Idaho coach Paul Petrino was noticeably happier today than he’s been in weeks past, not surprisingly. His Vandals are coming off the first victory of the Petrino era, a 26-24 win over the Temple Owls last Saturday at the Kibbie Dome.
Here are the nuts and bolts of the conference today:
– Petrino praised the effort of the offensive line, a line that was significantly different than the one ran out there the first four games. Nick Van Rotz transitioned from strong guard to strong tackle, while true freshman Steven Matlock and junior Spencer Beale played at the guard positions.
“We were without two of our starters because of injury and they just brought passion and energy. They brought second and third effort and it kind of rubbed off on everybody else and it was just the best they’ve played this year by far.”
– Petrino wouldn’t say if Jesse Davis and Dallas Sandberg would be given their starting spots back when healthy.
“There’s always competition, so it’ll be by who practices the best. So that will depend on who comes out there and who has the best days of practice.”
– Petrino said Chad Chalich took every snap on Saturday because Josh McCain didn’t have a great week of practice last week.
– Petrino on the first win: “Just happy for the players, for the assistant coaches, for the coaches’ families. Because a lot of work goes in, a lot of hours, and you deserve it … it was good to see our players will a victory.”
– Petrino on Derek Carr: “They have a great quarterback. He’s probably as good as any quarterback that is out there in college football”
– Two Vandals were honored this week: Chad Chalich was named FBS Independent offensive player of the week and Austin Rehkow is the FBS Independent special teams player of the week. Petrino called it a great honor for the program, noting that both are freshman.
– At the end of the video Petrino talks about the challenge of playing so many good quarterbacks this season and the fact that Idaho won’t see nearly as much talent at the position next season in the Sun Belt