Idaho Football 2024 Season Preview

[Applause] [Music] oh my God [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] 1 go [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] [Applause] the [Applause] [Music] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] welcome back Mighty vandals to tubs at the club brought to you this week by Snake River Stampede whiskey but we'll tell you a little bit more about that later in the show we are the Idaho vandals affiliate on the Big Sky podcast Network I'm your most of the the time host Dallas Hammer joined today by the Brave the Bold the Brian Maro dude it's so so damn wild week zero uh kind of okay with us having this one week exhale before the real show begins but that time of the year that we look for that we all set our entire damn lives around is just around the corner man it's uh it's hard to be doing better and last but not least the man in Moscow producer redacted Martin heemstra it's damn good to finally have actual Idaho football preview I see a cat in the background uh I it's D get back students are back it's getting back to normal which means we're one week Clos to Vandal football speaking of it being one week closer to Vandal football if you were here last week you heard us do our preview episode of The Big Sky Football Conference which means today boys we are breaking down the Idaho vandals today is the Idaho preview episode Brian you're the professor give us the subtext tell us what we need to know about the Idaho vandals before we begin which a one so that we don't have to bore people by repeating the same caveat 16,000 times I think the best subtext for us to use and for I I think this is going to match what most our listeners are going to feel is hey look at the look at how last season ended final late finish look at the preseason polls both locally at the Big Sky level and at the national level too media and coaches pulls in the Big Sky put Idaho's number three that will year in year out translate to finishing somewhere between seven and 10 nationally and look at National pollsters right now most have Idaho slotted somewhere between seven eight and nine so I think hey that's a that's where we should have all of our comparisons and all of our um you know everything we're going to try interpret now heading into the season is with a subtext of if Idaho is going to reach that current expectation of top 10 nationally around third in the Big Sky competing for a playoff by is a different year this is a different Year guys it uh two years ago we were talking about Jason eek and and turning this around from the absolute dumpster fire it was under pal patrino last year came in with hey had a pretty good season but didn't ultimately mean anything they didn't win a playoff game year two they took that extra step had two games in the Kibby Dome year three is kind of that year we've been circling for a while now that this was the year we thought Jason EK was going to be able to take that that one final step into the the upper echelon of the FCS again the national polls are reflecting that top three in the Big Sky Conference absolutely reflects that so Martin if if we're going to make the case for Idaho what are you expecting to see I just think it's everything we saw this spring is GNA go right for Idaho kind of like the Jack Lane I don't know why I almost mess messed it up but like I I think he takes the step that W Vandal fans have all seen this spring and the the fillings for all our transfers play to the level that we all think they can play for play up to yeah I think that we what you need to look at first in making the case for Idaho as a National Power is you got to look at the defensive side of the ball which Idaho look Idaho was strong defensively one of the top defenses in the Big Sky which is going to translate year and year out to being one of the top defenses nationally and it is the defensive side of the ball where last season a lot of young guys uh played key roles we and as far as you know experience he you guys all know the the cornerback room is essentially a t is almost a tabula rasa minus and Andrew Marshall but up front that front seven the overwhelming majority of contribut of contributors from the 2023 season are back and honestly the place look the defense looks like it's in a better place than it was last year never mind the experience there were a lot of meaningful injuries that pushed underclassman up a level uh relative to where they started when the season began so I mean you you know you want to you look at the defensive line the all the guys we were terrified of leaving last year are back we got youy Dallas offal laa five Sachs he's true sophomore he's back he was a single name I was most terrified of leaving in transfer portal kesan James Newbie on the edge senior five sacks he's back Malachi Williams actually missed a he was slotted as a starter to begin last season on the other side of of the line he's back and he's honestly he might be a he might be a depth piece but a starter from last year back Sam Brown from Spokane uh he hasn't been a star in the sense of you know he's not leading the team and getting to the quarterback but plays meaningful snaps he's back Jakari larmen is who was the Run stopper as a tackle he based off we've been told he is now kind of second string which is great news and Amari Amari noce Amari noce and Zach crotzer are two guys who both had lots of big moments last season as red shirt sophomores they're all back so the case for Idaho to me you have to start defensively and you have to talk about the returning talents of the front seven not only back with more experience but having lived through a lot of injury issues last year it's just hard to imagine that that front seven that performed well is not going to be equal to or better than what we saw in 201 23 and last year the defense in the second half of the Season carried Idaho yeah I think I think everything is going to start with the defense you'd expect the defense has to at least perform to the level they did last season if not be better uh it stinks that Rob oric has moved on but we expect good things out of Dan Jackson uh e wanted him on the original staff a couple years ago uh so I would assume and from the things we've heard especially Brian in the interviews that you got from media day it doesn't sound like there's a ton of change to the defensive scheme there's obviously some new wrinkles that will be involved but it's not going to be too crazy uh when you when you look at that defensive line roster and you see seven different guys that had a ton of playing time last year that's going to be huge you're going to be able to survive any sort of injuries you get there just because you have so many bodies and then there's again there's a bunch of sophomores and and red shirt freshmen that don't have a ton of playing time that probably doesn't necessarily mean they're not any good or just looking at this is one of the deepest position groups probably across the entire FCS much less at Idaho uh to butress that point on the front seven Brian it does think that Trey Thomas graduated X re Alexander moved on to the FBS he's now at UCF but you did have Matias Bertram make a bunch of starts last year at linebacker he's back Jackson eek Dylan Lane they're both back they both played a ton Isaiah King is a guy that the coaching staff says a lot of really good things about unfortunately he own only has 24 tackles in his career he is quite injury-prone at this point he's never finished a full season again that front seven is going to be doing a lot of the work so the The Corner Room that we don't know what to expect don't forget Dan Jackson coached Corners before this is probably going to be an area maybe not of weakness but certainly maybe not of strength but certainly not as a weakness but it goes back to what Martin said it's it's jacan and the the the phillins that are going to replace this offense that's where to me