Tuesday Morning Quarterback: Believe it, Idaho is good now
Oct. 3—"I still can't believe that Idaho is good now, wtf?"
That was a text I received in a group chat I'm in with all my old high school friends following the Vandals 44-36 win over Eastern Washington on Saturday at Roos Field, and it is a bit surprising, isn't it? At least if you haven't been paying attention.
Idaho is currently No. 3 in the Stats Perform Football Championship Subdivision poll and looks like one of the few FCS teams that could make a run at the national championship game in Frisco, Texas, at the end of the year.
That's what we call a flip of the script.
I've lived in Lewiston and have been following the two area college football teams practically my whole life, and when it comes to the Vandals, they've always played second fiddle to Washington State.
Idaho has won two bowl games that we 20-somethings can remember prior to the Jason Eck Era. Aside from that, the Vandals have been nothing more than a perennial doormat that teams have stepped over time and time again to get to where they needed to go.
Fast forward to 2023, and Eck and the boys have turned the Vandals from the doormat to the bouncer.
The coaching staff inherited a team that went 4-7 in 2021 and somehow has been able to mold it into a championship-caliber team in two years. The craziest part? Most of the Vandals' key contributors haven't been transfers or new recruits; they've been players already on the roster.
In this day and age, when you see a coaching change, you almost expect several players to follow that coach while they mold the team through the transfer portal (see Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders with Colorado).
But Eck took a different approach. While he did bring in some transfers, he decided to mainly rely on what the Vandals already had, and what do you know, it worked.
Idaho's coaching staff has been able to get career years out of offensive players like quarterback Gevani McCoy and receivers Hayden Hatten and Jermaine Jackson. And that's not even including defensive standouts who were floundering before Eck showed up, such as junior safety Tommy McCormick and junior defensive back Marcus Harris.
The development from those players has been paired with solid efforts from new recruits such as linebackers Dylan Layne and Xe'ree Alexander, graduate transfer tight end TJ Ivy Jr., right tackle Charlie Vliem, and perhaps the biggest addition, running back Anthony Woods.
Woods earned the Big Sky's offensive player of the week after tallying more than 200 yards rushing against Eastern Washington.
He now ranks No. 1 in the conference in rushing yards (593) and rushing touchdowns (nine).
The Palmdale, Calif., native gave the Vandals a big spark in their win against the Eagles — in a game where they had a couple of opportunities to lose.
EWU was trailing Idaho 37-28 in the fourth quarter as center Elijah Sanchez snapped the ball to an unexpecting McCoy on a third-and-8. This resulted in the ball traveling 28 yards behind the line of scrimmage as Woods fell on it. But as Woods captured the ball, the Eagles got hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty. Instead of a fourth down and forever, the Vandals were given a first down, which eventually led to a 60-yard rushing TD from Woods.
Whether you want to call this luck or rebounding from an unfortunate circumstance, either way, the Vandals have been good at doing it — and that's what good teams do.
So, for those who haven't been paying attention, yes, Idaho is good now. And it is a little bit crazy, but it might just be the new normal.
Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks
