The freshly painted logos on the Kibbie Dome turf represents Idaho football’s immediate future. The Sun Belt Conference logo made its debut during Wednesday’s practice, painted on the 25-yard lines on each side of the field.
Parker Wilson | Argonaut
Sophomore quarterback Matt Linehan throws the ball on the run during Wednesday’s practice at the Kibbie Dome. Linehan is competing for the starting quarterback job with Chad Chalich and is looking to impress during Friday night’s Silver and Gold spring game.
Fans will get their first look at it during Friday night’s Silver and Gold spring game, one that Idaho coach Paul Petrino thinks will show a markedly improved Idaho football team.
“I’m happy, we’ve done better (this spring) than I thought we would be at this point,” Petrino said. “It’s been good, now we just need to finish it with a great night Friday night.”
The Silver and Gold spring game is the fourth scrimmage of the spring practice schedule for the Vandals, and another opportunity for Idaho to get two games worth of plays in.
There will be a short warm-up period before the team goes for a full scrimmage. While some scrimmages depend on certain situations and plays that coaches want to run, the spring game will run close to how an actual football game would, with play calls and schemes based on the situation of the scrimmage.
“Sometimes in practice it’s scripted and you chalk every single play,” Petrino said. “Anytime they can just go out and play a whole bunch of football and have it not be scripted, that’s good for us, because it gives us more reps of just improving. ”
This is most important for the two quarterbacks who will be competing for the starting job in the fall, redshirt sophomore Chad Chalich and redshirt freshman Matt Linehan.
The two have created little separation from each other throughout the course of the spring, though the spring game could help set the tone for the summer. For Linehan, this is his first spring game. Chalich has experience on this stage from when he outclassed former senior Taylor Davis in last year’s spring game.
“I think preparation is the most important thing. As long as we come out prepared, I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of nerves because we have to know what we’re doing,” Linehan said. “If we come out prepared and ready to go I don’t think the nerves will be there.”
If everything goes as well as Linehan hopes, the defense will get some cracks as well.
The defensive front seven was the story of last Saturday’s scrimmage, holding the offense to only 11 touchdowns. Cornerbacks Desmond Banks and Jayshawn Jordan also demonstrated that they wanted to secure spots atop Idaho’s secondary depth chart.
It’s a linebacker that’s made the biggest impression of the newcomers, though, with over 30 tackles combined among the last three scrimmages.
Irving Steele, a transfer from Ellsworth Community College, vaulted his way to the top of the depth chart with his performances in the spring. He plays middle and outside linebacker, depending on the formation and teams with Marc Millan in nickel packages.
“I think I’m a sideline to sideline linebacker, I really just like to tackle,” Steele said. “I’ve been tackling all my life since I was 7 years old. I just like to get to the ball and make the play, I just like to tackle.”
The spring game will set the tone for the summer, a phase that Petrino thinks is every bit as important as the spring. Coaches won’t be able to work hands on with players on the field until the start of fall practices, but doesn’t stop players from watching film or working out on their own or with their teammates.
“We just have to have a great summer, the year is broken down into five phases,” Petrino said. “Spring ball is one of them and summer is the next one. We’ve had a great spring and now we have to have a great summer.”
Sean Kramer can be reached at [email protected]