Vandals’ future looks brighter
It may be hard to mine any nuggets out of a 1-11 football season, but it is the nature of athletics to look for them.
Sifting through the debacle of Robb Akey’s first year as a head coach should give Idaho fans reason to believe they can bank some success in the future.
The biggest nugget is Akey himself.
Despite enduring 10 straight losses to finish last in the Western Athletic Conference, Akey never lost the faith.
“I learned I liked the job a lot, in spite of the situation we’re in,” he said. “I like the role. I’m very honored to have the opportunity.”
The importance of that can’t be undervalued for a program that has had three coaches in three seasons, four in five, and hasn’t had a winning season since 1999. The coach, who sacrificed any chance of quick success by parting ways with almost 20 of the players he inherited, obviously plans to stick around and build a foundation for long-term success.
“We’re a work in progress,” Akey said recently, repeating his weekly mantra. “We’re progressing in a lot of ways. We didn’t progress in terms of the win-loss column the way we wanted to. In terms of building a football program, building a football family, we come together in a lot of ways. I saw a lot of growing up take place.”
That was evident in the way the Vandals competed as the losses mounted up.
“I expected to win more than one game, I most certainly did,” Akey said. “I’m disappointed in that. Do I understand why? Maybe part of me does.
“I saw this group of players and coaches handle that. The one time we were embarrassed was the rival game, unfortunately. On Sunday, they came back and went to work. They kept competing through the very bitter end. I don’t know if people realize how big that is.”
In every game, even the Boise State disaster, there was a point when the Vandals did more to contribute to their downfall than the opponent and there was never just one thing the coaches could single out and fix. The mistakes came early and late. They were made by the offense, defense and special teams. It happened against good teams, average teams and poor teams.
“We had a lot of inexperienced guys,” Akey said. “While we were gaining ground there we had some growing pains take place. We suffered a tremendous amount of those. That was the frustration. I can sit here and see how we could have won five or six games. In reality we made some plays that kept that from taking place.
“That is also what keeps you going and helps these guys know we’re gaining ground. They stayed together, practiced hard and played hard. It’s a matter of playing better.”
The two-deep roster for the final game, with a couple of either/or positions mixed in, only had 11 seniors (seven on defense, plus one injured starter) among the 49 names, which was easily offset by 10 true freshmen (seven on defense) and 10 redshirt freshmen (five on offense and defense). There were also six non-lettering upperclassmen (five on offense) and two junior college transfers (both on defense). The only senior specialist on special teams was kickoff man Vincente Rico.
The offense featured redshirt freshman running back Deonte Jackson, who ran for 1,100 yards despite an early-season ankle injury and defenses geared to stop him. All but one return to an offensive line anchored by center Adam Korby, who has made 35 straight starts.
Though not prolific, all the wide receivers are back, led by two sophomores who had 27 receptions, Eddie Williams and Max Komar, and true freshman Maurice Shaw, who had 23.
The question is at quarterback. Redshirt freshman Nathan Enderle started well but hit a rough patch then injured a finger in the first conference game, missed the next three. Senior Brian Nooy struggled as a replacement and the attempt to run the option with true freshman Quin Ashley, who missed all of fall drills and the first couple of games after spraining an ankle while playing safety, never really panned out. The trio combined to throw six interceptions that were returned for touchdowns.
Enderle struggled when he returned and finished with a 43.5 completion rate, 15 interceptions and nine touchdowns.
Though there are no guarantees for a quarterback’s progress, one need to look no further than Eastern Washington for hope. After throwing a school-record 17 interceptions with just eight touchdowns as a redshirt freshman, Matt Nichols set a school record with more than 30 touchdown passes and was Big Sky Conference Offensive MVP as a sophomore this season.
The strength of the defense was a senior linebacking corps, but with injuries four true freshmen and one redshirt freshman saw action.
The secondary also had two seniors but includes Shiloh Keo, a definite playmaker. The defensive line is undersized and thin but there was only one senior.
Akey would prefer the Vandals play a 4-3 defense, or at least have that option, rather than the 3-4 they were forced into because of the lack of depth on the line.
Though the Vandals are looking for help across the board with the next recruiting class, emphasis is on speed at receiver, size on the defensive line, depth at linebacker and immediate help in the secondary.
“I’m not saying guys here can’t play,” Akey said. “We gained a lot of ground with the guys here. We have good players we can build from. We need to add depth; we need to add bigger big guys.”