Oct. 13—MOSCOW, Idaho — As Idaho seeks to rehabilitate its season against Eastern Washington following a disappointing and unexpected homecoming loss to Northern Colorado, the Vandals are focused on what they did right, as well as what went wrong.
“We did some things right on both sides, but we were not complementary,” said Idaho coach Thomas Ford Jr. “Our group is very resilient. They are very hungry still.”
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The Eagles (2-4, 1-1 Big Sky) are coming off a bye and yet to lose at Roos Field, where they will host the Vandals (2-4, 0-2) Saturday at 4 p.m..
Idaho did put up 33 points on Northern Colorado, which is enough to win many games. But they also gave up 49, which could have easily been 56, since the Bears had first and goal at the 6-yard line with 1 minute, 18 seconds to play but elected to kneel out the clock.
“We needed to play our best football to beat those guys,” said Ford. “We did not play our best football.”
Idaho was without starting quarterback Joshua Wood, who suffered a sprained knee against Montana Sept. 27.
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“He has been attacking his rehab,” said Ford on Monday, adding that Wood’s participation against the Eagles will be a game -time decision. “It would be 50-50 if he had to play today.”
If Wood can’t play, Idaho will likely go with the duo of Jack Wagner and Rocco Koch who gave the Vandals a facsimile of Wood’s dual -threat ability against the Bears. Wagner completed 21 of 33 passes with two interceptions and a touchdown for 237 yards, and Koch was the Vandals’ leading rusher with 81 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.
After starting quarterback Jack Layne got hurt last season, Wagner played in 11 games for the 10-4 Vandals and threw for 1,389 yards and 12 touchdowns.
He looked rusty in this year’s first outing against UNC. His first pass was intercepted, and he was sacked three times.
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“Honestly, that was not an offensive -line issue,” said Ford. “He has got to make better decisions.”
A goal in practice this week is to convince Wagner he is the same guy who came off the bench so successfully for the Vandals last year as a redshirt freshman, Ford said.
“He has got arm talent and athletic ability,” Ford said. “He has got to use his legs a little bit more. He is a good athlete, and he has got a little speed.”
The Vandals’ greatest difficulty against the Bears, however, was not scoring points but covering UNC’s deep passing attack. Eric Gibson threw for 350 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Vandals, and Ford noted 248 of those yards were on eight passes.
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“We have got to do a better job of staying on routes,” he said.
Tracking deep balls may not be as big an issue against the Eagles, Ford said. He expects EWU to go with Nate Bell at quarterback.
“He is dangerous running the football, and he is slippery when he drops back to pass,” said Ford, noting the Eagles do not attack downfield like the Bears did .
Bell has completed 50 of 101 passes for 618 yards with five interceptions and three touchdowns this season. He has run for 485 yards on 72 carries with seven touchdowns.
Ford believes the Vandals might have matchup advantages at the line of scrimmage.
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“Our offensive line matches well with their defensive line,” Ford said. “They have had some struggles with teams that run at them.”
Running has been a big part of Idaho’s identity, he said. The Vandals are averaging more than 200 yards per game on the ground for the season. They have heavy hitters in Koch and Nate Thomas, who rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown against Northern Colorado but they don’t seem to think a running play starts until they crash pads with defenders. Elisha Cummings has battled injuries all season but the elusive tailback ran for 40 yards on seven carries and caught five passes for 67 yards and a touchdown against UNC.
“Getting Elisha Cummings back was huge,” Ford said.
Coming off three straight losses, to San Jose State, Montana and Northern Colorado, the Vandals are eager to make it a distant memory as they look ahead to EWU. They have made good on that in the first practice following the loss, Ford said.
“Our guys are not pointing fingers,” he said. “How hard they practice, how excited they are to get to the next challenge speaks volumes.”
