Vandals gear for 'pain' of trip to Hawaii

When most people fly to Hawaii, it's for pleasure.

When the Idaho Vandals head there, as they will on Friday for Saturday's game with the Warriors, it's obviously a business trip.

And outside of Boise State, it's probably the toughest place to play in the Western Athletic Conference.

"It's a pain, because the time you spend getting there," Idaho coach Robb Akey said. "We're going to have a fuel stop. We're flying out of here (Lewiston), but we're going to have to have a fuel stop before we fly across the ocean - now, I'm not saying that's a bad thing, because this isn't certainly one you want to run out of gas on. It's not like you have some options out over the water."

The Vandals will leave on Friday - as they do for all their other road trips - and leave for home right after the game, returning to Moscow late Sunday morning.

"It's the inconvenience of getting there that adds to the degree of difficulty," Akey said. "What concerns me more about the Hawaii trip, and the Louisiana Tech trip, is how your bodies are going to respond the following week. The impact that it can have on you physically is what concerns me more; the aggravation with the travel is the issue of playing the game."

Linebacker shuffle: With senior middle linebacker JoJo Dickson sidelined for the season with a broken leg and dislocated ankle suffered in last week's victory over New Mexico State, Akey said junior Tre' Shawn Robinson would move into his starting spot. Juniors Homer Mauga and Robert Siavii remain as outside 'backers, and sophomore Conrad Scheidt (concussion) is expected back this week to add depth.

Akey said coming into the season, he felt he had 4-5 guys (Robinson included) who were capable at starting at linebacker. He said Robinson was showing promise two years ago when a knee injury ended his season, and he worked hard to get back.

Contrasting Dickson and Robinson, Akey said, "I don't know that one gives us something that the other doesn't, as much as they kind of have different styles. JoJo's going to do things running around a little bit more, and Tre' Shawn is going to be more of a downhill guy."

Dickson hails from Wailuku, Hawaii, and Akey said he hopes to be able to take him on the trip to Hawaii, even though he can't play.