Aaron Grymes and Tracy Carter aren’t able to hold up on 1-on-1 match-ups on the outside letting the Falcons get a couple of really quick scores. It gets out of hand early, Falcons win 31-17.

Likely: The unknown commodity at quarterback makes a ‘likely’ scenario difficult to hash out. What we expect is that Idaho will come out playing as well defensively as they did last week, putting pressure on Schilz, being strong at the point of attack in the run game and being susceptible in pass coverage on occasion, especially third down. If that is the case, it will put Idaho’s offense in a position to play well enough to make this game go in to the fourth quarter before a winner is decided. Whether or not that will be the case remains to be seen. No pressure, Blackman. No pressure.

Wrapping up

Kickoff is at 4:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3 and the Vandal television network (Altitude in Moscow).

We’ll be live tweeting the game on twitter @VandalNation for those who aren’t able to watch. Also tweet us or let us know on facebook of any viewing parties people are hosting/know of.

Argonaut | File photo

The Vandals hit the state of California dreaming of wins, and were left completely blanked. Not the kind of momentum the Vandal ladies were looking for before facing powerhouses UCLA and Hawaii next weekend at the Hawaii Volleyball Tournament.

Here is our write-up from the Argonaut.

Kevin Bingaman

Argonaut

After a solid start to the season at home the Vandal volleyball team stubled in its first road trip of the season, dropping three straight over the weekend.

The Vandals came into the weekend  with a 2-1 record and the momentum of beating rival Washington State, but that was shortlived when the Vandals fell to Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara, Northeastern and Cal State Northridge.

Idaho got the road trip started with a five set loss to Cal Poly on Thursday. After splitting the first two sets, the Mustanges took the lead, but Idaho came back in the fourth to force a fifth and final set.

Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said she was pleased with the fight her team showed in forcing  the fifth set.

“We came back in game four and hit .440 and did some great things, but then if you look in game five, we just made too many errors,” Buchanan said. “It wasn’t a lineup issue, or a matchup or anything like that. We just didn’t execute and take care of the ball like we needed to. Offensively it’s just execution.”

Cal Poly came out strong in the fifth set and was too much for Idaho to handle, winning 15-9. Statistically the Vandals were right with the Mustanges, except for one category, serving.

“Our distribution was good, we out-blocked them, our digging was even and our hitting was pretty much even,” Buchanan said. “The biggest difference in the match was from the service line. We had 15 missed serves.”

The Vandals played UC Santa Barbara the next night with almost the exact same results. Idaho pushed the Gauchos to the fifth set, but came up short again, losing the fifth set 15-12.

While a loss is always dissapointing, Buchanan said the level of competion her team is seeing will help them in the end.

“The girls gave great effort, they played awesome and they battled, and I thought they did a great job,” Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said. “It’s another tough one, but we definitely need to keep playing these types of teams because we’re getting challenged and we’re getting better.”

Allison (Walker) Baker had a good showing against the Gauchos with 26 kills, just two shy of her career high. On the flip side, UC Santa Barbara had four players with double-digit kills.

The Vandals we’re back at it Saturday night against Northeastern, but we’re once again on the short end of things, this time in four sets. Idaho won the first set, but it was all Northeaster after that. The Vandals kept it close in every set, but we’re unable to hang on till the end.

The bright side for the Vandals was Baker’s sixth double-double of the season.

The Vandals fell Monday afternoon to Cal State Northridge three sets to one.

Thursday Aug. 30 at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo – L 2-3

Friday Aug. 31 at UC Santa Barbara – L 2-3

Saturday Sep. 01 v Northeastern at Santa Barbara, Calif. – L 1-3

Monday Sep. 03 at Cal State Northridge – L 1-3 

Here is our game overview with quotes from coach Robb Akey, QB Logan Bushnell and LB Homer Mauga. Also below the jump is stats and analysis of the game.

Philip Vukelich | Argonaut
Senior quarterback Logan Bushnell delivers a pass as he is pressured from the Eastern Washington University defensive line Thursday in the Kibbie Dome. Bushnell, Idaho’s second-string quarterback, started the game after Dominique Blackman did not play for unspecified reasons.

When Idaho realized it would be without a conference during the 2013 football season, cries for the Big Sky rang loud and clear on the Palouse.

Those cries won’t die out until Idaho announces its conference fate, especially after the Vandal football team blew a chance to prove itself in their 2012 home-opener, losing to Big Sky opponent Eastern Washington20-3 Thursday in the Kibbie Dome. 

Vandal senior Logan Bushnell got the start at quarterback after it had been rumored early in the week that announced starter Dominique Blackman would not be under center during the season-opener.

The talk during fall camp had been the quarterback battle between Blackman and junior Taylor Davis, who also started out on the sideline Thursday.

“He was our back-up quarterback, our two started the game,” Coach Robb Akey said.

However, Akey was adamant Blackman is the Vandals’ season starter and will play in next week’s game.

The reasons for Blackman’s absence were undisclosed by Akey.

“That’s between he and I and it will stay between he and I,” Akey said. “He wasn’t available to play and didn’t play. He is our starting quarterback and will start next week.”

Idaho’s run game started out sluggish, but under the command of its walk-on quarterback, the pass game got off the ground quickly when Bushnell found junior Najee Lovett for 66 yards down the right sideline.

Though the offense couldn’t finish out the drive, Idaho and senior kicker Trey Farquhar managed to score on a 27-yard field goal.

The inability to click offensively became a theme for the Vandals.

“Here and there we would start going, we would third down couldn’t convert at times,” Bushnell said. “We didn’t get it going soon enough and it wasn’t good enough offensive production.”

The Eagles matched with a field goal of their own on the ensuing drive, which was sparked by a 58-yard bomb from EWU quarterback Kyle Padron. Jimmy Pavel converted a 34-yard field goal to tie the game.

Eastern did find the end zone early in the second as Padron and FCS All-American receiver Nicholas Edwards connected for 33 yards before the SMU transfer hit freshman tight end Jake Withnell on a slant for Withnell’s first collegiate reception and an Eagles touchdown.

Doing anything and everything possible to stop the flow of Padron, the experienced Vandal linebackers picked up the slack and senior Homer Mauga intercepted the EWU gunslinger early in the second quarter.

Though Padron went for more than 180 first half yards, the junior was a lowly 9-22. Still, EWU led 10-3 after a defense-dominated first half.

Bushnell’s inexperience was evident throughout the third quarter and a diving Ronald Baines picked off the Vandal starter Idaho 20-yard line, ultimately leading to another EWU field goal, which put the visitors up 13-3.

The Idaho defense finally proved vulnerable, allowing the Eagles to drive 78 yards in six and a half minutes. Eagles running back Quincy Forte accounted for four carries on the drive and on the fifth, the sophomore from Fairfield, Calif., followed his blockers and bowled into the end zone from two yards out.

Meanwhile, the hosts rush game was inexistent and collectively, Idaho rushed for 73 yardson 28 carries with a long run of seven yards.

All was over midway through the fourth, but when Davis finally entered the game, he had completed six passes before Najee Lovett fumbled the ball in Eagle territory.

In his first ever start Bushnell was 10-24 with 123 yards and one interception. Padron was just 13-33 but threw for 260 yards.

EWU’s three FCS All-American wide receivers combined for 238 yards.  Of that group, Brandon Kaufman led with 148 yards.

“The QB was playing real smart as far as I saw,” Mauga said. “His main point was just trying to get the ball out as soon as possible, I believe we did a good job.”

For the third time in four years, Idaho will meet Bowling Green of the Mid-American Conference. The two met in a 2009 Humanitarian Bowl win for Idaho and again last season, when Bowling Green edged the Vandals in Moscow.

The rubber match of the Vandals-Falcons series will take place at Perry Doyt Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. PT.

“We will get back here and get back to work.,” Akey said. “We lost to a good football team, they played better than we did. They did well, we didn’t do as well.”

STATS

GRADES

QB’s — C, Backup Logan Bushnell played all but the last drive in Thursday’s game against the Eagles, and to be fair to the senior he didn’t play that poorly — in the first half that is. Bushnell went into halftime completing seven of 14 passes for no TD’s or picks. The problem is that first-time offensive coordinator Jason Gesser needed to dumb down the offense for Bushnell. His one interception was not his fault as his arm hit a defenders helmet, taking the sting out of the ball. It was clear that Blackman was needed.

RB’s — B-, Probably the best group on the offensive side of the ball, Ryan Bass and James baker showed flashes of illusiveness and power while both averaged around four yards a carry. Needed that one big play or burst though. Also would have liked to see speedster Todd Handley.

WR’s — C-, Too many dropped balls, poor route running and too tight to the sidelines hurt Bushnell. Had the team rum more of the short, quick offense we’ve seen in practice all fall, they would have been better off. Najee Lovett is the one bright spot catching eight balls for over 100 yards. Mike Scott on the other hand was silent.

OL — D+, To be honest, as problems came from the experienced side of Jordan Johnson and Spencer Beale as on the side of RS Fr. Cody Elenz and Dallas Sandberg. Center Mike Marboe had a solid game, but too much pressure on Bushnell in the second half. Decent gaps for running plays.

DL — B-, The mix of five and six linemen got great pressure on EWU QB Kyle Padron, but just couldn’t drag the shifty QB down. Multiple hits on Padron though that had to have disturbed him. Needed to be better on EWU’s last TD drive though where the Eagles just ran the ball down their throat and into the end zone.

LB — B, Whether it was in a 4-3 or 3-4 defense the mix of Mauga, Conrad Scheidt, Rob Siavii and Su’a Tuala got pressure on the EWU line, dropped back and cover well in the pass game and just overall made Eastern a little uncomfortable. Would have liked to see transfer Matt Willis in at MIKE LB during the EWU run spell.

Secondary — C-, CB’s Aaron Grymes and Tracey Carter looked dazed and confused on EWU deep balls, and struggled against the height of the Eagles receivers. Safety’s Gary Walker, Trey Williams and Thaad Thompson didn’t provide help over the top, but were there to make the last tackles on numerous situations.

Special Teams — B-, Punter Bobby Cowan was not the normal Bobby Cowan. The All-American averaged 35 yards per punt, well less than last year’s average, maybe it’ first game jitters? Kicker Trey Farquhar hit his one FG attempt, scoring all of Idaho’s points. Farquhar also hit his two kickoff’s into the end zone for touchbacks.

Desmond Trufant puts an end to a nightmare for UW fans

Take a good look at that picture. That is Washington cornerback Desmond Trufant hauling down an interception in the endzone to seal a 30-27 victory over Eastern Washington for the Huskies at Husky Stadium last year. The interception put an end to a nightmarish development for the Huskies, who legitimately looked like they could lose to the Big Sky program in the 2011 season opener for both teams.

Make no mistake about it, the Eagles played well enough to win that game. They looked the part of a team that was capable of going in to an FBS stadium and winning, and in all likelihood it’s the mindset the team had.

So how aware of that are the Vandals as the Eagles prepare to make the drive down from Cheney?

“We’re very aware of it. I still remember sitting there and watching that game play out last year, thinkin ‘Boy, they have a chance to win that thing.’  They did a lot of good things in that ball game,” coach Robb Akey said.

“They’ve got our attention, they’ve had our attention from day one. We saw what they did, and they did it well.”

The Eagles aren’t the typical FCS opponent for Idaho. North Dakota, whom Idaho defeated soundly the last two seasons, were in the process of transitioning from Division II to Division I-AA. Idaho State, whom the Vandals beat in 2008, haven’t had a winning record in Big Sky play since 2003.

The Eagles are a perennial FCS playoff team that happened to win the National Championship at that level in 2010. Eastern missed the playoffs last season, though injuries played a large part. More on that later in the post.

A game like this is difficult to project because of the ambiguous talent differential that exists between what could be considered an upper tier Big Sky and FCS program and a mid-level WAC program. Eastern fans might expect to win this game as the better team. Idaho fans might expect to blow the Eagles out of the water. The reality most likely lies somewhere in the middle of that, with Idaho having an ever-so-slight advantage.

“Generally speaking, your starters at that level are capable of being starters at this level,” Akey said. “There’s different paths of how everybody ends up where they end up. We’ve got a lot knowledge of a lot of those kids because we saw them as we evaluated guys as we went through the recruiting process.”

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Introduction to Better Know a Foe

Better Know a Foe was a preview segment introduced when this blog was first launched by The Argonaut in 2009. We’re bringing it back. It will feature a couple hundred words of an introduction storyline between Idaho and its opponent, then cut in key match-ups and players to watch and game notes, then to necessary links, and commentary from the opposing team’s writer-base.

If that sounds loaded, don’t worry. We’re open to all kinds of feedback from you so that we can make this blog the most enjoyable for you. So let us know. So, let’s get started.

