Vandal corner back, Eric Hunter, flattens quarter back Nathan Enderle during the last full scrimmage on Aug 19 before the Vandals opener against the Arizona Wildcats. File Photo

Everything that could go wrong did for a young University of Idaho Vandals football team on Saturday in a bizarre game that featured a 62 minute delay due to lightening around Arizona Stadium.
Idaho coach Robb Akey said the team was well prepared and they had a great fall camp. He noted many of the players are still young and inexperienced.
“We’re still a young football team and mistakes were made weeks and weeks ago that were fixed,” Akey said. “Then you’re in the arena in front of 60,000 fans and young kids go back to
old habits.”

The Vandals’ players only found themselves down by 14 points at the end of the first quarter, but a 35 point second quarter that featured an 87-yard punt return, two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns deflated the team and left the score a lopsided 49-0 at halftime.
“Everything went wrong,” senior center and co-captain Adam Korby said. “Arizona played a great game, but we shot ourselves in the foot. We didn’t show the team we are. We didn’t play the game we wanted to play.”

The Vandals did have an opportunity to score late in the first quarter, but the effort was thwarted when Tino Amancio missed a 54-yard field goal.
Arizona racked up 521 yards of total offense en route to their 70 point victory over the Vandals. Idaho’s offense struggled, producing only 112 total yards over the course of the game.
Akey said the team cannot let one poor performance in the past affect the future.
“This better hurt. It’s going to hurt because we just got kicked in the mouth,” Akey said. “All this means is that we can’t go 1-0.”
Akey said the team is going to look at the video and the mistakes made on Saturday, fix those mistakes and put the season-opening blowout in the past.
Safety Shiloh Keo,  a team co-captain, shares in Akey’s sentiment.

“We have a lot to learn from this game,” Keo said. “We didn’t play our best. For all the hard work we put in, we didn’t show it. I commend (Arizona) on their efforts and how they played us.”
Akey said he was excited the Vandals’ next game will be in Moscow and expects the team to respond to the challenge this weekend when they play state rival Idaho State University.
“It’s not what happens to you in life,” Akey said. “It’s how you respond to what happens to you in life.”
The Vandals will play Idaho State at 2 p.m., Saturday in the Kibbie Dome.

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