One play comes close to summing up the second fall scrimmage for Idaho.
On the second play of the seventh drive quarterback Chad Chalich stepped up in the pocket and delivered a comfortable long ball to Deon Watson, his former high school teammate who streaked down the right sideline beating the defender with ease for a 59-yard touchdown.
It was one of five touchdown passes on the day for Chalich, and one of two touchdown receptions for Watson on a day that saw the former Couer D’Alene standouts earn the praise of their head coach.
“It was really good, there were a couple plays he still made me upset, but other than that he played really well,” coach Paul Petrino said of Chalich. “There were a couple times he had a couple guys who were hot, didn’t see them. Another time he went the wrong way on a read, that’s about all I can think of.”
Chalich had seven total touchdowns and threw for 414 yards with a gaudy completion percentage of 19-of-20.
Petrino told Vandal Nation yesterday his choice in starting quarterback wouldn’t be made public prior to the North Texas game on Aug. 31, but based on the second scrimmage it’s safe to assume that the redshirt freshman Chalich is No. 1 at the moment.
Quarterback contenders Taylor Davis and Josh McCain were featured less prominently with the starting offense, with only three combined touchdowns between the two of them. Chalich alone took 34 snaps — all with the ones. McCain and Davis took 34 snaps between the two of them.
Watson was on the receiving end of three Chalich passes for 84 yards, two of them touchdowns. The redshirt freshman duo have chemistry that dates back to when the two were learning the multiplication table together.
“We’ve been together since first grade, playing football all through junior tackle, high school and now here,” Chalich said of high school and now Idaho teammate. “We had that chemistry, we know what each guy is going to do. He’s a great guy, great size, great speed great hands, so he’s learning the offense, he’s doing great out there.”
Watson has worked himself into the near top of the receiver depth chart, it seems. Roman Runner, who played a little cornerback this week, Najee Lovett and Dezmon Epps are the mainstays at the top of the depth chart. Watson is competing with other receivers such as Reuben Mwehla and Maurice Trotter for those first team reps.
“He’s really coming along. Everyday he just keeps making plays, making plays, making plays. Done it during two scrimmages, does it every day in practice. He’s a big physical kid. And it’s just great to see, our depth at receiver is just making me happier and happier every time,” Petrino said.
Watson is embracing the competition.
“Some of the new guys running the offense, myself I’m starting to get used to it after a full spring and the summer and I’m starting to get comfortable with reading defenses and I’m sure my teammates are too,” Watson said.
Injury update
– Roman Runner sat out of the practice for an unknown injury. While he played on the defense at times throughout the week he was wearing a white offense jersey.
– Back-up guard/center Spencer Beale was wearing a boot on his right leg
– Strong tackle Jesse Davis was back in action during the scrimmage. Starting weak guard Dallas Sandberg is still sitting out. Petrino hopes to have him back next week.
– Kris Olugbode and James Baker were still sitting out at running back.
– Safety Trey Williams was running and Petrino hopes to have him back on Monday. “We need to get him back out here,” Petrino said. Sounds like Williams will step right into a starting role when he gets back up to speed.
Tight ends showed up today
One of Idaho’s more experienced position groups showed up today for the Vandals, especially down the field. Senior Clayton Homme had four receptions for 50 yards, with senior Michael LaGrone only catching two touchdown passes totaling 93 yards, including a 55-yard bomb from Chalich. Sophomore Jared Klingenberg tacked on two catches for 84 yards. Idaho was going down the field a lot, and tight ends were obviously a big part of that. Blocking at the line of scrimmage wasn’t bad either. The quarterbacks were protected a lot more than last week, though quarterbacks not being live helped in that as well.
“They made plays, tight ends had a good day. It was good see,” Petrino said. “They blocked well, they made plays down the field. We’ve got some speed at tight end so that makes it good, you can get in some heavier formations that people call to run the ball but still have speed to throw it down the field.”
Secondary struggles
The offense having a great day throwing the ball down the field is a double-edged sword for Idaho. It was starters against starters, meaning the offenses’ success came at the expense of the secondary. Safety Bradley Njoku struggled. Freshman Jordan Grabski rotated in quite a bit at starting safety, with Solomon Dixon, Delency Parham and Jayshawn Jordan the primary cornerbacks. As afore mentioned it looks like Idaho could really use a healthy Trey Williams.
Game preparation starts now
With the second scrimmage out of the way the depth chart looks largely set, meaning for Petrino it’s time to start thinking about show time which is only two weeks away.
“We have to keep going against eachother for the speed and for the competitiveness, now we’ll start narrowing in and working our game plan against the schemes North Texas does,” Petrino said. “So really these are the runs we’re going to run against North Texas, we’re going to start working on them.”
“These are the runs we have to STOP against North Texas, next week will be fun. We have two weeks and then showtime,” he said.
Idaho goes down the field
It wasn’t just the tight ends going down the field. Four different receivers had at least one reception of over 25-yards. Running back Richard Montgomery had two receptions of over 30 yards. It was a throw-the-ball-deep party for everybody.
“I think anytime, really when we’ve been our best is when we can throw play-action down the field, be real good in our quick game and run the ball and not have to throw all that drop-back,” Petrino said. “Just throw the ball down the field, play action, run the ball well and throw a lot of quick game that’s usually when we’ve played well.”
Speaking of Richard Montgomery…
Only four rushing yards, but three receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown. Montgomery is starting to show his versatility and at this point it will be impossible for Idaho to keep him off of the field.
“Pretty special. He’s pretty darn good. What you like about Richard is he’s just one of those guys who’s just happy everyday. He’s always got a smile on his face, he likes football, he doesn’t get tired, he’s too athletic,” Petrino said.
“You usually say the great athletes don’t get tired, you get tired all the time then you’re not a very good athlete, he doesn’t get tired, he just plays hard and has fun making plays. He can run, he can catch it, he can run out the backfield, he can run inside and he can run outside. He’s just a young punk though we got to keep getting him better.”
Idaho gets back on the practice field on Monday.