Moving past last week’s game, one of the roughest losses in the program’s history, Vandal football is set to play the University of Montana Grizzlies. Coach Paul Petrino said it was a little bit of everything that led to the loss last Saturday, but it didn’t help that the team was without their four best cornerbacks and top two quarterbacks.
“Obviously we wanted to play better,” said Petrino.
This week they hope to bounce back in a rivalry matchup against the Montana Grizzlies, ranked No. 11 in the FCS, at the Kibbie Dome. Whereas last week was a test against one of the best offenses in the entire FCS, this week features a battle on the defensive side of the ball.
Montana held the University of Washington Huskies to only seven points in their season opener and has held four of their six opponents to 14 points or less. Offensively, they’re not shabby either. In their matchup against EWU — they took the Eagles to the buzzer and lost by only six points.
This matchup, aside from Eastern Washington, is probably the hardest matchup of the season for the Vandals. The Grizzlies have one of the most physical defenses in the Big Sky. Montana is a team that, even if they don’t win the Big Sky, could easily still make the FCS playoffs. If the Vandals look to win this matchup, here are the keys to victory.
1.) Keep the defense on their toes
It seems unlikely that the Vandals will have either graduate quarterback Mike Beaudry or freshman QB CJ Jordan available for this game, meaning the quarterback combination of redshirt sophomore Zach Borisch and freshman Gevani McCoy will be under center for Idaho for this game.
If the Vandals want to succeed against Montana’s defense, they’ll need to keep the defense of the Grizzlies guessing. Last week, McCoy was thrown to the fire against the second-ranked team in the country, and even though this matchup isn’t a great one either, the extra week of preparation should have McCoy more comfortable with a variety of plays and formations.
If this is correct, Idaho might need to open up the playbook more with McCoy and Borisch in order to take Montana off guard. If the running backs see a constant rotation such as they were in the Simon Fraser game, that could also help take the Grizzlies by surprise.
2.) Get the receivers involved
In the past couple of weeks, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Terez Traynor has become the No. 1 target on this Vandals offense, however, they have multiple capable targets. A part of keeping a defense guessing is getting multiple targets involved. Receivers like sophomore Hayden Hatten, junior Connor Whitney or redshirt sophomore Michael Noil are all capable of being the game’s top target, just to name a few. The Vandals are a rushing team, understandably so given the talent at the position, but spreading the targets around can open up this offense, which is something they’ll need to do after last week.
3.) Stay healthy
Injuries have hit the Vandals hard, both in the spring and now. Montana is the most physical team the Vandals have left on their schedule, and if they hope to run the table and finish the season on a high note, they cannot afford any more injuries. This key to victory isn’t something that can be planned or scouted for, and obviously, injuries happen — that’s just sports.
4.) Consistency on all three levels
So far, the front seven has been the shining point of the Vandals defense. Even last week, despite the 50-point loss, the defensive line had some highlights and forced pressure on the best quarterback in the FCS, Eric Barriere.
However, the Big Sky games have shown that the offenses in this league can and will exploit any weaknesses they see. Vandals senior defensive back Jalen Hoover is returning after being out against EWU, and his presence will help a secondary that surrendered over 600 yards passing last week. The defensive line and linebackers will perform, but the secondary needs to be consistent with the rest of the defense for the Vandals to walk out of the Kibbie Dome with a victory on Saturday.
Idaho will face the Grizzlies at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 22, streamed on ESPN+ and SWX.
Live coverage can be found on Twitter @VandalNation
Teren Kowatsch can be reached at [email protected]