Despite Joe Vandal doing his best to keep hopes up among the Vandal nation, it has been a rough going for the Idaho football program for the last 10 plus years. It's been five years now since their last bowl game (the 2009 last second victory in the Humanitarian Bowl against the Bowling Green State Falcons) and to add onto the misery Idaho has only had one other season since 2002 where they won at least 6 games. They were in the Sunbelt from 2002-2004, left for the WAC and remained there for 2005-2012, but the WAC soon disbanded their football and the SBC threw a lifeline to both Idaho and New Mexico State and both programs just finished their first full season of SBC competition in '14. Though by no means the perfect situation, both Vandals administration as well the fans saw it as a temporary fix, hoping to start accumulate wins and bide their time hoping for a better draw of the cards.
Unfortunately, the wins didn't come last season. In fact, their lone victory came against their equally down-trodden buddies NMSU, 29-17. The Vandals would lose the remainder of their games by an average score of nearly 15 points per game.
When Paul Petrino came aboard as the head man at Idaho in December of 2012, many Idaho fans saw it as a potential godsend, and when you glance at his resume', could you blame them for thinking there was potential? From 1990 all the way to 2012, Petrino coached as an offensive coordinator, running backs, quarter backs, and special teams (often times taking multiple duties) from Idaho to Southern Miss, the Atlanta Falcons, Illinois and Arkansas to name a few notables. Though many figured it would be a tough rebuilding job in Moscow, I would be willing to bet many wouldn't have thought in two seasons he would have just two victories under his belt. Despite a coaching record of 2-21, Petrino has improved the team's offensive production in his two seasons at the helm, (averaging only 18 points in 2013 to improving the team's scoring average to 25 in 2014). Still, when your defense has given up an average of 68 points in two seasons, you know their still is A LOT of work that needs to be done.
The Schedule:
| Thurs. Sept. 3 |  | Ohio Bobcats Kibbie Dome, Moscow, ID | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Sep. 12 |  | at USC Trojans L.A. Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA | TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Sep. 19 |  | Wofford Terriers Kibbie Dome, Moscow, ID | 2:00 p.m. PT TV TBA | --- |
| Saturday Sep. 26 |  | Georgia Southern Eagles Kibbie Dome, Moscow, ID | 2:00 p.m. PT TV TBA | --- |
| Saturday Oct. 3 |  | at Arkansas State Red Wolves Centennial Bank Stadium, Jonesboro, AR | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Oct. 10 | --- | Open Date | --- | --- |
| Saturday Oct. 17 |  | at Troy Trojans Veterans Memorial Stadium, Troy, AL | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Oct. 24 |  | ULM Warhawks Kibbie Dome, Moscow, ID | 2:00 p.m. PT TV TBA | --- |
| Saturday Oct. 31 |  | at New Mexico State Aggies Aggie Memorial Stadium, Las Cruces, NM | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Nov. 7 |  | at South Alabama Jaguars Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, AL | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Nov. 14 |  | Appalachian State Mountaineers Kibbie Dome, Moscow, ID | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Nov. 21 |  | at Auburn Tigers Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, AL | TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Nov. 28 |  | Texas State Bobcats Kibbie Dome, Moscow, ID |
Though not the worst gauntlet of a schedule I've seen, for Idaho this is going to be another challenging slate. Truth be told, I'm not sure where the wins will come from; even the Wofford game at home isn't a sure fire gimme. You can bet their remaining four home games they will be underdogs in every one of those. Getting a BYE between road trips to Jonesboro and Troy could prove to be a saving grace of sorts, but after that October 10th off it'll be gameday every Saturday for that remaining 7 straight weeks.
Though it's been a rough start for Coach Petrino (and a REALLY rough patch for Idaho fans in general), the Vandals do have a few weapons in their arsenal; starting as a true freshman at the QB position last season, young Matt Linehan threw for over 2500 yards, helping the team to be the 31st best passing squad in the country. But the Vandals lose their stud WR Josh McCain to graduation, so it falls onto an underclassman WR to step and become Linehan's go to target. The running game was virtually nonexistant until almost mid way through the season, thanks to the sudden emergence of soon to be senior RB Elijah Penny. Both Linehan, Penny as well the ENTIRE defensive squad must step their level of play up to help the Vandals get over the one win hump.
Unfortunately, I just don't think their's enough talent among the roster to even get Idaho within a shot of bowl eligibility. If the Vandals got to two wins on this schedule I'd be impressed. I just don't see them knocking off a solid Ohio squad (Even at home), all of their SBC opponents look to be vastly more talented and better coached teams (yes I think NMSU will be greatly improved and more mature from their '14 inexperienced counterparts).
DREAM SEASON: Vandals get to three wins. This would nearly double their victories from the last two seasons, getting wins over Wofford, New Mexico State and shocking one of their SBC brethren inside the Kibbie Dome.
NIGHTMARE Season: One win or less. If this were to occur I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Petrino get the boot.
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