[Vision2020] Vandal football blather

[Carl Westberg]

I don't know what Brian Murphy at the Idaho Statesman is smoking, but I want 
some.  Vandals in a bowl game this year?  I don't think so.  Carl Westberg 
Jr.

Edition Date: 10/12/06

Idaho football coach Dennis Erickson, much like his Boise State counterpart 
Chris Petersen, is trying to temper expectations.
Like Petersen, whose fan base is already thinking about Phoenix in the 
winter, Erickson isn’t having much success.

His Vandals are 3-3 overall, 2-0 in the WAC, and winners of two straight. 
For long-suffering Idaho fans —the Vandals haven’t been .500 in a season 
since 2000 — this is very, very exciting.

“It’s been a dry spell around here and hopefully they can see a light at the 
end of the tunnel. Students are excited. The alumni are excited, but we’ve 
got a long ways to go,” Erickson said. “Any time you win games, everybody 
gets excited, regardless of who you play. Again, they have to be realistic.”

One problem: Realistic fans don’t exist.

Sensing that the renaissance of the Idaho program, expected and promised 
when Erickson returned to Moscow in February, appears ahead of schedule, 
they want more.

They’re thinking bowl game.

So, too, are the players. It’s hard to blame them. It’s been quite some time 
since the possibility even existed, since mentioning bowl game and Idaho in 
the same sentence didn’t immediately produce laughter.

“It’s huge and it’s definitely in our mind and definitely within our reach,” 
senior quarterback Steve Wichman said. “I would love that and that’s what I 
want for myself and for this team.”

That’s why this week’s game at Louisiana Tech is the most important game of 
the season for Idaho. And perhaps the most important game for the Idaho 
program since the 2000 regular-season finale with Boise State, a 66-24 loss 
on which the Big West title and a berth in the Humanitarian Bowl were 
riding.

A victory against the Bulldogs and Idaho, which has defeated WAC 
bottom-feeders Utah State and New Mexico State, can start realistically 
thinking about getting bowl eligible.

Hold on, Erickson is urging.

“Every game is huge for us. When you go 2-9, every win is a big win,” 
Erickson said.

“We’ve been able to win two football games (in a row) and that’s the extent 
of it. We have six games left against real, real difficult opponents.”

It’s too late for restraint.

Idaho hasn’t been to a bowl game since 1998. A win against the Bulldogs — 
who represent the Vandals’ most even match-up of the season — and the bowl 
talk would heat up. Idaho would need two victories in its final five games — 
Boise State, at Hawaii, Nevada, at Fresno State and San Jose State — to get 
there.

Exceedingly difficult, but not impossible.

The Boise State game will be the most highly anticipated game in Moscow in 
years. A capacity crowd is expected, and the Broncos will have only a short 
week to prepare. Beating Hawaii on the island will be just as tough as 
stopping the steamrolling Broncos.

But the Vandals get Nevada and San Jose State, good teams but not 
world-beaters, at the Kibbie Dome, and Fresno is really struggling.

“We’re not going to let this get to our heads,” Wichman said. “We’ve got an 
important game this week and while it’s exciting to see people gather around 
us, we’re focused on being successful for the rest of the season.”

About the only people more excited about Idaho getting bowl eligible than 
Vandal fans are MPC Computers bowl officials. Already worried about what a 
Boise State BCS berth would do to their game, Idaho could salvage the gate.

The possibility of Idaho on the blue makes Boise State fans sick. But it 
should make bowl officials downright giddy.

It’s never too early to wonder — unless, of course, you’re a coach.