Key match-ups, players to watch

From left: Nicholas Edwards, Brandon Kaufman, Greg Herd. Eastern’s super trio will try to put on a show at the Kibbie Dome. Courtesy photo: Spokesman-Review

Eastern Washington has receiving options for days. Three FCS All-Americans to be exact, three All-Americans that wreaked havoc last season with over 2,500 combined receiving yards. That number would have eclipsed 3,000 if Brandon Kaufman didn’t miss seven games due to injury, still, Greg Herd and Nicholas Edwards did their part with over 1,000 each. Quarterback Kyle Padron, an SMU transfer who has led the Conference-USA program to a bowl game and won it, will be able to get the ball to these weapons.

Eastern coach Beau Baldwin said on his Big Sky conference call that despite having all of those weapons he’d still like to have a balanced attack. Washington transfer DeMitrius Bronson will lead the running backs, with Quincy Forte seeing time as well. The two combined for 310 rushing yards last season.

Senior safety Gary Walker will be busy Thursday

For the Vandals defensively, getting stops will have to go further than the experienced secondary led by Aaron Grymes and Gary Walker, it will be on the front seven to pressure Padron and disrupt his timing. This will be week one of the sophomore Maxx Forde and junior Vince Keener defensive end experiment for Defensive Coordinator Mark Criner. The two are relatively inexperienced, combining for 21 tackles last season, but have manned the spots during the entirety of fall camp and scrimmages. Criner will count on a rotation at the spots, so redshirt freshman Quinton Bradley and sophomore Marius Burgsmueller will get a chance at Padron as well. Despite the inexperience of this defensive end group there won’t be a lot needed to improve on the pass rush from 2011 – The Vandals only ate up the quarterback 17 times in 2011.

If there is any time in the season to have to deal with Padron and those weapons, the Vandals have to be glad it’s game No. 1 as the chemistry may not completely be there yet for Padron and his receivers. Pressure from the Idaho defensive front would still be needed to drastically help a secondary that let 64-percent of passes get completed on it last season.

Offensively, it will be up to Idaho possessing the ball methodically, eating clock and keeping Eastern Washington’s offense off of the field. That’s what Idaho’s offense has been predicated on through fall practices, quick, short passes that gets the ball to receivers in space and allows them to make plays. Don’t look for much downfield.

Other game notes:

• Coach Akey said Sophomore Spencer Beale will start at right guard. Idaho will have four underclassmen on the line, including two redshirt freshman on the left side. Here is our depth chart from what we’ve observed in open practices.
• Rob Siavii won’t start, but he will most definitely play. The Vandals will make use of all four of their “starting” linebackers within the confines of the base 4-3 defense defensive coordinator Mark Criner runs. Siavii is one of the better coverage linebackers on the team.
• Offensive coordinator Jason Gesser will coach this game from the coaches booth, and will have autonomy over play-calling, Akey said.

Necessary Links

First, is our report from Tuesday that Dominique Blackman will not start Thursday for unspecified reasons. We’ve reported all we know on the matter.

Here is our Argonaut game story from this Tuesday’s edition

The Spokesman-Review has this on the game, including some links from the paper on the Eastern point of view

More from the Lewiston Tribune on the Vandals’ Kibbie Dome opener

Opposing commentary

Josh Friesen of the Eastern Washington student newspaper ‘The Easterner’ joins us to give us his thoughts on the football program up there.

Vandal Nation: Despite the 6-5 record last season, this is still the same team that gave U-Dub a huge scare. How does that, and the disappointing season after that game, motivate this team for this game from what you’ve seen from their practice/interview demeanor?

Josh Friesen: Keep in mind this team won six of its last seven games while fighting a multitude of injuries. However, I don’t think coach Baldwin was content with finishing 6-5. There’s a lot of talent on the roster, and they want to prove themselves. I think they’re hungry for success and want to get back to the playoffs. They stumbled mightily last season and piled up four loses right out of the gate. I think the team is committed to starting the season strong so they don’t have to play with their backs against the wall again.

VN: Talk about Kyle Padron, how does he compare to his predecessor Bo Levi Mitchell? 

Kyle Padron, not to be confused with the tequila.

Josh: I had the chance to talk with Kyle Padron shortly after his transfer to Eastern was official. He was very excited to come to Cheney and work with the team. He’s had time to adjust to the offense and learn the playbook. Padron and Bo Levi Mitchell are very similar. They are both transfers from SMU. Padron actually beat out Mitchell for the starting job at SMU, which is what led Mitchell to transfer to Eastern. Padron has the ability to continue the tradition of talent at the quarterback position for Eastern.

VN: What’s the mood around campus about this game? Are students and fans absolutely expecting victory considering Idaho has struggled as of late?

Josh: The students are excited. I think there is a buzz surrounding this game because of how last season went. The fans are looking forward to seeing their Eagles this year. I’m not sure if they’re expecting a sure victory. Even though the Vandals finished 2-10 last season, they’re still a talented team. Senior Ryan Bass is a heck of a back that can give Eastern’s defense fits. Dominique Blackman is a great quarterback who I think will surprise a lot of people. Head coach Robb Akey will definitely have his team ready, so it’s by no means a gimmie for Eastern. But the Eagles will be ready. Padron is excited to show off what he can do. He has Nicholas Edwards, Greg Herd and Brandon Kaufman, three outstanding receivers, to sling the ball to. There will certainly be fireworks at the Kibbie Dome.

Best case/Worst case/Our prediction

Best case scenario: Idaho comes out aggressive and confident on defense. Defensive ends Maxx Forde and Vince Keener acquaint Kyle Padron with the Kibbie Dome turf quite often. Idaho gets a couple of turnovers to set up the Idaho offense with short fields. Idaho is able to sustain drives, kill clock and make Padron hold his helmet most of the afternoon. Idaho takes a close game in the third quarter and blows it open comfortably in the 4th quarter. Idaho wins 27-13

The Detroit Lions cut Kellen Moore, forcing him in to insurance sales.

Worst case scenario:  Kyle Padron is dominant, his pocket is clean and comfortable all day long and he’s able to distribute the ball to his ridiculous plethora of weapons all day long. Idaho’s offense can’t stay on the field, getting one or two first downs on most drives. The young offensive line struggles. Despite a close game in the 4th quarter the demons of 2011 return and Idaho can’t close it out. Eastern wins 30-20

Boise State wrecks Michigan State on Saturday, jumping in to the top ten in all polls. Chris Peterson is Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Our prediction: Finish, finish, finish, Akey said he has told his team all fall. That will be critical tonight, since the Eagles could be well within striking distance in the fourth quarter. It’s well documented the extremes in which one possession games have gone for the Vandals under Akey, positively in 2009, negatively in 2011. This game will set the stage for how that can go for Idaho in 2012. Idaho wins a close one: 27-23

Oh, and we have Michigan State taking care of Boise. Don’t worry.

Wrapping up

Kickoff will be 6 p.m. at the Kibbie Dome and we’ll be live blogging the action for you either here or on the twitter feed (@VandalNation). You can also listen to the radio broadcast on KUOI 89.3 FM or online at KUOI.org starting at 5:30 p.m. with the 4th and Downtown pre-game show. Please shoot us any questions you have about the game and we’ll try to answer them to the best of our ability.

(Update 8/23):

This afternoon was the last time the team will hit the SprinTurf before kickoff against Eastern next Thursday. The Vandals will spend game week in the Kibbie Dome with practices closed to the public and media.

Some notes from today’s practice:

- QB Chad Chalich was in shorts and not participating, again. Meanwhile, fellow freshman Austin DeCoud was getting a good amount of reps. It’s appearing very likely that Chalich redshirts.
- DE Benson Mayowa was back out practicing, but was in shorts. Akey said he is still sorting through a few things. Don’t look for him to play against Eastern.
- Taylor Davis spent more time holding his helmet than he did throwing a football. Logan Bushnell got a majority of the snaps with the second team. We adjusted the depth chart accordingly.
- We were able to talk to Su’a Tuala, Gary Walker and corners coach Patrick Libey after practice today. The general message was that the Vandals are aware of what Eastern Washington did at Husky Stadium last season.
- According to this tweet from Maxx Forde, QB Logan Bushnell and Moscow native RB Justin Parkins have been put on scholarship

(Update 8/22):

The Vandals hit the practice field Wednesday for day one of game week preparations for Eastern Washington, and it was easy to see the culmination of an entire fall’s worth of pre-season practices and scrimmages.

A few notes to take away from the practice:

- TE Taylor Elmo returned to practice and was a full pads participant. Coach Akey left it up in the air what his future will be this season, he could redshirt.
- RB Joshua Hadley has joined the roster. The true freshman from the Sacramento area had been rumored to be joining the team for some time now but it has just recently become official.
- DE Benson Mayowa was not a participant in practice, and hasn’t been all fall. Akey didn’t set a specific time table for his return but said that they would like him to be back as soon as possible. It seems very unlikely that he will play Thursday.
- RB Todd Handley was fielding punts with WR Justin Veltung. He’ll likely get the call if Veltung isn’t quite 100-percent come game time.
- QB Chad Chalich was in shorts and not participating. Akey said that he hasn’t been redshirted.

We’ve updated the depth charts, changes will be highlighted.

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From the original post: Wednesday afternoon will officially mark day one of the regular season for Idaho football – Game week preparation begins for Eastern Washington’s visit to the Kibbie Dome next Thursday.

Needless to say, fall depth chart positions this fall were open for competition following last seasons’ 2-10 showing.

We’ll keep this one short and sweet – Keep in mind that this is not an official athletic department depth chart, but instead one that we have projected based on observations and educated guesses. Also, we’ll probably do one more of these before game day. So, without further ado, the official Vandal Nation depth chart projections:

OFFENSE

Quarterback:

Dominique Blackman is the announced starter. Taylor Davis and Logan Bushnell are competing for the back-up job, but Davis has more experience and overall talent. Update: We’ve chosen Austin DeCoud as the emergency QB. Let’s hope that he gets to fulfill his redshirt year. Update 2: Bushnell and Davis have been competing the latter part of the fall for the back-up job, but it seems clear today that Bushnell has broken through by the number of snaps he received with the second team. Coach Akey wouldn’t commit one way or the other when asked about it, but we’ll see how the spots behind Blackman work themselves out if push ever comes to shove. 

QB1: Dominique Blackman, Jr.
QB2: Logan Bushnell, Sr. 
QB3: Taylor Davis, Jr. 
QB4 (likely to redshirt): Austin DeCoud Fr.
QB5 (most likely to redshirt): Chad Chalich, Fr.

Running back:

Keep an eye on the platoon there with the first team. Ryan Bass will start, presenting elusiveness and big play ability. James Baker will be the downhill presence on third downs and goal lines. Update: We’ve added Josh Hadley ahead of Justin Parkins. He’ll get an opportunity for carries but for now the speed of Todd Handley puts him at the tier below Bass/Baker. Update 2: Hadley is being worked in really slowly. It’s too soon to think he will redshirt, the situation behind Bass and Baker will likely be very fluid the first couple of weeks. We still have Handley leading the reserves. 

Ryan Bass has juked his way to the top spot of the depth chart

RB1: Ryan Bass, Sr.
RB1: James Baker, Jr.
RB2: Todd Handley, RS Fr.
RB3: Justin Parkins, RS Fr.
RB4: Joshua Hadley, Fr. 

Wide Receiver:

This will be the unit to watch on offense. An abundance of speed and yards after catch ability, it’s only a matter of each player stepping in to their roles and jelling as a unit. A number of players can break through as that fifth receiver but we’ve picked an early favorite that could surprise some people. Update: Redshirt freshman Marquan Major was a factor in a lot of the scrimmages playing with the ones and the twos, and we are ready to put him at the fifth receiver spot. He provides some height that most of the receiver core lacks.

Split-End: Mike Scott, Sr.
Flanker: Justin Veltung, Jr.
Slot: Najee Lovett, Jr.
WR4: Jahrie Level, Jr.
WR5: Marquan Major, RS Fr.

Tight End:

This is a tough position to project. The roles of tight ends in the offensive philosophy seems to have changed, but nobody will really know until the offense gets to play an actual game. Update: Elmo has been dropped from the three-deep because of his uncertain role in 2012.

TE1: Michael LaGrone, Jr.
TE2: Clayton Homme, Jr.
TE3: Justin Podrabsky, So. 

Offensive Line:

The fat five, as coach Akey so affectionately puts it, appears pretty set forward barring injury. The back-ups are a little tougher to project. With the starters keep in mind that the starting quarterback is left handed, meaning the upper classmen on the line will be protecting his blindside. Update: Lewiston native Spencer Beale has ran with both the first and second team and will serve as the sixth offensive linemen.