everything hinges on this season and I think this offense is going to be better Brian you you've you've hammered this point home so many times Idaho offensively fell off at the end of last season yes javanni McCoy won the Jerry Rice award as a freshman yes Anthony Woods was incredible yes Hayden Hatton is one of the probably five best vandals to ever play but it just didn't work when it when it had to and now what again we're expecting this is projecting this is making the case four we've seen Jack Lane twice yes it was against D2 school but he played very well in the snaps that mattered uh Brian like like that like that face there uh we'll see if the jungle has anything to say about that uh three-headed monster at running back now is not going to mean hey as soon as Anthony Woods is dinged up it's Nick romano and if he can't go you've got really nothing behind them the receiver room is going to be different the tight end room is going to be different we we have no idea truly what to expect from the offense this is all going to be projection but I think I just think Jack Lane is g to be able to find the open guy and and transition this offense more from the playground style football to we have a set number of plays we're gon to make the reads we're going to throw it to the guy that's open we're gonna continue chewing clock just like Idaho has proven to do under e for the last couple years but I think it's going to be more efficient offense that's what's going to be the key for the vandals this year yeah so Dane moon in the comment section saying I expect the offense will be 20% better if not more um which the other part we jumped around thematically which is okay um because it's really hard to talk about this team without hitting what we know and what we don't know almost back toback but a little I want to build the case a little bit more for Idaho as justifiably top eight or seven and that's where we we think they're going to finish is on the offensive side of the ball um Jack Lane is both uh an unknown and a known quantity what we do know what we have seen is that the way javanni McCoy and the way Hayden Hatton and Anthony Woods will be replaced is the offense will just simply look different it will it will not be the same types of play calls like you said and who gets the ball is going to be a little bit more spread out and this is where depth especially in the running back room is which Idaho did not have last year is going to be an asset the the other thing that I want to point to about the case for Idaho is last season Point we've belabored because it's hard not to if you talk about Idaho football lot is relative to being a National Power Idaho had easily the worst offensive line of probably the top 10 teams in in the nation in spite of that Idaho had a great season that even with all everyone leaving or or having graduated the the big names for people aren't Knee Deep you know ankle or Knee Deep Idaho football there's a lot of names that Outsiders are G to say like hey how God gonna produ are you gonna replace them I want to talk about the tight end the thing I want to talk about the tight end is we saw Jake Cox really emerge towards the end of last season I mean he was he's a reliable C pass catcher but really looked like he was finding his footing as a strong blocker and there's reason to believe that uh recent transfer to the program a guy guy with a really uh kind of wild backstory um Mike Martinez uh transferred from UCLA but that he had a honestly took like three years off had some significant medical issues what we've been told so far is Mike Martinez one is a beast six foot s built was told that of course any person who missed a couple years is going to be slow A little sluggish when they first start off but that he Mike Martinez has looked like a guy who if he's healthy and if he he can make everything work he is going to be an in incredible blocker out of the tight end which hey that that would give us we know then two very strong blocking tight end options we know Alex Moore is a good pass catcher we know from Jason neck on the show U know there's some health limitations but he's physically at 100% but he's probably going to be on a little bit of the pitch count um you know compared to what was understood Alex more towards the start but improve blocking out of the tight ends and natural growth from the a very young offensive line which we know is a little deeper just based just based off of the fact that one I mean a Aiden kapic will should be back but we also uh we also learned that um man why why am I draw a blank on Nam Dallas the dude who just the O lineman who just received the scholarship freshman and Martin you know who I'm talking about right was it Kaden robnet Kaden robnett yeah the yeah um Kaden robnett death piece if he's he's a starter we didn't we didn't graduate starting o lineman last season so we know we at we added at least one who's who's gonna replace I believe Leighton Vining as a starter that means improved depth if the o line can buy Jack Lane enough time and if the tight ends are developing enough enough to improve the blocking game that mean that to me is the case for what Idaho needs to be in that top 10 because they still did it anyway last year with a struggling and and not healthy enough o line and if that group can just be marginally better that's there's a ceiling on Idaho's offense this season that we didn't see in the second half of 2023 the final point I want to put on it is the offensive line uh we've got a bunch of comments in the the comment section about the old line should be better than it's been Bradley the plant saying the left tackle the right tackle return Right Guard returns returning Center won't be the starter most minutes returned of the position groups if you look at the offensive line roster here guys there are three guys that are upper classman uh and only two of them are from before Jason e uh this is a very very very young room eek has talked about it many times they're not quite where they want he wants them to be in year three and he hopes that they're going to take that as kind of a rallying cry to to get better here uh right at the last days of the fall but when you have a young offensive line and you're redoing essentially your entire offense it makes sense that you're G to see a lot more out of the tight ends there are 10 tight ends on the roster I know last year Idaho played very heavy 11 personnel I would again we we've been talking about it and projecting it for a while here I would expect to see a lot more two tight end person now it's just it just makes sense you have a younger line you're going to need a little bit of help blocking you have better running backs now or maybe not better running backs but you have more depth in that room so you're going to be able to at least move the ball on the ground a little bit more and then when you when you look at X history again we we broke this down in the in the spring at SDSU in his final year 89 receptions over 10,000 yards and 12 touchdowns out of their tight end their top two tight ends last year all tight ends combined at Idaho for 39 receptions 5002 yards and eight touchdowns and then again teron Ivy Jr who was over half of that is now gone we don't know I think exactly who's going to be we've got more we've got Cox Mike Martinez there's again if he can stay healthy there's there's some hope there there's a bunch of other guys that are just red shirt sophomores and red shirt freshman that we just haven't seen we would expect to see a lot more out of those guys again as you expect to see two receivers out there two tight ends out there and E really commit to this ball control really efficient offense hopefully what that means is again Idaho is just going to continue doing the same thing that they've been doing but again with Alex Moore on a snap count Mike Martinez has injury problems Jake Cox yes all conference tight end but then behind him chance