At the start of this season, I had an unusual sense of optimism for Idaho football.
I didn’t know where the ceiling was, but I had a gut feeling there was at least a small chance for a big year.
Good transfers coming in, a rebuilt offensive line, solid offensive weapons and a young defense with a great sprinkle of veteran leaders. But all that came away was a five-win season.
The first four games of the year showed some promise.
After the “shocking” Penn State loss, the Vandals got the win against Central Washington, came just a dropped pass and offensive pass interference call from beating Wyoming, and pulled off what looked to be the game of the year, upsetting Eastern Washington at home in convincing fashion.
Fans, along with myself, got excited about this team. Vandals had a deep running back group, Mason Petrino played like a starting quarterback, and the defense got stop after stop. The *big* sky was the limit.
Idaho followed up this opportunity to take a foothold in the Big Sky and make a possible playoff run with three-straight losses, two on the road against Northern Colorado and Portland State, and a competitive back-and-forth against highly ranked Weber State.
This painted the picture this Vandal team will be known for: playing to the level of your competition, also known as inconsistency.
Idaho played great against the great teams early in the year and looked like a deer in the headlights on the road and against the bad teams.
It is hard to project where this team is going after this year.
A new full-time starter at quarterback is on the way. To some Vandal fans this can be a bright spot, but Noah Johnson, Jeff Cotton and Lloyd Hightower are graduating. They are three of the best overall players on this year’s roster.There are going to be some big holes to fill come next season on both sides of the ball. Paul Petrino is expected to still be the head coach, and all we can do is wait and see if he can capture that 2016 Potato Bowl magic again, or just have another flat season where fans are put on a roller coaster.
A full culture change might be needed. There needs to be a new attitude to this team and how the fans on and off-campus feel. No one should come to the Kibbie Dome and be surprised that we have a chance to win.
Fans should be excited to see their school in action, representing the black and gold, but that hasn’t been the case this season or in recent years.
I guess all we can do is kick back, watch some basketball and wait.
But hey, at least they got their first road win in two years with Mason having his best stat line as a Vandal. Cheers to you and what a game in Flagstaff.
Zack Kellogg can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @kellogg_zack.