Starters from left to right: LT Cody Elenz (RS Fr.), LG Dallas Sandberg (RS Fr.), C Mike Marboe (RS So.), RG Spencer Beale (So.), RT Jordan Johnson (Jr.)
‘Sixth man’ utility: AJ Jones, Sr.
Other back-ups could include: Kyle Salm (So.), Larry Dugan (Jr.), Chester Faiai (Jr.), when healthy Guy Reynolds (RS Jr.), Nick Van Rotz (Jr.)

Defense

Defensive Line:

It will be more than four guys that will be able to make an impact this season on the Vandal defensive line. Defensive coordinator Mark Criner will count on a rotation of guys to improve on the anemic pass rush from last season. ‘Starters’ are listed first in the rotation. Update: Benson Mayowa has been dropped from the rotation for now until his role in 2012 becomes more clear.

Defensive end rotation: Maxx Forde (So.), Vince Keener (Jr.), Quinton Bradley (RS Fr.), Marius Burgsmueller (So.),
Defensive tackle rotation: Jesse Davis (So.), Quayshawne Buckley (Jr.), Karel Kearney (So.), Dontae Scott (So.), Ryan Edwards (RS Fr.),

Linebacker:

There will be a lot of starting by committee here, which is a good thing. The unit will have the ability to be flexible and throw guys out there based on strengths. While we will list Homer Mauga as a second team player he’s gotten plenty of looks with the first team. Update: Siavii appears to be the odd man out in the starting three, but that shouldn’t stop him from playing 30+ snaps on Thursday.

Mike 1: Su’a Tuala, Sr.
Mike 2: Matt Willis, Jr.

OLB 1: Homer Mauga, Sr.
OLB 2: Rob Siavii, Sr.

OLB 1: Conrad Scheidt, Sr.
OLB 2: Rob Siavii, Sr.

Secondary:

Gary Walker is arguably one of the best safeties in the WAC

The secondary will be a fluid situation outside the starting four in the base 4-3 package. Thaad Thompson and Solomon Dixon could see the field quite a bit in Nickel and Dime packages.

CB1: Aaron Grymes, Sr.
CB2: Tracy Carter, Jr.
CB3: Solomon Dixon, Jr.
CB4: Jayshawn Jordan, Fr.
CB5: Christian Whitehead, Jr.

FS1: Gary Walker, Sr.
FS2: Bradley Njoku, So.

SS1: Trey Williams, Jr.
SS2: Thaad Thompson, Sr.

Special teams

Kicker & KOS 1: Trey Farquhar, Sr.
Kicker & KOS 2: Jace Johnson, Fr.
KOS 3: Bobby Cowan, Sr.

Punter 1: Bobby Cowan, Sr.
Punter 2: It’s best not to think about what would happen if Bobby Cowan got hurt

KR 1: Tracy Carter, Jr.
KR 2: Justin Veltung, Sr.
KR 3: Ryan Bass, Sr.

PR 1: Justin Veltung, Sr.
PR 2: Todd Handley, RS Fr.

University President Duane Nellis and athletic director Rob Spear met with media members Friday afternoon after the State Board of Education vote. The actual announcement for “exploring” independence is not a surprise to anybody, it’s been anticipated for the last month now. But it is very refreshing to hear the school’s administration actually come out and say it.

Who’s got some carpet cleaner for that?

It’s also refreshing to see that Spear seemingly has the pieces in place to complete a two-year independent schedule that will allow Idaho to abide by the NCAA rules required to maintain Division-I Football Subdivision status (mainly, five home games, only one against an FCS opponent).

Spear said that within the next three weeks the school hopes to have both the schedule finalized as well as have a definitive decision on whether their olympic sports will reside in the Big Sky or the Western Athletic Conference.

The three biggest things to come out of Spear’s and Nellis’ comments were that:

1. Spear seems like he has a full 12 game schedule nearly lined up, but wasn’t able to announce the schools due not having the contracts signed. It’s why he needed SBOE approval. Spear said that they have five games under contract right now (only four are public at the moment), have three pending contracts, were negotiating two and had an “understanding” with New Mexico State on a home and home during the 2013 season (as in, would play twice in that year alone).
2. Idaho has not withdrawn from the Western Athletic Conference yet, nor do they have the explicit intent to as of this moment and time. More on that below.
3. Spear said that there were preliminary discussions with the Idaho Potato Bowl on a bowl affiliation during independence.

Nellis said that Idaho still remains in frequent conversation with the WAC, something that interim WAC commissioner Jeff Hurd confirmed in a separate call with Vandal Nation afterwards. Hurd said that the WAC board of directors will have a conference call next week and that Nellis and Idaho will be a part of that.

Hurd not only understands, but agrees with Idaho’s three week timeline on making an olympic sport decision. “Everybody has to be able to move on,” he said.

The WAC’s most likely targets for expansion include Great West schools such as Utah Valley, South Dakota, Cal State-Bakersfield and Texas Pan-American. If Idaho remains in the WAC then four additional schools should save the conference as an olympic sport conference.

Still, it’s hard to imagine Idaho ultimately saying no to the Big Sky for their non-football sports. The decreased travel costs and regional rivalries is convincing enough.

We’ll have more on the 2013 football schedule and Idaho’s decision between the WAC and Big Sky when it comes out.

Here is Idaho’s 2013 schedule as it stands now:

Aug. 31: At Ole Miss
Sep. 07: at Wyoming
Sep. 14: vs. Northern Illinois
Sep. 21: At Washington State

Here is our story from earlier on the actual SBOE vote.

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It’s official. The University of Idaho, on a 5-1 vote from the State Board of Education, received permission Friday to pursue it’s ultimate goal of independence. In addition, the board granted UI permission to explore the possibility of moving to the Big Sky in all sports, if going Independent falls through.

However, Spear stated he was confident that Idaho would be able to schedule a full slate of opponents as an Independent Football Sub-Division program. This isn’t to say that Spear and Idaho won’t set the Big Sky option aside. Idaho has planned a move to the BSC in Olympic sports but Spear expressed his appreciation to the board, as he will continue discussions with the conference from a football perspective.

“@Rob_Spear: Thank you Idaho SBOE for supporting our motion to explore football independence and allowing us flexibility in our discussions with the BS” Spear tweeted following the decision.

State Board President Kenneth Edmunds was the only member to vote against the move. Edmunds stated that he would like to see Idaho return to the board if they opt to join the Big Sky as a FCS football program.

Idaho’s third football scrimmage of the fall was probably the least eventful to thing to come out of the Vandalsphere on Thursday, but still it was played and the optimism brimming from it could/should give some Vandal fans a reprieve from independence and Big Sky madness.

Ryan Bass went beast mode on Thursday

The story of the afternoon was undoubtably the running game, that had been relatively non-existent for most of the fall, springing to life with 174 rushing yards and five touchdowns. In the previous scrimmage, Vandal running backs only contributed 33 yards of offense on the ground.

“I might have mentioned ‘hey, make sure we don’t forget about the running game,’” coach Robb Akey said. “It was a conscious part of what we wanted to get accomplished today.”

Senior Ryan Bass was an incredibly welcome sight for the offense, as he made his presence felt from the very first series en-route to 68 yards on 11 attempts. It was apparent from the get go that the offense was going to establish the run early and often. Bass touched the ball more than anybody else on the first drive, which set up him hurdling in to the endzone from one yard out for the touchdown. Bass consistently showed shiftiness and big play ability, with the offensive line doing their part in opening up gaping holes (Insert RB coach Wayne Moses/Red Sea joke here).

Bass finished the day with 68 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns. James Baker had 22 yards on six carries, with back up Todd Handley racking up 68 yards on 7 carries, including a 55 yard touchdown run.

“Runningbacks probably had the best day off the offense today. Not trying to be cocky, but we had a good day,” Bass said. “The O-Line did a great job of blocking, they did all their assignments right.”

That first team offensive line that was creating gaping holes appears to be set with redshirt freshmen Cody Elenz and Dallas Sandberg on the left side, sophomore Mike Marboe at center, and Dominique Blackman’s blindside being protected by senior A.J. Jones at right guard and junior Jordan Jefferson at right tackle.

More notes on the scrimmage after the jump:

Offense:

- QB Dominique Blackman seems like he is getting a good grip on the offense. There are things that will need to be tightened up as the fall goes on, such as deep passing accuracy and making crisp throws in the red zone, but his short quick passing game ability affirms that this coaching staff probably made the right decision naming him the starter. He finished 14-21 with 114 yards during the scrimmage.

- RB James Baker didn’t have as impressive numbers as Bass but it doesn’t mean he didn’t have a solid scrimmage. It’s looking more and more like Baker is going to be an important part of the Vandals first team offense, especially on the goal line and on passing downs with his blocking ability. Baker will probably see the field a lot on third downs. Todd Handley and Justin Parkins will be in the picture immediately behind Bass and Baker should injuries or academic situations creep back up.

- Najee Lovett had a solid game, catching four balls for 38 yards. He and Jahrie Level seem pretty established with Justin Veltung and Mike Soctt as the top tier depth chart wide receivers. Idaho used quite a bit of formations that got four receivers out on the field at the same time, and it will be interesting to see where those players are mixed and matched. Veltung and Lovett are shifty, yard after catch type receivers. Level will provide  a stretch the field ability. Scott fits in anywhere you put him.

- Somebody put out an amber alert for Vandal tight ends. Taylor Elmo has sat out most of the spring sorting through his academic situation, while Michael LaGrone had to sit out after a having his back stepped on “by a size 13 cleat,” Akey said. Justin Podrabsky and Clayton Homme each had receptions in the scrimmage.

- Offensive lineman Ben Westrum was carted off the field later in the scrimmage. Akey said it appeared to be an ankle injury.

Defense:

- The starting defensive line is pretty set. Maxx Forde and Vince Keener are on the outside with Quayshawne Buckley and Jesse Davis on the inside again, but this “starting” group is as tentative as it gets. Steady rotation will be required for the line to be successful. Benson Mayowa will undoubtedly be in the picture when he returns to the team. DE Marius Burgsmueller,  DT Dontae Scott, DE Quinton Bradley and DT Karel Kearney are mixing it up with the second team, which means they’ll be competing to be in the rotation mix.

- Scott had a cool moment when a batted ball fell in to his arms for an interception around mid-field. The big defensive tackle was able to make it 36 yards before he was caught from behind.

- MLB James Randall suffered a broken ankle last Tuesday at practice that will threaten the rest of his season. Matthew Willis will step in his place at back-up middle linebacker. Su’a Tuala remains the starter there, with Homer Mauga, Robert Siavii and Conrad Scheidt rotating among the outside backer spots.

- S Trey Williams seems like he has broken through as the starter next to Gary Walker. S Thaad Thompson and CB Solomon Dixon should still be involved in certain packages. Keep on eye on freshman CB Jayshawn Jordan, he ran with the second team most of the fall and can see the field covering slot receivers in situations where teams go four and five wide.

Special teams:

- K Trey Farquhar didn’t disappoint this time around. He comfortably nailed a 51 yarder.

We first broke on twitter earlier this afternoon a tweet from Dominique Blackman that proclaimed he had been told he’s been named the starter for the season opener against Eastern Washington. Now it appears that that has been made official.

The decision is not one that is surprising in the least bit. Blackman was the better performer during the spring game and the first two scrimmages of the fall, throwing for over 360 yards and six touchdowns combined over the two scrimmages.

Dominique Blackman is tall. Very tall.

Blackman appeared to be the favorite for most of the fall considering the performances that Taylor Davis put up last year when he had the opportunity to play in place of Brian Reader. For that reason it’s fair to say that coaches had a pretty good idea of what Davis would be capable of and what his ceiling is going to be. Blackman on the other hand hasn’t started a game at the Division I-FBS level in his career, having transferred to Idaho from Old Dominion after a stint at Los Angeles Harbor College.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that coaches are intrigued with his physical stature, standing at 6-foot-5-inches and 255 pounds, with arm strength to match. The question will be his ability to be consistently accurate, mostly down the field, something that has been a little bit hot and cold for him during practices this fall.

Akey also cited Blackman’s preparation as a reason for his being named starter. During the summer Blackman would organize player only workouts, and his vocalness on the field is well documented.

Blackman should now only consistently work with the first team, while Logan Bushnell and Taylor Davis should get alternating looks with the second and third teams. More on that below.

One more quick note on Blackman being named the starter: It should be mentioned that because he is a left handed quarterback, his blind side would be protected by the right guard and right tackle. Those players would be senior A.J. Jones and junior Jordan Johnson. It’s interesting because those are the only upperclassmen on the offensive line. Left tackle Cody Elenz and left guard Dallas Sandberg are both redshirt freshman.

Now, on to scrimmage notes.

It’s hard for the Idaho defense to catch a break; Not on the field, but in the spotlight. The second scrimmage may have been the final hurdle for Blackman being named the starting quarterback, though the real story was the defense coming back with a dominant performance compared to scrimmage No. 1.

Since last Tuesday’s scrimmage, the first of the fall, the talk of Idaho football was the resurgence of the offense, which rolled out five different quarterbacks that eventually led touchdown drives against the defense.