Bogan probably has the most playing time of anybody maybe Mason Minnie and they games last year yeah Mason Min has been the one that Jason neck has been talking on his depth above chance Bogan so far um last thing uh for the case four is I got I want to talk about Jack Lan in a second too um because look for gavan McCoy was I mean he obviously was fine for having Hayden Hatton and Germaine Jackson as the top two guys to receive targets and not really that much Beyond there uh which is to say um I guess a better way to say it is gavan McCoy last year was surrounded by the kind of people he needed uh to to have around him for the type of reads javanni McCoy could make if you're going to lose all big sky or alltime level talents like Idaho did you're obviously going to replace it with multiple guys contributing at different levels but that also means you need a quarterback who's comfortable progressing through his reads from what we've seen of Jack Lane he is the type of guy Idaho needs to be able to replace the production of guys like Hayden Hatton getting open all the time by being able to hit the running back a little bit more being able to hit short short passes to tight ends a little bit more being able to hit over the middle a little bit more being able to cycle through his reads quickly so that defenses are able to less QE on a guy or two at a time and that's what we have out of Jack Lane obviously there's another side to talk about there but if Idaho is going to have the type of offense it needs we hit the o line part already but the distribution of yards is going to have to be different losing Anthony Woods too and replacing Anthony Woods with three starter level running backs okay sounds good replacing gavan McCoy with a guy who's gonna see the field and make quicker decisions good that's what this o line needs as well to not have to block quite as long the wide receivers uh look we we've heard promising things about guys like Mark hamper Jordan dwi's got to be healthy we've seen him be promising the fact of the wide reer itself is less concerning to me because year in year out good teams replace good receivers Idaho just uniquely has an all-tim that we're going to replace and you don't do that with one guy you do it with three guys stepping up and doing that production peace meal and that's what Idaho has the talent to do and I mean that's that's realistically that's what good football programs do and that's that's something that's obviously very foreign to most of us because again we're off of the first two back-to-back winning seasons in last 20 some years for the vandals I I have talked myself into thinking that this is going to be one of the best teams we're ever going to see but let's let's throttle this back a little bit if we're making the case against Idaho Martin where do things go wrong uh I'll kind of state the obvious it's probably going to be offensive line and I also probably think the running back situation doesn't really not one person steps up and kind of takes that lead is the big ones for me and I think the obvious one probably being like injuries might be a big one but that might D's probably be what's gonna deal but like Vandal Super Fan Patrick I'm not gonna try pronounce your last name said it's got to be the offensive line he is right yeah that if Idaho then just to say this subtext one time none of us here thinks that if Idaho has some things not work out no one says this is this is a bad football team this is the case against Idaho being a top 10 team and the o line is to me absolutely where it begins and ends um as much as we talked about the the production of Idaho the in the second half of 2023 being you you underwhelming relative to national uh expectation or national understanding Idaho had very high-end talent that was able to make up for offensive line deficiencies with a the athleticism of gavan McCoy the ability of Anthony Woods to make people miss and get yards after first Contact the way Hayden Hatton dropped damn near nothing and the way Germaine Jackson both was great on special teams but also was a really good number two wide receiver we this is not to say Idaho has no one who can develop into that top end talent but we certainly don't have evidence right now to say that Idaho just replaced Anthony Woods with someone who will be better than Anthony Woods we don't have any evidence to say that there's Talent comparable to Hayden Hatton lining up as the number one receiver heading into 2024 so if the o line struggles just doesn't gel if it has injury issues that Idaho still even with better depth at the O Line Idaho does not have that much margin for error to go down a starter or a couple starters and we I don't think it'll be as dramatic this year as it was in 2023 but hey we all saw against Albany aen knna it goes down that's not it didn't feel like one guy went down with that entry it felt like two and a half went down with the production the with the guys who were able to come back in so the way this doesn't work out is some of the development on depth is more like the lowend starter for Idaho where we're deeper not guys who might started other schools as well or we have injury issues and that's where you start throwing into problems with can they give true uh red Shir sophomore Jack Lane enough time when Jack Lane's not going to buy time with his legs do we have a running back who is going to be able to make people Miss if there's penetration you know right right off the bat is this going to be a team that the line is not strong enough and it gets behind the sticks and suddenly you have a lot more third and Longs than Idaho is comfortable for and to me that I don't care who the wide receivers are right now I think all of that starts all your questions and what you're looking at are going to be answered not in week one but in week uh look we'll see a little bit in week two some week three or four of what has the the Idaho o line truly become under year three of Jason I wanted the last four comments in the YouTube Bradley the plant wide receivers is the concern but slice is smart enough to to whatever our strengths are Nate mink loss of Hayden Hatton and Germaine Jackson are by far the biggest concern Max anou we talk about the offensive line being limitation but even if they haven't improved much do we think it could realistically be worse than last year and finally Captain N 58 if we are relying on Lane to be a quick distributor we are going to need him on the field offensive line problems will not bode well for what we need this year I want to kind of hit all of those in the same group here I I think and and here's Patty in the comments section Patty faks Max I think the concern is stylistically Jac Lane is less likely to have great success behind a sketchy o versus vonie and not having a guy like Hatton to lob it too when [ __ ] hits the fan that is the big concern obviously losing Hatton and Jackson is one of the best receiver Duos you're ever going to see at the school that is going to be extraordinarily hard to to replace those two could be back this year and if the offensive line hasn't improved it's not it it's not going to change anything uh and not even necessarily the Improvement I think it's that that the health has to be what's improved yes the you want the ceiling of that offensive line to to to Really grow Brian as you said earlier certainly the worst of the offensive lines that made it to the the final eight of of the FCS last year but it again it's it's that depth pieces that's that's what you want to see build and then hopefully the cream of the crop will will rise and grow and become a a upper echelon position group but that's what I think is it's gonna it's going to come down to the offensive line the receivers will figure themselves out and if they don't it's probably because the offensive line was never able to get Lan enough time to get the ball out that's the biggest concern for me uh Patty Frank's biggest