The end of the season for the Idaho Vandal football team has arrived.
The Vandals (4-7, 2-5 Big Sky) will gear up for their last contest of the year against the Idaho State Bengals (5-6, 4-3) at 1 p.m. today at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome. The Big Sky Conference clash will be broadcast on SWX and ESPN+.
The winner of the game will walk away with the Potato State Trophy, a gargantuan wooden potato carved out of Douglas fir, weighing in at 18.6 pounds.
Idaho coach Thomas Ford Jr. said that the team is excited to move forward and to finish out their season strong.
“I know our guys are excited to get back home and play in the Kibbie Dome this weekend against (a) rival school in Idaho State,” Ford said. “And there isn’t anything that we can do to go back in time, but there’s certainly a lot we can do to prepare for the future. So that’s really what we have our sight set on, is moving forward with Idaho State and getting (to) our last home game and sending our seniors off with a bang.”
Seniors’ impact
Idaho will be celebrating senior day today, commemorating the careers of 13 student-athletes.
The senior day ceremony will begin before kickoff and celebrate the careers of Jahman McNeil, Donovan Parham, Zakhari Spears, Xander Echols, LJ Harm, Dylan Fischer, Nate Thomas, Deuce Blenman, Sam Brown, Zach Krotzer, Jake Cox, Isiah King and Nate Azzopardi.
Ford said the impact of the senior class cannot be exaggerated.
“I mean, obviously the impact they’ve made within the program is tremendous,” Ford said. “I mean, these guys were a part of changing the guard, so to speak. Getting us to having high expectations, (and) having playoff aspirations year in, year out. And so from that standpoint, they’ve given everything to make that happen, and to lay the blueprint and the foundation for our younger players.”
He also said that the seniors were part of the group that petitioned to have Ford as the new head coach once former coach Jason Eck left for New Mexico. The impact they had on Ford was “huge.” Their ability to lead, not just in a vocal sense but in a lead-by-example type of way, has been crucial to the team this season as well.
“These guys will forever have an impact on me for not only being great players, but just being really good human beings, guys that I know are gonna have tremendous success in whatever they get into next in life,” Ford said.
Idaho’s offensive plan
The 23-20 loss against Sacramento State last week was Idaho’s fifth one-possession game it has played this season. It was another game in which the offense did not find much success passing.
Sophomore quarterback Joshua Wood rushed for a career-high 117 yards in the game against the Hornets, but Ford said finding a balanced attack will be important this week.
“We’ve just got to continue to have a great balance of run, pass and (movement) in the pocket, not allowing their defense to just pin their ears back and become pass rushers,” Ford said. “We’ve got to be multi-dimensional with our screen game, boot game, movement and really try to keep them off balance as best we can.”
The Vandals are the fourth-best team in the Big Sky in rushing yards with 1,972 on the season.
Wood is leading the team with 84 carries for 560 yards and seven touchdowns.
Idaho’s ninth-ranked passing game is a different story.
