It will be a matchup of 1-3 teams when Idaho takes on Sun Belt Conference opponent Arkansas State at 4 p.m. Saturday in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
But don’t let the Red Wolves’ record fool you.
Idaho coach Paul Petrino said Arkansas State is one of the top three teams in the conference – they’ve just played some tough teams so far.
Arkansas State fell to then eighth-ranked Southern California 55-6 in its first game of the season. The schedule didn’t get much easier as the Red Wolves lost to then No. 21 Missouri 27-20. After a 70-7 win over Missouri State, the Red Wolves fell back to the loss column with a 37-7 defeat at the hands of an undefeated Toledo team.
Idaho (1-3 overall, 0-1 Sun Belt) is coming off a 44-20 loss to Georgia Southern Saturday at the Kibbie Dome.
While the scoreboard didn’t reflect a Vandal win, Idaho senior receiver Dezmon Epps shined again. The Sacramento, California, native caught eight passes for 165 yards and two long touchdowns — a 60-yard touchdown reception and a 44-yarder.
“We love having him in matchups,” Idaho offensive coordinator Kris Cinkovich said. “The first one (touchdown) he was singled and the one we missed he was singled. The second one he was actually doubled and Matt (Linehan) just threw the ball through the double and Dez went and got it.”
Epps leads the nation in receiving yards per game with 154.7. He averages 11 receptions per game, which leads the Sun Belt and is second nationally.
“He hates even missing a rep in practice,” Cinkovich said. “I mean he can’t stand it. We have to always literally pull him out of the huddle to get him fresh for the next rep because he hates coming out and … you don’t see that a ton anymore on guys.
“I’ve always respected that about him,” Cinkovich said. “I saw that happen again today (Tuesday). A coach had to drag him out of the huddle because he won’t come out and that’s the competitor in him.”
Cinkovich said Epps’ hard-work and dedication in practice has been evident since the day he arrived on campus.
Epps attended Grant High School in Sacramento and then took his talents to the City College of San Francisco.
” … What we were told when we recruited him both from his high school, which is an accomplished high school, and his junior college, which is a very good junior college, and they said this guy, he likes the ball and he likes to compete and that stuff is absolutely true,” Cinkovich said.
While Epps will look to continue to pad his statistics against Arkansas State Saturday, Idaho coach Paul Petrino isn’t sure whether quarterback Matt Linehan will start because of an ankle injury.
Redshirt freshman Jake Luton has been receiving the first-team reps in practice while Linehan watches.
Luton completed eight of 13 passes for 46 yards in his collegiate debut against Southern California earlier this season.
“He stood in the pocket against what is apparently a pretty good football team,” Cinkovich said. “I gotta think internally for him it gives him a lot of confidence. It certainly gives us confidence in him because he performed good.”
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CabezaGarrett