Tosi Gets A Hard Look From Scouts

Mao Tosi is worth a second look.

NFL scouts are doing double-takes over Idaho’s senior defensive tackle when they stop in Moscow, looking for hidden gems.

Tosi was hard to miss Saturday as he helped the Vandals to a 28-17 win over Washington State.

“I think there were five scouts at the game and several were here Friday,” UI coach Chris Tormey said. “Some came back Sunday to watch game tape. I don’t remember seeing that here. I don’t remember seeing that in Seattle.

“They’re sticking around, and they’re not coming by to visit with me,” jokes Tormey, the former University of Washington assistant.

At 6-foot-6 and 298 pounds, Tosi has uncommon agility. He’s gaining strength. His play-to-play effort is full throttle.

“He’s untapped, that’s what the scouts have told me,” defensive coordinator Jeff Mills said. “He still has a lot of things he can improve, but he works really hard every day so he does improve.”

The last Vandal to truly catch the scouts’ eyes was Ryan Phillips, a starting linebacker for the New York Giants. He was selected in the third round of the ‘97 draft.

“Ryan was a really good prospect, but Mao’s getting even more attention,” Tormey said.

Idaho has only had one first-round selection - the late “Thunder” Ray McDonald, taken by Washington in 1967. Phillips and Carl Kiilsgaard (1950) were third-rounders.

And Tosi? “He might be the earliest round, if he keeps playing like he’s playing,” Tormey said.

Panhandling

Tormey fielded perhaps a dozen congratulatory calls following Saturday’s win. Among the dialers was Wayne Walker, John Yarno and assorted UW boosters always tickled to see the Cougars lose.

Boise State’s Dirk Koetter also phoned with a pat on the back. Pretty classy move by Koetter, who was coming off a tough weekend - BSU led 19-7 at half before getting trampled by I-A weakling Hawaii, 34-19.

BSU players had a nice field trip while in Hawaii. They visited the set of the new “Baywatch Hawaii” TV series Friday. An old college chum of Broncos athletic director Gene Bleymaier apparently is a producer for the show.

The boring: Players watched the filming of several scenes. The ho-hum: They sang “Happy Birthday” to Baywatch star Stacy Kamano on her special day. The keepsake: Kamano posed for pictures with 65 football players.

No, Idaho doesn’t get to count all 34,873 fans at Saturday’s game toward meeting the NCAA Division I-A attendance requirement. Several thousand comp tickets were issued. The crowd for NCAA purposes is believed to be in the 28,000-30,000 range.

Add in 20,000 already-sold 12th-man tickets and the Vandals need to draw roughly 20,000 for their three home games in Martin Stadium. Not a gimmee, but close.

As good as Lake City football was last year, the current crew just might be better. Why? Can only think of three reasons - bigger, stronger, faster. Especially stronger.

Several Heisman Trophy wannabes took pratfalls last week, but not Purdue quarterback Drew Brees, who is gaining momentum. Brees is coached by former UI quarterbacks coach Greg Olson, who calls his quarterback, “super smart and super competitive. A coach’s dream.”

Brees’ M-T-W routine: Morning classes, afternoon practice, dining hall, academics 7-10 p.m., film study 10 p.m.

“He doesn’t have as a strong an arm as (former Vandal Ryan) Fien or as accurate, but Fien wasn’t as strong mentally as Brees,” said Olson, who also worked with the Seahawks’ Jon Kitna at Central Washington. “He’s further along than Kitna was for me at the same time.”

Ex-UI coach John L. Smith has a Heisman candidate in quarterback Chris Redman at Louisville. He was 39 of 60 for 450 yards and three TDs in a disappointing loss to Illinois. Former UI assistant Dan Cozzetto is the offensive coordinator at Arizona State, where J.R. Redmond’s stock plummeted with a 24-carry, 62-yard disaster against New Mexico State.

Grad school

Post Falls’ Janelle Ruen is contributing as a true freshman on the 9-2 Eastern Washington volleyball team. She’s played in 32 of 36 games, hitting .146 with 31 kills, seven aces, 48 digs and four blocks.

The 5-foot-11 Ruen also intends to play on EWU’s basketball team.

Front row

One of the area’s best football games every year, Lakeland and Post Falls in the “Battle of the Prairie,” is Friday at 7 at Post Falls. It’ll be Post Falls’ first home game of the season.

Coeur d’Alene, riding a two-game winning streak, entertains Border League foe West Valley for Homecoming on Friday.

The annual Farragut Invitational cross country meet is Saturday at Farragut State Park.

Rumor du jour

Some of you grumbled when there was no rumorama in last week’s column. So here’s a double dose.

You had to guess this might be coming. Idaho is negotiating with the Oregon State Ericksons, err, Beavers, on a future three-game series. Former UI coach Dennis Erickson has Corvallis in a lather with an un-Beav-like 3-0 start. There’s even a chance one of the three games could be a UI home date, probably at WSU’s Martin Stadium.

Bonus: Idaho and BYU in a three-game set? They’re talking.