Vandals can climb to the top
In the span of a week, the University of Idaho football team can go from losing to its arch- rival by 58 points to being the undisputed leader of the Sun Belt Conference with a key road win under its belt.
Or, the Vandals can slink to an 0-2 record and be stuck at the bottom of the conference standings with road games remaining against what many consider the Sun Belt’s top three teams (North Texas, Troy and Middle Tennessee).
Those are the extremes Idaho faces tonight when it meets Utah State at 5 PDT at Romney Stadium in Logan, Utah.
“It’s a huge game; it’s our conference opener,” said Vandals coach Nick Holt, whose team was flattened by Boise State 65-7 in the season opener last Saturday. “Like I’ve said, every game is important and I want to see us play well every week, but it’s obviously important because it counts for the Sun Belt.”
Similar refrains are being heard at Utah State, which trailed Alabama 17-10 at half before losing 48-17.
“If we are to achieve our goals, this is the first of many steps,” Aggies coach Mick Dennehy said. “I think that the timing of the game is just fine. We came out of the Alabama game relatively healthy and that is an ideal situation when you start playing conference opponents.”
This is the only conference game of the week. Troy and New Mexico State collide Sept. 18. Idaho doesn’t return to Sun Belt play until Louisiana-Monroe visits the Kibbie Dome on Oct. 9.
Holt hopes the Vandals can bounce back the way Louisville did in 1998 when he was an assistant coach. Louisville lost to rival Kentucky 68-34 in the inaugural game at state-of-the-art Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Louisville came back to win seven games and advanced to the Motor City Bowl.
The Vandals were overmatched against Boise State, but that doesn’t figure to be the case tonight. Idaho knocked off Utah State 20-13 last November to give former coach Tom Cable a win in his finale.
“Basically, what we saw on film (from the BSU game) was some really sloppy football, missed tackles on defense and guys not doing what they’re coached to do,” Holt said. “Everything is correctable. We have to do a better job of tackling, and offensively we need to get some first downs.”
Utah State had comparable problems. Projected starting running back Marcus Crawford is sidelined for the season with a knee injury, leaving the job to true freshman Chris Forbes, who gained 28 yards on 11 carries. Walk-on senior Peter Shields had two attempts.
Travis Cox, who passed for 322 yards against Idaho last November, was 16 of 27 vs. Alabama.
“They moved the ball,” Holt said. “Alabama had some problems with (USU’s) receivers. They spread you out and get a lot of one-on-one matchups.”
The Aggies use a 3-4 alignment under second-year defensive coordinator David Kotulski. Utah State went from No. 111 in total defense in 2002 to No. 45 last season.
“At times we played very well; at times we didn’t tackle very well,” Dennehy said. “We need to do a better job tackling as a team.”
Notes
Idaho defensive tackle Michael Togafau (shoulder), who didn’t play last week, is questionable for tonight’s game. Reserve freshman defensive end Evan Ruud (shoulder) is out. Offensive lineman Nate VanderPol (knee) probably won’t play and guard Ryan Waage (ankle) could be limited. It appears the starting line will be Jarrod Schulte at center, Hank Therien at left tackle, Jade Tadvick at right tackle and Tony Kiel and Waage at guards. If Waage comes out of the game, Tadvick will probably move to guard and true freshman Desmond Clark will play right tackle… . Former Post Falls High coach Jeff Choate is in his second year coaching Utah State safeties and special teams. As a graduate assistant in 2002, he worked with the defensive line… . Idaho co-offensive coordinator Nate Kaczor was an All-Big West center for the Aggies in the late 1980s and also spent eight years as a USU assistant. When Dennehy arrived prior to the 2000 season, Dennehy interviewed Kaczor but retained Tom McMahon as the only holdover from the previous staff.