Cable Faces A Tough Rebuilding Task

The rebuilding job facing University of Idaho football coach Tom Cable is considerable.

It is also unlike any faced by recent UI head coaches.

The playing field, of course, has changed. Idaho is playing non-conference head-knockers nearly every week. Winning seasons could require a breakthrough or two in games in which Idaho will surely be the underdog.

The conference field has changed. From the Big Sky to the defunct Big West to the fledgling Sun Belt next year, Idaho’s new conference brethren have little or no drawing power.

Two saving graces: The Sun Belt is a) A conference, b) Eminently winnable, and c) Its bowl game is in New Orleans, before the holidays.

Finally, and most importantly, the players on the field will change. Idaho is losing a large group of seniors who endured the worst, best and worst of times.

The senior cast, which includes four offensive linemen and three starting linebackers, was part of the 1997 season that saw Idaho fall hard to Utah State (63-17) and Nevada (42-23). The group bounced back with the storybook 9-3 season in 1998, capped by winning the Humanitarian Bowl.

However, rival Boise State humbled Idaho the last two seasons and now enters the WAC, a mediocre conference that is several rungs higher on the conference ladder than the Sun Belt.

When Chris Tormey arrived at Idaho in 1995, he faced a non-conference schedule of thenwoeful Oregon State, Sonoma State and Northern Iowa.

Tormey’s rebuilding year was ‘97, when he played a ton of freshmen and lost Joel Thomas to injury in the first half of the opening game. That group became the foundation of the ‘98 title team.

Cable cannot control some of the predicaments that make Idaho a difficult job, but he can control who wears Vandals uniforms.

With gaping holes on defense and across the offensive line, that will be more than enough to keep Cable busy.

Panhandling

Nine. That’s my guess on Idaho men’s basketball wins this season, counting two nonDivision Is, and five in the Big West Conference.

Eight of nine teams qualify for the postseason tournament in the restructured Big West. Most expect Idaho and Cal Poly SLO to slug it out for No. 8. UI’s season-long problem will be scoring, magnified by the fact its best shooter, Corry Beavers, is working as a traffic cop in Memphis. He left the team because his mother is ill.

CBS Sportsline.com ranks Idaho at No. 291 out of 318 D-I teams. Idaho State is No. 290. Ouch.

Independence (Kan.) College basketball coack Mark Downey is well acquainted with much of Idaho’s current/future roster. He’s familiar with Bethuel Fletcher, Bret Wise and Matt Gerschefske on this year’s team. He coaches highly touted UI recruit Jerald Jenkins, and coached against Coffeyville’s Steve Smith and the aforementioned Beavers, whom the Vandals hope will return to Moscow.

“They’re a year away,” Downey said.

Question is, will coach Dave Farrar be around to enjoy next season if his current team doesn’t reach double digits in wins?

From the small (junior college) world dept.: When North Idaho College point guard Winston Brooks originally signed at Independence, Chris Jans was the head coach. Jans is now an Idaho assistant.

Brooks redshirted at Independence, leaving at mid-year for Howard College in Texas. He has signed with Gonzaga for next season after originally committing to Virginia Commonwealth.

Snake River collects state football titles - like the one it earned with a 31-20 win over Lakeland on Friday - as if it were a birthright. How? Future Panthers start playing shortly after birth.

“This core group of seniors started together when we were in fifth grade,” said Derek Mathews, a 240-pound middle linebacker. “Coach (Tom) Harrison starts working with us in fifth grade. He’s got the thing going.”

In eight years of playing football, Mathews has suffered six losses.

Grad school

Kendrea Meyer, who played on Sandpoint’s state-championship volleyball team two years ago, is a freshman at Boise State. She has 132 digs, fourth on the team.

“She’s one of our best passers and defensive players,” coach Fred Sturm said. “She’s getting better and better.”

Rumor du jour

Oklahoma State did more than just request an interview with Boise State football coach Dirk Koetter. The Big 12 school made it clear the job was Koetter’s for the taking. Koetter declined.

BSU backers, meanwhile, are attempting to put together a compensation package that would take Koetter’s salary from $200,000 to $400,000-$500,000.

This sidebar appeared with the story:

FRONT ROW

Time for basketball

Roundball takes over for the next four months. North Idaho College stages its Thanksgiving tournament Friday and Saturday at Christianson Gym. NIC opens with Capilano College, of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Friday at 7:30. CC Spokane takes on the Northwest All-Stars at 5:30.

Winners meet Saturday at 7:30, losers at 5:30.

Idaho visits Gonzaga on Saturday at 7. Comparable scores suggest a Bulldogs blowout.