Vandals shed anchors, gain freedom

It's not like you can flip a switch for an 0-5 team and say, hey, we're 0-0 in conference.

There were various wounds suffered by the Idaho Vandals during the first five weeks of the season, wounds that gradually started to go away late last week as the Vandals prepared for their Western Athletic Conference opener vs. New Mexico State.

"The Wyoming game (loss No. 4) was a tough battle - the players fought their tails off to the end, and the following week (the 66-0 loss at North Carolina) was even more difficult," Idaho coach Robb Akey said.

"Plus, we haven't won a game in five weeks. So you carry that a little bit ... people expect you to carry those anchors around with you, and we're trying real hard to drop some of that weight."

Slowly, the mood got better.

"When we got out onto the field Tuesday to practice that helped; we started to practice ourselves out of it," Akey said. "Finally, about Thursday, about a quarter of the way through the practice, it looked like we finally started dropping some of those anchors. I saw guys smiling, and they flew around that practice, and finished that practice stronger.

"We gave ourselves the freedom to be able to go out and run around and fly around and give ourselves the chance to make something happen. I really think that that helped us grow."

And that freedom helped the Vandals beat New Mexico State 26-18, giving Idaho (1-5, 1-0 WAC) some momentum heading into Saturday's game at WAC newbie Texas State (2-3) in San Marcos, Texas. It will be the Bobcats' inaugural WAC game.

"I was so happy to see those players smile coming off of the field," Akey said of the Vandals after the New Mexico State game. "That meant everything in the world. I was happy for them to experience the end result we've been working for. And I like to believe that will ignite the confidence. I think we've got a chance to do some good things with this club."