that would be the case for the O regression would be the the injuries Tom Kendall saying I do think the offensive line will be better than last year but they have to stay healthy that's again that that's the whole Lynch pin of this guys that's why there's 20 offensive linemen on the roster I think e has known that for a very long time this is this is where things needed to improve immediately we've seen it happen I'm hoping we're going to see some guys that are going to come out of nowhere and just take take strides in the middle of the Season uh you know going into his freshman year none of us were thinking Aiden kic was going to be a starting left tackle and then all of a sudden he's been holding the position down for multiple years and is certainly in my opinion the the most important member of the offensive line as it stands today hopefully we get another couple guys that are going to blow up like that but right now it's what we hope is if it's the same or similar starting five it's hoping that guys six through 10 have taken a step from where they were before that's that's what this entire season is going to land on for Idaho if that depth is not there and it's similar to what it was last year one guy goes down you might be able to cover it two guys go down good luck three guys go down well Vonnie good luck you better roll out of the pocket immediately that's when we're going to start seeing struggles because that's not Jack Lane's game and the so we we've hit both ends now I do want to one thing I want to touch on just for a second is there's a few unknowns that I just think it's not possible yet to gauge how that's going to move the needle either case for Idaho or the case against Idaho and this look this one's first one's a 10-second conversation Ricardo Chavez kicker and punter is gone he was a Ricardo Chavez when he was on and which was the majority of his senior season was an All-American level kicker he he absolutely bailed out Idaho multiple times throughout the SE last season with his leg I right now the kicking room is Owen forsman true freshman from Lakeland then we have uh two Kicker punter combos of Owen admins freshman from Laurel Montana and uh Cameron Pope a red shirt sophomore kicker punter we I'm not yet clear on what exactly those role designations are going to be but Chavez was a radically improved punter from his junior year to his senior year we just don't know what we're going to get out of those but the kicker punter absolutely matters and that itself can swing a couple games I have no idea if teams are going to be smart enough to not to kick it to Abraham Williams who best kick returner in the history of the Big Sky but when he was at Weber people still kick kicking the ball sometimes and th those two those two parts of special teams to me are kind of the the biggest like just objective unknowns no way to prognosticate what they will be and how that matters Dallas any other unknowns to you you think it's worth hammering I do want to save my money's on Owen forsman uh they I don't know what it is in the water over there in in raom but they know how to kick footballs but they've done it for quite a while now so my money's on him and hopefully he's going to be fairly solid uh but as far as unknowns Brian we've we've kind of touched on it we don't know what we're really going to hear out of the tight end room like there's there's no real production here coming back I mean again nothing against Jake Cox and Alex Moore in Moore's very limited time time and Cox's time primarily as a blocker outside of those two guys we're talking about eight of the 10 guys in the room that that really have no stats to their name even Mike Martinez only has a handful of catches in his career at UCLA before again he he missed multiple Seasons with injury so who knows what we're going to see out of that who truly knows what we're going to see out of the receiver room those are the big unknowns and then Brian like you said I do want to shout out LJ harm it's in the comment section Patty Frank saying LJ harm should be the punter Martin jumping in to say he's got a leg and he was booming punts in the spring uh I don't see him listed on the roster but that's probably because I don't know how to read so uh He's listed as a punter not a kicker punter that would be why you you might not see him that would be why I missed him uh one a one final thing too is unknown is and look this is unknown for every team every year turnovers forced are probably the single single most variable stat I can think of defensively and hey you if that linebacker comes down with that tip pass that really matters and Idaho was was under was not the same team in 2023 forcing turnovers they were in 2022 there's certainly enough talent that has seen FCS reps and we look we we also have virtually uh the entire safety room is back with experience uh big big name there being being Tommy McCormack but hey Dwayne mcdougall's back Kyan be's back too there are pieces to explain why this team could be more effective at forcing turnovers which would then help make up for any sort of offensive questions you might have but those pieces do need to come together this team had actually I feel last year a good amount of potential turnovers the team could have forced the guys just didn't come guys just not coming down with picks the way they did in 2022 or there are some bounces that just did not come the the same way they did in 2022 how that works out will be a to me a pretty huge deal uh because this teams from all we've heard team seems all in on acknow on knowing that that has to be better for this team to be what they could be but turnovers are virtually impossible to project this far out but again it is turnover luck varies from year to year uh both in how many you cause and how many you take away again this this does seem like it's a great chance for Idaho to turn it around and then again Brian like you mentioned the the defensive back room while there are those names back and Andrew Marshall should probably get a good amount of run at at corner the other major Corners are going to be Cory Thomas Jr transfer KJ truo transfer Abraham Williams I believe came to Idaho specifically because he wanted to play a little corner he certainly could have gone anywhere else and been a kick returner I feel like he probably could have been a returner in the power four but hey if you want to also play Corner Idaho is a great place to come do that with that said Dallas I think we've got a season we need to walk through but there's one more place I think we need we got a hit on before we get into the immediacy of week one next week I think Brian I think you're right because it is the last time of the summer guys if you're looking for an all-inclusive weeklong vacation that is going to be fantastic don't look past the backyard Hughes River Expeditions has been Vandal owned and operated since 1976 and they are ready to take you on the vacation of a lifetime enjoy a multi-day trip down the Middle Fork of the salmon the main Salmon River of No Return the Salmon River Canyons or the cellway you could even check out special trips like one to see the pered meteor shower camp on pristine beaches or [ __ ] if you're asking Brian run amazing White hike Scenic Trails spot Wildlife soak in beautiful natural hot springs and guys I I say this every week and I emphasize it every week fish some of the most remote stretches of river in the entire United States just bring your clothes hre will handle the rest grab a paddle catch dinner and ride the bowl all throughout the Gem State call them now at 40654 4450 again 465 5 44450 or check them out at Hughes river.com thank you Colin we love you gentlemen this takes us to the schedule prediction hopefully we're not gonna get sued for that Martin let's rip this Band-Aid off baby Idaho versus Oregon next week at Aon Stadium again being what number three in the FBS who do we got uh this hat should be seean round