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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Akey on Texas A&M, other things

The Vandals are 1-1 with their toughest test of the season Saturday at No. 9 Texas A&M. Says Robb Akey, "It will be the best nonconference team we’ve played since I’ve been here." And that includes Akey's first game as Vandals coach, against top-ranked USC in 2007.

Read on for more from Akey.

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Akey brought up that USC game, a 38-10 defeat, during his weekly press conference on Monday. Comparing this year's A&M team to the '07 Trojans that won the Rose Bowl, he said, "I would think that would have been a hell of a game between those two guys. As a matter of fact, if they like, we can get that game going on and we might go down and watch it."

That was one of several light-hearted comments made by Akey, whose Vandals are 361/2-point underdogs to A&M (1-0). Concerning the Aggies, who were off this past week, he said, "They got I'm sure some much-needed rest to get ready for us this week."

Asked about trying to replicate for the noise at Texas A&M's Kyle Field, he replied, "We sent out 90,000 invitations to surround our practice field and get those folks to holler and sway and horns to blow while our team is practicing. Now we haven’t got a whole lot of RSVPs back from that just yet ... ."

Here are some other more serious tidbits from Akey:

  • On his mindset preparing for games against BCS opponents: "You go into games like this and you treat it like a bowl game. You go in and you play as hard as you, as fast as you can, as long as you can. If you play well, you give yourself a chance to make something big happen that everybody in the country says you can’t. That’s why you’ve got to play the game anyways."
  • On the interior of the offensive line and the play of A.J. Jones last week: "There were some good things … and obviously there were still some inconsistencies in the interior of our line. There’s no question about that. And those things got better as the game went on. I’d like to think he’s going to continue to improve and I’d like to think we’re going to get a couple of those guys back here pretty quick as well." (Akey said he's hopeful right guard Jordan Johnson will be back this week, while left guard Sam Tupua (broken hand) is questionable).
  • On UI's scheduling philosophy: "Well, I would not like to think we’re going to be the fundraiser, no. I’d like to play one of these (BCS games). I’m fired up to play one of these this week. That’s kind of where we’re at right now. We need to have one of these."
  • As for sticking with one BCS game a year, plus one FCS opponent (like North Dakota) and two similar-sized opponents, Akey said, "I’d like to think we’re going to stick with that in the future. And I know we’re trying to stick with that in the future. I know with the change in the conference games are more difficult to schedule. But I really feel like it’s something we need to stick to and not put it on the football program to raise the funds for the athletic department."
  • On playing in Texas where UI recruits: "We’ve changed the image of our football team, and I think people have respect for what we’re doing. And that’s helped us recruiting in Texas and enabling to guys to get the opportunity to play Division I football. ... Texas is its own country and guys don’t like to leave Texas. We’ve been able to have some guys come want to do that." (The Vandals have seven players from Texas, including starters Quin Ashley and Karel Kearney. Akey said the addition of Texas State and Texas-San Antonio to the WAC next year will hurt UI's recruiting efforts in Texas, especially in the southwestern portion of the state).
  • On using wideout Justing Veltung, who returned last week from injury, as a kick returner: "I know it’s something he has done well before and I know it’s something he wants to get back to do. And his role will continue to grow as quickly as he’s able to. My No. 1 priority is to make sure he’s very involved in our offense."

Follow me on Twitter (@SR_JoshWright) for more updates through the week.
 



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