Neither the offense nor defense won the final scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday. Idaho coach Paul Petrino said the scrimmage was good, but both sides of the ball needed to be more consistent.
The inconsistency showed in the final stat tally, as the defense forced four interceptions and didn’t allow a touchdown for seven consecutive series. The offense, however, scored 12 touchdowns and accumulated 849 total yards on 128 plays.
“Walking off the field, I would say it was pretty equal,” Petrino said. “We missed a couple open touchdowns and the defense got a couple stops and some interceptions, so I thought that was really good on their part — but we can’t be turning the ball over like that.”
In the past two scrimmages, the defense held the offense to 336 less yards and forced six more turnovers compared to the final two scrimmages in the spring. The defense showed improvement, but it was the secondary that made the biggest leap forward.
Last season, Idaho’s defense finished with only 10 interceptions — during the two fall scrimmages, it forced seven. Junior cornerback Jayshawn Jordan said it was their goal for fall camp to breakup more passes and create turnovers.
“We made plays,” Jordan said of the defense. “Even though we’re on the same team, when it comes to the game, it really helps out the offense a lot and just gets the whole team going.”
The defensive line impressed, too. The group finished with six sacks, which could have been a lot more if defenders were allowed to tackle quarterbacks.
“We just had a good day,” said defensive end Quinton Bradley. “A lot of sacks did not get called today, but coach told me the offense still has to get work, so I understand that.”
The defensive line’s performance might raise concern for the offense, but Bradley sees it as a positive. He said both units rely on each other to get better.
“We gave them something to work on today,” said the 6-foot-3-inch junior from San Antonio.
“We really came out hard and showed them that they need to play hard every play … because when it all comes down to it, that’s our o-line.”
On offense, Kris Olugbode made his case for the starting running back role. The senior from San Jose, Calif.,, had an impressive 58-yard run and finished with a team-high 158 rushing yards on 13 carries, with two touchdowns.
Emerging as a potential red zone threat was tight end, Justin Podrabsky. The 6-foot-6-inch, 254-pound senior hauled in two touchdowns from quarterback Matt Linehan. Petrino said the two formed a connection during Sunday night scrimmages last season.
“Anytime the tight end can make plays like that, it really helps the quarterbacks out,” Petrino said. “It’s kind of their safety valve that they can go to.”
With the final scrimmage in the books and the season just under two weeks away, Idaho will now turn its attention toward week one opponent, Florida. The game will be played 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, in Gainesville, Fla. Vandal fans not making the trip can watch the game on ESPNU or WatchESPN.
Korbin McDonald can be reached at [email protected]