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Apr. 6—MOSCOW — Music blared in the P1FCU Kibbie Dome and players shouted in the intense matchup between the offense and defense.
But the one thing that resounded throughout the whole stadium? The popping of shoulder pads and the clashing of helmets.
The Idaho football team played in its first padded scrimmage of the spring on Saturday. Here's how it went down for the Vandals:
Defensive dominance
There was a noticeable difference in quality of play between the offense and the defense. The defense flew around and made plays, whether it be interceptions or sacks on the quarterback.
Meanwhile, the offense often struggled to move the ball down the field and did not score a single touchdown the entirety of the scrimmage.
But the disparity wasn't entirely unexpected.
First-year Idaho coach Thomas Ford Jr. said that this early into spring ball, the defense will have the advantage over the offense.
The struggle was for a variety of reasons: the installation of offense takes longer than installing a defense and the fact that the offense was playing multiple offensive lines with multiple quarterbacks.
"And offensively we don't have everything in yet," Ford said. "We haven't even done red zone, so you can see when we got in the red area: Well, of course we aren't moving the ball as well because we haven't done any of that.
"So really, today was more about getting out here competing. Seeing some of these guys in a live setting, getting to see guys tackle was a big thing I wanted to see from our defensive group and I thought they did some really good things today. Flew around and definitely had great effort and played physical."
A few players stood out defensively:
Freshman safety Jacob Turagavou picked off a pass from sophomore quarterback Holden Bea on a deep post route on the left side of the field.
Senior Washington transfer Maurice Heims was disruptive on the defensive line and collected himself a pair of sacks.
Senior defensive lineman Donovan Parham, a Mississippi Valley State transfer, also caused havoc for the offensive line and added a couple of sacks as well.
Sophomore defensive lineman Matyus McLain dropped back into the middle of the field and intercepted sophomore quarterback Nick Josifek to get the defensive side of the sidelines exploding in praise, including Ford, who commended McLain on a good spring camp after the scrimmage.
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Junior linebacker Dylan Layne said that he was proud of the young players who were fired up and flying around defensively, but he gave credit to defensive coordinator Cort Dennison for how the defense is designed.
"Coach Dennison is a mastermind; we probably have 40 calls in our call sheet. So when we're all doing our job, doing it right, it can get pretty nasty," Layne said. "The offense doesn't know how to block us sometimes. It was really fun."
Position battles
As any good spring camp comes, so do positional battles. The biggest one for the Vandals is at quarterback.
Sophomores Jack Wagner and Josifek were the focal point of that quarterback battle on Saturday.
"Everybody wants to know about the quarterback battle. I think you see Nick (Josifek) and Jack (Wagner) kind of separate themselves from the other two guys. I would imagine those guys would continue to get more reps as we continue with spring ball to see who's really gonna win that job."
Although neither player made clear headway throughout the scrimmage, Wagner did have a deep completion on a play-action pass to sophomore wide receiver Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar for nearly 60 yards to put them in the red zone. Wagner said that it was one of the Vandals' longer play-action plays and that he liked his matchup. When he saw the safety come down to cover an in-breaking route he knew he was going to throw it to Cortez-Menjivar and fired.
As for the quarterback room, Wagner said that they have to hold themselves accountable for the offensive struggles.
"I know I need to play better, I know I can make the right calls. But, it starts with us getting people in the right position," Wagner said. "So I think we gotta hold ourselves accountable first and come more prepared. Defense came to play and we kinda got a little too anxious and it took a little bit to get into some good drives."
Nothing to worry about
Ford said that he was excited for how his defense looked Saturday. The defense got the upper hand in the scrimmage, but it makes it tough on the offense without any film to study.
"I think we're doing a lot of stuff and what I'm excited about is those guys are handling it. You know, we're giving our offense all kinds of looks and it's really tough when you're not game planing for it. But it's also tough on defense because it's new, and so what I'm excited about is they're able to handle a lot of stuff and execute it," Ford said.
Wagner gave credit to the defense and said that from a team standpoint, that is encouraging to see.
"Our defense played great and that's exciting to see just as a whole team. I mean, we're not gonna play our own team ever in the regular season. So, it's good to see how they're competing," Wagner said.
Layne said that the offense will be fine. He said that it has usually been a back-and-forth each practice. He said the defense has been gashed a few practices too and that this is usually a sign of a good overall team. He said that with the new faces on the team, it will just take time for them to jell and learn how to play together.
"That's the nature of FCS football these days. For every team it's a whole new 11 on each side of the ball and new coaches too," Layne said. "That's the fun of it, too. It's the team that could come together the fastest, the best, can jell and master the scheme is the team that's gonna win. So if we can continue to focus on that and focus on the mental side of it — of learning the scheme and jelling, playing with each other — then we will be pretty good."
Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, [email protected] or on X (formerly Twitter) @TrevorJunt.
