‘We play for each other’: Tight-knit Idaho O-line leads the way into final nonconference game at Abilene Christian

MOSCOW, Idaho – No one on the offensive line is ever alone with their thoughts.

Football is often cited as a quintessential team game, and the line is the elite unit within the team unit. When they are doing it right, two tackles, two guards and a center function as one, dealing out a bullying level of force with exquisite timing and communication.

As a center, the University of Idaho’s Layton Vining is responsible for the majority of the Vandals’ blocking calls. But he said the Vandals work as a group and he expects input from everyone else on the line “depending on what they see.”

When the Football Championship Subdivision fourth-ranked Vandals (2-1) face what they anticipate will be the multiple shifting fronts and frequent blitzes from 19th-ranked Abilene Christian (2-1) Saturday, Vining said of the challenge, “It’s definitely a party.”

Idaho’s offensive line was forged by practicing daily against what left guard Nate Azzopardi calls the best defensive line in FCS.

“We have seen them every day since January.” he said.

Through spring practice and into preseason camp, the Vandals’ defense regularly challenged Idaho’s offensive line and frequently won.

“Iron sharpens iron,” right tackle Jack Foster said. “We know we are good enough. We have our days.”

Idaho coach Jason Eck several times this season has remarked on the strides Idaho’s offensive line has taken. The Vandals acquitted themselves well against Football Bowl Subdivision Oregon, third-ranked at the time, in a 24-14 loss, and against FBS foe Wyoming of the Mountain West Conference, in a 17-13 win. Last week, the Vandals’ offensive front consolidated the gains they made in those games into a 41-13 victory over 17th-ranked Albany University.

“We play for each other. We have each other’s backs,” Foster said of Idaho’s line.

The Vandals are big. Left tackle Ayden Knapik, a Big Sky Conference honorable mention, goes 6-foot-7, 295 pounds. Azzopardi is 6-2, 290; Vining is 6-2, 285; right guard Logan Harris is 6-7, 310; and Foster is 6-7, 295.

In his weekly news conference, Abilene Christian coach Keith Patterson said the Vandals “try to bully you. They are like the teams in that part of the country.

“I really feel good about the way we are playing up front defensively. We are destroying the line of scrimmage.

“(But against Idaho), we are going to have to match their mental toughness and aggression.”

The line has set a goal to dominate defenses, Foster said. It wants to pave the way for Idaho running backs to average 5 yards per carry.

It got that done against Albany. Nate Thomas averaged 9.4 yards on eight carries, with two touchdowns, Eli Cummings averaged 6.5 on 11 carries, and Art Williams averaged 6.2 on six carries.

“(They’ll) try to slow us down,” Vining said of the Wildcats’ defense. “That’s the biggest key to the game.”

But all of Idaho’s starters have had at least a season’s worth of experience, and Azzopardi is a COVID-19 veteran. His career goes back to the spring season of 2021, when he played six games.

In unit drills this week, the Idaho linemen devoted a lot of time to working double-team blocks at the line of scrimmage and quickly getting to the defense’s second level to deal with blitzers.

“As a group, we’re getting older,” Vining said. “When we were younger, we hadn’t seen much stuff. Now we’re ready to tackle new challenges.”

The Vandals have confronted hurdles of a different kind. Two original starters have been lost for the year. Right guard Charlie Vleim and center Kaden Rodnett are recovering from surgeries for leg injuries. Vining, a starter last season, and Harris have stepped up to replace them.

This season, Knapik also gets to play with a brother. Nathan Knapik, a 6-7, 285-pound freshman, backs up Foster at right tackle.

“All our family comes to the games. Our parents go to the road games now,” Ayden Knapik said. “It’s nice to live with (my brother) and help teach him.” Idaho’s line also got to draw inspiration from a former Vandals great Mark Schlereth, whose 1988 team was inducted in the Idaho Hall of Fame last week and holds the school record for season wins with 12. That group reached the semifinals of the national playoffs.

Schlereth, who won a Super Bowl championship with Washington and two more with Denver, spent a couple of days in Moscow with the current Vandals during preseason camp.

“I was trying to be a sponge around him when he was in town,” Azzopardi said. “He has done everything we want to accomplish. He was an all-conference player and a Big Sky Conference champion.”