Idaho out to lunch mentally

University of Idaho head football coach Nick Holt thought the Xs and Os were in order, but the Vandals were flat and absent-minded Saturday afternoon.

Holt didn’t see it coming and he’s not sure why it happened. Idaho is young and mistakes are inevitable, but the problems went far deeper in the 62-14 loss to Nevada in Reno.

Holt cited receiver Daniel Smith as an example, but he could have thrown a dart at virtually anyone on the roster.

“He had a bunch of assignment busts,” Holt said. “He’s playing hard, but he’s not doing a very good job (with a) couple of penalties. Some of our effort was good, but we had a lot of missed assignments.

“We had a good week of practice; we just didn’t do a good job the last 48 hours before the game. That’s on us. The kids have to take responsibility, too, but quite honestly they’re kids and we’re the adults. Somehow, some way, we lost it before the game.”

The defense had its roughest outing of the season, yielding 537 yards. Again, the list of offenders was long. On the Wolf Pack’s initial scoring drive, fifth-year senior Jeff Edwards jumped off side on third-and-4 at the Vandals 15. Then on third-and-goal at the 4, Holt said the defensive line didn’t follow instructions, creating a huge hole over right tackle on B.J. Mitchell’s touchdown run.

Holt spoke at length on defensive short-comings, including two Mitchell runs that gained nearly 100 yards.

“Just basic, fundamental plays and the running back ran hard, but we’re out of our gaps,” said Holt, who coordinates the defense. “A fifth-year senior (linebacker) runs around a block. We had been playing pretty solid defense (this season). On the other long run, our linebacker fell down in the hole and missed the tackle. Just stuff that is irritating. A lot of us on defense mentally weren’t ready to play.”

Idaho has a bye Saturday, but it this week is still important.

“We have to do a lot of self -evaluation to see if we’re doing the right things with our personnel, with us being down some players,” Holt said. “Last year we played 12 straight games without a bye and we didn’t get to do this, so we’ve really got to take this week as an opportunity to get better.”

Catch in recruiting process

When Holt was linebackers coach at USC, he recruited Jason Hill as a safety. Hill, a standout at Sacred Heart High in San Francisco, wanted to stay at receiver and ended up picking Washington State, where the junior has put up big numbers the last season and a half.

“We didn’t have many safeties in the program,” Holt said. “He wanted to be a receiver. I told him, ‘No, we’re recruiting you as a safety and we think you’d be a hell of a football player.’ He’s doing a nice job obviously at receiver.”

Streaks survive

A week after its record 27-game WAC winning streak was nearly ended by Hawaii, Boise State needed a fourth-quarter TD run by Lee Marks to turn back I-AA Portland State and preserve its record 27-game home winning streak.

BSU coach Dan Hawkins complimented Vikings’ players and coaches, but couldn’t say the same about his effort.

“I just need to be a little better teacher, go back to college and remember all those education courses I took,” he said. “We’re not executing like we need to execute. We’ve got too much water in the gas tank right now.”

And too many turnovers on the stat sheet. BSU is 3-2 despite being minus-11 in turnover margin. Quarterback Jared Zabransky has 13 turnovers (seven interceptions, six fumbles). Elsewhere, BSU is a mirror image of its opponents – 30.6 points for and against, 424 yards per game, 413 allowed.

Surprise showdown

The biggest game in the WAC this week won’t involve perennial powers BSU or Fresno State. Instead, Nevada (3-2, 2-0 WAC) entertains La Tech (2-2, 2-0) with both trying to show they can make a surprise run at the conference title.

“Obviously, it’s a huge game, it’s kind of an early deal, but as I’ve found out, you better take care of things early or it’s kind of out of your hands,” Louisiana Tech coach Jack Bicknell said.

By some accounts, Bicknell entered the season on the hot seat.

“Probably every Division I coach is on the hot seat at some point,” he said. “We’re just trying to beat Nevada. If we don’t, I’ll be right back on it.”

Notes

Nevada’s B.J. Mitchell, who ran for a career-high 149 yards and four touchdowns against Idaho, was named the WAC offensive player of the week. … Senior offensive tackle Daryn Colledge will become the second player from BSU to play in the Senior Bowl.