UI Awaits Clowe’S Encounter Freshman Back Has Chance To Determine His Immediate Future

As situations go, can’t-lose is preferable to no-win.

University of Idaho football coaches will keep a close eye on freshman running back Tyree Clowe, a Central Valley product, during a scrimmage on Saturday.

Clowe’s performance will factor heavily in whether he plays this season or redshirts. Clowe, obviously, wants to play immediately, but he says he can live with either option.

“If I get to play this year, that’d be great,” he said. “If I have to redshirt, I get another year of experience. Either way, I like it. I’m real excited about the scrimmage. We haven’t really had live tackling yet. It’ll be good to go out and go full speed and see how I match up.”

Coaches are anxious to see Clowe in action, too.

“We’ll see how he does on Saturday and then we’ll make a decision,” head coach Chris Tormey said. “I’ll talk with him and see what he wants to do - if he wants to play or redshirt. If he’s in the top three or four backs, then we’ll probably think about playing him this year. If not, there’s no sense in wasting his year.

“If he is what I think he is - a tackle-breaker - we won’t know until we get in a live situation,” Tormey added. “He does everything else well. He catches the ball, he’s smart, picks up protections and physically he’s capable.”

The 5-foot-10 Clowe is UI’s biggest back at 213 pounds. Senior Michael Moody is listed at 204. Starter Willie Alderson is 195.

“I was a little nervous when I first came in, but I’m getting used to playing with all these big guys,” Clowe said.

Iron man

It’s a story ex-players probably will be telling their buddies on barstools 20 years from now. During annual weight-lifting testing earlier this month, sophomore defensive tackle Wil Beck squatted 675 pounds three times. That’s a trifle shocking in itself. More alarming was when the bar began bending on both sides. “He was almost all the way up and he was just taking a breath when the bar twisted and bent,” strength and conditioning coach Tommy Boyer-Kendrick said. “The bar should be able to withstand 400 or 500 more pounds, but it might have been an older bar.”

Boyer-Kendrick plans on displaying the bar above the team’s weight-lifting record board in the locker room.

Beck, though, won’t attempt to lift such a heavy load again. He said muscles in his back tightened up while hoisting the 675 pounds. The next day at practice, he tweaked his back and he’s been limited over the last week. He expects to be back at full speed Monday.

“No more maxing for me,” he said. “It’s not worth risking an injury.”

New and improved

One of the more interesting stories of fall camp is defensive tackle Daniel Benetka, a German native and discus-thrower on the track team who is playing football for the first time.

He’s making progress. The 6-4, 289-pounder has the necessary physical tools, but he’s obviously still learning the position.

“Sometimes I ask the same question (why am I doing this?), but I’m always looking for new challenges and I think I found a big challenge,” Benetka said. “I’m tired after all the two-a-days, but that’s normal.”

Benetka’s only previous football experience is via Sony Play Station. Video football isn’t quite as exhausting as the real deal, he joked.

“I’m not out here just to say I tried it,” he said. “My goal is to at least be on special teams and, if everything goes well, maybe be a backup to (starter) Mao Tosi. I learn more every day.”

Benetka, who has one season of eligibility, has already impressed teammates.

“At first I was kind of, `I don’t know about this guy,”’ Beck said. “After playing with him, he seems like he’s one of the guys, he’s fun to be with and he’s part of the team. He’s made great improvement this week. He will be a factor.”

Beck, by the way, came to UI with the intention of playing football and throwing the discus for the track team himself. He said he might turn out for track in the spring, but he wants to wait to make a decision until after the football season.

Injury bug

It’s apparent the injury bug has taken a big bite out of a team when one of the assistant coaches is on the list of wounded. Offensive line coach Todd Hoiness probably lost any chance he had of landing a commercial role like the one that featured Mike Ditka riding a blocking sled while pitching a phone card. Hoiness was on the sled when the first-team line jolted the equipment and the coach lost his balance. He broke his foot when the sled ran over his leg. Worse, his whistle fell out of his mouth, so he couldn’t blow the play to an immediate stop. He will be in a walking boot for about six weeks.

Looking back, Hoiness said he should have figured misfortune was in the air. “It happened on Friday the 13th,” he said.

That’s about the time UI tight ends started cluttering the injury list. Seven of the eight tight ends not only suffered pulled hamstrings, but all seven of the injuries were to left hamstrings.

Notes

The Vandals, perhaps showing the effects of their 8th day of two-a-days, had a sloppy practice Thursday. But one of the bright spots was quarterback John Welsh, whose passes were on target, particularly as he directed a touchdown drive in a two-minute drill. No, Mao Tosi hasn’t moved from defensive tackle to running back, but he sure spent a lot of Thursday’s practice in the backfield. On one play, Tosi bull-rushed a lineman back into the quarterback’s lap. He also batted down a pass and flushed the quarterback from the pocket. “He can get to the quarterback,” Tormey said, “and he’s playing the run a lot better.” Linebacker James Durrough was one of several veteran starters to sit out practice. He’s resting his surgically repaired knee. “We think he’ll by 90-95 percent” by the season opener, Tormey said.