Akey addresses media after loss

Idaho football coach Robb Akey talked about responding to the loss to Bowling Green and whole bunch of other things this morning. Read on for a summary.

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Before getting to the summary, here’s a quick injury update. Akey said he’s expecting receiver Justin Veltung and cornerback Dion Bass to be available this week. Landon Weaver, another wideout, could possibly play and nickelback/safety Kenneth Patten will play “as soon as that knee gets feeling better,” Akey said.

Akey was also asked about Jeffrey Bediako, a Dutch-born player from Boise just like three Boise State players who were held out of last week because of eligibility concerns. Akey said there are no concerns about Bediako’s eligibility. Instead, “I worry about getting (Bediako’s) leg mended,” Akey replied.

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Akey said his team was hurt and embarrassed by the 32-15 loss to Bowling Green on Thursday in Moscow. They watched film on Friday and Akey met with the players Sunday.

The Vandals will host FCS foe North Dakota on Saturday in the Dome — they beat UND 45-0 last year in their season opener — before playing Texas A&M, Fresno State and Virginia in three consecutive weeks. So is this a must win? Akey gave his typical response to that question: “In my eyes, every game is a must win. So you can print that if you want to. … As a football coach, I treat every game as a must win. … It’s the only game you get to play this week.”

Looking back to Bowling Green, Akey said, “Well, that was a long time ago right now. Obvious I’m not happy with the way we performed. We directed our energy to getting that performance corrected. …”

As far as highlights from the loss, Akey mentioned the special-teams play of Trey Williams, who “was all over the field as a cover man.” Defensively, he mentioned Aaron Grymes, Conrad Scheidt and Korey Toomer.

And on offense, Akey was happy with the play of receiver Mike Scott and left tackle Matt Cleveland.

But he also noted that “we’ve got to block better in the interior of our line.”

“Those guys had performed well as we went through camp,” Akey said. ‘I liked what that group had become.”

He said the coaches will look at possibly rotating in A.J. Jones and Bilal Liggins at guard and/or center. And he said he expects center Mike Marboe and starting guards Sam Tupua and Jordan Johnson to respond.

Asked about tight end Michael LaGrone, who caught one of two touchdown passes last week, Akey said, “I’m expecting very good things. I expect him to be a strong contributor for us. He’s also improved as a blocker.”