The Vandals might need to be better than “close” this weekend.
Defensive coordinator Mark Criner said the Vandal defense is almost where they need to be as the team travels across the country for its matchup against ACC opponent Virginia at 12:30 Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.
“We’re close. All we’ve gotta do on defense is do the little things, the technique part better,” Criner said. “We’re close on the defensive line. We’re close at linebacker. We’re close on the secondary. And we’re a little bit inconsistent, we’ve just gotta take the little things … and get better at it.”
Defensive tackle Michael Cosgrove echoed Criner saying all the pieces of the defense work, just not at the same time yet.
“A lot of it is everyone being on the same page,” Cosgrove said. “We’ve gotten a lot of pressure (on the quarterback) … sometimes the guys will get to the quarterback but the pressure isn’t there so the quarterback gets rid of the ball. Or you know, the coverage will be great, but the (defensive line) doesn’t get there.”
The Cavaliers will field a large, physical team much like that of Texas A&M, said Steve Axman, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Unfortunately, for the Vandals, close will not be good enough against a Virginia defensive line that has recorded eight sacks already this season.
“We face a very formidable opposition in Virginia and their defense is a very good solid ACC defense. They’re very strong up front, got big thick linebackers, they got some speed in the secondary,” Axman said.
Axman said Idaho lineman Jordan Johnson is still day-to-day, but if he is able to return, the Vandals could definitely use him.
“He’s a nice thick body that moves well and does some good things,” Axman said. “When he comes back that’s going to help us an awful lot.”
Until then, Axman said the offense will attempt to throw the Virginia offense off by using multiple pass plays and a balanced pass-run attack.
“We hope that our multiple formations and some of our pass patterns will give them some problems,” Axman said. “Kama Bailey … will take the brunt of the running carries and with Troy Vital backing up and carrying that goal line short yardage role.”
Criner said the Cavalier offense is as balanced as it comes.
“They’re about as 50-50 as you can get,” Criner said. “They’d like to run the football, they’ve got big offensive linemen, probably the biggest offensive linemen we’re gonna end up seeing.”
Virginia running backs will likely give the Vandals trouble as its two leading rushers, Kevin Park and Perry Jones, have a combined 534 yards and four touchdowns.
Criner said the defense cannot, and does not get frustrated at the lack of points the Idaho offense has managed this season. He said that will not change this weekend in Virginia.
“All you do is do what you can do. That’s how we take the field,” Criner said. “They can’t get frustrated. You’re a team. Everybody is in this together. You gotta keep on fighting. We’ve gotta hold our end of the bargain up too.”
Idaho tight end Michael LaGrone said the team is still focused and working on finishing the game. He said last week the first half went well, but the team did not do what needed to happen to finish the game the way they hoped. Quarterback Brian Reader agreed with LaGrone.
“We’re trying to get consistency with what we do,” Reader said. “If we don’t get it right, we do it over and over and over again until we get it right. So when it’s game time, we execute when we need to.”
Reader said there isn’t anything special the Vandal offense needs to do to get a win on the Atlantic coast. He said, simply, the offense needs to be on the same page and execute when it is most critical.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.com, a website available on college campuses.