In the two scrimmages leading up to Saturday’s scrimmage, the last before the Silver and Gold spring game, it has been nothing short of an offensive showcase for the Vandal football program.
The team has averaged over 150 plays in the two spring scrimmages and the skilled players have huge numbers because of it. Redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Linehan threw eight touchdowns in the second scrimmage alone.
While the offense came out with a couple of strong showings, the defense continued to sputter a bit. It was reminiscent of last year’s defensive effort.
But that all changed on Saturday, when the defense came out and had their best performance of the spring.
The defense came out with a desire to not get shown up by the offense again. They felt that the offense was getting the best of them during the spring and they wanted to do something about it.
When the unit flew around and hit people hard the entire scrimmage, that showed.
There were several times during the scrimmage where the hit would be loud enough to echo through the dome and would be followed by the “oohs” and “ahs” of the crowd and players watching from the sidelines.
After the scrimmage, defensive end Quinton Bradley told the media the defense was tired of the offense outperforming them. This mindset led to an intensity that ended up at times with both the quarterbacks not being able to throw and complete passes.
This showing is good to see from a unit that was ranked 126th in the nation last season in points per game allowed.
With as many players as Idaho has returning on defense, I can say they could be poised and ready for a breakout season in 2014.
The defensive line is the strongest unit of the bunch. With returning players in seniors Quayshawne Buckley and Maxx Forde, junior Bradley and highly rated junior college recruit Alfonso Hampton coming into the fold, this line could be one of the best defensive lines in the FBS Group of Five mid-major conferences.
The linebackers, meanwhile, are returning all of their starters but are also bringing in a couple guys that could have a chance to see playing time for Idaho.
The one linebacker to really impress in spring camp so far has been JC transfer Irving Steele. He has been playing at the middle and outside linebacker position and has shown to be a big sideline-to-sideline presence. It looks like he is battling incumbent starter Juan Martinez for playing time in the fall.
With a solid front seven, that leaves the defensive backs to step up and show that they aren’t the weakest of the bunch. Many of the defensive troubles came last year when the secondary couldn’t prevent the pass.
To improve, many players are going to get a chance to play. Sophomore Russell Siavii, senior Delency Parham and sophomore Jordan Grabski are all going to factor into the mix and hopefully shut down the pass a little better.
They certainly were part of the reason why the offense struggled for most of the scrimmage, but they will have to continue to improve through the spring and the fall camp to get ready for the rigors of the Sun Belt Conference schedule.
If the defense shows up like it did in this scrimmage next season, I think fans could be in for a treat while watching Vandal football this season.
Rick Clark can be reached at [email protected]