QB race not over yet

MOSCOW, Idaho – Two weeks ago, redshirt freshman Nathan Enderle seemed to be pulling away in the race to become the University of Idaho’s starting quarterback. After Friday’s Silver and Gold spring scrimmage, Enderle remains in front, but the gap is shrinking.

Enderle threw interceptions on two of his first six passes before settling down. He finished 7 of 15 for 87 yards and one touchdown – a well-thrown 19-yarder to Lee Smith, who beat the coverage of All-WAC cornerback Stanley Franks.

“You always try to push yourself and try to get better every week,” Enderle said. “I’m disappointed in my play, obviously, but it (the quarterback competition) will really kind of pan out in fall camp.”

No. 2 quarterback Luke Tracy was 4 of 6 for 109 yards and one touchdown. He also produced the longest play of the scrimmage – a 40-yard connection with Steven Brown. Third-string quarterback Brian Nooy was 4 of 6 for 50 yards.

The scrimmage, which drew about 3,000 to the Kibbie Dome, capped spring drills. Head coach Robb Akey said Enderle “most likely” remains the starter, but the position remains in competition.

“Enderle struggled a little bit and I thought Tracy did some things a little bit better,” Akey said. “We’ll look at how things played out today. I’m going to challenge each one to work their tails off and see if they can beat out the other two guys.”

Idaho’s starting offense had success between the 20s against the first-team defense, but it was forced to settle for six field goals.

“I thought both sides had some things happen,” Akey said. “I saw the offense move the ball down and I saw the defense stop them. Now we have to fix both things. The defense can’t allow them to get down there. If we can get ourselves inside the 10-yard line, we need those to be touchdowns instead of field goals.”

Wedding bells

Starting linebacker Jo’Artis Ratti had three tackles and gained a partner for life. While Akey addressed the team after the scrimmage, an assistant coach brought Ratti’s girlfriend, Keosha Moses, onto the field. After Akey finished, the team gathered around Ratti as he dropped to one knee and proposed to Moses.

“We’ve been together 4 ½ years,” Ratti said. “It’s the classic high school sweetheart – she was a cheerleader and I was a football player. … I’m from L.A., but this is like my family here and I wanted my family to be part of it.”

Ratti credited linebacker David Vobora with the idea for the post-scrimmage proposal. By the way, today is Ratti’s birthday.

Notes

Sophomore safety Shiloh Keo injured his hamstring after intercepting Enderle on the opening drive. Keo sat out the rest of the scrimmage. Lee Jones, Keo’s backup, picked off another Enderle pass after the ball deflected off Max Komar. … Tino Amancio capped a solid spring by going 4 of 4 on field goals. He made a 51-yarder with several yards to spare. He made a 53-yarder last week. … The running game was limited to 77 yards on 37 attempts. Brian Flowers gained just 9 yards on 15 carries.