Vandals see positive results at scrimmage

MOSCOW, Idaho – There was a consensus Saturday morning that progress has been made as the University of Idaho football team conducted a brief scrimmage on the sun-baked SprinTurf Field.

“It was a good first scrimmage,” coach Robb Akey said after the Vandals completed the session that was half regular practice and half controlled scrimmage. “Both sides of the ball had success. They did a nice job of getting after each other. I thought they played hard.”

As often is the case in the early days of practice, the defense seemed to have a leg up on the offense. Solid tackles by seniors JoArtis Ratti and Brandon Ogletree drew responses from the , while the defensive front managed steady pressure that resulted in a handful of sacks.

“I think it was a pretty solid day overall,” said senior David Vobora, a linebacker who was the Western Athletic Conference’s top tackler last season. “It was a good tempo.”

The focus on the quarterback battle may have narrowed some with senior Brian Nooy and junior college transfer Luke Tracy taking turns with the No. 1 line.

“That’s a work in progress,” said Akey of the race for the job that also includes junior Chris Joseph and redshirt freshman Nathan Enderle.

The Vandals return to the field with 3:45 p.m. practices on Tuesday and Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday scrimmages the next two weeks.

Their final week of spring drills includes practices April 24 and 26, and the Silver and Gold scrimmage April 27.