Akey sees positives from injury
When the glass is half full, Robb Akey takes a big swallow before he declares it empty.
Talking about the unexpected loss of starting quarterback Nathan Enderle, who had minor surgery on his throwing hand Monday, the Idaho football coach came up with a couple of positives.
The first is that the backup is senior Brian Nooy, not an unproven rookie.
“The door is open – he has to run through it,” Akey said. “He’s an experienced player. He’s been in this role before and he’s been running our offense.”
He’s happy that Nooy has that opportunity.
“He’s very anxious to play,” Akey said. “Anybody that gets the opportunity to play, there has to be an air of excitement and a great desire to do something with it.”
Finally, the expected three weeks on the sideline gives Enderle, who has thrown 12 interceptions in the past three games, a chance to relax and learn.
“He can gain an awful lot from that and we’ll see to it he gets something out of it,” Akey said. “We’ll turn that into a positive. … I’m sure he’ll be able to help Brian.”
But ultimately, the glass is empty.
“It’s never good to lose your starting quarterback,” Akey said, adding that injuries are part of the game.
For his part, Nooy is ready for his first career start.
“It’s not the way I wanted it, but I’m going to try to take the opportunity and run with it,” he said. “I’m excited about it. Hopefully, the old saying, ‘With age comes wisdom,’ will play out a little bit and I won’t have turnovers.”
Despite three straight losses, a 1-4 record headed into a game at San Jose State on Saturday and the interceptions, Akey has not lost confidence in Enderle.
“He’s putting a lot of pressure on himself,” Akey said. “He thinks people on the outside are blaming him. He’s feeling like it’s his fault and it’s not his fault.”
No matter how things go until Enderle’s return, there won’t be a quarterback controversy.
“He’s been our starting quarterback and will continue to be our starting quarterback,” Akey said. “He’s going to be a tremendous player.”
Nooy understands.
“I’m going to go out there and do what I can, try to get a win. Whatever happens happens. Nate’s a great player. He has a great future, whatever experience he gets helps him. Comes back, I’m happy for him.
Injury update
The rest of the Vandals injury news isn’t too bad. Offensive lineman Marcis Fennell is out with a sprained MCL in his knee, but surgery won’t be required.
Freshman running back Deonte Jackson saw limited time against Hawaii on a sprained ankle and should be ready to go. Even with just 47 yards on seven carries against Hawaii, Jackson still leads the league at 116.8 yards a game, 13th nationally.
Kicking woes
The kicking job is open at San Jose State after junior Jared Strubeck, a second-team, all-conference selection last year, missed two short ones to fall to 2 of 7 for the season.
“All kickers go through rough patches,” Spartans coach Dick Tomey said. “He’s thinking too much.”
Though he told the San Jose Mercury News, “I still think he’s a good kicker, I think he will make a lot of good kicks for us,” Tomey said Monday junior walk-on Will Johnson would get a chance to compete for the job this week.
Exposure with a price
Boise State has its second straight ESPN game this week when New Mexico State visits, but the Broncos are paying a price.
To get on the tube, the Broncos, and a few other WAC members, are playing nontraditional days.
Boise State played last Thursday and faces the Aggies on Sunday. Nevada is at Boise next Sunday. Overall, BSU plays two Thursdays, two Fridays and two Sundays.
WAC commissioner Karl Benson said the home team gets a $100,000 inconvenience fee for playing a non-Saturday game.
WAC games are on ESPN at least once every week but one the rest of the season.
“This is truly the type of exposure that we are trying to achieve with ESPN,” said Benson. “It allows us to showcase the WAC.”