picking I grew up a I grew up a devout a husky fan like our former the former helper of the show and writer on the website of Sean Kramer would say he was a huge Vandal Vandal husky fan I can't pick the Ducks I am going to IO because [ __ ] the Ducks you know in a different podcast in an IND different term I'd be a little bit upset about that Martin because uh I love the Ducks more than my wife but uh we're not talking Anaheim we're not talking hockey unfortunately we are talking organ Ducks man I as much as I would love to pick Idaho here I I just can't uh Oregon's number three in the country for a reason in the FBS they have the best quarterback back in the FBS I just I don't see any real shot at Idaho winning this game I I love to think hey this could be the one of the biggest upsets in the history of college football I just don't see it happening if Idaho keeps it within 30 points I'm gonna be ecstatic about that yeah Dallas the the win for Idaho against Oregon week one is no season ending injuries and the game is at least competitive for a while so yeah Oregon's going to win that I view week one as a soft opening for Idaho to you know get some guy get some guys some run probably not worry too probably not worry too much about how open that Playbook is but hey idah host teams have only shown up for out of conference games so again to me if Idaho can look competitive against a very good FBS team I'm G to call that a defao win in the comment section uh Tom Kendall Oregon 44 Idaho 21 Jason mayor Oregon 48 Idaho 13 Bradley the plant Idaho versus the spread captan 58 bigger upset than App State Michigan Martin knows what's up Nate mink 7021 Oregon Andrew ipple 5210 Oregon Ron lowney five losses for Idaho minimum Ron one more comment like that and you're gonna get blocked just saying uh e calling up Dallas in 321 yeah Jason that's probably correct oh somebody did ban ban Ron sorry about that Ron it was a joke but uh Grand Grandpa Brian must have misclicked I guess uh that takes us to game number two gentlemen Wyoming and the Beautiful laramy Wyoming I I don't know much about Wyoming I'll be 100% honest I know they were last coached I think they their coach Craig bull former NDSU head coach just retired and is in a new head coach this year if I remember right I I'm gonna go Idaho 23 Wyoming 21 I this is a this is a tough one so Greg B did step down he's retired uh his defensive coordinator Jay sville is the now head coach at Wyoming mostly kept the staff together mostly kept the team together but man this this one this one feels like maybe there's a chance if Idaho is going to pull off an FBS win they've been very competitive in all of their FBS games under Jason e this one feels like hey it's not Nevada it's not an FBS win on paper only because that team was essentially a D3 school but this this feels to me like this could be it if Idaho gets out of Oregon healthy certainly feel pretty good about getting down to Wyoming and and stealing a victory yeah Wyoming is the kind of FBS team I would like to see Idaho play more Mountain West solid Mountain West I mean I do prefer the dumpster Mountain West because I like seeing a a one in that win column to start the season so you know Bradley the plant are and hey Bradley if I'm butchering your name just type that out fically for me dude says um prediction for Wyoming is uh six and seven overall um in the mountain you know in the Mountain West that'd be a midh level team last year the team finishes N9 and4 uh new with defensive coordinator moving in as head coach you not wouldn't necessarily expect that means a radical shift offensively Wyoming was a run heavy team that should have lost to Montana State last season so you just talent wise this is not like the Oregon game this is a game Idaho absolutely could win but you know looking at Jason Mayer saying 35 Idaho 35 Wyoming 24 I'm looking at Matt at Max on touche saying uh 3124 Idaho those those sound good I do think I do think this is a I'm gonna go with a loss here I think it'll be something around what Tom Kendall's saying 24 he says 24 Idaho 21 Wyoming I'm going to pick an Idaho loss but I think it's going to be a very close game wouldn't be shocked if Idaho came away with a win and would be ecstatic for it that would be really a Clarion call to the entire FCS that the questions you have about Idaho you don't need to worry about but again Wyoming is the kind of team who I think if we with some of the o line questions we talk about Jac Lane being you know young as a starter the first you know this will be the second good team Lan wolf played against you know there's some variable stacked against Idaho so y go Wyoming Game number three the return of U Albany to the Kibby doome excuse me the p1fcu kib doome oh uh Idaho avenges the quarterfinal loss yeah Albany not going to be the same team that that won in the playoffs there uh last year I uh without knowing a ton of what Albany is replacing again this could be as silly as everybody could think hey Idaho they lost javanni McCoy they lost Anthony Woods they lost Hayden haton they're gonna be terrible and we all obviously think that's completely wrong but you Albany did lose poffenberger he's off to the FBS they incredible pass rush all of those guys have either graduated or transferred I don't expect Albany to to be anything uh scary to Idaho this go around and again as long as Idaho gets out of that healthy I'd expect that first game in the kiby dome is going to be an absolute barn burner yeah I'm going to go without much reservation I'm gonna pick Idaho here uh largely because of I mean look the def the thing that is most scary about Albany and Idaho was the defensive line last season and it's a complete this is a control all delete complete start over for Albany so I think this is this is the first week that Idaho gets to really assert themselves uh by by showing their the power we believe that they are and the team believes it is and I think with Idaho having as many returners from last year as they do I think this game will mean more to the component parts of Idaho than it does for Albany and yeah I mean for Idaho the season at for real having to pull away a lot of wins without many losses begins week three I think there's a sense of urgency and I think this Vandal team is ready to beat the [ __ ] out of Albany to avenge last season and to you know announce that the season has started for Idaho football so yeah no problem picking Idaho in their their FCS opener pretty unanimous in the comment section as well everybody's mostly picking Idaho a couple good comments here from capan 58 Albany got some solid transfers in but their defense was decimated by graduation in the portal then Bradley the plant jumping in to say Albany did get two good receiver transfers but again they don't have a quarterback to throw to them so unless unless they've got a jack Lane hidden on on that roster expect to see Idaho get get their first home win of the year on September 14th game four at abene Christian University in Texas now this would be like the ID last time I'd have played in Texas with against Lamar easy dub yeah I I don't see any I don't see anything about ACU that that that screams out to me as M yeah they might they might get Idaho here it is on the road which is tough and they did go nine and four last year but I just don't see it Albany or excuse me Albany ACU uh excuse me was five- six last year not uh not nine and four um five and six last year just not not a not a team I I'm necessarily terrified by if if Idaho is partially to mostly healthy again if Idaho gets destroyed by Oregon then this is going to look a whole lot worse a couple weeks from now but if if Idaho is healthy I just don't see any reason to to not come out of there with a fairly large victory yeah abene you look through their 2023 season yes the roster is different but okay this is the team that got murdered 52 to 14 by Southern Utah in late October um this is a team though