Safe to say that didn’t sit well with the defensive unit, so they did something about it. The defense came out strong as they cut the number of touchdowns scored in last Saturday’s scrimmage by more than half compared to the first one.

Along with only giving up only 4.2 yards per play, passing and rushing, the defense racked up four turnovers, eight sacks and forced two 40+ yard field goal situations that Trey Farquhar missed.

Defensive coordinator Mark Criner cited the expansion of the defensive playbook from the start of fall camp as well as the return of three starters in CB Tracy Carter, S Thaad Thompson and MLB Su’a Tuala for the drastic turnaround.

“Those three players add to the speed of our defense,” he said. “We were able to do more different packages with our defense today. We didn’t have a whole lot in our playbook that first scrimmage, so the quarterbacks were able to get the ball out quicker with our corners playing off. With that in, we’re package and to the package.”

Coverage was tight during much of the scrimmage, with most completions coming on sideline routes or short up the middle. The defensive line, led by Maxx Forde who had three sacks on the day, was a regular inhabitant of the backfield, which is expected as the Vandals break in two freshman on the left side of the first team offensive line and try to figure out who fits in where on the second team.

Offense: 

Blackman’s performance Saturday was the nail in the coffin for him clinching the starting job.

He finished the day 9-14 passing for 167 yards and two touchdowns. His most impressive throw of the day came on a wheel route to runningback Todd Handley, placing it perfectly in Handley’s bread basket as he busted it down the sideline for a 72-yard touchdown. He was also consistently getting more reps during most of the scrimmage than Taylor Davis.

At one point of the scrimmage supposed third stringer Logan Bushnell was taking as many snaps as the two players competing for the starting job. That’s not an indication of Bushnell competing for the starting job, but instead an indication of Bushnell competing for the back-up job. Bushnell actually finished the day with the most passing attempts.

Davis finished the day 3-6 passing with 80 yards and a 67-yard catch and go touchdown to Mike Scott. Davis didn’t seem to be getting much help from his offensive line, and one of his incomplete passes was a rough drop on a corner route on a well thrown ball by Davis.

- The rushing attack was stymied for the most part because of the penetration the defensive line was getting in to the back field. Ryan Bass sat out as he continues to sort through academic issues, coaches said. James Baker got the most carries with six, as expected. Justin Parkins touched the ball five times, Todd Handley rushed the ball three times and caught two passes, and Donovan Cunningham got three carries.

There is still not set rotation.

“Situational types, you put a guy in for this situation, put a guy in for that situation,” Jason Gesser said. “Runningbacks are just like quarterbackss, one hit and you’re down to that second guy. They all need to be ready to play.”

Baker had a nice moment when he bowled in to the endzone from two yards out for the touchdown. That kind of physical goal line running was absent for the Vandals last season. (Sorry, Homer Mauga, no linebacker goal line carries this year.)

- Another day, another wide receiver putting himself in the spotlight. Freshman Camryn Harris took a pass from Dominique Blackman 39-yards to the house by juking his defenders and taking off down the sideline. He finished with three receptions for 62 yards. Justin Veltung did not participate, still nursing that ankle injury. Mike Scott had a Mike Scott day, finishing with four catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. Projected starters Jahrie Level and Najee Lovett only had a reception each.

- The offensive line remained the same, with Cody Elenz and Dallas Sandberg manning the left side of the offensive line. It wasn’t pretty for them or the second team offensive line unit for much of the day. Akey remains confident in those guys and it appears that those are the guys we will see when the team takes the field against Eastern Washington. Just be ready for some growing pains with them.

Defense:

Depth and experience is all that really needs to be said about this unit. It was a night and day performance for this defense compared to the first scrimmage. The defense also has a luxury that the offense does not, which is knowing exactly what their depth chart looks like. With the return of three defensive starters, Criner said he was able to open the playbook up more and that it is just a matter of refining what they do.

- The defensive line rotation was at times straight up dominant. Maxx Forde, Quayshawne Buckley, Jesse Davis and Vince Keener looked to be the starting unit. Benson Mayowa, who sat out of the scrimmage for academic reasons, looks to be in the picture as well. Sophomore defensive tackle Karel Kearney had two sacks on the day.

- The five man rotation at linebacker that Criner was talking about came to fruition Saturday. Su’a Tuala started at middle linebacker and finished with a tackle and a forced fumble, while Conrad Scheidt, Robert Siavii and Homer Mauga rotated among the outside linebacker spots. Randall James mostly got a spin with the second team at linebacker but will be in the first team conversation.

- Thaad Thompson and Tracy Carter made their 2012 fall debuts in the secondary and it appeared to make a huge difference. Rarely anything was completed deep down the field, which may have had as much to do with the defensive line pressure. Their play forced the quarterbacks to mostly look to the sideline and middle of the field short to complete passes.

The offense was able to have their moments against the secondary with yards after the catch, including Mike Scott’s score from Davis catching a slant up the middle and easily running it in for a 67-yard score. Pretty much the same thing with Harris’ 39-yard score and Handley’s 72-yard score. Tackling will be an area to watch during the third scrimmage.

S Trey Williams and CB Solomon Dixon played well in the absence of those two during practices, and against pass heavy teams like La. Tech will probably see the field quite a bit, so that secondary depth will be important.

Special Teams

Contrary to what one would expect, there weren’t many sunshine and rainbow moments for the special teams units. Kicker Trey Farquhar missed field goals from 41 and 47 yards out. Jahrie Level muffed a punt and instead of trying to jump on top of it, tried to pick it up which led to the punting team running it in for a touchdown instead.

The good is that the punt that led to the punt team touchdown was a 64-yard boot from Bobby Cowan. Eagle, Idaho product Jace Johnson also nailed a 50-yard field goal.

Next scrimmage

This Thursday at 2:30 at the Kibbie Dome. Last fall pre-season practice is on Saturday afternoon before game week begins for Eastern Washington

Jahrie Level catches a TD at El Camino CC (Courtesy of El Camino CC)

It’s been a week now since Idaho football kicked off fall pre-season practice. Since Thursday’s opening practice the team has gone through its first couple of practices in full pads, had a couple two-a-days and played the first of three scrimmages. The scrimmage took part last Saturday afternoon in the Kibbie Dome, and was the first chance that coaches had an opportunity to really evaluate the two quarterbacks competing for the starting job.

Statistically, Dominique Blackman had the edge throwing four touchdown passes and 181 yards on 16 completions out of 21 attempts. Taylor Davis was 6 for 14 with 75 yards. Reps between the two haven’t fluctuated much from the start of fall camp, though it would be hard not to think that Blackman hasn’t at least created some separation in the competition. There is a long way to go in the competition with Akey not likely to name a starter until after the third scrimmage on Aug. 16.

The real storyline from the scrimmage is more than just the two quarterbacks. The entire offense clicked with all five quarterbacks leading touchdown drives, with significant contributions at the skill position spots from Junior College transfers.

RB James Baker ran for 50 yards on 6.25 yards per carry. Baker, who transferred from a JUCO in Florida, looks like he could be well on his way to becoming the starting back. Ryan Bass is currently out sorting through academic eligibility issues, and will certainly be in the picture to get significant carries when he gets back. The two backs present different skill sets and could compliment each other well.

At the wide receiver spot Mike Scott led the way, as expected, with five catches for 85 yards. Behind Scott, Najee Lovett hauled in six catches for 59 yards, while Jahri Level had four catches for 42 yards.

Level, a late summer scholarship signee from El Camino College in Los Angeles, has been steadily turning heads through the first week of practice as an outside target presenting shiftiness and speed after the catch. Tentatively it seems that he has worked his way in to the top four or five of the receiver depth chart. Mike Scott and Justin Veltung are well entrenched as starters, with Lovett and Level right there in the next tier. Robert Hatchett III is another player to watch in the WR conversation.

Depth charts for the rest of the team are also started to become more clear post-scrimmage during Wednesday’s practice.

The first team offensive line remained, from left to right: RS Fr. Cody Elenz, RS Fr. Dallas Sandberg, RS So. Mike Marboe, Sr. A.J. Jones and Jr Jordan Johnson.

We had another chance to talk with defensive coordinator Mark Criner about how the defense is shaping up. He said that No. 22 James Randall has made the permanent change from safety to starting Mike linebacker until Sua Tuala re-joins the team. Criner plans to rotate in five different players at the three different spots, with Rob Siavii, Homer Mauga and Conrad Scheidt being rotated among the outside backer positions.

It was harder to get a read on the starting defensive line with the rotation that Criner was working at that spot. Maxx Forde, Quayshawne Buckley and Vince Keener look like they are going to be heavily involved in that rotation. Look for senior DE Benson Mayowa to be involved in that starting unit as well.

In the secondary, No. 7 S Trey Williams is really impressing in the spot next to Gary Walker. Williams made a great play during Wednesday morning’s practice jumping a Justin Veltung sideline route to pick Dominique Blackman on a play that probably would have been a defensive touchdown in a game situation. It could be hard for Criner to take Williams off the field for Thaad Thompson.

Solomon Dixon remained the starting corner opposite of Aaron Grymes, with Dion Bass and freshman Jayshawn Jordan working with the second team. Christian Whitehead jumped in on some first team reps for Dixon later on in practice, though Criner said that was more to give guys rest.

Check back later tonight for video.

RB coach Wayne Moses during the first practice. James Baker, No. 7, ran with the starters during Friday’s practice. (Photo courtesy of Spencer Farrin)

Coach Robb Akey made the final addition to his staff yesterday bringing on experienced running backs coach Wayne Moses. Moses coached last year at UCLA and has had stops with the St. Louis Rams, Stanford, USC, Washington and California.

“Coach Akey and I go way back in terms of recruiting against eachother. I have a lot of respect for who he is as a coach, so when this opportunity came up I was excited about it,” he said of the opportunity.

Idaho is a bit of a different environment than what Moses has been used to, but having played and coached at Washington he has familiarity with the pacific Northwest. He doesn’t seem to think there will be much of a difference being at a smaller school.

“It’s football. Field is 100-yards long, we run the power play here the same we ran it in the Pac-12,” he said.

Oh, and President Duane Nellis was at practice today. That was neat.

As for day two of practice, we know everybody wants to know about the quarterback battle so we’ll get right in to it along with other notes from the offensive side of the ball.

• Dominique Blackman ran with the starters today, but that is something that shouldn’t be read in to very much. Akey said he was going to give both him and Taylor Davis an opportunity to work with different offensive players through different situations. Davis should run with the starters some time this weekend.
• Davis was the more consistent of the QBs during practice No. 2 but Blackman had enough really impressive throws to keep either one from standing out very much. But, again, a lot of this really doesn’t mean much at all until coaches get a chance to evaluate the quarterbacks in pads during scrimmages.
• As far as the running back position goes, as Idaho looks to replace production lost with Princeton McCarty and Kama Bailey, JUCO transfer James Baker ran with the starters today and looked really impressive. The 6-2, 225 pound back is a physical downhill runner with a little bit of burst and looks like he could add an element to Idaho’s running game that didn’t exist last season. There was no sighting of Ryan Bass, we weren’t able to find out why.
• On the wide receiver front Justin Veltung seemed to be moving around pretty well coming off of his foot injury. Mike Scott was abusing Aaron Grymes during 1-on-1s. But a kid to keep your eye on is No. 19 Jahri Level, who was out there making plays all practice.
• The first-team offensive line was really young. Two redshirt freshman manned the left side of the line, Cody Elenz at LT and Dallas Sandberg at LG. Mike Marboe and AJ Jones were at C and RG respectively, as expected. Junior Nick Van Rotz ran at RT with the ones. The second-team offensive line had an episode where they were drawn off for false starts by the defense twice in a row during offense v. defense drills. Gesser was very animated afterwards, with words that we cannot print here on this family friendly blog.

For the defensive side of the ball we had a chance to meet with defensive coordinator Mark Criner and linebacker Rob Siavii.

Siavii said his leg feels really good and that he’s 100-percent right now. Said it feels great to be out there.

“It’s been a year and it’s been boring just watching. It’s exciting to play the game,” he said.

With Korey Toomer and Tre’Shawn Robinson graduated, Siavii acknowledged that he is taking a leadership role with some of the younger front seven players. He said that he looked up to JoJo Dickson and Robinson when he was a younger player and that he is embracing the “older brother” role this season. And speaking of being an older brother, Siavii isn’t taking it easy on his little brother Russell, a freshman linebacker this fall.

“We’re a family and all that, but there’s traditions here. You gotta go through everything, freshman gotta do their singing, their little rituals, he doesn’t get a ticket.”

