Vandals picked to finish eighth in WAC

BOISE – The University of Idaho’s fortunes on the football field aren’t expected to change much this season, even with the arrival of head coach Dennis Erickson, according to a media poll released Tuesday.

The Vandals were picked by the media to finish eighth in the nine-team Western Athletic Conference. The poll was released as part of the WAC’s annual football media preview meetings that continue today in Boise with coaches and selected players available for interviews.

Four-time WAC defending champion Boise State is favored to make it five straight. The Broncos, who are 33-1 in their last 34 conference games, received 36 first-place votes and 432 points. Fresno State, with nine first-place votes and 380 points, was second, followed by Nevada (349) and Hawaii (306).

The Vandals haven’t won more than three games in a season since finishing 5-6 in 2000.

“I’m not really surprised,” junior linebacker David Vobora said of the poll, “but that’s how you like to play football. You want to be the guys nobody thinks will rise up and then make the big headlines because of it.”

Added senior quarterback Steve Wichman: “It’s not fun to hear, but in our minds that’s not realistic. What matters to me is what the team thinks and we think we’re going to be pretty good. We’ve been working hard this summer, not to be eighth.”

Louisiana Tech was picked fifth, San Jose State sixth and Utah State seventh. Idaho was followed by New Mexico State, which was winless last season.

The media selected Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan as the offensive player of the year and Boise State linebacker Korey Hall as defensive player of the year.

Nooy returns

Idaho has a new quarterback with a familiar face.

Brian Nooy, who appeared in six Vandals games in 2004 and was a squad member last season before he elected to transfer, is back in Moscow. Nooy is enrolled at Idaho and needs to finish up some class work before he becomes eligible this fall, Erickson said.

Nooy transferred to Linfield in January, but the Division III power underwent a coaching change and Nooy ended up at a junior college in Oregon, Erickson said.

Nooy, a Pendleton, Ore., native, was 24 of 49 for 253 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions in 2004. His best performance came against Washington State when he was 6 of 6 for 79 yards and tossed a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Ryan Heacock in a 49-8 Vandal loss.

“Brian was in our camp when I was (coaching) at Oregon State and I liked him back then,” Erickson said.

Nooy is expected to compete with Chris Joseph for the backup position behind Wichman. The Vandals also have true freshmen quarterbacks Nathan Enderle and Jon Tobin.

Foot work

The loss of senior kicker/punter Mike Barrow leaves Idaho scrambling to find a replacement. T.J. Conley, who was the punter last season until suffering a broken leg, is expected to handle the punting duties. Replacing Barrow, who is on several preseason All-WAC lists, won’t be as simple.

Idaho has two kickers on its roster – Luke Hardwick, a product of O’Dea High in Seattle, and Matt Gregg, a sophomore who transferred from Brown University. Tino Amancio, a transfer from Chaffey Junior College who is walking on at Idaho, is another name to watch. He punted and kicked at Chaffey.

Grady Harmon, who was named to several all-state lists as a kicker at Woodway High in Edmonds, Wash., signed with the Vandals, but he has decided to join the Marines.

Barrow tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while playing basketball last week at his home in California. He made 16 of 19 field goals last season while earning first-team All-WAC honors.