Akey sees improvement, but left wanting more

MOSCOW - Yes, there was improvement from scrimmage No. 1 to scrimmage No. 2 - but not in the increments Idaho football coach Robb Akey expected to see from the Idaho Vandals as the second week of fall camp came to a conclusion.

"I want to make sure we're holding ourselves to a higher standard," said Akey after the two-hour session Tuesday evening at the Kibbie Dome. "I wanted to see greater improvement that what I did. There were some things that, to me, took on a sloppy look - that we haven't even done in practice."

While Akey said he did see improvement in the developing offensive line, he was displeased with the penalties - seven, and timeouts.

"Those are things that matter in a ballgame," he said. "I'm very confident those are things that we'll get cleaned up."

The upside was improved protection which led to fewer sacks and no interceptions in addition to junior running back Princeton McCarty popping a couple of big runs and senior receiver Eric Greenwood pulling in six receptions for 77 yards and one touchdown. Junior Kama Bailey had four receptions for 46 yards and Marsel Posey, also a junior, had the long reception of the night (46 yards) in pulling in two passes for 58 yards.

Collectively, the quarterbacks connected on 67.4 percent of their throws with senior starter Nathan Enderle 14 of 23 for 146 yards and one touchdown, and junior Brian Reader going 12 of 14 for 138 yards.

McCarty was the rushing leader with four carries for 75 yards, which includes a 17-yard scoring run and the long play of the night in a 47-yard scramble.

"We're seeing glimpses of things from the offense, but we need to put it together and we need to finish," Akey said.

Defensively, red-zone stops were the name of the game. In all, kicker Trey Farquhar was called on for eight field goals. He was good on six (25, 23 twice, 46, 29 and 32) but missed from 35 and 51.

"The defense did a pretty good job," Akey said. "We're still continuing to see growth from the defense."

Isaac Butts had six tackles to lead the defense with Jeffrey Bediako and Homer Mauga adding five each. Seven players each had one sack and Bediako had two tackles for loss.

SCORING

Farquhar 25 FG

Farquhar 23 FG

Farquhar 23 FG

Farquhar 46 FG

McCarty 17 run (Farquhar kick)

Farquhar 29 FG

Greenwood 18 pass from Enderle (Farquhar kick)

Farquhar 32 FG

PASSING - Nate Enderle 14-23-0-146, Brian Reader 12-14-0-138, Taylor Davis 4-6-0-52, Justin Podrabsky 1-3-0-32, Logan Bushnell 0-1-0-0.

RUSHING - Princeton McCarty 4-75, Jayson Washington 4-15, Deonte Jackson 5-18, Bryce Davis 2-4, Ryan Bass 2-4, Troy Vital 7-13, Kama Bailey 4-4, Armauni Johnson 1-(-2), Taylor Davis 1-(-7), John Roberson 1-(-11), Brian Reader 5-(-16), Logan Bushnell 4-(-23).

RECEIVING - Eric Greenwood 6-77, Kama Bailey 4-46, Justin Veltung 3-31, Princeton McCarty 3-13, Marsel Posey 2-58, Armauni Johnson 2-37, Demetrius Williams 2-36, Taylor Elmo 2-30, Landon Weaver 2-11, Daniel Hardy 1-10, Clayton Homme 1-9, Justin Hernandez 1-8, Daniel Micheletti 1-4. Troy Vital 1-(-2).