With the season beginning at the end of August, the Idaho Vandals’ football team has been flying through fall camp, and one of their key but under-the-radar players is getting some preseason recognition for his work on and off the field.
Vandal’s redshirt junior kicker Cameron Pope has been named to the 2025 Fred Mitchell Award Preseason Watch List. The award recognizes 35 placekickers across the nation at all levels of college football for their contributions on the field and in the community, according to a press release by Vandal Athletics.
Pope showed appreciation for those who helped him reach this point while looking ahead to the season
“I’d like to thank my family, friends, teammates and coaches for getting me to this point. I can’t wait for the season to try to help my team get a Big Sky and national championship,” Pope said.
Pope, a native of East Wenatchee, Washington, graduated from Eastmont High School as a two-sport athlete, participating in both track and field and football. After his time at Eastmont, he came to Moscow to be a Vandal.
Pope has been a part of the Vandals since 2022 and waited for his turn behind former placekicker Ricardo Chavez, with last season being Pope’s first as the starter.
In his debut season as starter, Pope made 17 field goals, including a long of 50 yards, and converted 37 PATs while handling kickoff duties on 13 occasions with three touchbacks. Pope is one of just 15 kickers in FCS to be named to the watch list.
Kickers are nominated by their schools or selected from the top of their respective divisions. The recipient will be announced in December, according to the release.
Pope and the Vandals will kick off their season in the Battle of the Palouse when they travel to Pullman to take on Washington State on Aug. 30 at 7 p.m.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected].