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The Coach’s Office Idaho Coach Robb Akey
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There is an event that transpires once every two years for the Vandals fans of the University of Idaho. The past two meetings will grant the Vandals football team to snap the possibilities of a Boise State University team to bust the BCS on behalf of the Western Athletic Conference for a third straight year.
Though the rivalry has gone sour the past few years between a struggling Vandals team and a powerhouse Broncos team, the BCS bust or break rivalry sits at just 1-0.
But the nature of these games always brings the monster out in the opposing athletes regardless of their record. Robb Akey, head coach at the University of Idaho, would like to bring the strong tradition back to Vandals football. This could be a good start facing a ranked Broncos squad.
“It’s going to be loud,” Akey said. “There is going to be all the excitement of the rival game. It’s magnified by the No. 9 team in the country coming up here.”
Idaho’s Kibbie Dome is renowned for being small house with a big boom. The confines of a dome stadium will bring noise multiplied by thousands of rowdy Vandals fans to see if their beloved David can slit the throat of a raging giant of a Boise
State team.
“Woo hoo,” Akey said. “We’ve got a handful I think. I’m glad we had the opportunity for a bye week going into this game. We’ve played 10 consecutive ball games so we took advantage of that week to make sure we had bodies feeling a little bit better. I think they will be feeling as good as they have in a long time going into this game on Saturday.”
The Vandals will need much more than healthy players. They will need to find consistency as a team to work out the kinks. They have performed well in the WAC this season but have failed to put the all important W’s next to a looming loss column. They did manage 24 points against a difficult San Jose defense in their last outing.
Sophomore quarterback Nathan Enderle, who has thrown for 17 touchdowns this season, leads the Vandals’ offense.
“He’s making good decisions at the line of scrimmage,” Akey said. “He’s made, for the most part, better decisions in throwing the ball. I think he’s come along nice. I think the biggest thing of all is the command and the leadership and just going out there and playing the game is what I like about where he is right now.”
Many teams will look to take advantage of a missing link in the Broncos’ armor. They have been plagued by penalties — 35 flags for 312 yards. Akey joked about the possibility of taking advantage of the Boise State pitfall.
“Well, I’d like to see that get magnified coming up here to our place,” Akey said. “In the grand scheme of things they’re generally taking care of the ball and taking the ball away … When they do take the ball away from people they’re opportunistic enough with their offense that they’re making some things happen with it.”
The firepower that rivalry brings to the table, with the Governor’s Cup as its centerpiece, will add fuel Idaho’s fire.
The perfect recipe for an upset generally comes when a team fails to respect an opponent and getting themselves rallied to play to their fullest. Boise State Head Coach Chris Petersen has yet to underestimate the biggest of underdogs.
“I think everybody around here understands the tradition and the history of this game,” Petersen said. “They’ll be excited
to play.”
Boise State fans can bring their rivalry to armchair football in the Student Union Building. The game starts at 3 p.m., Saturday Nov. 15 on KTVB channel 7.
KIRK BELL
Sports Coordinator
