To those who are travelling across the country to be in Moscow this weekend, we say welcome home. Other than it being Homecoming, you picked the right weekend to come back to the Palouse, for this is probably Idaho’s most winnable game in the relatively young Paul Petrino era.
Idaho is listed as only a 7 or 7.5 point underdog, depending on the service you trust. I say ‘only’ because Idaho spent the last two weeks as a 28 point underdog to Northern Illinois and a 32 point one to Washington State.
The Vandals obliterated the spread against NIU at home (despite still losing), and were easily covered by Washington State last week in Pullman.
Betting in favor of the Vandals may not be a bad decision this week. The Owls are making the 2,100 mile flight to the Pacific Northwest with a team that has one passing touchdown all season.
Depending on how much New Mexico State is able to improve before the last game of the season, this is probably the worst team Idaho will play all season. Although CBS Sports thinks Idaho will play two other bottom 25 teams in the country.
Here are the important numbers for this week’s match-up: Temple’s defense has only sacked the quarterback five times. Idaho’s offensive line on the other hand has given up 26 touchdowns. Something will have to give there.
Injury update
Defensive end Quinton Bradley is still out for Idaho, missing last week’s game at Washington State as well after hurting his shoulder against Northern Illinois. Offensive linemen Dallas Sandberg and Jesse Davis were also absent during Tuesday and Wednesday practice. Their status is uncertain.
Cornerback Solomon Dixon was back participating with the starting secondary. Christian Whitehead was also getting a lot of reps with the first team secondary after having a good game against Washington State.
Essential links
Our main game story for Saturday’s match-up against Temple
Theo Lawson thinks the Idaho offensive line needs to step up and step up fast
Josh Wright of the Spokesman-Review has a good feature on offensive coordinator Kris Cinkovich and tragedy he dealt with when coaching high school in Las Vegas
Quotes from practice
Wide receiver Dezmon Epps on the mentality of the team when facing a deficit: “I say our main thing is take your eyes off the scoreboard, and we can make plays that way, and we won’t be anxious about scoring on one play. Because even if we’re down by 21, a touchdown is not going to make you even. I think when we get down by a certain number of touchdowns everyone is sort of putting their head down, even if we’re down by a field goal people start putting their head down like ‘oh we’re losing, we’re going to lose’. But you can be down by a lot and still win. The thing is, no matter what the score is, don’t put your head down and keep fighting.”
Defensive line coach Bam Hardmon on playing without Quinton Bradley: “The theory we always keep is next man in. It’s sad to lose him, but it’s a next man in concept. That’s why we try to get everyone prepared and in that way they can be ready when they get their opportunity. But we’re definitely sad that he’s not ready just yet but it’s always the next man in concept.”
Idaho coach Paul Petrino on quarterback Chad Chalich: “It really comes down to this, see the defense, believe what you see and take what they give you. When he doesn’t do that is when he gets sacked, it has nothing to do with how he throws it, it’s just that situation. It’s a process, that’s when you’re a freshman and you keep going. When he finally believes what he sees and takes what they give him, that’s when he’ll be in great shape.”
Quarterback Chad Chalich on the play of the offense: “It’s just a progression, each week we’re continuing to get better. We’re just growing in the offense. Each week we’re just coming together and that’s what good teams do, come together be a family, come together and execute on defense and offense. Everybody just has to do their job and we’re getting way better.”
Linebacker Eric Tuipulotu on adjusting from a pass heavy offense to a run heavy offense: “Staying in the box, keying on the run more. The biggest adjustment for me is coming into the box from my outside linebacker position and playing more of an inside linebacker position. It’s nothing big, we’ve been adjusting all year.”