As for Criner’s comments and some defensive depth charts:

• Criner said Tracey Carter, who is out with an injury right now, will be the starter opposite Aaron Grymes at corner. Solomon Dixon, who ran with the starters today, is a “close second.” On the safety front, Gary Walker and Trey Williams are slated to start back there. Criner said that Dixon and safety Thaad Thompson will be seen a lot in nickel packages.
• He expressed confidence in the linebacking core despite the loss of Toomer and Robinson. The starters during drills rotated some but it was mainly Conrad Scheidt, Siavii and Homer Mauga. Siavii was all over the field making plays during pass defense drills. Look for JUCO transfer Mathew Willis to get a lot of looks at the middle linebacker spot as well.
• Starting D-Line from LE to RE appeared to be Vince Keener, Quayshawne Buckley, Jesse Davis and Maxx Forde.

Before we end this post, here are some videos from the first fall practice yesterday that we couldn’t get out to you last night due to some technical difficulties.

Dominique Blackman(middle) and Taylor Davis(right) are on even ground for the starting QB race heading in to fall, Akey said

Finish. Finish. Finish. Finish. Say that word about 755 more times and you will arrive at how many times coach Robb Akey said that he used the word, or that theme, last week at WAC Media days in Las Vegas.

So come time when the Idaho football team hits the practice field for the first time in the fall, guess what the theme will be?

“I used the finish 759 times just in the media day alone, for an hour and a half. That was talking to cameras. So you can imagine what it’s going to be like talking to these players,” Akey said. “I’m gonna blow a horn they’re gonna know when the last quarter of practice begins for the next 29 practices. They’re gonna finish their dinner plates. We’re gonna finish everything.”

As he did during media days last week, Akey once again compared last years team to the 2009 version that won the Humanitarian Bowl. Last season the Vandals lost four games by one possession or less, four games that if swung the other way could have made Idaho bowl eligible. In contrast, in 2009 the Vandals won four regular season games by a touchdown or less. Five including the bowl victory.

“We made the play in the bowl season, we didn’t find a way to make the play last year. That is the bottom line. There is that fine a line between winning and not winning. That is a lot of what we’re paying attention to,” he said.

Idaho will hit the practice field on Thursday, Aug. 2 with their first scrimmage slated to happen on Tuesday, Aug. 7 and there should be story lines galore to follow, including the hotly contested quarterback battle and the health of the offensive line.

On top of that, Thursday will be something of a refreshment for the program. Since the Vandals last hit the practice field in the spring the atmosphere around the program has changed immensely with the waves of conference re-alignment crashing down around it. But there is still, at the very least, one more year of WAC football to be played and Idaho intends to make the most of it.

“The focus can be on teaching these guys, seeing how they respond to being out there, watching film and letting everybody else in the world continue to have those debates on all that other stuff,” Akey said. “This is what we live for, coaches, players, we live for this, so yeah I’m very, very excited about that. It’ll be a nice change up.”

Last week at WAC media days, which might as well had been a funeral reception for football in the conference, interim commissioner Jeff Hurd admitted as much that this upcoming season would be the last the conference plays in football for the foreseeable future. Idaho is one of two football playing members that is without a home for 2013, and that this point finding one at all for that season is unlikely. The Mountain West and Sun Belt have shut their doors to Idaho, for now. Competitiveness, or lack there of, on the field has probably played a minor part in that lack of interest.

“I got a football team, I got a coaching staff, I got a guy I look at in the mirror everyday that’s sitting here and I’m kind of tired of people saying that we’re not good enough, we’re not wanted, we’re not gonna do this, we’re not gonna do that,” Akey said. “So we got one thing we can do, we can go prove it or we can live with it. So I’d rather prove that we’re better than that, that’s what’s what this team is gonna do and that’s the way we’re gonna go about things.”

As for 2012 specifically, the Vandals were picked to finish fourth by the media and fifth by the coaches.

“I think it just adds to the chip. I think we have a lot of reasons to have a little attitude right now and that just helps it. I’ve said it before, it’s the one at the end of the season that matters,” Akey said.

On the injury front there isn’t much to report. WR Justin Veltung will be worked in slowly due to a foot injury and will be non-contact in practices for a while.

Here is the rest of what Akey had to say to us in the media this morning:

On the quarterback battle between Taylor Davis and Dominique Blackman

• Reps will be split evenly until separation occurs over the course of practices. Akey wants to see how both players react in certain situations and give them both an opportunity to run with the 1s and 2s.
• Akey insinuated that reps in practice would tilt towards one of the quarterback if and when that separation starts to occur. “Equal opportunity until more opportunity is earned,” he said.
• A starter is likely to be named some time around or before the third scrimmage takes place on Aug. 16

“I’d love to have had that determined a long time ago. But it hasn’t been, and I think that that’s a good thing too, in that they’re both doing good things which is why it hasn’t separated itself yet. But it will separate, I’m anxious to see how much has taken place over the summer when they were doing it on their own,” Akey said. “The sooner the better, but it’s gotta separate itself and I firmly believe it will…it’s not gonna happen immediately, it’ll happen before we start that first game. I promise ya somebody will start that first game.”

On Jason Gesser and the offense

“When we go to fall camp, we start all over again. We start with stance, we start with square one,” he said. “We got the base of our offense, not necessarily Jason’s, but the Vandal offense. We’re gonna re-visit those things and start from there.”

On the offensive line

• Offensive linemen that were held out or weren’t full speed in the spring should all be ready to go in the fall, with the exception of Guy Reynolds

“I thought that was what everybody was the most interested in in regards to our offense, who the fat five is gonna be. We had to protect some guys in spring practice. Had some off season surgey, didn’t get to do quite as much. We’ll be more full force in regards to numbers. And we need to find out who the fat five is gonna be and how many of them are there gonna be. What kind of a core group are we workin with. Is the next center to come in to come in the game, is that the next center, the next guard or the next tackle based on who can get jobs done for us, and that’s what we’ll be looking to identify.”

On the secondary, and if freshman Jayshawn Jordan or Ma’Ne Manaea will get opportunities to play

• CB Aaron Grymes and S Gary Walker are slated to start. Open competition down the depth chart at corner, nickel back and the safety position next to Walker.

“They all got opportunity. We got open arms. If you can come in and help you’re gonna get to play. Now Ma’ Ne comes in, the way he can run and hit he might be able to play. What kind of shape did (the freshman) report in, how prepared are they to do it (will determine if they play).”

On how the season is being dedicated to Ken McRoyal

“He’s gonna be a part of what this team is. He’s gonna be with us, he’s gonna help and everybody is gonna handle that to a little different extent. But there is no if, and or but about it, Kenny Mac is a part of this team and a part of this season. He will help fuel that fire, there is no question about it.”

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Here are a few, crude, videos from the press conference. The first on the team’s refreshment from getting away from conference re-alignment chatter, and the second on the quarterback battle.

Former Idaho Vandals football and basketball broadcaster Bob Curtis passed away Wednesday at his home in Colfax. Curtis was 87.

Courtesy: Idaho Athletic Media Relations

Curtis started his career as a senior at Washington State University calling various games in Idaho, Montana and Washington. He was hired shortly after leaving WSU by Idaho to handle their play-by-play duties which he did until his retirement in 2004.

Curtis is best known for calling 540 consecutive Idaho football games including one in 2003 in which he went through a hip replacement surgery the week before. Curtis also called hundreds of basketball games for the Vandals.

Along with being a Vandal Hall of Fame member, Curtis was named the co-recepient of the National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame Chris Schenkel Award in 2008 and was named the Idaho Sportscaster of the Year 33 times by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Curtis’ name was also given to the press box in the Kibbie Dome when it was remodeled before the 2011 season.

A service to remember Curtis will be held at 10 a.m on August 3 at the Baptist Church in Colfax.

Here is how Vandals everywhere reacted to the news:

“No matter who replaces him, or for how long – Bob Curtis will always be the Voice of the Vandals. The Tribe of the North shrunk by one today; we will miss him.” - Nic Nelson

“I used to love listening to him as a kid with my Dad then all the way through school with the same constant complaint, what is the score? There will be no other true voice of the Vandals.” - Sean Stickler

“Another Vandal great passes on. He was a great guy and what a broadcaster!! He was and always will be to a lot of us “The Voice of the Vandals!! RIP Bob!!!” – Kirk Lamm

RIP Bob Curtis…legendary announcer for the University of Idaho Vandals….grew up listening to him every Sat…#govandals

— Larry Hollifield (@LarryRanch) July 26, 2012

RIP Bob Curtis.Your dedication to our school was unparalleled.#govandals

— Stringer (@seattlevandal) July 26, 2012

Dammit. Pouring some out for Bob Curtis. I can still hear his voice. #govandals

— Josh Starkey (@starkeeey) July 26, 2012

Filed under: Football, News Tagged: Bob Curtis, Football, Kibbie Dome, Voice of the Vandals ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/legendary-voice-of-the-vandals-passes-away/feed/ 2 argonautnation BobCurtis http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/robb-akey-idaho-speak-at-wac-football-media-days/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/robb-akey-idaho-speak-at-wac-football-media-days/#comments Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:46:37 +0000 Sean Kramer http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5560 ]]> With actual football season right around the corner we get to take just a bit of a break from the conference re-alignment chatter and all of the uncertainty for one thing that we know for sure: That the Idaho Vandals will be playing football in the WAC in 2012.

All seven football playing members in the conference were present at the Orleans hotel in Las Vegas, as well as Interim WAC Commissioner Jeff Hurd who had a lot of interesting things to say about the future of the Conference. (I guess we can’t ENTIRELY get away from it, can we?)

Among the zingers was a definitive statement that the WAC would NOT be a football playing conference in 2013 and is instead looking to salvage a future as a non-football member. However, Hurd did make comments about the WAC possibly returning as a football conference in 2014 or 2015. Apparently there were also rumblings around the room that both Seattle and Denver were exploring the possibility of adding football programs as well, but those discussions would be very preliminary. Expect an official announcement within the next couple of weeks.

How would all of that affect Idaho? We will be addressing that next week, so look out for our piece on Idaho’s immediate football and athletic future.

As for actually getting down to business for Idaho football in 2012, Coach Robb Akey, CB Aaron Grymes and WR Mike Scott represented the Vandals down in Las Vegas at the WAC Media event.

Here are the highlights of what Robb Akey and the players had to down in Vegas, with a link to the video at the bottom:

On Ken McRoyal:

• Robb Akey: Our summer didn’t get off to a very good start as a family…that was something that had a great impact on our football team, very emotional. I think our guys been able to come together and help to grow over that. There’s a lot that we hope to see get done in Kenny’s memory.
• Mike Scott: Definitely not an easy situation to deal with. Getting to know this guy and getting so close to him and all of a sudden in a blink of an eye, he’s gone. Basically all we can do is use this situation to bring us together as a team, as close family. We would never hope like anything like this would ever be the reason why we became closer. For whatever reason it happened, and it ended up bringing us tight knit.
• Aaron Grymes: It was devastating to hear at first.  We came together strongly, even though we were far apart at the time. A lot of us got down there for the funeral. I think we’ve turned it around, using it in a positive way, for motivation. It’s still sad to think about, but we know he is still here in spirit and still here with us

The McRoyal comments was the only time that Scott and Grymes chimed in.  After that, one reporter asked Akey about 2012 being a bounce back year, mentioning that Idaho had a “favorable schedule.” Akey interjected in a joking matter with “Can I see the schedule you got in front of you?” In terms of making 2012 a bounce back year it had to be mentioned that the last two seasons have been marred with a gut wrenching amount of one possession losses. Akey went on to address that

 “The bowl game season, that was a season we found a way to win games at the end of games that year. There were a number of games that came down to one or two plays and we made the play late in the ball game. The following year, we were one snap away, the outcome of one play away from back to back bowl seasons at the University of Idaho.”

“Last year was the direct opposite of that bowl team. We didn’t find ways to get the play made when we needed to. Last year that was miserable, ugly finishing. That’s how close it is, that’s how fine a line winning and not winning is.”

On the quarterback situation there are a few bits of information of note. Akey said he had hoped to see quarterback separation by the end of spring, but that neither Dominique Blackman nor Taylor Davis were able to go head and shoulders above the other. Instead, he is hoping that that separation happens by the third scrimmage of the fall.

“Sitting in that room with them and seeing what they can do better we see some great growth with both of them. Hopefully over the summer the need for some of that extra leadership has helped one of those guys a little bit more. And if hasn’t then it’s something that we’re going to get structured in fall camp. I want to see that decision be made sooner than later but I need to see some separation take place.”

We saved the best for last. Here are the Akey-isms that we couldn’t do justice by paraphrasing.

Bobby Cowan could be Idaho’s defensive MVP, Akey said during Idaho’s media day session

On Idaho’s future regarding conferences:

“We’re the red-headed step child. Nobody seems to want the Vandals right now. So I promise you that’s got a chip on my shoulder and I think it irritates these guys too. We want that last conference championship, that’s something that means a lot to us. If we’re the last champion that puts us right there on top.”

