2009 Idaho College Football Predictions

Written by Jimmy Boyd on June 17, 2009

idaho 61709 The Idaho Vandals have lost at least eight games in each of the last eight seasons and this unpopular trend won’t end in 2009 unless the defense can make major strides. Get my take on the upcoming season in this 2009 college football betting preview. Our readers can take advantage of a $500 match bonus at BetUS!

Offense – The Vandals return plenty of players at the skill positions, but a team already lacking talent in comparison to the rest of the league, will miss All-WAC tight end Eddie Williams and All-WAC center Adam Korby. The Vandals will rely on a strong backfield to try to improve on their 2-10 2008 season. Junior tailback Deonte’ Jackson leads the way. He rushed for 1,175 yards as a redshirt freshman and then ran for 696 last season. The Vandals are hoping he can regain his redshirt freshman form. The Vandals are experienced at the quarterback position with Nathan Enderle set to start for a third straight season. The big 6′5” Enderle showed glimpses of brilliance while passing for 2,077 yards and 20 touchdowns a season ago, but he also showed bad decision making and a lack of accuracy at times which led to too many turnovers. The margin of error will be very slim for the Vandals this season so if Enderle doesn’t begin to value the football, we could see former Arkansas Razorback Brian Reader crack the starting lineup. While the backfield shows promises, the success of this unit really hinges on an offensive line which lost three starters.

Defense – There’s no need to sugar coat anything here. The Idaho Vandals are one of the worst defensive teams in the nation, ranking 107th or worse nationally in scoring defense, rushing defense, passing defense, and total defense. The strength of the defense, if I can even use the word strength, is the secondary, led by team captain Shiloh Keo. Keo missed most of last season with a shoulder injury, but he is expected to be ready to go this fall. He is a big time stick at the strong safety spot and figures to lead the team in tackles. Senior Virdell Larkins and former walk-on Jeromy Jones should also see time at the safety positions while Isaac Butts and Kenneth Patten are expected to start at the corners.

The linebacker unit is in bad shape after the teams second and third leading tacklers, Jonathan Faraimo and Justin Allen, left the program. Outside of JoJo Dickinson taking one outside linebacker spot, the rest of this unit is wide open.

Because of the state of the linebacker unit, the defensive line must play exceptionally well this season, but that is something which is much easier said than done for a unit which only amassed 11 sacks in 2008. The team has decided to move junior Aaron Lavarias from tackle to end to take advantage of his quickness in hopes of putting more heat on opposing quarterbacks. To the coaching staff’s credit, Lavarias had an impressive spring, but it still remains to see how he will stack up in league play.

Prediction: 9th WAC – The defense should be improved but not enough to keep Idaho out of the WAC basement. The team should be able to to be a lot more competitive, though, as long as it can get improved play from the quarterback position. Bet the WAC at Bookmaker and get a 20% cash sign up bonus!

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