the Tarlton state was better than abene Christian but you you know it's a team of that kind of caliber for the most part as in like hey they're in the wack whatever The Wack is now certainly not a western power so no uh this is I I I think this is gonna be the second big win for Idaho I wouldn't be shocked if it's anything at all like what um Tom Kendall Post I had H 27 acu1 but one of those 2710 games where because abene is just iced out um on the off on the offens offensive side of the ball that is a 27 to1 game that feels like gets 42-13 so no I think Idaho ends the out of conference season two and two two big playoff wins but you know hey we every team probably needs an extra playoff win because it's a 12 12 game season not an 11 game season this year and that's what's going to launch Idaho into Big Sky Conference play I actually kind of like that having back-to-back FCS games to lead into out the Big Sky Conference schedule itself certainly better than uh getting absolutely spit roasted by whatever Big 10 School decided to beat pal Petrino by 50 that week before just running right into the Sun Belt and getting buzzsaw because you're still recovering from injuries not that I have any sort of PTSD uh Simon Miller not not that there's any of that patrino PTSD still hanging around that takes us guys out of the non-conference you know what Ryan I think I'm thirsty well then you need to you need to reach into your cabinet which if you don't have any by now man I don't know what's wrong with you and grab yourself either Snake River Stampede Canadian whiskey or grab a Snake River 1915 small batch Canadian whiskey it can't go wrong either way both of them three grain Canadian whiskey 80% corn 10% malted barley 10% Rye that's your first thing that sets it aside from pretty much any other Canadian whiskey you're going to find in Idaho state liquor stores that three grain combination means the flavor is completely different second is double barrel finishing your entry level is for ages first in first Ville bourbon barrels that it's finished in OS so Sher casks the 1915 starts in the same for soul bourbon but it's finished in ex Canadian rye casks the difference between the two in addition to different finishing is that your Snake River 1915 agian additional two years it doesn't matter which one you reach for you can't go wrong either way both are great buys Snake River Stampede at the entry level fantastic buy snake Rivers uh 1915 at you know A Step Above under $40 great buy you can't go wrong either way feel like I might have to plow through a bottle of that after the show guys and speaking of plow Tim plow now in charge of UC Davis instead of Dan Hawkins Martin first game of Big Sky play September 28th at UC Davis I I think Idaho uh finally gets their first one against UC Davis since rejoining the Big Sky this is where you guys are gonna hate me this one I think this is going to be a loss I I don't love UC Davis and again I think it's the Dan Hawkins thing hopefully Tim plow doesn't have the magic but uh again like you said Martin haven't beat UC Davis since dropping back down to the Big Sky on the road I don't love it Idaho is not going to go undefeated I'd love for them to do so but I just I don't see them going undefeated in Big Sky playay and when you look at the the the schedule here this is one of those games that's just man they have not had a break you're you're talking five straight weeks here you start it off with Oregon you end it with UC Davis and then I mean you got again more and more weeks to go after that but it just this one feels like this is the the loss there's not going to be many of them on the schedule but I'm I'm picking picking UC Davis to pull this one out there's some variables in favor UC Davis this game uh phase one is hey it's at Davis but in addition to that UC Davis just doesn't have to travel very much in they're out of conference they they're on the road week one at Cal which is barely a sh for them then you know by the time they're playing Idaho against Idaho that's their third home game in four weeks all of with the previous three games all being FCS tuneup types of games so you got that in your favor I guess the thing that I'm going to view differently is I think um I think Idaho is I think they're objectively better than UC see Davis I I think Davis is trending they've been kind of static the last couple years and which isn't to say they've been a bad team they they've actually been a match up nightmare for Idaho the last couple years but I got a new coach replacing a very good coach it would it would be shocking for me to expect that Tim plow is not GNA Be A Step Above what Dan Hawkins had Idaho defensively is going to be strong it's a different defensive identity for Idaho than what we saw when Davis came into the Kibby dome in 2022 so my takeway is I I think Idaho is a better football team than Davis so even though it's on the road I'm G to pick Idaho I think it's going to be a close game but man I Davis is an eye of the beholder team kind of like Sacramento state is and I think it's easy to round Davis up as a vandal because we saw them beat Idaho two years ago but keep in mind uh Davis hasn't played in a single playoff game since that win Idaho's played in three I just think there's a talent discrepancy I think Idaho wins just uh to hit the comment section here real quick Patty Frakes larrison is going to be a horse that's again that's that's where my my money is if L larrison doesn't play in that game for some reason not a chance but L larrison best running back in in maybe the entire FCS much less the Big Sky Bradley the plant we beat UC Davis were strong versus the run and that's their strength 2414 Idaho Dane Moon 2117 Idaho uh Tom kendel I'm with DH UCD 28 Idaho 24 Jason mayor Idaho beats the Hawkins list UCD 3124 Max anou an Max I'm sorry I don't know how to pronounce your last name uh shoot it over to me at some time man uh 28 24 Idaho and then capan 58 hitting the final Point here this game is going to have huge implications on the Big Sky playoff picture to start the year I completely agree that's why we're going to jump into an even bigger Big Sky game Martin it's all about the walkup Sky Dome I know how much you love it Northern Arizona for homecoming unfortunately they're coming to the Kibby Dome what are you thinking uh I'll Idaho yeah no I I I fully agree even if they they went with their silly Astro jaacks thing uh if they showed up as the northern Arizona Astro jaacks wouldn't matter if they showed up as the northern Arizona Crimson Tide it wouldn't matter Idaho is going to crush Northern Arizona at homecoming yeah I I mean na is probably the biggest unknown to me in the conference new head coach gigantic amount of transfers which is is to say until na shows me there's a corner they have turned I will not accept they've turned a corner uh side note just you know look at the schedule variables for NAU um they do get to open up the year with Lincoln that which that that always matters but the the start of the of the 2024 season is not kind to Northern Arizona after Lincoln which doesn't count it's goes from Lincoln to univers Arizona number 21 right now Utah tax winable incarnate wordsman playoff level team for a while sack State Idaho Montana that's a run to have to go through to start the year so I think there's there's every chance that some of the excitement of new coach is kind of worn off by some rough losses so I'm going I'm going Northern Arizona and I'm going I think this this could be a big week in Idaho like we just talked about you see Davis being tough but hey Idaho can string some momentum into their schedule if they can pick up wins against Davis and what I'm calling na here that'd be four potential wins that's the kind of momentum that can push a team to a to a new level just to clean up the comment section Captain 58 Davis should have been a playoff team beat sack last week of the season but the committee gave