On the big boys up front:

“We need to get the offensive line solidified. We’d have seen a little more of that had those kids all been able to go through spring practice. We need to get the fat five formulated here as we get in to fall camp.”

On Ray Guy award pre-season watch list punter Bobby Cowan:

“I can’t say enough about what Bobby Cowan means to this football team. Hopefully we never get to see his tail play. If he does he gives us the opportunity to have field position. He can bang that football.”

For the full video of the session, click here. Courtesy of the WAC.

Filed under: Football, Previews, Sports Tagged: 2012, Akey, Cowan, Football, Idaho, Media, Robb, Vandals, WAC ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/robb-akey-idaho-speak-at-wac-football-media-days/feed/ 0 salkalashni <3 Cowan http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/multiple-parties-joining-effort-to-get-jerry-kramer-in-to-pro-football-hall-of-fame/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/multiple-parties-joining-effort-to-get-jerry-kramer-in-to-pro-football-hall-of-fame/#comments Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:00:36 +0000 Sean Kramer http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5526 ]]> A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to speak with the daughter of one of the most legendary players in Vandal football history – Jerry Kramer.

Kramer’s No. 64 hangs retired in the Kibbie Dome rafters

His daughter, Alicia Kramer, is spearheading the effort to get him on the 2013 ballot for and to be ultimately inducted in to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Alicia is joined by the University of Idaho and the Gallatin Public Affairs group based out of Boise in these efforts. Heck, even Boise State University has joined in the effort with this press release(curiously enough with not a single mention of him playing for Idaho).

The resume for the former Vandal and Green Bay Packers offensive guard is an impressive one. He spent his entire 11-year playing career with the Packers, earning three Pro bowl selections, five All-Pro selections, helped the Packers win the first two ever Super Bowls and was named to the NFL’s 50th anniversary team. Coincidentally enough, Jerry Kramer is the only member of that anniversary team that is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

With that kind of resume there is a general assumption that Jerry Kramer is already in the Hall of Fame. Alicia cited an instance when former Vandal Mark Sclereth sent out a tweet in support of the campaign, after which people would come back to her and say “Wait, your father isn’t in the Hall of Fame?”

Instead, if nominated, this will be the 11th attempt to send Jerry Kramer’s legacy to Canton, OH.

Reasons Alicia has heard as to why her father has yet to receive that prestigious yet elusive invitation include there being too many Lombardi era Packers in the Hall of Fame and that some sports writers are jealous of Jerry Kramer’s success with his book, “Instant Replay”. A new generation of voters doesn’t quite do Jerry Kramer many favors either.

“Voters have changed, some have gone on and done other stuff, some have passed away,” she said. “Through social media I’ve been able to talk to some of the voters and some of them have never seen him, heard of him or seen his portfolio in front of them before. What they have stressed to me is that they need to hear from my dad’s opponents. From Frank Gifford, Roger Staubach, players he played against.”

And sure enough, both Staubach and Gifford have written to voters in support of Jerry Kramer’s last hurrah bid.

After getting shut out in 10 previous attempts, and of what Alicia has described as her father having to call home from Super Bowl festivities to tell his family of the disappointing news, she said she had to make a promise to her father that this will be the last time. Even if there is going to be a feeling of injustice in the Kramer household, there would also be a feeling of peace.

“He always kept a really good attitude about it, it wasn’t really about him at that time. He kind of just looked out after everybody elses feelings,” she said. “Some part of it, he doesn’t seem suprirsed. If you talk to him, he’ll talk to you about it. He feels he should be in there, and if not he doesn’t understand why. He’s just more concerned about us not being upset.”

With just about a month to go before nominations are announced, the campaign is in full force. For starters there is the website JerryKramer4HOF.com in order to help get the general football fan population involved.  And then of course the University of Idaho itself which as aforementioned has joined the campaign.

“It really meant a lot that (the University of Idaho) jumped on board,” Alicia said. “Dad loves that school, went to that school, supports that school. It’s really brought this campaign up a few notches. My focus was in Green Bay and Wisconsin, but to have the University and home state behind it, it really took off.”

In addition to its public endorsement the Idaho athletic department is also planning a Jerry Kramer bobble head for season ticket holders during one of its home football games this fall. Kind of like this awesome Mark Sclereth one from last fall.

For the entire transcript of our interview with Alicia Kramer, click here

Also check out Brian Murphy’s column on the subject in the Idaho Statesman. KREM has an entire page of content dedicated to Kramer’s HOF bid. And if you are so inclined, there is an online petition as well.

Filed under: Football, Sports Tagged: Alicia Kramer, Green Bay Packers, Idaho Vandals, Jerry Kramer, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Sandpoint ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/multiple-parties-joining-effort-to-get-jerry-kramer-in-to-pro-football-hall-of-fame/feed/ 0 salkalashni Jerry Kramer http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/a-summer-update-from-vandal-nation-idaho-cancels-hs-football-camp-akeys-hot-seat-links-and-more/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/a-summer-update-from-vandal-nation-idaho-cancels-hs-football-camp-akeys-hot-seat-links-and-more/#comments Wed, 27 Jun 2012 19:00:21 +0000 Sean Kramer http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5516 ]]>

Winning the Humanitarian Bowl in 2009 made Robb Akey Moscow’s toast of the town. Is his clock ticking in 2012?

It must be summer in Moscow. Looking out the window it’s pouring rain just a day after what felt like 80 degree weather. Gotta love it. Hopefully it being summer is also a good excuse for the lack of content on this blog recently, but that is going to change very soon. Including having the answer that everybody that reads this blog wants to know – Where will the Idaho football team end up? We’ll be tackling that and many more issues very shortly.

We’re also planning on bringing our readers:

• An interview with Alicia Kramer, daughter of former Vandal and Green Bay Packer Jerry Kramer,  who is leading the latest and final attempt to get him in to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• More ‘NFL Vandals’ features and analysis on former Vandals in the NFL
• Interviews with members of the football team for a feature on Ken McRoyal and his time at Idaho
• Pre-season and fall practice coverage as the football team gets ready to tackle what could be their final season in the WAC
• Continued random assortments of coverage of conference re-alignment
• Other bits and pieces of news that can be added to our ridiculously obsessive coverage of Vandal athletics

But for now, here’s a bunch of links and our analysis of the news around Vandal athletics lately:

- Idaho will be canceling its grades 9-12 Fall football camp ’as of Fall 2012′. Although the high schoolers have to pay for these camps, they are a great way for Idaho to get prospective recruits on to campus and to get a taste of what it would be like being a Vandal. Brian Murphy of he Idaho Statesman reported that one high school athlete told him that there was a ‘lack of interest’ in the Idaho’s football camp.

- Is Robb Akey on the hot seat? CBSSports’ Dennis Dodd lists Robb Akey as a 4.0 out of 5 on his hot seat scale, which equates to ‘Warm seat, better start winning.’ Coaches with similar rankings include such New Mexico State’s DeWayne Walker, former Idaho coach John L. Smith at Arkansas (with a 5/5) and Randy Edsall of Maryland. It makes sense. Akey can’t live off of the Humanitarian Bowl victory forever, as the program has systematically taken steps back since then. It might not be ‘Bowl or bust’ but it’s safe to say that another two win season probably won’t cut it.

- Need some good pre-season reading on Idaho football before we start our coverage? Check out Yahoo! Sports and Pre-Snap Read which are counting down every FBS team in the country. Yahoo! has Idaho coming in at No. 118 while Pre-Snap Read has the Vandals at No. 113. Keep in mind, that is out of 124 teams. Needless to say, they aren’t high on the Vandals. Still, it’s good reading.

- University of Idaho President Duane Nellis is in Washington D.C. representing the WAC with the BCS Presidential oversight committee. Of course, they will be discussing the proposed post-season format that Conference commissioners (and Notre Dame) have tentatively agreed to. It’s also good to know that Robb Akey’s mustache will have a seat at the table (just click the link).

- This is older news, but still very relevant. An arrest has been made in relation to the death of Ken McRoyal. We will be on top of this story and have more as it becomes available.

Don’t forget that Vandal Nation can be reached on twitter @VandalNation and on Facebook right here. Tell us what you what like to see covered.

Filed under: Football, Sports Tagged: Akey, BCS, Camps, Jerry Kramer, McRoyal, Rankings, Robb, Vandals, WAC ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/a-summer-update-from-vandal-nation-idaho-cancels-hs-football-camp-akeys-hot-seat-links-and-more/feed/ 0 salkalashni Robbie http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/nfl-vandals-in-2012-treshawn-robinson-3/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/nfl-vandals-in-2012-treshawn-robinson-3/#comments Tue, 29 May 2012 22:00:55 +0000 Sean Kramer http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5482 ]]>

Robinson leads the Vandals on to the field prior to the 2011 season opener

Tre’Shawn Robinson made a name for himself at Idaho, flying around the field and hitting people from his middle linebacker spot. Now in an NFL training camp, Robinson will be afforded the same luxury…sort of.

Despite a senior campaign that saw Robinson rack up 117 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and the accolade of being named to the all-WAC second team, it seems that his future won’t be on the defensive side of the ball.

At the very least, he is still going to get to hit people. The Oakland Raiders signed Robinson as an undrafted free agent the week following the draft to play fullback.

The move to offense for Robinson makes sense. Size and speed are often times the most important factors to NFL teams when evaluating players at certain positions, and in terms of playing linebacker in the NFL those things work against him. Listed at 5-feet-11-inches and 246 pounds, Robinson lacks ideal height for an NFL linebacker, and without the speed to be able to cover ground in coverage there aren’t many defensive schemes in which Robinson fits in.

Fullback is a different story for Robinson. His bulky frame is tailor made for the position and his height becomes somewhat of an advantage, giving him a low point to take on defenders as a blocker. Robinson said that the savviness that served him well playing middle linebacker gives him an edge at fullback as well.

Robinson will be playing in a run heavy variance of the west coast offense under Raiders Offensive Coordinator Greg Knapp. This will ask a little more out of the Oakland fullbacks than just clearing holes as blockers. The ability to run receiving routes out of the backfield might be the most taxing thing for Robinson to get used to, especially considering his competition at the position.

The Raiders also have incumbent starter Marcel Reece, a former Washington Husky receiver and Owen Schmitt, a standout fullback at West Virginia in camp competing for a roster spot. Teams usually carry no more than one fullback, if any, on an active 53-man regular season roster.

Robinson should have a fair opportunity to compete for the role, as competition for many roster spots should be up for grabs under first year head coach Dennis Allen.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

We were able to catch up with TreShawn to see how his NFL career has been going up to this point.

Vandal Nation: Tell us about how the draft process went for you 

Tre’Shawn Robinson: The week before the draft I got a couple calls, Oakland being one of those teams. I wasn’t expected to be drafted, but I expected to be signed the next day. That didn’t happen. I ended up getting a call the following weekend from Oakland to come try out for their rookie mini camp.

VN: What kind of discussions did you have with teams about playing a different position?

TR: Every team had a different outlook. Some teams saw me as a fullback, some teams saw me as a linebacker. Whatever fit their scheme or team needs. I talked to the running backs coach (in Oakland) and he let me know the whole gist of things and what they needed.

VN: What has it been like for you playing on the offensive side of ball? 

TR: In high school I did play fullback, tight end and running back so its not the first time. Mini camp first day was a lot of information a lot to take in and digest. You got an hour for meetings and two hours on the practice field, so from meeting to practice you have to know what you’re doing. You can see the business aspect of it, every little thing counts and you have to do things right all the time.

 VN: What’s been the differences between linebacker and fullback for you? 

TR: I’m still being able to hit people. It’s pretty much the same thing. It is fun I love playing the game of football. Playing different positions, it takes adjusting, as I learn the plays and I learn the position and now I get to read defenses. Playing fullback it helps because I played linebacker in college. I can see what the defense is doing. It’s still fun still learning the process, the more it counts.

VN: What are you going to miss most about Moscow? 

TR: Everything. Idaho, that was my home for four years. I loved it. The bond you build with all the guys on the team. The coaches, the University of Idaho they really make you part of their family. Every little thing.

VN: What’s the biggest difference between the coaches in Oakland and coaches at Idaho? 

TR: I don’t see a big difference, biggest difference I see is that you get a feel for the business aspect of playing professional football. There’s guys that have been here for rookie mini camp and are cut the next day. You don’t get as many chances as you do in college. This is a business and it’s your job now. You have to realize that, so you take it upon yourself to soak up as much as you can. If you don’t do it you’re out.

VN: What was it like stepping on the field with a guy like Darren McFadden? 

