Tuesday Morning Quarterback: Transfer portal poaches 3 all-conference Vandals

Dec. 12—It's been a somber 72 hours for the Idaho football team.

On Saturday, the Vandals fell 30-22 to Albany in the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

As soon as the dust began to settle on one of the best seasons in program history for Idaho, three first-team All-Big Sky players announced their intentions of entering the transfer portal on Monday.

Sophomore running back Anthony Woods, junior defensive back Marcus Harris and sophomore quarterback Gevani McCoy will all be searching for new destinations to continue their careers.

How is that for an emotional rollercoaster?

Following the Vandals' loss to the Great Danes, senior receivers Hayden Hatten and Jermaine Jackson were fighting back tears alongside second-year coach Jason Eck in their final postgame news conference of the season.

The iconic pair of receivers were once again prevalent in the Vandals' offensive game plan and special teams.

Hatten, a fifth-year player who still has one year left of eligibility if he chooses, had more than 100 yards receiving for the 16th time in his career, tallying 132 on 12 receptions.

Jackson had another monster night on special teams, having two punt returns for more than 50 yards, which led to scores.

He wasn't too shabby as a pass catcher, either, recording 66 yards on four receptions.

However, the efforts of the two workhorses were not enough to tame the Great Danes.

Albany senior quarterback Reese Poffenbarger threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Brevin Easton with 4:38 left in regulation to give the Danes their first lead of the game at 23-19. And from there, the Vandals failed to catch up, and their run at history fell short.

On Monday, it was announced that Idaho's pair of trailblazers, Hatten and Jackson, were named All-Americans by FCS Football Central.

The duo were joined by Harris and Woods, whose portal announcements were quick to follow.

The news of McCoy, Harris and Woods entering the transfer portal painted a picture of not only the state of the Vandals but the FCS as a whole.

This "transfer portal era" favors schools with money. That's just common sense with the new rules allowing players to be paid for Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals. And in the case of the FCS, if a player strings together a couple of years of solid work, why not aim for greener pastures? If not for playing time, for a payday.

It's hard to be mad at an 18- to 21-year-old kid for taking money that he may never get a chance to make again.

Despite this, the FCS isn't getting ransacked by the big boys like you might think, as senior FCS analyst Sam Herder pointed out on X (formally Twitter) on Monday.

According to his post, 90% of all-conference players returned to their team in 2022, so while things may seem bleak for the FCS, it is still maintaining its top-level players.

The Vandals just got dealt a bad hand in 2023.

What does Idaho's future hold following the departure of the trio, with possibly more on the way?

It's hard to say, considering we're not even a full week removed from the season.

The departure that will probably sting the most is Woods.

The dynamic runner finished his career in Moscow with 2,027 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns.

Woods was Idaho's bellcow in 2023, receiving 45% of the team's carries.

The Vandals will also be without running back Nick Romano next season, who graduated and made up 23% of the carries.

This leaves Idaho with junior Eli Cummings and freshmen Carlos Matheney and Art Williams.

Vandals running back coach Thomas Ford is high on the pair of freshmen runners. But neither has enough game film to know exactly what they can produce at the college level.

Cummings spent the '23 season on the bench but had 442 rushing yards and four scores in '22.

Harris' departure stings as he led the Big Sky's top-rated pass defense. But Idaho's secondary is an overall young and talented group.

The Vandals have several guys who are capable of producing at a high clip, such as freshman Andrew Marshall, junior Murvin Kenion, freshman Dwayne McDougle and freshman Ormanie Arnold, to name a few.

As for their third confirmed transfer, McCoy, you would think losing your starting quarterback would be the biggest blow. But backup QB Jack Layne has looked more than capable in his limited reps.

Following Layne's seven-touchdown performance in Idaho's 63-21 win over Idaho State on Nov. 18, Eck said he was the best backup QB he's ever been around.

That "backup" label won't be around for long, that is, if Layne opts to stay in Moscow for the '24-25 season.

The biggest drawback for the Lake Oswego, Ore., native will be his lack of weapons with in-game experience.

The Vandals will be without their three leading receivers in '24, Jackson (graduation), Hatten (still questionable) and Terez Traynor, whose portal announcement was posted on FarrelPortal's account on X on Monday, accounting for 66% of the team's receiving yards.

Idaho will be without eight of its top 10 receiving options in 2023.

The Vandals, as of now, are returning sophomore Jordan Dwyer, who has a seemingly solid connection with Layne, tallying three receptions for 100 yards against the Bengals.

Idaho has had a couple of other players who have made a relative splash at the position over the past two years, such as freshman Mark Hamper and redshirt junior Michael Graves.

Idaho has also been heavily recruiting the pass-catcher position and should bring an infusion of youth to that spot as well.

So even though the Vandals have lost several key players and suffered a devastating loss in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs, it's a quick reminder that the football season is never quite over, even when you're not playing.

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks