Big games, big challenges for Vandals

Idaho has played a who’s who of college football in the last decade.

The Vandals have traveled to Auburn and LSU of the Southeastern Conference, Michigan State of the Big Ten and West Virginia, now in the Big East.

The lure is an unforgettable experience for the players and a big payday for the school, not necessarily in that order.

The problem is that in every one of the last nine years the Vandals have also tackled a Pac-10 team or two – and on more than one occasion, even three.

With the Vandals opening this season at top-ranked USC on Saturday and playing at Washington State two weeks later, Idaho will have played 25 games against BCS conference opponents – none in the Kibbie Dome – since playing Washington State and LSU in 1998.

“That’s too much,” first-year Vandals head coach Robb Akey said. “That doesn’t help you get your football team ready to win the Western Athletic Conference.”

The toll is as much mental as physical.

“You can compete,” Idaho senior linebacker David Vobora said. “Where you see the biggest difference is on the front – the offensive line and defensive line. Those guys get beat up quite a bit … you get worn down.

“Losing no matter who you lose to is rough. Winning is a lot more fun, and when you come down to it, if you have more of an opportunity to win it’s better for your team, it’s better for your schedule, it’s better for your fans, all of the above.”

Akey and UI athletic director Rob Spear want a non-conference schedule that includes a payday (BSC opponent), a win (Football Championship Subdivision – formerly I-AA – opponent) and two games out of conferences similar to the WAC – the Mountain West, Mid-American or Conference USA.

It won’t happen overnight. Schedules are made far into the future. Next year, for example, the Vandals play Arizona and Oregon State, although the Beavers are playing in the Kibbie Dome.

“So far we’re on track,” Spear said. “It looks like by 2010 we’ll have it done.”

One casualty of the philosophy is the end of the annual game with Washington State. The border rivals have played 89 times, beginning in 1894, including 10 straight seasons.

“I’d like to continue to do it maybe every couple of years,” said Akey, a WSU assistant for eight seasons before taking over the Vandals this year. “I think it’s good for the Palouse. It’s a traditional (game), (and) there is history to the game, which is a good thing, but I also think if you play it every year you can wear it out.

“We’re going to get more money from playing USC or Nebraska than we are playing Washington State, and I don’t want to play two of them.”

The key is the BCS money game.

“If we’re going to play one of those schools we want to have a decent payday so we don’t have to play two,” Spear said. “It has to be in the high six figures.”

Scheduling has become more difficult in recent years with the addition of a 12th game, 13 if a team plays at Hawaii, which the Vandals do every other year. Also, FCS schools are practically getting to auction themselves to the highest bidders.

“What we pay I-AA is an issue, but we won’t let that be the driver,” Spear said. “If we have a good BCS payday, we can have flexibility. (FCS teams) want to schedule games where they can be successful, just like we want to schedule non-conference games where we can be successful.

“(BCS) games are out there. Those schools have to have five home games with D-I conferences. I think we’ll always be an attractive candidate. When we become better, I don’t know.”

Spear said he tried to drop USC, a game set up when Nick Holt, who came from USC and has since returned, was Vandals head coach.

“He thought it would help in recruiting, great exposure,” Spear said. “I went as far as finding a replacement game for us, but USC didn’t want to do it because of the strength of their other non-conference games.”

Although he said the $600,000 payday wasn’t enough, there were positives to playing the top-ranked team.

“Let’s be honest,” Spear said. “From a competitive standpoint, for us to go to USC and see where our program is, people will look at it as a not very positive experience. But the experience our kids are going to have going down there and playing the preseason No. 1, playing in the Coliseum and us being able to interact with our alumni base in California is a very positive thing.

“One of the important things I want for the kids in every one of our programs is to have a great collegiate experience. One of those things is being able to step out and play the best. You certainly don’t want to play more than once in football.”