With many questions hovering overhead, Idaho football now looks to regroup and come out with a ven- geance in Saturday’s home opener.
The Vandals are preparing for a matchup against the Western New Mexico Mustangs, a Division II squad looking to prove themselves as well.
Both teams come into Saturday’s match following a season opener dropped in a head-scratching fashion, but move forward learning from opening errors.
“We got to look in the mirror,” Head Coach Paul Petrino said at a Tuesday news conference. “It starts with me. I didn’t do a good enough job. Everyone has to take accountability and responsibility and we just have to move forward and get better.”
The bright spots at the receiver po- sition with junior wide receiver Jeff Cotton and freshman receiver Cutrell Haywood playing well on Saturday is another storyline to follow in the upcoming weeks, with both receivers starting to be the future faces at wide receiver for the Vandals.
“I thought Cutrell in his first start made some key plays in some key situations,” Petrino said. “He made some tough catches and thought he did some good things.”
Questions on the backend of the defense remain, with the Idaho secondary having another tough task against a speedy receiving core in Western New Mexico.
“We played against some really good receivers last week,” senior defensive back Dorian Clark said. “I think we are going to play against some more good receivers this week. We just have to go out there and grow from week to week and get better.”
With the first game of the season in the Kibbie Dome up next, a strong Idaho crowd can help the Vandals get their first win of the season.
This isn’t the first time Idaho has faced adversity to start the season, with many players remembering the start of the 2016 season and how they built off of those losses.
“The mistakes we made we know were more of the little things,” Clark said. “Back in 2016, we’d watch that game and think we could have been right there.”
With the Fresno State game in the rearview mirror, Idaho hopes to use it as fuel for the rest of the season.
“We have a lot to get better at,” Clark said. “One thing about adversity is that we can choose which way we can bounce back from it.”
Expect Idaho to have the same rotations and play calls this week. Now one game into the season, the quarterback question still hangs in the air. Both quarterbacks will have another shot to prove they have what it takes to lead the offense.
A vengeful Vandal squad, plus a hyped-up Kibbie Dome could make for some exciting football Saturday with Idaho having an opportunity to steer their season back into the right direction.
Idaho senior running back Isaiah Saunders almost surpassed 100 yards rushing last week. Expect him to come out and have a big game on Saturday.
Idaho wide receivers Jeff Cotton and Cutrell Haywood will look to build from last week’s strong performances and bring a win home for the Vandals.
On the defensive side of the ball, expect the Elliss brothers to be ag- gressive. Senior Kaden Elliss could have an opportunity to be great on both sides of the ball at linebacker and tight end.
“We have to come back to work this week, bust our tails and improve,” Petrino said.
The Vandals will face the Western New Mexico Mustangs 2 p.m. Saturday in the Kibbie Dome.
Chris Deremer can be reached @[email protected] or on Twitter @Cderemer_VN