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 Vandal offense sets for sprints at the end of practice on Tuesday afternoon on the SprinTurf. The Vandals will head to San Diego State University this weekend looking for their second win of the season. Nick Groff Argonaut
The Vandals will compete in the San Diego Chargers’ NFL stadium Saturday against San Diego State, a team that Idaho coach Robb Akey said they should beat.
A team they should beat — a phrase Idaho football fans have heard far too many times in the last two years.
Disappointment sums up the general attitude most students have toward the football program, yet they continue to support the team and put their faith in Akey’s coaching staff — fans just want a coach who will stick around.
“We’ve hit some pretty low lows with coaches coming and going as fast as they did,” said University of Idaho student Ausey Robnett. He said he has always been a Vandal fan.
“If we can hold on to Akey for a while, we’ve got a pretty good shot at being a real competitive team,” he said.
But until that time, students are growing tired of watching the Vandals lose week after week.
“It’s too bad what they’ve got going on,” said UI student Nick Penoncello. “It’d be a lot better if they were good … a lot sweeter on campus.”
Following the loss to Utah State, Akey has been bombarded with skepticism, to which he said, “Ya’ll just stick with me; it’s going to happen.”
Akey stands firm in that he’s doing the right thing and said he’s going to stick with the players on the roster with the exception of this Saturday’s line-up. It won’t include defensive captain Shiloh Keo and wide receiver Maurice Shaw.
Keo and Shaw both were injured during the Utah State game, and the length of their absence is still uncertain.
The timing of Keo’s injury couldn’t have been worse, as Idaho prepares for San Diego State, a team that lacks a running game, and anticipating Idaho’s defense stops the run, the Aztecs will be forced to air it out for 60 minutes.
Replacing Keo at the safety position will be No. 6 Jeromy Jones, a junior college transfer who has seen playing time this season on special teams.
“It’s obviously a big opportunity for me, now that Shiloh’s out unfortunately. I just have to step up and hopefully win the role,” Jones said. “It’s my time so I’ve got to play how I play.”
He’ll get the chance to prove his abilities this weekend against a team that has passed for 766 yards in three games compared to 104 yards rushing. The ball will be in the air all night, and it’s going to be his job to go get it.
“It’s a big opportunity for the DBs to get their stats up and hopefully get on ESPN,” Jones said.
Keo won’t be completely absent from the field. Akey said he would like to have his defensive captain on the sideline to help out his team, and Keo’s been doing just that during this week’s practice.
“He tells you what the coaches tell you, but it’s a little different when a player actually tells you,” Jones said.
While San Diego’s running game has struggled so far, its opponents have had little trouble picking up big gains on the ground which is good news for a team that averages 129 yards rushing.
“We know that the running game is probably one of their weaknesses and we’re definitely going to attack it,” said running back Deonte´ Jackson. “We’re going to get it after them, we’re going to come down at them, we’re going to run hard at them.”
Jackson said after last week’s loss to Utah State, the team’s attitude going into this game is determination.
“We let one slip through our fingers last week and we know we can’t let that happen again,” Jackson said. “Not only do we have to get the wins that are ours for the taking, but we also got to go get the wins that people say we can’t get.”
The Vandals are determined to win, and the Aztecs are hungry for their first win. But win or lose, Saturday promises to be an opportunity of a lifetime for these players who will step foot on the same turf as Charger’s running back LaDanian Tomlinson and other NFL greats.
Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.
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