TR: It’s surreal. It’s crazy sitting in the meeting room, learning the plays they’re learning for a couple hours. Then going to the practice field and doing the same plays they’re learning for a couple hours. There’s new coaches here in Oakland so they’ve had veterans come in for mini camps, So many things they’ve learned before me. As of now we’re all kind of on the same page learning the new offense. It just doesn’t seem real, I’ve seen these guys on TV for years, they’re big stars, and I’m practicing with them. You’ve got to put that aside and do your job but the first day it was eye opening.

VN: What do you have to do to make sure you stick in Oakland?

TR: Learning the plays. Doing it 110 MPH all the time and work hard. They need to see that you are working hard, working at your craft. The main thing right now is I haven’t made the team. I’ve made the roster as of right now before mini camp. My main goal is to make the 53 man (regular season) roster, as a rookie to do that is a big thing.  When it comes to playing fullback I need to learn the plays.

Filed under: Football Tagged: Draft, Fullback, Greg Knapp, Linebacker, NFL, Oakland Raiders, Tre'Shawn Robinson ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/nfl-vandals-in-2012-treshawn-robinson-3/feed/ 1 salkalashni TreTreFasho http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/idaho-mens-basketball-assistant-ray-lopes-accepts-position-at-washington-state/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/idaho-mens-basketball-assistant-ray-lopes-accepts-position-at-washington-state/#comments Fri, 25 May 2012 00:36:38 +0000 Sean Kramer http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5462 ]]>

Larry Johnson | GoVandals.Net

Washington State announced Tuesday that it has named Ray Lopes assistant men’s basketball coach. Lopes had previously served as associate head coach for the Vandals under Don Verlin.

Though Lopes declined comment to Vandal Nation on the move, Verlin said that Lopes approached him less than two weeks ago to ask him if he could pursue an offer from Washington State coach Ken Bone. Verlin encouraged him to do so.

“Our business is a networking one…I always encourage my assistants if they think they can better themselves, they need to make the best decision for themselves and their families. I’ve never been a person to hold my guys back,” Verlin said.

Verlin said while he didn’t necessarily anticipate a shake up in his coaching staff, it wasn’t a total surprise.

“I don’t know if you’re ever fully prepared for it (but) it’s a part of your business,” he said.

At this point it’s no surprise that Don Verlin’s staff has started to get raided. After all, the team had their best season out of the four that Verlin has been a part of - Idaho finished with 19 victories, finished third in the WAC for a second consecutive year and defeated top two WAC finishers Nevada and New Mexico State.

“What I have to do is figure out which direction we want to go,” Verlin said. “It depends on how I re-arrange my staff. It’s going to take some time to get the right person on board.”

Lopes’ new employer is going on year four with Ken Bone at the helm, who is sitting on an uncomfortably warm seat at the moment. The Cougars made a run to the CBI Tournament this season which followed a trip to the post-season NIT Tournament final four the year prior, results that leave much to be desired. The week prior, Bone demoted assistant coach Jeff Hironaka, which made way for Lopes to join the staff.

“Ray Lopes is an experienced coach who has been at several Division I universities that have had success with his recruiting and coaching abilities,” Bone said in a statement released by the school. “He has won at Washington State before and has been to several NCAA Tournaments…He is a great recruiter with ties all over the country and has had success recruiting to the Palouse.”

The move comes with the hope that Lopes invigorates recruiting efforts on the Cougar side of the Palouse. The many perks of Pac-12 coaching may have helped Lopes in making the decision. In addition to the type of money a Pac-12 school can offer its assistants, being part of a Pac-12 staff could help him climb the coaching ladder and help him land a head coaching job in the future.

Before arriving at Idaho in 2008, Lopes was the head coach at Fresno State from 2002-2005 when he resigned in the face of NCAA violations.

As for who will replace Lopes on the Idaho staff, Verlin said that he hopes to have the final member of his staff in place by July 1.

Filed under: Men's basketball Tagged: Don Verlin, Idaho Vandals, Ken Bone, Ray Lopes, WSU ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/idaho-mens-basketball-assistant-ray-lopes-accepts-position-at-washington-state/feed/ 0 salkalashni Lopessss http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/nfl-vandals-in-2012-princeton-mccarty/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/nfl-vandals-in-2012-princeton-mccarty/#comments Fri, 18 May 2012 20:23:00 +0000 Sean Kramer http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5439 ]]>

Amrah Canul | Argonaut

Princeton McCarty was known by Idaho fans for one thing: Speed.

That speed racked him up over 2,000 yards of rushing offense during his four year career as a Vandal, including his career long 82 yard streak down the sideline touchdown run against BYU just last November.

Luckily for McCarty, speed, sub 4.4 forty-yard dash speed at that, is a good thing to have when a player has dreams of playing in the NFL.  McCarty was signed as an un-drafted free agent by the Carolina Panthers the day the draft ended.

It will be an uphill battle for McCarty to crack the 53-man roster as he signed with a team that already features two of the best young backs in the league in DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, although McCarty said that was part of the allure of signing with the Panthers.

McCarty’s competition will come from fellow un drafted signee RB Tauren Poole of Tennessee. Poole was a hot prospect coming in to the 2011 season but went un drafted after tailing off in 2011 rushing for only 693 yards on a 3.7 per carry clip. Toole was still invited to participate in draft festivities such as the East-West Shrine game and the scouting combine.

McCarty’s chances at breaking on to a 53-man roster in the NFL could depend on what type of niche he could carve out for himself as a scat back type player.

______________________________________________________________________________________

We were able to catch up with McCarty this week to see how his NFL career has gone thus far. Here is the transcript:

Vandal Nation: Describe for us how the draft process went for you

Princeton McCarty: I was just hoping for the best. It was a long draft process, I think I did good. Just waiting and hoping for the best. That’s pretty much how it went, in the later rounds that’s when I started getting a couple calls. There were talks about drafting me. It went to the point to where it was either gonna be I was going to be a late draft pick but if they didn’t take me they still wanted me as a free agent.

VN: What was it about Carolina that made you want to sign there?

PM: That it’s a pretty good offense. Type of offense that they run, lots of college type plays in it. Good backs to learn from. They didn’t have any at the time young backs already on the roster. Rookies or anything, or first year guys like that. Thought it would be a good opportunity.

VN: What has it been like getting to practice with guys like DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart?

PM: It was kind of crazy. I used to watch highlights of DeAgenlo Williams a lot. I thought he had a good running style. (Getting out there with him) It was a good feeling. I asked him a few things about the NFL.

VN: What’s the most noticeable difference between the NFL and playing football at Idaho?

PM: The NFL is a business. It’s attention to detail. Everything is high paced, and it’s just moving. Everything is high tempo.

VN: What are you going to miss most about playing at Idaho?

PM: Probably the Dome. I’ve been playing in the Dome for so long, now that I’m playing outside. That’s one thing I have memories of is playing in the Kibbie Dome.

VN: What do you have to keep doing to stick in the NFL?

PM: Right now it’s playbook. I have to really get the playbook down in order to be successful here. In order to stick. That’s the main thing. You play it’s just about ballin and doing good and that comes natural, but you gotta know what you’re doing out there or you won’t get that chance.

Filed under: Football, Sports Tagged: Carolina, Football, Idaho, McCarty, NFL, Panthers, Princeton, Vandals ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/nfl-vandals-in-2012-princeton-mccarty/feed/ 0 salkalashni Princeton v La Tech http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/coach-robb-akey-remembers-ken-mcroyal/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/coach-robb-akey-remembers-ken-mcroyal/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 00:28:10 +0000 Sean Kramer http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5435 ]]> Head coach Robb Akey was made available this afternoon for comment to the media to address the recent death of WR Ken McRoyal. Full audio of Akey’s comments can be found here.

Filed under: Football ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/coach-robb-akey-remembers-ken-mcroyal/feed/ 0 salkalashni http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/idaho-ken-mcroyal-passes-away-at-the-age-22/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/idaho-ken-mcroyal-passes-away-at-the-age-22/#comments Sun, 13 May 2012 19:15:00 +0000 Sean Kramer http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5408 ]]> By Sean Kramer and Madison McCord

The University of Idaho family has lost one of its own.

The athletic department has confirmed that wide receiver Ken McRoyal has died in his home state of California late Saturday evening/early Sunday morning. The statement said that details of his death are not available.

“It’s a devastating loss,” coach Robb Akey said. “We’ve lost a brother, a teammate, a family member. But, more importantly, a momma lost her son today. All of our prayers go to the family – that they can be strong in their healing from this tragedy.”

McRoyal was a fast riser on the Vandal football team. He came to Idaho in August 2011 as a walk on from El Camino Junior College to join Carson High school teammate Dominique Blackman. McRoyal was primed to compete for a starting job as a slot receiver and contribute heavily in special teams. His progress throughout the 2011 season and 2012 spring season had him set to earn a scholarship this fall.

McRoyal leaves behind a two-year-old daughter.

McRoyal was known around the team for his high work rate and fun personality. His teammates say he was kind, professional and displayed his appreciation for the coaches, program and school.

We at Vandal Nation send our thoughts and prayers to McRoyal’s family and friends as they navigate through this difficult time.

Friends and teammates are remembering him today:

Everybody just gotta keep their heads up.. Keep good faith and we all gonna see him again.

— Taylor J Elmo (@TjMO81) May 13, 2012

Starting receiver, starting punt returner, was about to do it big this year, he was on his way.. all for Koi.. #hopes&dreams

— ASAP Bassy (@Rybassy) May 13, 2012

Everything he did was for her. And it breaks my heart that he’s gone now. I can’t really believe it. Again RIP Ken

— Maxx Forde (@maxxforde) May 13, 2012

Prayin for #86 family n his beautiful baby girl koi..

— just VellY #iEG(@frostbiteVelly1) May 13, 2012

I talk a lot never though I’d say rip to my dogs my ace my fam#rip86

— DOMINIQUE BLACKMAN (@vandalsQB3) May 13, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/idaho-ken-mcroyal-passes-away-at-the-age-22/feed/ 0 salkalashni Kenny McRoyal http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/idaho-to-fight-for-its-fbs-future-athletic-director-says/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/idaho-to-fight-for-its-fbs-future-athletic-director-says/#comments Sat, 05 May 2012 17:21:00 +0000 Sean Kramer http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5384 ]]> The future of University of Idaho football may be no more clearer today than it was last week. But Athletic Director Rob Spear assured Vandal Nation and other media members in a conference call today that the athletic department will continue their ongoing process to find the best possible situation for Vandal football and athletics as a whole with an “emphasis on maintaining our FBS status.”

“I have received a series of emails. People are concerned,” Spear said. “What I have told them is that we have been resilient; we will continue to be resilient. We are going to land on our feet. No matter the outcome, the University of Idaho is going to be fine.”

Idaho will need that resilience, since a resolution doesn’t seem likely to be coming any time soon.

By this time next year the Western Athletic Conferences will, in all likeliness, cease to exist as a football playing conference and Idaho is one of only two schools that still hasn’t found a home yet. Idaho made a concerted effort to join their peers in the new look Mountain West, but was ultimately shown the cold shoulder.

“The main reason (we weren’t extended an invitation) was our marketplace and our demographics…they emphasized we didn’t have enough televisions in our area,” Spear said. “We made the case that we have a great presence in the Northwest but the MWC did not think that that was enough.”

Now, the University of Idaho is left to pick up the pieces after getting shafted in this game conference re-alignment musical chairs.

“The next step is for us to do a lot of evaluation. There are a lot of moving parts here and it’s not done,” Spear said.

Spear laid out four different scenarios that could play out for the Idaho:

• Finding an FBS conference home for all sports.
• Placing football in a separate conference than the olympic sports. This would likely be the Sun Belt option. The problem would therein lie in finding the olympic sport home. Salvaging the WAC as a non-football conference could be a solution.
• Independence. That comes with its own can of worms of complications. Finding a bowl tie in, consistent scheduling partners and enough teams willing to come to Moscow become a huge challenge.
• FCS football and the Big Sky, only if it could lead a return back to the FBS. More on that a little later.

The ideal situation is, of course, to find a conference right now willing to house not only football, but all Vandal sports. But that probably went out the window with the Mountain West saying “No, thanks.” Which means the preferred situation would be to turn towards the Sun Belt and see what opportunities lie there in terms of being a football only member.

Spear wouldn’t be specific in terms of which conferences correlated to which scenarios, even going as far as saying there are “more options” than the Sun Belt, but again, didn’t clarify beyond that.

For the latter two scenarios Spear made sure to make one thing clear – Whatever path Idaho eventually chooses to go down, it will be with an eye towards the future as a member of big time college football, including the Big Sky option.

Spear believes that the conference re-alignment game will continue to heat up, and as the bigger conferences move to establish themselves with the best possible opportunities for television revenue, the reverberation will bounce down to the “second tier” conferences.

“There is high probability of overall restructuring in two years that can separate the big five conferences away from the rest of the FBS. If and when that happens we want the University of Idaho in those conversations,” he said. ”There is interest across the country that if there is overall re structuring and the big five conferences go away there are a lot of schools that are going to want to be in that second tier, including the University of Idaho.”

