Offense |
Defense |
Further Analysis
Nick Holt appeared to be on his way to making the Vandals a living,
breathing football team again for the first time since the late
1990s. He suffered through growing pains by playing several young
players who weren't close to being ready, and he brought in the
school's most highly regarded recruiting class in years to add more
depth and provide hope for the future. And then he bolted to take
his old job back as the defensive coordinator at USC.
While the timing of Holt's sudden departure might have been
jarring, it also might have been a blessing in disguise since it meant
the eventual hiring of Dennis Erickson, one of the more underrated
college head coaches over the last several years.
Head coach: Dennis Erickson
2nd year at Idaho: 6-6
18th year overall: 145-56-1
Returning Lettermen:
Off. 22 Def. 18, ST 3 |
Ten
Best Vandal Players
1. RB Jayson Bird, Soph.
2. P/K Mike Barrow, Sr.
3.
TE Luke Smith-Anderson, Jr.
4.
QB Steven Wichman, Sr.
5. LB Josh Bousman, Jr.
6. CB Jason Martin, Sr.
7. RB Rolly Lumbala, Jr.
8. OG Jade Tadvick, Sr.
9. OT Nave VanderPol, Sr.
10. WR Wendell Octave, Sr. |
|
2006
Schedule
CFN
Prediction: 3-9 |
| 9/2 |
at Michigan State |
| 9/9 |
at Washington St |
| 9/16 |
Idaho State |
| 9/23 |
at Oregon State |
|
9/30 |
at Utah State |
| 10/7 |
New Mexico St |
|
10/14 |
at Louisiana Tech |
|
10/21 |
Boise State |
| 10/28 |
at Hawaii |
| 11/4 |
Nevada |
| 11/18 |
at Fresno State |
| 11/25 |
San Jose State |
|
|
2005
Schedule
CFN
Prediction:
3-8
2005 Record: 2-9
Preview 2005 predicted wins |
|
9/1 |
at Wash St L 38-26 |
|
9/10 |
at UNLV L 34-31 |
|
9/17 |
at Washington L 34-6 |
|
9/24 |
Hawaii L 24-0 |
|
10/1 |
Utah State
W 27-13 |
|
10/8 |
at Nevada L 62-14 |
|
10/22 |
Fresno State L 40-10 |
|
10/29 |
at NMSU W 38-37 2OT |
|
11/12 |
Louisiana Tech
L 41-38 |
|
11/19 |
at Boise State L 70-35 |
|
11/26 |
at San Jose St
L 26-18 |
|
How many times do you get a chance to get a head coach
with two national titles on his résumé? Erickson not only helped keep
the train rolling at Miami from 1989 to 1994, he also made Oregon State
a powerhouse for a brief period and was great for Washington State. Of
course, he made his initial mark at Idaho where he had a 32-15 record
from 1982 to 1985.
Is it possible Erickson's return to Idaho can have the same effect
as Chris Ault's return to Nevada a few years ago? It'll take a little
while, but Erickson has certainly generated plenty of excitement with
his four and five wide receiver sets and sophisticated offense that
should provide a consistency that hasn't been there in years. The return
of QB Steven Wichman for his senior season provides a veteran to run the
attack, and the running game should finally get going again with Jayson
Bird coming back from a collarbone injury.
But the big problem for Idaho has been defense allowing 39 points per
game over the last two seasons. There's hope for a bit of an improvement
with the lumps taken by playing so many young defensive lineman over the
last few seasons about to pay off. The corners are potentially good, and
there's good overall speed everywhere else.
For a program that has won a total of 11 games over the last five years,
baby steps will have to be taken. This isn't going to be a night-and-day
turnaround team, but it should be explosive and it should be a fun show
to watch.
The Schedule: It's not bad at all
considering there's only three bowl teams from last year to deal with,
and they're all in the WAC. Fine, so the Vandals won't win at Michigan
State, at Washington State, or at Oregon State, but there's no reason
they can't equal the two wins of last year by the end of September
playing Idaho State and at Utah State. A home game against New Mexico
State needs to be a must-win considering the second half of the slate is
nasty before getting San Jose State at home.
Best
Offensive Player: Sophomore RB Jayson Bird. QB Steven Wichman will
put up ridiculous, top ten passer numbers in the new offense, but
Bird is the dangerous player who'll life the nation's 117th ranked
running game. He's a big back with tremendous speed and potential
now that he's healthy after breaking his collarbone in the second
game of last season.
Best
Defensive Player: Junior LB Josh Bousman. With so little returning
experience on defense, the steady Bousman has to get healthy and be
a star from day one. If he doesn't have a big year, the defense will
struggle to find any consistency..
Key
player to a successful season: Quarterbacks QB Steven Wichman.
There are good options behind Wichman, but they're untested and
could use a year of seasoning. The senior has to be a sharp leader
of the new attack and has to be the type of quarterback who can
handle all that'll be thrown at him. He'll have huge, 400-yard games
here and there, but he has to cut down on his interceptions.
The
season will be a success if ...
Idaho wins at least four games and pulls off one good upset.
Considering Idaho hasn't won more than three games since 2000, four
wins would be a nice first step back. Just as important will be the
play against the better teams. There was a close battle with
Louisiana Tech last year, but the Vandals lost to Nevada, Fresno
State and Boise State by a combined score of 172-59, or an average
of 57-20.
Key
game: Oct. 21 vs. Boise State. Idaho has lost seven straight to
the Broncos by a total of 353 to 124, or an average of 50.4 to 17.7.
It's not like there's a fierce recruiting war for Idaho talent, but
Dennis Erickson has to close the gap between the two programs and
show that the Vandals won't be a pushover anymore for the WAC's top
power.
2005
Fun Stats:
- Rushing yards per game: Opponents 183.3 - Idaho 78.4
- Yards per punt return: Opponents 13.1 - Idaho 6.1
- Sacks: Opponents 34 for 229 yards - Idaho 19 for 125 yards