The University of Idaho football team has gone from a combination of workouts and practices since school has begun. The Vandals participated in their first full-contact practice this fall on Oct. 17 as they edge closer to the beginning of the spring season.
The team was used to practicing on the SprinTurf but this was their first full-contact practice back inside the Kibbie Dome.
“I thought it was great,” Paul Petrino, UI football head coach, said. “I thought we had good intensity. We saw some good tackling, saw guys flying around.”
“It brought that football atmosphere back,” Tre Walker, junior linebacker said. “Living that same experience again, the same time last season we were playing games and having practices. It kind of made me forget about quarantine and focus on playing football.”
The practice offered the team a chance to fully compete again, and it was followed by a highlight package. It also gave the players an opportunity to work out some kinks and rust that followed them after not being able to practice with full pads for several months.
“We’ve been around each other for a long time now without being able to hit somebody, so it was definitely fun to finally be able to hit each other,” Walker said. “We had a lot of energy, a lot of passion on both sides of the ball, so it’s definitely a good time for us to hit somebody else right now because we’re tired of hitting each other. It was definitely a little rusty but with a few more practices and workouts, we’ll work those out.”
Walker also saw snaps at running back during the practice and confirmed that he will be a two-way player this season. Walker will be the first two-way player for the Vandals since Saints linebacker Kaden Elliss.
Elliss played LB and tight end for the Vandals back in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Walker played running back and LB in high school so the option to play both sides of the ball isn’t new to him.
“I was a running back all my life until my senior year in high school,” Walker said. “It is definitely something I was comfortable with, and the position is something that I have been playing. I just wanted to get back and help the team however I can.”
As Walker will be playing both positions this season, stamina can play a big factor in his production on the field throughout the game. Walker is comfortable that keeping his energy high throughout the game won’t
be an issue.
“My conditioning is even better, and I try to keep my body in top shape,” Walker said. “My main priority is not letting my body slip away and just staying in shape. I’ve been playing for a long time, throughout high school, and now I’ve seen it’s something that’s going to be fun and not something that’ll be too tiring. I like being in the game, being on the field and controlling the game, and that’s what I’ll do.”
The Vandals are approaching the end of fall camp and are close to finishing their 15 fall practices as they’ll return to the field in the spring to begin their football season.
Armin Mesinovic can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @arminmesinovic.