The Front Row with MARK NELKE Oct. 23, 2011

There was a buzz on the football field at Coeur d'Alene High on Friday night, as top-ranked Coeur d'Alene beat fourth-ranked Post Falls 63-35 to move closer to clinching home-field advantage in the first two rounds of the state 5A playoffs.

There was also a little bit of a buzz on the sidelines as well, as Idaho coach Robb Akey was there to watch one of his recruits - and, possibly, some others.

Akey is the face of the University of Idaho, the best thing the school has going these days. So the buzz was more about how cool it was that the Vandals coach was here and not that he was here in the midst of a frustrating season for his football team.

HOWEVER, YOU are what your record is, and Idaho is 1-6, with a bye last week, and gearing up to take on Western Athletic Conference favorite Hawaii next Saturday in the Kibbie Dome.

"The team's very frustrated, very aggravated," Akey said a few days ago. "We have a team that's a play away from having a much more respectable win-loss record right now."

Three weeks ago, the Vandals went for two and the win in overtime at Virginia, but the pass fell incomplete. That same Virginia team knocked off 12th-ranked Georgia Tech last week.

Last week, Idaho had a chance to tie (or beat) New Mexico State in the closing seconds in Las Cruces, but a fourth-down play from the one blew up and the Vandals didn't even really get a pass off.

BUT THE first-half slide actually started when Idaho was ambushed at home in a season-opening 32-15 loss to Bowling Green - a team coming off a two-win season last year.

The Vandals are still looking for their first win over a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent - Idaho's lone win came over North Dakota of the Football Championship Subdivision in the second week of the season.

The issues in the first half of the season have been a team effort.

The offense has been inconsistent. The running game has been spotty, as has the passing game. The offensive line suffered some growing pains early in the season, though Akey says that unit is much improved now.

Until recently, the defense lacked a pass rush, and the secondary was getting burned repeatedly.

Still, this is a program that went to a bowl game two years ago, in Akey’s third season, and was one win away from going back to one last year.

There is no margin for error for the rest of this season, as the Vandals have to win their remaining five games to even be bowl-eligible.

After Hawaii, the Vandals travel to San Jose State and BYU, play host to Utah State and finish at Nevada. Akey calls himself a “glass half full” guy, so it’s possible to envision the Vandals winning out.

Still, there’s been little in the 1-6 start to support that theory, so it’s also possible those games could all go the other way, and there would be a buzz of a different sort surrounding the program.

Whichever way the rest of the season goes could have a big influence on next season, when the older brothers (Hawaii, Fresno State, Nevada) leave the WAC and Idaho will be expected to challenge for the conference title every year.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via e-mail at mnelke@cdapress.com.