the spot to sack because of their Stanford win BS that the week two win mattered more than the head-to-head I might agree with you there on on that cap Dan but as we hit the scores here Dane Moon 48-21 Bradley llant 5 814 Tom Kendall 5514 Jason Mayer 53.3 to1 I really like the the math on that one uh Simon Miller vandals pillage Jacks I mean guys again it doesn't matter if they're the Astro Jacks the the Crimson died this is until there is a reason to believe otherwise Northern Arizona is just not at Idaho's level a team that is unfortunately at Idaho's level the very next week on ESPN 2 at 7:15 at the fighting Ron lounies uh Montana state for those who don't participate in YouTube commentary I I think the I the Run ends for Idaho I think I month think this is one of Idaho's few regular season losses this year yeah same same here I don't see this being a game Idaho wins I'd love for that to happen but it's It lines up in a rough part of the schedule again there there's not a whole lot of breaks here for the fandal guys until you get get towards the end of the year it's on the road it's a late game in October it's G to be cold it just all of the all of the little pieces put together it just it feels like again Idaho should be a pretty good team this year this is one of the hardest matches on the schedule I feel like this is probably going to be a bob cat win yeah and Montana state will have had a significantly softer schedule than I heading in which is just to say there's reason to believe uh or to understand why Montana State either feels more healthy or feels like The Kinks they need to resolve they've had a lot of reps to get through so I I think Montana state has revenge on its mind um I do think that Montana State's got to figure out I think there's some offensive identity they do kind of have to resolve around Tommy mot's use but it's also not late enough into the year likely for that to be a huge issue so I'm picking Montana State too in the comment section Bradley the plant 2421 MSU too many games in a row injuries are bound I will be there repping the silver and gold uh Tom Kendall bring Ron back I don't actually know where Ron is I thought the timeout had expired but Ron has disappear there he is oh there he is Montana State doesn't lose at home uh again thank you Ron uh again we're I think ex didn't they lose in the playoffs this past year at home yeah yeah but nobody you know kicker problems they lost in a game that's being used as exhibit a for why the FCS needed more seeds yes 100% uh Jason Mayer Idaho with the upset 3230 Tom Kendall Montana State 3524 Dane Moon 3724 Simon Miller saying October better than November cautiously optimistic here healthyish healthyish Vandal pull off the upset and then Andrew Whipple Idaho seven and one in Big Sky and make the playoffs lose to the cats but have a tough game versus Bengals on the road to end it uh against 71 the bigest guy play would be phenomenal uh Max anou Montana State doesn't teach spelling either uh sorry Ron uh you misspell things in our comment section we're going to make fun of you for it because we pride ourselves on our professionalism here at tubs of the club speaking of professionalism guys let's find a way to professionally talk about calply at home the week after Montana State I I think Idaho wins this professionally I'm not going to call them coward poly um I am G to say they're going to get absolutely steamrolled uh it is not going to be pretty especially if Idaho loses to Montana State the week before leadership weekend is going to be all about leading fists through heads at calply it's going to be bad it's going to be ugly Tom Kendall 6210 that's exactly where my head was at Tom this is going to be a big one yeah this will be a Get Right game you can call it I yeah idah I don't think we're GNA have it's not that i' have struggled calpa last year but you know it took a little bit of time time to run away with it I would in no way be shocked if after Montana State calply 2024 looks like Idaho State 2023 yeah in the comment section uh Jason mayor 45 Max anou Cal P's really good at school but they're going to lose 70 to3 uh and then Bradley Le planton Nate mink calply will have a good time at the Best Western there's good coffee and not a bad breakfast and don't forget about the pool uh that's again if you're you're calply you're looking to hey cool Moscow Idaho pretty cool little place that's I think the most they're going to get out of that weekend it's gonna be real bad Vandal student Patty is no longer a student anymore which is going to make this game really interesting to talk about Eastern Washington blackout the Dome parent weekend October 26th I think this will be similar to the 2022 game in Moscow yeah sounds about right 2022 game in Moscow this time Patty will be saying oh fandal nope that the end of it there's Patty in the comment section guys this one's going to be really fun I do think this was is going to be a lot of fun I think Eastern's offense is probably going to be pretty solid again this year they as they always are if their defense has taken a step up and they are going to be in the the top half of the Big Sky this could be a lot of fun I also just don't see Eastern pulling it off in the kiby dome uh with with Jason eound uh just doesn't feel like a game they're gonna win again I know Patty's gonna tell us how how we're wrong in the comment section but Brian it feels to me yeah Eastern Eastern's going down yeah like cap Dan 58 says Big Win chisco cup stays home yeah I mean I know I know that Eastern Fields like they're trending up overall feels like they could not possibly be worse defensively than they were in 2023 which is probably correct but until we actually see that I no no reason to expect that Eastern this late into the season is g to be hanging tough on the road against a top 10 team where hey if the season goes like we are kind of predicting it is Idaho is an easy favorite so yeah I'm gonna go Eastern hit in the comment section uh Bradley the plant 4821 Tom Kendall 3724 Max anou 5421 Simon Miller Kibby doome tames the Engles Steve CTS Eastern continues to struggle in the dome Jason mayor Eastern has to Forfeit due to an unfortunate incident Christy mayor's birthday weekend last year we beat MSU on her birthday big Vandal win in the dome versus Eastern obviously Patty Frank saying this one's going to be very close Dane Moon Idaho 48 Eastern 35 just feels like hey probably not gonna do it Patty but hey I I like the I like the optimism now guys it's the big one we've been circling the entire season Idaho gets the bye and then off of the bye they travel to Hillsboro Oregon for the number five top five Portland State State Vikings easy dub yeah we talked about this last week Portland State is going to be absolutely ass cheeks this year that is the worst schedule I've ever seen they are going to be favored to lose by a fair amount in almost every single game regardless of how good they actually are playing I don't see Idaho losing to Portland State yeah it's going to be lit enough in the year two that any sort of optimism you might have early on about how to turn the season around is done Portland State's players know there's no playoffs they're just they're more or less playing for pride playing out the string no dude that's an Idaho win uh in our comment section we got a lot of people predicting things are not particularly close uh Nate mink saying Brian did you just say you're going Eastern no picking Idaho in last week but no Portland State won't top five Portland State will not be close that goes to the final scheduled home game of the season again if Idaho ends up with the buy things could be a little bit different but November 16th versus Weber State it is senior day i' avenges last year's uh heartbreaking loss in Ogden to Weber State yeah I think the the fighting barbecues are going to be pretty good again this year I think their offense is going to take another step forward