As the Vandals make the transition from an independent program to members of the Sun Belt, one thing rings true — Idaho head coach Paul Petrino doesn’t need to worry about teams filled with All-Americans and legitimate national championship aspirations.
However, even with opponents from years past like Louisiana State and Florida State absent from the 2014 schedule, Idaho will still face its share of challenges this season.
One of those challenges will be Oct. 4, when Idaho travels to San Marcos, Texas, to take on Texas State. The Bobcats finished 6-6 in 2013, including a 37-21 victory over Idaho. Last season was the programs first season as a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision — otherwise known as Division I.
Led by head coach Dennis Franchione, Texas State will be sporting a new hurry up offense that has become en vogue over the last decade in college football.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of coach Franchione, he’s always done a good job,” Petrino said. “They have a new defensive coordinator, Coach Thompson, who was at Arkansas last year–so we know that scheme.”
Petriono’s admiration for Franchione may be justified, as the Texas State coach and his 203 career victories are good for fourth among active coaches — behind only Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer, South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier and Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly.
Petrino and his staff might know what to excpect from Texas State’s new defense, but the offense will be another story.
This offseason, Texas State has been implementing a variation of the hurry up offense, which has become the offense of choice of many programs in the last decade. Perhaps a reason for this switch to the hurry up, is because of TSU’s struggles down the stretch in 2013 — they dropped each of its final three games by 14 points or more.
“By that time in the season we will know a lot more of where we are at and where they’re at,” Petrino said. “They are a great football team, we just got to go down there and compete.”
The up-temp offense may help hide some of the inexperience on the Bobcats offense. Led by three headed monster in the backfield, consisting of two junior running backs Robert Lowe and Chris Nutall and senior Terrance Franks — the three combined for 1,623 yards and 16 touchdowns last season.
The three backs could make sophomore quarterback Tyler Jones’ job a little easier, as he continues to adjust to Division I football. Jones is a solid runner, on top of his 1,130 passing yards with eight touchdowns, he added another 257 rushing yards as a freshmen.
Although the Bobcats are loaded in the backfield, they are inexperienced at wide receiver. Brandon Smith is the lone returner — he was the teams fourth leading receiver in 2013, with 22 catches for 241 yards and 2 touchdowns.
After the Vandals collide with Texas State, they will be back on the road Oct. 11, to face Georgia Southern.