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Vandals out to prove last year was no fluke

| August 6, 2010 9:00 PM

Things have definitely changed in the past year for the Idaho Vandals football team.

The Vandals opened preseason practice Thursday in Moscow with much different challenges, expectations and goals than last year’s team faced this time in 2009.

Idaho was picked to finish last in the nine-team Western Athletic Conference in 2009. But after winning eight games, including its first bowl win in more than a decade, and producing a first-round NFL draft pick, the Vandals were rewarded with national acclaim.

Highlights from their Humanitarian Bowl win led off ESPN’s SportsCenter and the team has since been adopted as the official college football team of ESPN Radio’s Scott Van Pelt Show.

“The publicity that we’ve received has been priceless, it really has,” Idaho coach Robb Akey said.

Now Akey’s challenge is making sure his team is not forgotten, and that last year’s 8-5 record was not a fluke.

Idaho was picked to finish fourth in the WAC last month by media who cover the league.

“The challenge is out there to out do what last year’s team did,” Akey said.

Instead of having his team eat pregame meals out of bowls — a ploy he installed last season to get his team think about playing in a bowl game — Akey said maybe he’ll have his team eat out of bigger bowls this season.

Now that the Vandals have ended more than a decade without a winning season or bowl game appearance, they can think bigger. Akey said he will ask his team if they can win the WAC championship, how many games can they win and how many bowl rings can they eventually fit on one hand.

“Those are the challenges that are out there for our football team so we can take the next step, and that’s what we’re pushing to do,” Akey said.

Before the Vandals answer questions about who is going to fill the void left by first-round NFL draft pick Mike Iupati and how the rest of the offensive line will come together, or if this year’s defense is in fact deeper than last year’s, the fourth-year coach wants his team to answer the question everyone wants to know: What do the Vandals have in store for an encore?

“We have to prove it,” he said. “I think we need to keep that chip on our shoulder and prove that this is not just a one-shot wonder team, it’s the beginning of a program.”