It didn’t take long for the “gold” team — which was wearing black jerseys — to get on the scoreboard during last Friday’s Silver and Gold spring game.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Linehan gathers his offense for a huddle in the first quarter of the Silver and Gold spring game that took place on Friday night in the Kibbie Dome. Linehan threw for two touchdowns during the two-hour long scrimmage.
Just two plays in, redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Linehan connected with the speedy sophomore running back and wide receiver hybrid Richard Montgomery for a 61-yard touchdown reception. It was the first of many touchdowns for gold, en route to its 61-7 victory over “silver” — which was wearing white jerseys.
The gold team was put together primarily of first-string players, and the silver team with the second-string — hence the lopsided numbers on the scoreboard.
“We’re just a way better football team, and it’s exciting,” coach Paul Petrino said. “I think the attitude, the effort and just the feeling we have as a team is awesome.”
Not to be outdone by Linehan’s 61-yard touchdown pass, quarterback Chad Chalich had a 69-yard touchdown strike of his own.
On his third series, the redshirt sophomore from Coeur d’Alene showed no sign of his nagging shoulder injury, which he brought into spring from last season. With pressure building, Chalich stepped in the pocket and connected with the tightly covered sophomore receiver Jacob Sannon, who would jog in for six.
“They both had good springs and it’s going to be a battle,” Petrino said of the quarterback competition. “I think it’s good going into summer to have that. I think it will make them work that much harder.”
Linehan finished the game completing 30 of 46 passes for 373 yards and two touchdowns. Chalich ended with completing 16 of 27 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns.
The reason for the air-raid display when Linehan is under center, then the conservative approach with Chalich, remains to be seen — but through the four scrimmages this spring, the numbers are substantially different.
This spring, Linehan completed 130 of 201 passes for 1,622 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions. Chalich, on the other hand, completed 69 of 122 passes for 1,199 yards, 13 touchdowns and two interceptions.
A big reason for the offensive explosion is the emergence of some new weapons. Last season Idaho only had one receiver finish with more than 450 receiving yards, which was Dezmon Epps with 980 yards.
In only four spring scrimmages, Idaho has three receivers over the 450-yard mark — Epps, Deon Watson and Joshua McCain. The three combined for 22 touchdowns, which was seven more than the 15 touchdowns Idaho had as a team last season.
“It’s pretty great,” Watson said of the receiver depth. “We’re not solely dependent on just one person, the depth is crazy. It’s great when you have depth, not only fatigue wise, but you know you can rely on each other.”
The offense didn’t completely steal the show — the defense had its fun, too. More specifically, the defensive line.
The defensive line received an extra boost when Quayshawne Buckley was found to have an extra year of eligibility. The senior from Ontario, Calif., could have been mistaken for an offensive player based on how much he was in the backfield. Buckley finished with two sacks, three tackles-for-loss and seven tackles overall. More importantly, he had no penalties, which has been a problem for him in recent seasons.
Along with Buckley, the defensive line reeked havoc all night, finishing with six sacks and 10 tackles for a loss.
“I think the first team defensive line has a chance to be pretty darn special,” Petrino said. “They just got to keep working hard and keep improving.”
Despite the defensive line’s impressive showing, the first team offensive line showed signs of improvement, too. Petrino said the competition is wide open on the offensive line right now with three of the five spots up for grabs.
“Quarterback, O-line, D-line — if you want to win championships, that’s kind of where it all starts,” Petrino said.
With spring officially done, the team will be turned loose and it will be on them to improve over the summer.
The message from Petrino was simple: “Win the day.”
“That’s what we talk about all the time,” he said. “Is win every day. Let’s win every day in the weight room, let’s win every day when we go out on that field.”
Korbin McDonald can be reached at [email protected]