Idaho's Hail Mary

[Clemsonpanther]

IDAHO STARTS HOT, THEN COOLS OFF AS CLEMSON TIGERS WIN 48-21
IDAHO OFFENSE SOARS, QUARTERBACK BATTLE CONTINUES

Unlike the Group of Five teams that usually give FBS teams a scare, Idaho has FCS equivalent talent that should have not matched up with Clemson in this fashion. With no fans making the two thousand mile trip, it was a hundred Vandals against 85000 Tigers.

Despite the odds, the Vandals played well for two quarters and fought for all four quarters as their early upset hopes were dashed by a bad third quarter. One would have expected Idaho to lay down and die for Clemson and fight in Boulder, but they did exactly the opposite.

Idaho is in a peculiar situation because it has its identity but has not found its leader, also known as “QB 1”. Idaho is a spread to run team whom uses inside zone, outside sweep, read option, jet sweep, and packaged fast-slow screens to move down the field in an efficient manner.

Coaches Clemson Panther and Rich Hargitt have influences from prolific offenses such as Sam Houston State and Texas Tech in the passing game as well as Auburn and Baylor in the running game, marrying Air Raid passes with a mix of Air Raid and power spread runs.

While Idaho’s offense is excellent on the ground, it struggles to make anything other than the shortest of throws. Since Idaho only has a horizontal dimension to the offense and a very weak vertical dimension, it enables teams to figure them out in the second half or when they are trailing.

Taylor Davis is the fifth year senior whom has been replaced by redshirt freshman Chad Chalich on several occasions. Davis (80 THP 80 THA) has a better arm than Chalich (76 THP 75 THA) which is just adequate enough to open up the deep plays of the offense, particulary on the Air Raid staple Four Verticals. He still lacks the velocity to make the deep middle throws and the classic deep out, leaving coaches without an airtight case to start him.

Chalich has just enough speed (73) to open the running portion of the offense that is taken from teams like Auburn and Baylor, whilst Davis (70 speed) is just a tad slower and thus is able to be contained by edge players. However Chalich struggles to make any deep throw and it hurts the offenses’ ability to dig itself out of bad situations.

It is concerning that Idaho has not found its quarterback, and it is an issue that must be resolved if the Vandals want to go miracle bowling this year.

The defense was statistically weak last game, but it performed better against a top ten team that has a top five offense in the country. The Vandals usually blitz at least five on every play and use zone coverages to disguise the lack of athletes on defense. The defensive line has had its bright moments in stopping the running game but it is too inconsistent.

The youthful secondary is torched with astounding regularity and the defensive backs rarely make they plays they need to make. The linebackers have struggled in both games so far and need to improve to help the young secondary settle in.

Najee Lovett was electric on special teams as he brought the Vandals to life and helped Idaho’s offense with hidden field position.

It was a tough 0-2 run and Idaho has a winnable trip down in Laramie Wyoming before getting a bye week back in Moscow.