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Cave_Johnson
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Oh goodie, another week of Vandal football. I'm already prepping for the upcoming shit show as I type this preview. And by "prepping" I of course mean "listing out all the different kinds of alcohol I'm going to consume in order to get me through this game". I'm thinking a nice Merlot to start off in the first quarter, then a couple rum and cokes to get me through the second quarter and half time. Maybe some gin and juice in the third and then finish it off by butt-chugging some Fireball in the fourth. Or I could just soak a tampon in tequila and ram it up my pooper right from the start. Either way I'm getting something shoved up my ass so I figure it's a win-win and in the end it will be less painful than the sodomy that Idaho has experienced over the last two weeks.
Perhaps I'm being too hard on my alma mater though. No one realistically expected them to beat UW or WSU. I'm on record stating that I was okay with the UW beat down. That performance in the Battle of the Palouse though? Ugh....what the fuck man. That was the worst loss they've had to WSU in my lifetime, and it came in a year the Vandals were supposed to be a borderline bowl team. The fact that EWU walked in and stole a win from WSU while Idaho struggled to score on the Cougs tells you all you need to know about the state of the program right now. It's a mess. I don't quite understand how a team can regress this much after one season but if fucking happened. Again, I could be overreacting but that really was a putrid performance against WSU. I vividly remember sitting in the stands of Martin Stadium as Jason Guesser scrambled in the backfield trying to find a target in the end zone only for his pass to fall incomplete as time expired and the Vandals took their second straight victory over WSU in football in the year 2000. That was back when the program had some promise. Now the football team is headed back to the Big Sky where years of mediocrity undoubtedly await them. Fucking great.
In the mean time there's a match up with UNLV to focus on. Like the Idaho, the Rebels come in at 1-2 with their only win over an FCS opponent. Their win was much more convincing ( albeit against a very poor FCS squad) but UNLV has looked like they at least have some semblance of competence in their last two games against UCLA and CMU. The same can't be said for Idaho who has been outscored 115 to 20 in their last two games.
The Rebels utilize a high powered rushing attack to consistently move the ball but will also try to sneak in some big plays in the passing game. Junior QB Johnny Stanton is a dual threat guy who hasn't looked great outside the UNLV opener against Jackson State but I've seen far worse QB's than this guy torch the Idaho defense. Honestly if the Rebels come out and run the no-huddle option offense they will have no problem. This was the easiest way to move the ball on Idaho last year and I've already seen it work to perfection this year in the Montana State game. For some reason the MSU coaching staff just didn't want to continue with what was working and decided to have their inept QB toss the ball into the dirt or into an Idaho defender's hands instead. Weird choice if you ask me, but what do I know right?
As far as Idaho is concerned I'm already a bit worried about Matt Linehan. He took a big shot in the WSU game and didn't return. Yes, this was late in the game so there was no reason for him to return. However it's still a major issue considering that Idaho has no depth at QB behind him. Gunnar Amos has looked awful and Mason Petrino really should not be playing QB even at an NAIA level, much less an NCAA D1 level. Linehan has had huge issues with under throwing his WRs this year but he is head and shoulders above every other guy on the roster. He absolutely has to be back to his old self from last year if Idaho wants to have a chance here. If he continues to make his living tossing up jump balls to Deon Watson and Trent Cowan the game is already lost.
On the defensive side of the ball I'm not really sure what to think. Idaho looked very solid in the second half against an FCS Montana State squad, but that was an FCS team. Outside that I've found it very hard to judge this defense. There are some real big play makers in Kaden Ellis, Tony Lashley, and Russell Siavi but the Vandal D has constantly been put in bad situations this season. Between turnovers, Petrino going for it and failing in his own territory, and the offense's inability to consistently sustain drives they've been getting worn out against Pac-12 competition. This very well could be a solid G5 defensive unit but you really wouldn't be able to tell given the circumstances they've been put in. I just can't imagine they've turned the corner that much from being god awful last year though so I'm assuming they're still bad. Just not quite as bad as last year.
Before I make my prediction I gotta say that I have really enjoyed Idaho's OOC schedule this year. Even if they've gotten their asses kicked it has been fun watching them compete against other great northwest schools like MSU, UW, WSU, and UNLV. Gonna be a shame when they drop down and I have to watch them lose to directional regional universities like Southern Utah and Northern Colorado. At least the Olympic sports have been performing well lately. Could be worse.
Why the choice of "Deadpool" for the movie theme you ask? Well, it's mostly because if you had to take a football program to pick in a dead pool of some kind, you'd take Idaho's program. It's obvious right now that support for the program is dropping and that there is really no hope of improvement. We were supposed to see that this year and it just isn't there. Next year will be a train wreck as they transition down and in 2018 they will be back in the Big Sky getting destroyed by most of their "regional rivals".
Honestly, they should really just drop football. Maybe revive it in 10 years or something when people are eager to see it back and there is some sort of institutional support. It's not there now and dropping down won't solve any problems. FCS is a dying division where the program will just lose more money.
Prediction:
UNLV is not UW or WSU but they do have a competent squad. That's more than Idaho can say right now. I have the Vandals competing into the third before the inefficiencies of the offense really show up and a turnover or two causes Idaho to bend over and take it in the ass. Halftime score will be something like 21-14 UNLV with one of Idaho's TD's coming on some big UNLV mistake. Third quarter it's 28-17 with Idaho still hanging around. Wheels come off in the fourth.