It will be those shifts that Idaho will be counting on if they are going to salvage their future in major college football should a conference invite not come from the Sun Belt or Mountain West in the immediate future.

Making a move down to the Big Sky would only happen with the hope that the vision of the conference would be to incorporate itself in to the highest levels of college football once the dominoes fall with the major conference powers.

Should Idaho go independent it will be with a plan to jump on a conference invitation when the dominoes fall from the big time conferences. The most recent comparison to a program going independent to salvage it’s Division I FBS status would be Temple, which was ousted from the Big East in 2005 only to join the Mid-American Conference two years later.

Spear says there is no definitive time table towards making a decision on Idaho’s path but that discussions are “ongoing.”

“There are a lot of discussions that have to happen between now and the first of July. At this time because we are involved in various conversations with a lot of different people. We are going to do our evaluations and make sure we make the right decisions for the University of Idaho.”

Filed under: Football, Sports Tagged: conference, FBS, Idaho, Mountain West, re-alignment, Rob Spear, Sun Belt, Vandals, WAC ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/idaho-to-fight-for-its-fbs-future-athletic-director-says/feed/ 20 salkalashni http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/rob-spear-conference-realignment-teleconference/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/rob-spear-conference-realignment-teleconference/#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 22:46:36 +0000 Vandal Nation http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5382 ]]> University of Idaho Athletic Director Rob Spear addressed the media on Friday in a  teleconference discussing UI’s future after five WAC schools left the conference earlier in the day.

http://www.uiargonaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/1027.mp3

Filed under: News, Press conference, Sports Tagged: Big Sky, Mountain West Conference, Rob Spear, Sun Belt, WAC ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/rob-spear-conference-realignment-teleconference/feed/ 0 argonautnation http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/mass-exodus-of-wac-schools-has-officially-begun-idaho-ad-to-address-media-today/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/mass-exodus-of-wac-schools-has-officially-begun-idaho-ad-to-address-media-today/#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 19:10:54 +0000 Sean Kramer http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5372 ]]> The day of reckoning has officially arrived. The WACpocalypse is upon us – and nobody is surprised.

The Mountain West has officially added Utah State and San Jose State. Conference USA has announced the additions of La Tech and Texas-San Antonio. The Sun Belt had already made official on Wednesday their addition of Texas State.

As expected, New Mexico State and Idaho are left twiddling their thumbs and pondering their futures in big time Division I football.

There may have been hope it seems. Brian Murphy of the Idaho Statesman reports both NMSU and Idaho vied the Mountain West for inclusion, with New Mexico lobbying hard on behalf of NMSU.

Thompson says Idaho and New Mexico State were considered. Presidents and ADs from both schools made presentations to join MW.

— Brian Murphy (@murphsturph) May 4, 2012

This shouldn’t be surprising. While Idaho may have been hoping they could ride out the WAC storm, every school has been fending for themselves looking for an exit, including the Vandals.

The Mountain West seems like a logical fit, except for one major factor – Television markets.

President Duane Nellis issued a statement on his facebook page earlier this week bemoaning the financially driven motives of peer institutions and conferences, stating that Idaho is being left in the cold because of its lack of a premiere television market. Athletic Director Rob Spear states that the University of Idaho’s major markets are Spokane and Boise.

Coupled with the fact that the school is behind the curve in the facilities game, Idaho becomes a tough sell to conferences looking to maximize their television dollars.

We will find out just what the Athletic Department is thinking later today when Spear addresses the media in a conference call this afternoon. Judging by statements released by the school earlier this week it would be surprising if Spear laid out a specific plan for conference affiliation today.

Instead, it would more likely that  Spear advocates patience as he and President Nellis continue to mull over the options in front of them.

Follow us on Twitter for up to the minute quotes and updates from the conference call at 3 p.m.

Athletic Director Rob Spear will hold a teleconference this afternoon to discuss Idaho’s future plans regarding conference re-alignment.

— Vandal Nation (@VandalNation) May 4, 2012

Filed under: Football, News, Sports Tagged: conference, Idaho, Mountain West, Nellis, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Spear, Sun Belt, utah state, Vandals, WAC ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/mass-exodus-of-wac-schools-has-officially-begun-idaho-ad-to-address-media-today/feed/ 0 salkalashni http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/wacacalpyse-has-begun-texas-state-to-sun-belt-is-official/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/wacacalpyse-has-begun-texas-state-to-sun-belt-is-official/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 17:52:06 +0000 Vandal Nation http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5364 ]]> Courtesy of TxStateBobcats.com

Texas State University has accepted a bid to join the Sun Belt conference in 2013-2014 the schools’ official website reported this morning.

The University of Texas System Board of Regents is also reported to be voting today on Texas-San Antonio’s bid to Conference-USA.

Both Texas State and UTSA will be joining the WAC as football members in 2012-2013, which will apparently be their only season in the conference.

In addition to the Texas school defections from the WAC, both San Jose State and Utah State have told Vandal Nation they are in negotiations with the Mountain West but that nothing is official yet.

Utah State associate athletic director Jana Doggett said to “look for something later this week.”

And of course, Louisiana Tech is still expected to join C-USA as well.

The expected moves of the five soon to be former-WAC schools would leave Idaho and New Mexico State to fend for themselves. But for the Aggies there still may be hope.

Reports surfaced today that the Sun Belt Conference may be looking in to adding NMSU in all sports, but mostly thanks to their competitive basketball and baseball programs.

In a statement released by NMSU President Barbara Couture, who sits on the Board of Directors for the WAC, she states:

“Of course, New Mexico State University has no major media market to bring to the table. Without that market our “value” as a conference member appears to be less than other schools with less successful programs but that are located in areas with a greater population. The same thing appears to be the case for the University of Idaho.”

This combined with the statement released by Idaho’s Rob Spear yesterday would seem to indicate that the writing is on the wall for the WAC.

If New Mexico State gets an invitation to the Sun Belt and Idaho does not, the Vandals will be forced in to independence for the 2013-2014 season barring an alternative solution.

We will have more when it comes out.

Filed under: Football, News, Sports Tagged: Bobcats, C-USA, conference, Idaho, Rob Spear, Sun Belt, Texas State, UTSA, Vandals, WAC ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/wacacalpyse-has-begun-texas-state-to-sun-belt-is-official/feed/ 2 argonautnation Sun Belt TX State http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/athletic-department-mum-on-wac-rumors/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/athletic-department-mum-on-wac-rumors/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 00:59:36 +0000 Vandal Nation http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5352 ]]> Idaho Athletic Director Rob Spear declined comment to Vandal Nation Monday on rumors of WAC schools looking to leave the conference.

In the last week, news has surfaced of impending defections of Utah State and San Jose State to the Mountain West. In addition to those two schools leaving the conference, speculation is that Louisiana Tech and Texas-San Antonio will leave the WAC for Conference USA after the 2012 season. The moves would be effective for the 2013-14 academic year.

Reports also surfaced Monday speculating that Texas State and Texas-Arlington will be joining the Sun Belt in 2013-14. Texas State and Texas-San Antonio are slated to join the WAC in 2012-13 in all sports, with Texas-Arlington, Seattle University and the University of Denver joining the conference as non-football playing schools.

If the speculation turns out to be true, Idaho will be one of only two football playing schools left in the WAC for the 2013-14 season, along with New Mexico State, and one of only four schools in olympic sports.

Needless to say, if things stay as they are now with rumored speculation, the WAC will cease to exist, leaving Idaho and New Mexico State in limbo as FBS programs.

Both Idaho and New Mexico State joined the WAC in 2005 from the Sun Belt conference – Now re-joining the Sun Belt may now be both programs’ only hope of staying afloat in the FBS. The Sun Belt is said to be losing North Texas and Florida International to Conference USA, which could open up spots for the two remaining WAC programs.

Coincidentally enough, the Sun Belt commissioner is none other than former WAC commissioner Karl Benson, who ushered the Vandals and Aggies in to the WAC in the first place.

Rob Spear was out of the office Monday for meetings when contacted by Vandal Nation for comment. He said it would be “inappropriate” to comment on speculation unless made concrete and official.

We will have more information as it comes out.

Idaho senior linebacker Rob Siavii tweeted about possible conference realignment on April 30.

Filed under: Football, News, Sports Tagged: Realingment, rumors, San Jose State, utah state, UTSA, WAC ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/athletic-department-mum-on-wac-rumors/feed/ 1 argonautnation siavii_tweet http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/toomer-swooped-up-by-seattle/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/toomer-swooped-up-by-seattle/#comments Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:13:32 +0000 Vandal Nation http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5346 ]]>

Theo Lawson

Argonaut

The Seattle Seahawks have prolonged the career of Idaho inside linebacker Korey Toomer, after drafting Toomer with the 19^th pick in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

Although Toomer was the only Vandal drafted, four of his teammates have agreed to join four separate teams as free agents. Running back Princeton McCarty is set to join the Carolina Panthers, defensive tackle Michael Cosgrove will join the Detroit Lions, offensive tackle Tyrone Novikoff will join the Dallas Cowboys and another offensive tackle, Matt Cleveland, will join the Cleveland Browns.

After missing the first phone call from the Seahawks, Toomer, who doubted Seattle would draft a second linebacker, answered the phone on the second attempt.

“They asked me if I wanted to be a Seahawk and I said yes,” he said. “I was shocked. I didn’t think they were going to pick up another linebacker.”

Though Toomer was Idaho’s most versatile player during the 2011 season, filling in at the fullback position where he punched in three touchdowns during a single game, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll expects him to play as an inside linebacker for Seattle.

“We’re going to put him at the same position and knowing that he’s a guy that’s on the rise we’ll see what he does from that,” Carroll told the media following the final day of the draft. “That’s a good spot for him, a little longer he’s over 6’2, got good long levers and all that so that’s where we’ll start him out.”

The Las Vegas native was named Idaho’s most valuable player in 2011, thanks to an exceptionally productive senior season on both the defensive and offensive side of the ball. Prior to his senior season though, Toomer carried out a minimal role on a Vandal team that had recruited him from Arizona Western College.

A back-up linebacker during Idaho’s Humanitarian Bowl season, Toomer saw limited action and recorded just eight tackles. The Shadow Ridge High School product redshirted the 2010 season to help him gear up for a senior season that witnessed him tally 68 tackles, a team-leading four sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss.

Seahawks linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. had an opportunity to witness the 154^th overall pick at Idaho’s pro day. Though Toomer wasn’t invited to the NFL Combine, his 40-yard dash time of 4.50 and 42-inch vertical leap were both indications he was physically prepared for the next level.

Seattle general manager John Schneider spoke about Toomer’s physical abilities following the draft.

“We thought he was a great athlete, thought he had great length and could run and had a great attitude about him and was a good mover and excited about the workout,” Schneider said. “It’s a great thing when you have a position coach that’s vying like that and he had a lot of conviction about him so it’s exciting.”

Toomer was one of eight defensive players selected by the Seahawks and one of three from the Western Athletic Conference. Utah State inside linebacker Bobby Wagner and running back Robert Turbin will join Toomer in Seattle.

Prior to the draft and following his pro day, Toomer had visited 12 other NFL teams while Seattle, New York (Giants), Miami and Dallas all worked him out.

Filed under: Uncategorized ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/toomer-swooped-up-by-seattle/feed/ 0 argonautnation http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/2012-nfl-mock-mascot-draft-4th-and-downtown/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/2012-nfl-mock-mascot-draft-4th-and-downtown/#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:29:44 +0000 Vandal Nation http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5343 ]]>

Where would Joe go?

Today on Vandal Nation’s radio show “4th and Downtown,” hosts Madison McCord and Theo Lawson talked about which college mascots would get drafted and where they would go if NFL teams picked up mascots based on their team’s needs. Here is the audio from the segment which mock drafted picks 1-10.

Do you agree with our picks, and if not, what would you change.

Listen to the show here

Filed under: Commentary, Football, Sports Tagged: 4th and Downtown, Joe Vandal, KUOI, Mascots, NFL Draft, Radio ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/2012-nfl-mock-mascot-draft-4th-and-downtown/feed/ 0 argonautnation joevandal http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/bringing-the-heat/ http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/bringing-the-heat/#comments Thu, 19 Apr 2012 01:17:37 +0000 Vandal Nation http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/?p=5339 ]]>

 

After two solid defensive spring scrimmages, Vandal Nation caught up with Idaho defensive coordinator Mark Criner and seniors Aaron Grymes and Rob Siavii. Hear what they have to say about spring practice so far, senior leadership and competition for starting spots.

Filed under: Football, Previews, Sports Tagged: Aaron Grymes, defense, Mark Criner, Preview, rob siavii, video ]]> http://vandalnation.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/bringing-the-heat/feed/ 0 argonautnation