New season, new coaching staff, new conference (well, sort-of), new quarterback, new a lot of things.
It’s fall football, and there are a lot of questions that coaches, fans and us in the media are eager to find out.
We’ll jump right to it.
There will be a lot of questions, but these are the five things we’re most looking forward to finding out about.
Quarterbacks
It’s a quarterback competition, again. But it’s a bit different than Taylor Davis and Dominique Blackman last season. Redshirt freshman Chad Chalich came out No. 1 on the depth chart in the spring but Josh McCain was recruited from DeAnza College to come in and compete for the starting job. It’s unclear where McCain stands with Chalich on day one, but the scrimmage on Aug. 10 will be the first opportunity for either one of those guys to pull ahead of the other. Petrino said he has no specific timeline on making a decision.
Right guard
Four of the five offensive line spots are set for Idaho, which is certainly a good thing. Now Idaho just has to find out who the right guard is. Junior Spencer Beale has the most returning experience there. Aaron Lazaro and Nick Van Rotz are other names to keep an eye out for, but it could be anybody’s job.
Quayshawne Buckley’s maturity
If there is one player on Idaho’s roster with the potential of hearing his name called during the 2014 NFL Draft, it’s Quayshawne Buckley. The 305 pound defensive tackle still has a long way to go, however. He’s just worked his way back onto the team after being dismissed from the program last February following a DUI arrest. On the field, Buckley will have to learn discipline, cutting down on unnecessary (roughness) penalties and finishing plays behind the line of scrimmage. Icing on the cake would be if the senior can step up alongside Maxx Forde as a leader on defense. Anything else you want out of a defensive tackle, Buckley already possesses.
Who plays where in the secondary
The secondary loses three starters, with a fourth player gone who split starting time with returning senior Trey Williams at strong safety. Long story short the secondary will be young and very thin of FBS experience. It’s probable, if not very likely, that three true freshman in Armond Hawkins, Jordan Grabski and Desmond Banks will see playing time in 2013. Junior safety Bradley Njoku could see time at corner, and Banks could play either safety or corner. Defensive coordinator Ronnie Lee, who oversees the secondary personally, will have his work cut out for him fitting the pieces together in his secondary.
Special teams
Idaho, quite literally, only returns one key special teams player from last season — Long-snapper Marius Burgsmueller. Who will fill the return shoes of Justin Veltung, Todd Handley and Tracy Carter? Dezmon Epps, Richard Montgomery and Armond Hawkins could be possibilities there. Who fills in the long leg of Trey Farquhar? Well, that will be 67-yard field goal man true freshman Austin Rehkow. Who will fill the big boot of Bobby Cowan? That could be Rehkow as well, who Petrino said is excited about taking on the role of doing both kicking jobs. Petrino has said true freshmen Will Schmidt (linebacker) and Trent Cowan (wide-receiver) could also punt if needed.