Idaho starts the 2014 season Saturday in Gainesville, Florida, against a Gator team coming off a 4-8 season. It will be a tough game, yes, but it’s the only game where Idaho will be severely overmatched.
The move from Independent to the Sun Belt conference will have its fair share of benefits, one of which is an easier schedule.
Last season, Vandal opponents combined for a 91-62 record and seven of 12 teams went to a bowl game. The schedule featured games against Heisman contenders David Carr from Fresno State and Jordan Lynch from Northern Illinois, along with eventual Heisman trophy winner, Jameis Winston.
Winston was the quarterback of Florida State — the eventual national champion. The game was nothing more than an opportunity for Winston to pad his stats, as he led his team to an 80-14 win over Idaho.
The 2013 schedule also featured three teams from the power six conferences. Along with FSU from the ACC, Idaho played Ole Miss from the SEC and Washington State from the PAC-12.
It gets much easier this season. This season’s opponent have a combined 2013 record of 65-81 and only three teams — San Diego State, Arkansas State and Ohio — went to a bowl game.
Having a conference schedule allows Idaho to ease up on the out of conference opponents, too. Florida is the only team on the schedule from one of the power six conferences. The rest of the non-conference games will be against Western Michigan, Ohio and San Diego State.
Aside from the Florida game, the toughest part of Idaho’s 2014 schedule is the travel. Most of the Sun Belt schools reside in the South with New Mexico State as the closest school to Moscow — and Idaho plays them at home. The Vandals will also play five of their first seven games away from Moscow.
Working in the Vandals favor, however, coach Paul Petrino is now in his second year. He spent last year teaching his scheme, all while playing through what was arguably the toughest schedule the players will ever see in their time at Idaho.
Petrino added depth and talent with the incoming recruiting class. The majority of the incoming recruits come from the junior college level, which adds upperclassman to a young team.
It will be a much-improved year for Idaho. With more winnable games on the schedule, the Vandal football team should give fans something to cheer about. Whether it results in wins remains to be seen, but the team will be in more games this season — no more 80-14 losses are expected.
Korbin McDonald can be reached at [email protected]