We’re going to change it up this week. Instead of breaking down the positional grades for Idaho’s season ending loss at Utah State we’re going to go over the season that could have been, maybe should have been and ultimately was not because of unfortunate event after unfortunate event.
I still believe that Idaho is a greatly more talented team than the team that rolled out its 1-11 record. I firmly believe Idaho could have even fought for a bowl appearance with a 6-6 record. I believe that was doomed on Aug. 30, however.
The Eastern Washington game set the tone for the entire season. It was supposed to be the triumphant debut of Dominique Blackman, Idaho’s new Nathan Enderle, Idaho’s new hope. Instead, Blackman was suspended for the game and the Vandals rolled out the same stagnant offense we saw under Brian Reader in 2011 and the Eagles were able to pull away late to make the score look early.
It’s a fair question to ask whether or not Blackman would have made up for a 17-point difference, but despite the stagnant offense the Vandals were able to keep it close for the majority of the game with good defense and good special teams.
Given Blackman’s effective performance the next week at Bowling Green it’s fair to assume Idaho would have had a different beast of an offense against Eastern Washington early, and would have been able to get in to a rhythm and win that football game.
The next week out, Idaho traveled to Bowling Green using Blackman’s debut to sort out the kinks of its new starter, only scoring 13 points and turning the ball over in the fourth quarter with an opportunity to tie, falling to 0-2. Blackman went 30-37 for 352 passing yards, but the offense couldn’t find a first down to save its life.
It’s fair to wonder if Blackman played against Eastern and Idaho had won, would the Vandals have brought a more rhythmic offense to Ohio and won its first two games?
It’s fair, then, to also wonder if a team that had tasted victory and knew how to win would have finished off the Wyoming Cowboys, instead of the team that wasn’t able to convert for a touchdown in overtime and ultimately lost.
Imagine a 3-1 Idaho team heading to North Carolina for a game the team lost 66-0. Imagine a Vandal team that played with competitiveness and heart because a bowl game was realistically in sight. It’s clear the 0-4 version didn’t have that kind of mentality.
It’s fair to wonder what a team that had tasted winning and had the confidence of knowing they were playing for something bigger could have accomplished in competitive home games San Jose State and UTSA, or in the road game at Texas State.
It started in August when Blackman got himself suspended. Don’t get me wrong, Blackman shoulders responsibility for his actions, but the way the entire team responded in that loss to Eastern Washington set the tone for what this season was going to be.
The energy in the building that day was lackadaisical, the team that wanted to win that football game more did. Eastern Washington’s sideline, which was in front of the press box that day, was the more energized sideline. While they didn’t exactly react like they’ve been there before, they acted like they were the better team who expected to win that game. It’s more than could be said for Idaho most of the year.
When the next coach walks into the Kibbie Dome the first thing he will have to address is the culture around the program, taking accountability and building a resilient team which can respond to such adversities. This program has had too many games and too many stretches in which negative adversity kills the opportunity to win and string together success. The Humanitarian Bowl year in 2009 was the exception, not the rule.
Sean Kramer can be reached at arg-sports@uidaho.edu