With momentum on the Vandals’ side, Idaho football looks to build off of its commanding win a week ago.
After pulling off the biggest win since dropping down to FCS play, Idaho (2-2) hopes to get off to another perfect start against the Northern Colorado Bears (0-4).
Despite the Bears not finding a win yet this season, Idaho Head Coach Paul Petrino said he believes there is still a challenge ahead for the Vandals.
“You watch (Northern Colorado) and they play people tough, especially early,” Petrino said in a press conference Tuesday. “They’ve been playing pretty good defense…but game in and game out they’ve been playing well on the defensive side of the ball.”
Troubles on the road:
While it seemed last weekend Idaho has finally clicked as a collective unit, there is still one daunting hurdle to jump — a road victory.
The Vandals haven’t won on the road since the last game of the 2017 season against Georgia State. Since then, Idaho has dropped eight straight road games.
“We have to get a conference road win,” Petrino said.“It’s the first thing I brought up to our players on Sundaynight. If we want to get to the playoffs, we have to win on the road.”
Finding the endzone:
By halftime against Eastern Washington the Vandals had 28 points, showcasing the talent and potential this offense is capable of this season.
When scoring over 30 points, the Vandals are undefeated in their past 13 games, which should be another priority on Saturday, taking on a Bears team that allows nearly 40 points per game this season.
Bringing the brutality:
Idaho was clearly the more physical team last Saturday.
The Vandals continued play after play winning the battle in the trenches, allowing for the talented Idaho running backs to easily find space in the open field —unless you’re redshirt freshman runningback Aundre Carter, then you just run right through the tacklers.
Carter and redshirt sophomore runningback Roshaun Johnson look to continue their hot starts this season. Both runningbacks rank in the top-10 in rushing in the Big Sky Conference.
If Idaho can continue to control games early, expect the Idaho running backs to have another great performance.
But with a crowded backfield of talent, the question will linger as to who might breakout and control the pace for the Vandals.
Bringing the heat:
During the past few seasons, it has been troublesome for Idaho to find consistency on both sides of the ball, but against Eastern Washington everything finally clicked.
Redshirt junior linebacker Charles Akanno led the disruptive defense on Saturday finishing with nine tackles and forcing a fumble as well.
Redshirt freshman Christian Nash attempts a tackle on an Eastern Washington player Saturday in the Kibbie Dome.
While it might be the tackles that stick out right away, it’s Akanno’s ability to block passes at the line of scrimmage that really makes the quiet leader standout.
Akanno is currently second in the Big Sky in defended passes, forcing five disruptions this season throughout the first four games.
“I think he’s just gotten better the past two years, probably week by week, on his technique,” Petrino said.“He’s always been an unbelievable athlete.”
Akanno enters Saturday’s game as the reigning Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week, as well as earning national FCS Defensive Player of the Week honors. While Akanno earned recognition, sophomore linebacker Tre Walker continues his dominant season as well.
Walker currently leads the Big Sky in tackles with 28 solo hits this season, averaging 11 per game.
The Idaho front seven continue to disrupt opposing offenses and look to make mayhem for the Bears this weekend.
Turning a corner:
Idaho is finally starting to play likea complete team unit, making for perfect timing going into Big Sky play.
What started in the mountains of Wyoming culminated in a complete victory against the reigning Big Sky champions last weekend.
Now, will Idaho play every game like last weekend? Probably not, but now the blueprint is there. The Vandals know what is needed to compete against the best.
Like it or not, expectations have now skyrocketed for this ball club, and Vandal fans seem to have a team to rally behind.
This underdog team is now riding a high of a lifetime, and fans hope that the stellar play can continue.
“We’re very confident and very excited,” Petrino said.“I think we are coming together and becoming closer… I think this is a very close unit that cares about each other.”
When/Where:
The Vandals will play the Northern Colorado Bears 12 p.m. Saturday in Greeley, Colo. If you can’t make it to the game, you can stream the game on Eleven Sports and Pluto TV.
Chris Deremer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @chris_DEREMER