now that Richie Munoz is their quarterback but I I do think Idaho finds a way to get it done at home I think it's going to be a pretty tight defensive game but at home senior day Idaho expected at this position to be fighting for playoff spot and hopefully already have seven wins locked in and and be prettyy excuse me pretty locked into the playoff spot and now just fighting for seating feel like this one's gonna be pretty important feel like Idaho's got to take this one I am going to disappoint Vandal Nation I think that Weber is a worse matchup right now for Idaho than UC Davis largely because Weber State reports are that Weber State defensively is taking a step up relative to last year and we know that they'll be a step up offensively because last year the the issue the weigh down that offense has been resolved now how much the loss of Abraham Williams is Gonna Hurt Weaver State real question but I I look I think Idaho is I think top eight is right but I think it's the question for Idaho right now is if your question is hey is this a top eight or is this a top four team I think Idaho is still top eight I think that's probably two Big Sky Conference losses total and Weber State to me is the second Big Sky Conference loss yeah Bradley llant and Daye Moon the only guys in the comment section that picked Idaho by double digits everybody else say in vandals with a a close one possession game this again I feel like is a is going to be a pretty good game Brian I think Mickey mentle finally has the program moving on the right track unfortunately Tre is not here to really Hammer that in for us but that circles us into the final game of the season against division two Idaho State uh I think this one be a lot closer than last year's game obviously last year Idaho was trying to go for the top seed but Idaho wins this one by I think two scores yeah I make the jokes about Idaho State being D2 and being so much just below Idaho but uh mlan Westbrook flying in hot Idaho State 56 Idaho zero potato State trophy comes home to the bank I didn't know that marijuana was legal in Pocatello mlan but uh you got to get me your grower because that is some that is some spice right there uh again that's a big beautiful trophy Martin's got it up on the screen but closer than last year could mean a lot of things uh I don't I think it's going to be closer than last but I don't necessarily believe it's going to be close this feels like the Idaho State circling the drain trying to find the positives at the end of year two and building for year three under Cody Hawkins while Idaho is circling hey we gota we got to impress some people on the final weekend here to make sure that we get a seed yeah Idaho won 63 to 21 last year uh it's it's hard to not have a game closer than 6321 when Idaho probably could have scored 90 if I if that's what I wanted to do in 2023 I think that I said this last week I I think there's a glass half full glass half empty read on Idaho State and I I like Cody Hawkins I like what's going on Idaho State until I'm proven otherwise I'm a little bit more glass half empty on Idaho state so I think their last big game is the week before against Eastern I think Idaho with a little extra urgency needing feeling like they need to pick up a win to not only safely get in the playoffs but still being contenent for the seed I don't think it's particularly close to close the year and yeah I mean I'm picking Idaho I think the talent is there you don't compare those two teams quite yet and it's just going to be rough for until Idaho state turns the corner I think to close the year that's just going to be a tough game for Idaho State because it will right now the template is always Idaho playing for something huge and Idaho States playing for pride the I think the big Point here is Cap Dan 58 the only question is will we rest Jack Lane and let a different qb2 torch the bungal this year at the moment I would assume that's Jack Wagner and this does this does certainly feel like this could be a Jack Wagner game uh especially if Idaho is in really good position you know maybe Jack Lane makes a a quick Cameo appearance to drop a couple touchdowns in the first quarter and say see you guys later uh one final shout out Christy mayor 357 vandals with the mayor fam on hand in Pokey to cheer him on guessing there's G to be a handful of vandals that make it down there to that game I wish you all in the best of time in poke hello Brian Martin we've now gone through the schedule uh I didn't keep tallies of what everybody was picking because I just didn't I know I went nine and three picked a loss to Oregon lost to UC Davis and lost to Montana State all three on the road so nine and three IAH pretty solid yeah I went eight and four with the losses being or Oregon Wyoming Montana State Weber State either that's still a playoff team eight and four nine and three that realm sounds like the right expectation for where Idaho is relative to the new faces who you know they need to show they can play for the whole year and I'm just Mr Sunshine and rainbows with a positive attitude going 11 and one with one loss to Montana State I mean again if if I had my pick Idaho would have a season exactly like Martin has has laid it out Ron lowney in the comments you timed me up for saying at least five lwes but if unless Idaho wins a national title then you agreed with me he's technically got you there Brian that is that is five losses uh Dan Moon Jack Lane the Bengal Slayer Jason Mayer 12- one lost in Eugene Nate Meek eight and four would be a maze balls gentlemen any final thoughts before we wrap up this preview I just come back next week for our uh for preview of the Oregon game well first patreon.com we forgot something yeah yeah patreon.com backs thee Club support the show join the biggest cohort of online Idaho commenters friends fans at the hashtag only tubs Discord which is also when we have them where we drop our inside hash just the tips so yeah cost Les than a cup of coffee you want to pay more though we we will not stop you for a fact so yeah patreon.com backs theclub or if you don't want to do the patreon thing we uh we will gladly accept venmo PayPal cash app donations just hit us up tubs thee Club on Twitter one final thing uh shout out to Simon Miller thank you for the the nice comment I've missed this thanks guys the tubs Discord is worth every penny do it mlan Westbrook saying I Idaho is going to beat ISU but ISU goes 11 and one on the year again love that hopium gentlemen that's it for the preview this is the final week guys starting next week on I'm assuming Wednesday we'll figure that out though but and we'll let you guys know we are back to our regularly scheduled programming Wednesday hopefully Wednesday we're going to do the game preview as week one kicks off on Saturday and then we go right into reactions and then we've got guys we we've got nine straight weekends with Vandal football all we got to do is get through this weekend wish we'll get to after a 30 second Big Sky pick them Montana State at New Mexico Montana state by 20 forgot all about that Brian thank you uh Montana state by 17 Montana state is a 10 and a half Point favorite uh Bronco mendenhal new coach at New Mexico after New Mexico is garbage I think they won three games last year 6 some new players on New Mexico which is to say no one in God's name has any idea what New Mexico is but I think Montana State finished last year believe and they left some wins on the table they feel they're one of the rare good teams that truly uh 100% authentically feels they have something to prove I'm going Montana State and hey if when we're in out of conference any any Big Sky Team over over an FBS team is big as far as reputation of the conference so yeah that's one of the like two weeks a year I root for Montana States so hey go Bobcats this weekend but most importantly guys go Vandal go vandals go Vandals [Applause] [Music] out here [Applause] [Applause] [Music]