The Vandals made plenty of mistakes in their 79-13 loss to Fresno State to open the season — that much is undeniable, but there are a few silver linings to glean from Idaho’s first game.
Idaho Head Coach Paul Petrino would be the first to tell anyone that the team made far too many mistakes, and that is partially true. The Vandals gave up seven turnovers and had two field goals blocked, including a brutal stretch in the second quarter that featured an interception returned for a touchdown and two blocked field goals run back for scores by the same player.
However, Idaho did not have any real problems with penalties. The Vandals incurred two false starts and two delays of game, totaling only 20 yards in penalties.
In spite of the difficult night Idaho faced all around, the team did not lose its composure in the face of extreme adversity.
The other positive is that Idaho showed a glimpse of a big play combination from sophomore quarterback Colton Richardson and redshirt junior wide receiver Jeff Cotton. A total 73 of Richardson’s 106 passing yards came on one play, as he found Cotton for a deep touchdown. Against the level of competition that Idaho will play consistently this year, Cotton could be a valuable weapon for whichever quarterback Petrino has under center.
Junior quarterback Mason Petrino took most of the snaps on offense, totaling 22 pass attempts to Richardson’s 11.
Mason finished with 99 yards through the air and added 19 on the ground through seven rushes. The quarterbacks combined for six turnovers, with Richardson throwing two interceptions and Mason throwing three picks and fumbling once.
Yes, Richardson threw almost as many completed passes to Idaho as he did to Fresno State and Mason looked like exactly the same player he was last year with lots of mistakes. However, the uneven quarterback play indicates that Vandal fans can look forward to at least one more week of drama that doesn’t even require an HBO subscription.
In an effort to return to serious upsides to look forward to, redshirt freshman wide receiver Cutrell Haywood looks every bit the exciting young receiver pundits around Moscow predicted him to be. Throughout the game, Haywood exhibited a clear rapport with both quarterbacks and hauled in six catches for 72 yards.
The last silver lining is that Idaho is about to go through as pronounced a swing in competition as possible. After playing a Fresno State team that went 1-1 against Boise State last year, the Vandals will play a Western New Mexico team that has not finished above .500 since before 2012, despite playing Division II competition in the Lone Star and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conferences.
The result against Fresno State was undeniably ugly, and something similar may happen again with a game against Florida finishing the schedule on Nov. 17. However, the Vandals showed enough positive signs to retain hope for the rest of the season and perhaps compete in the Big Sky as the season moves along.
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jonahpbaker