Aug. 13—MOSCOW — It was a takeaway-filled practice for the Idaho defense in yet another fall camp day in which it won the battle between the offensive and defensive units.
The Idaho defense came down with three interceptions, one fumble recovery and a couple of sacks at the Vandals’ outdoor practice field on Tuesday.
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It was not all negative for the offense, however, as it had multiple chunk plays for big yardage from the running back duo of senior Elisha Cummings and sophomore Art Williams.
Junior linebacker Dylan Layne said that the defense is playing fast and forcefully. The linebacker said that the camp has shown how difficult it will be for teams to prepare to face the Vandal defense and defensive coordinator Cort Dennison this season.
“We’re playing really hard right now, so it’s really good to see,” Layne said. “As far as coach Dennison’s scheme — and we put a lot of things in every day — it’s gonna be really hard for offenses to game plan for us. So I’m really excited for this year.”
Defensive success and turnovers
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All of the turnovers occurred during two portions of the 11-on-11 drill.
The first turnover came when the Vandals tried to do a direct snap to a motioned Noah West-Baranco, a redshirt freshman wide receiver from Melba, Idaho. The ball hit the turf and freshman safety Trenton Fisher scooped it up.
The second turnover was an interception. Sophomore quarterback Joshua Wood was pressured by the defensive line and decided to throw away the ball off of his back foot. Wood was targeting the right boundary and just underthrew the ball when sophomore safety Matt Irwin ran up to the throw and picked it off.
The third turnover was also an interception. Freshman quarterback Sawyer Teeney was pressured by the defensive line and decided to scramble outside the pocket and toward the left. Teeney threw a desperation pass across his body and it was intercepted by freshman defensive back Caleb Ricks.
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The fourth and final turnover was also an interception. Redshirt freshman Holden Bea dropped back into the pocket and threw a pass in the middle of the field which was picked off by freshman linebacker Nikko Speer. It appeared like Bea did not see Speer at all and was locked in on his potential target as the throw was directly at the linebacker.
There were also a few simulated sacks. The breakout star from the fall camp so far, fifth-year transfer defensive end Donovan Parham from Mississippi Valley State, has been a force on the D-line. He had a simulated sack on sophomore quarterback Nick Josifek and also had some plays in which he stuffed the run.
Layne was also in on a simulated sack. He said the offense has attacked them in different ways, which has made it difficult but he appreciates that it makes the defense better.
“Offense is throwing a lot at us,” Layne said. “Coach (Matt) Linehan’s doing a great job, so that makes our jobs harder, and it better prepares us for the season. So I like how we responded today.”
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Offensive success
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Something to note on the turnovers from the offensive perspective is that those are all mistakes that can be fixed. When a quarterback is being rushed and decides to run out of the pocket and throw a dangerous pass or throw a ball off of a back foot toward a sideline, or if a snap did not come out right and the ball was given to the defense — all of those things are something that the offense can put on film and be fixed the next day.
On the positive side for the offense, Cummings and Williams had success on 5-15-yard gains, often getting just enough for a first down.
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Teeney had a highlight play when he scrambled out to his left and found sophomore receiver Tony Harste on a post route for a 30-yard gain.
With no offensive and defensive lines in play, the offense had even more success in 7-on-7 drills with no D-line there to cause havoc.
Cummings ran a slot fade from up at the line and Josifek found him for a 35-yard gain that would have likely scored a touchdown. Cummings immediately received praise from head coach Thomas Ford Jr. screaming to him “How about that for a slot fade?”
Wood found success in the short and medium throws, something that Linehan said he has had a large focus on during this fall camp. He had multiple good passes for 8-10-yard gains.
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That’s not to say he did not have success in some of the larger throws, however. He hit freshman receiver Nolan McWilliams for a gain of nearly 25 yards.
He also hit Harste on a longer crossing route.
Harste said having Linehan as the offensive coordinator feels great because he is so familiar with the wide receivers since he spent the last three years as their position coach.
“I mean what better guy to have as your offensive coordinator, calling plays, than the guy who knows you (and) has been in the room with you,” Harste said. “And so I think that’s a big advantage we have going into the season, because he knows what guys he can scheme up into certain things and to use to (our) advantage.”
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Standouts in 1-on-1s
Other than the players previously mentioned, there were a few more players who had great moments during the outdoor practice on Tuesday. They had a chance to show out during some of the 1-on-1 drills.
Hysan Dalton, a sophomore defensive back transfer from Furman (Greenville, S.C.), had excellent coverage on multiple routes run against him.
Tim Jackson, a junior safety transfer from College of the Canyons (Santa Clarita, Calif.), showed that he can make waves with the defense.
Redshirt freshman wideout Ryan Jezioro used all of his 6-foot-3 frame to come up with a towering contested grab over Jhamell “Deuce” Blenman.
Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, tjunt@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @TrevorJunt.
