Josh Wright

When Don Verlin accepted the Idaho men’s basketball coaching job in 2008, the Vandals had won 16 games the previous three seasons. He immediately infused life into the program – but until Saturday night, he had never gotten over the 20-win hump.

Tie game, 41 seconds left and Idaho had the ball with a full shot clock. Victor Sanders, who had shot dreadfully all night, could have dribbled the ball out and set up a play.

MOSCOW, Idaho – All week, Idaho head football coach Paul Petrino had seen progress. His dueling quarterbacks, Matt Linehan and Chad Chalich, were getting better. On Wednesday morning, in fact, they shared snaps during what Petrino said “might have been the best practice we’ve had since I’ve been here.” But then Saturday morning happened. Chalich and Linehan both threw two interceptions and posted similar numbers in the second scrimmage of fall camp to further cloud the starting quarterback race.

MOSCOW, Idaho – The transition from NFL veteran to college assistant coach wasn’t hard. Neither are the 18-hour days during fall camp. Ashley Ambrose loves football too much to consider any part of his job as Idaho cornerbacks coach a grind. There is one thing about coaching that eats at him, though. Just one thing he keeps coming back to.

MOSCOW, Idaho – Dezmon Epps, who was dismissed from the Idaho football team on Sunday for a violation of team rules, was charged with misdemeanor petty theft after allegedly stealing $37.72 in groceries from WinCo Foods. The former Idaho wide receiver pled not guilty on Monday in Latah County District Court and posted a $300 cash bond. He’s scheduled for a pretrial hearing on July 29. Epps was already on probation after pleading guilty and serving a one-day sentence for a driving under the influence in April.

MOSCOW, Idaho – Dezmon Epps was formulating his goals for the 2014 football season long before Idaho’s 2013 campaign was over. Back in October, he said he wanted to lead the Sun Belt Conference in receiving as a senior and be considered one of the best wideouts in the nation. But after his dismissal from Idaho on Sunday, Epps’ collegiate future – at least in the FBS – is hazy at best.

Idaho wide receiver Dezmon Epps, who had a breakout junior season in 2013, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence early Sunday morning in Pullman, according to the university’s student newspaper. The arrest occurred at 800 NE Ruby St., adjacent to Stubblefields Bar and Grill, at 1:23 a.m.

MOSCOW, Idaho – The common joke on Twitter Saturday morning, after Idaho announced that the NCAA had slapped its football program with a 2014 bowl ban, was the Vandals didn’t need to be ineligible to be out of the running for the postseason. Idaho is coming off consecutive 1-11 seasons and has dropped 39 games over the last four dark years. The Vandals have advanced to just two bowls in nearly two decades of FBS existence.

MOSCOW, Idaho – One of the truths of spring football is that what happens in April doesn’t always carry over to the fall. For Idaho, team scrimmages will give way to the season opener at Florida, and players who stood out in spring drills might not even make the trip to The Swamp. Some trends that surface, though, are sustainable. Idaho coaches hope the depth and strength they saw from the defensive line on Saturday is one of them.

MOSCOW, Idaho – Three-quarters of the way through a nearly three-hour scrimmage on Saturday, Idaho quarterback Chad Chalich’s throwing shoulder started to tire. This was understandable on a number of levels. After all, Chalich and Matt Linehan took all the snaps during the 190-play scrimmage – the first of the spring for the Vandals. And the redshirt sophomore from Coeur d’Alene missed the last five full games of 2013 after injuring that same shoulder.

MOSCOW, Idaho – In early March, when the University of Idaho basketball teams were still vying for postseason spots, the Vandals football team gathered at Memorial Gym for a little hoops of its own. The football players-only basketball tournament was one of several offseason events that UI coaches organized to put the team in a competitive environment months before its season opener at Florida. But that wasn’t the only reason.