Final Score:
UNLV 42
Idaho 20
I highly considered driving up to this one, but it just wasn't in the cards this year. Had a great time in Vegas back in 2005 when the Rebels came away with a last second victory and I thoroughly enjoyed Idaho's beat down of UNLV in 2010 in the Kibbie Dome. Now's the time for revenge though. I bet the atmosphere will be fun at Sam Boyd with all the legal alcohol sales. Good on you Nevada mother fuckers for that.
Edit: Posted this too soon and forget to proof read. Caught a few errors, hopefully it still reads okay.
Perhaps I'm being too hard on my alma mater though. No one realistically expected them to beat UW or WSU. I'm on record stating that I was okay with the UW beat down. That performance in the Battle of the Palouse though? Ugh....what the fuck man. That was the worst loss they've had to WSU in my lifetime, and it came in a year the Vandals were supposed to be a borderline bowl team. The fact that EWU walked in and stole a win from WSU while Idaho struggled to score on the Cougs tells you all you need to know about the state of the program right now. It's a mess. I don't quite understand how a team can regress this much after one season but if fucking happened. Again, I could be overreacting but that really was a putrid performance against WSU. I vividly remember sitting in the stands of Martin Stadium as Jason Guesser scrambled in the backfield trying to find a target in the end zone only for his pass to fall incomplete as time expired and the Vandals took their second straight victory over WSU in football in the year 2000. That was back when the program had some promise. Now the football team is headed back to the Big Sky where years of mediocrity undoubtedly await them. Fucking great.
In the mean time there's a match up with UNLV to focus on. Like the Idaho, the Rebels come in at 1-2 with their only win over an FCS opponent. Their win was much more convincing ( albeit against a very poor FCS squad) but UNLV has looked like they at least have some semblance of competence in their last two games against UCLA and CMU. The same can't be said for Idaho who has been outscored 115 to 20 in their last two games.
The Rebels utilize a high powered rushing attack to consistently move the ball but will also try to sneak in some big plays in the passing game. Junior QB Johnny Stanton is a dual threat guy who hasn't looked great outside the UNLV opener against Jackson State but I've seen far worse QB's than this guy torch the Idaho defense. Honestly if the Rebels come out and run the no-huddle option offense they will have no problem. This was the easiest way to move the ball on Idaho last year and I've already seen it work to perfection this year in the Montana State game. For some reason the MSU coaching staff just didn't want to continue with what was working and decided to have their inept QB toss the ball into the dirt or into an Idaho defender's hands instead. Weird choice if you ask me, but what do I know right?
As far as Idaho is concerned I'm already a bit worried about Matt Linehan. He took a big shot in the WSU game and didn't return. Yes, this was late in the game so there was no reason for him to return. However it's still a major issue considering that Idaho has no depth at QB behind him. Gunnar Amos has looked awful and Mason Petrino really should not be playing QB even at an NAIA level, much less an NCAA D1 level. Linehan has had huge issues with under throwing his WRs this year but he is head and shoulders above every other guy on the roster. He absolutely has to be back to his old self from last year if Idaho wants to have a chance here. If he continues to make his living tossing up jump balls to Deon Watson and Trent Cowan the game is already lost.
On the defensive side of the ball I'm not really sure what to think. Idaho looked very solid in the second half against an FCS Montana State squad, but that was an FCS team. Outside that I've found it very hard to judge this defense. There are some real big play makers in Kaden Ellis, Tony Lashley, and Russell Siavi but the Vandal D has constantly been put in bad situations this season. Between turnovers, Petrino going for it and failing in his own territory, and the offense's inability to consistently sustain drives they've been getting worn out against Pac-12 competition. This very well could be a solid G5 defensive unit but you really wouldn't be able to tell given the circumstances they've been put in. I just can't imagine they've turned the corner that much from being god awful last year though so I'm assuming they're still bad. Just not quite as bad as last year.
Before I make my prediction I gotta say that I have really enjoyed Idaho's OOC schedule this year. Even if they've gotten their asses kicked it has been fun watching them compete against other great northwest schools like MSU, UW, WSU, and UNLV. Gonna be a shame when they drop down and I have to watch them lose to directional regional universities like Southern Utah and Northern Colorado. At least the Olympic sports have been performing well lately. Could be worse.
Why the choice of "Deadpool" for the movie theme you ask? Well, it's mostly because if you had to take a football program to pick in a dead pool of some kind, you'd take Idaho's program. It's obvious right now that support for the program is dropping and that there is really no hope of improvement. We were supposed to see that this year and it just isn't there. Next year will be a train wreck as they transition down and in 2018 they will be back in the Big Sky getting destroyed by most of their "regional rivals".
Honestly, they should really just drop football. Maybe revive it in 10 years or something when people are eager to see it back and there is some sort of institutional support. It's not there now and dropping down won't solve any problems. FCS is a dying division where the program will just lose more money.
Prediction:
UNLV is not UW or WSU but they do have a competent squad. That's more than Idaho can say right now. I have the Vandals competing into the third before the inefficiencies of the offense really show up and a turnover or two causes Idaho to bend over and take it in the ass. Halftime score will be something like 21-14 UNLV with one of Idaho's TD's coming on some big UNLV mistake. Third quarter it's 28-17 with Idaho still hanging around. Wheels come off in the fourth.
Final Score:
UNLV 42
Idaho 20
I highly considered driving up to this one, but it just wasn't in the cards this year. Had a great time in Vegas back in 2005 when the Rebels came away with a last second victory and I thoroughly enjoyed Idaho's beat down of UNLV in 2010 in the Kibbie Dome. Now's the time for revenge though. I bet the atmosphere will be fun at Sam Boyd with all the legal alcohol sales. Good on you Nevada mother fuckers for that.
Edit: Posted this too soon and forget to proof read. Caught a few errors, hopefully it still reads okay.
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