Continue reading...
But the one thing that resounded throughout the whole stadium? The popping of shoulder pads and the clashing of helmets.
The Idaho football team played in its first padded scrimmage of the spring on Saturday. Here's how it went down for the Vandals:
Defensive dominance
There was a noticeable difference in quality of play between the offense and the defense. The defense flew around and made plays, whether it be interceptions or sacks on the quarterback.
Meanwhile, the offense often struggled to move the ball down the field and did not score a single touchdown the entirety of the scrimmage.
But the disparity wasn't entirely unexpected.
First-year Idaho coach Thomas Ford Jr. said that this early into spring ball, the defense will have the advantage over the offense.
The struggle was for a variety of reasons: the installation of offense takes longer than installing a defense and the fact that the offense was playing multiple offensive lines with multiple quarterbacks.
"And offensively we don't have everything in yet," Ford said. "We haven't even done red zone, so you can see when we got in the red area: Well, of course we aren't moving the ball as well because we haven't done any of that.
"So really, today was more about getting out here competing. Seeing some of these guys in a live setting, getting to see guys tackle was a big thing I wanted to see from our defensive group and I thought they did some really good things today. Flew around and definitely had great effort and played physical."
A few players stood out defensively:
Freshman safety Jacob Turagavou picked off a pass from sophomore quarterback Holden Bea on a deep post route on the left side of the field.
Senior Washington transfer Maurice Heims was disruptive on the defensive line and collected himself a pair of sacks.
Senior defensive lineman Donovan Parham, a Mississippi Valley State transfer, also caused havoc for the offensive line and added a couple of sacks as well.
Sophomore defensive lineman Matyus McLain dropped back into the middle of the field and intercepted sophomore quarterback Nick Josifek to get the defensive side of the sidelines exploding in praise, including Ford, who commended McLain on a good spring camp after the scrimmage.
Daily headlines, straight to your inboxRead it online first and stay up-to-date, delivered daily at 7 AM
Junior linebacker Dylan Layne said that he was proud of the young players who were fired up and flying around defensively, but he gave credit to defensive coordinator Cort Dennison for how the defense is designed.
"Coach Dennison is a mastermind; we probably have 40 calls in our call sheet. So when we're all doing our job, doing it right, it can get pretty nasty," Layne said. "The offense doesn't know how to block us sometimes. It was really fun."
Position battles
As any good spring camp comes, so do positional battles. The biggest one for the Vandals is at quarterback.
Sophomores Jack Wagner and Josifek were the focal point of that quarterback battle on Saturday.
"Everybody wants to know about the quarterback battle. I think you see Nick (Josifek) and Jack (Wagner) kind of separate themselves from the other two guys. I would imagine those guys would continue to get more reps as we continue with spring ball to see who's really gonna win that job."
Although neither player made clear headway throughout the scrimmage, Wagner did have a deep completion on a play-action pass to sophomore wide receiver Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar for nearly 60 yards to put them in the red zone. Wagner said that it was one of the Vandals' longer play-action plays and that he liked his matchup. When he saw the safety come down to cover an in-breaking route he knew he was going to throw it to Cortez-Menjivar and fired.
As for the quarterback room, Wagner said that they have to hold themselves accountable for the offensive struggles.
"I know I need to play better, I know I can make the right calls. But, it starts with us getting people in the right position," Wagner said. "So I think we gotta hold ourselves accountable first and come more prepared. Defense came to play and we kinda got a little too anxious and it took a little bit to get into some good drives."
Nothing to worry about
Ford said that he was excited for how his defense looked Saturday. The defense got the upper hand in the scrimmage, but it makes it tough on the offense without any film to study.
"I think we're doing a lot of stuff and what I'm excited about is those guys are handling it. You know, we're giving our offense all kinds of looks and it's really tough when you're not game planing for it. But it's also tough on defense because it's new, and so what I'm excited about is they're able to handle a lot of stuff and execute it," Ford said.
Wagner gave credit to the defense and said that from a team standpoint, that is encouraging to see.
"Our defense played great and that's exciting to see just as a whole team. I mean, we're not gonna play our own team ever in the regular season. So, it's good to see how they're competing," Wagner said.
Layne said that the offense will be fine. He said that it has usually been a back-and-forth each practice. He said the defense has been gashed a few practices too and that this is usually a sign of a good overall team. He said that with the new faces on the team, it will just take time for them to jell and learn how to play together.
"That's the nature of FCS football these days. For every team it's a whole new 11 on each side of the ball and new coaches too," Layne said. "That's the fun of it, too. It's the team that could come together the fastest, the best, can jell and master the scheme is the team that's gonna win. So if we can continue to focus on that and focus on the mental side of it — of learning the scheme and jelling, playing with each other — then we will be pretty good."
Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, [email protected] or on X (formerly Twitter) @TrevorJunt.
Continue reading...
