Jim Meehan

It happens every year in every college football program. A young pup beats out an established senior. That is and isn't the case at the University of Idaho, where the youth movement under second-year head coach Nick Holt is, not coincidentally, in its second year. First of all, nobody is entrenched. The best player plays, but, depth permitting, Holt prefers a rotation at several positions. It makes for a happy locker room, not to mention a better football team.

MOSCOW, Idaho – University of Idaho football players knew something was different on Monday. They came into team meetings to find head coach Nick Holt in a jovial mood. They figured he was just trying to boost their spirits after last Saturday's dismal loss to Hawaii. Then came practice Monday afternoon, and they learned they were going to be in full pads.

MOSCOW, Idaho – The largest Kibbie Dome crowd in five years and the 10th biggest in school history came to watch the University of Idaho's football debut in the Western Athletic Conference. But the Vandals didn't give the 15,635 in attendance much reason to stick around and the Dome was perhaps two-thirds empty by the time Hawaii put the finishing touches on a 24-0 thrashing of Idaho on Saturday night.

So what's a guy who is married to Beyonce's younger sister, whose half-brother is Cuttino Mobley of the Los Angeles Clippers, who counts Texas quarterback Vince Young as one of his closest friends, doing in Moscow, Idaho? Same thing as everyone else on the University of Idaho football team: He's trying to become a better football player and earn a college degree.

Shaun Alexander generated a 13-yard run with a stutter-step move. Matt Hasselbeck then threw a well-timed 13-yard completion to Darrell Jackson on a curl route. Both nice plays on a touchdown-producing drive, but they became a virtual afterthought when Hasselbeck fired a long pass from Atlanta's 35-yard line. It appeared tight end Jerramy Stevens might not be able to catch up to the ball, but he extended every centimeter of his 6-foot-7 frame to make the reception in the back of the end zone that staked Seattle to a 21-0 lead at Qwest Field on Sunday.

SEATTLE – Seattle's lead was dwindling away faster than you could say Same Old Seahawks. From a cozy 21-0 advantage it slipped to 21-7, 21-10, 21-18 and ... that's where it stayed, thanks to a timely defensive stand that preserved a victory over Atlanta that Seattle desperately needed on so many levels.

SEATTLE – The University of Idaho football team took a step backward Saturday, physically and metaphorically. For a program that has lost 41 of its last 50 games, that's not easy to do. After a somewhat promising start, the Vandals spent most of the second and third quarters backpedaling, piling up negative-yardage plays and paying dearly in the form of a 34-6 loss to Washington before an announced crowd of 61,183 at Husky Stadium.

SEATTLE – It was a long, painful day for the University of Idaho offensive line. Short-handed to begin with because of injuries, the Vandals were blistered up front by Washington during a 34-6 loss Saturday at Husky Stadium.

If a post-1995 song comes on the radio, Idaho assistant head coach Jeff Mills has little hope of identifying the song or the artist. If it's classic rock, the playing field tilts Mills' way. "I'm not really hip or up with the times," said Mills, who, at 40, is the elder statesman of Vandal assistant coaches, the youngest staff in Division I-A football. "They're more up to date on the trends. My kind of music has gone by the wayside.

Well, there shouldn't be any questions this week about who will be the University of Idaho's starting quarterback. Steven Wichman shined in his starting debut, completing 19 of 30 passes for 390 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-31 road loss to UNLV late Saturday night.