Vandals staying with two quarterbacks

Chad Chalich's numbers through his first four games as Idaho's starting quarterback - 72 of 107 for 801 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions. He has fumbled four times, losing all four.

Josh McCain's numbers as Chalich's backup, and change-of-pace guy at quarterback - 4 of 6 for 59 yards, no touchdowns and one interception, along with 91 yards on 30 carries. He has fumbled three times, losing two.

So why stay with two quarterbacks?

"Last week Josh actually had his best week of practice, and went out in the game and didn't really play as well as he could," said Idaho coach Paul Petrino, whose Vandals (0-4) play host to Temple (0-3) on Saturday for homecoming at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow. "But I think it still gives Chad a chance to come off to the sideline and not have so much pressure on him."

And part of it is so he doesn't take as many hits during a game. Idaho quarterbacks have been sacked 26 times in four games. Chalich has been the victim of most of those sacks (22), and he's been hit countless others.

Chalich was 17 of 23 for 167 yards and was sacked four times against Washington State, Idaho's toughest opponent to date.

"I thought Chad did a lot of good things," Petrino said of the WSU games. "... Overall he did some nice things. He threw the ball well. He was accurate. I don't think we had a dropped pass in the whole game. Usually when that's the case, the quarterback is pretty accurate.

So I thought he played well, still a growing process, like all the rest of us. Everybody's got to remember, he's a freshman. There's a couple things he knows he can do better. But overall I thought he gave great effort, and was a competitor, and did everything he could to try to help us win."

As for McCain, the junior college transfer?

"Josh struggled a little bit," Petrino said of the WSU game. "Josh knows he can play a lot better, got dinged up a little bit ... he can play better."

Though there was some frustration with the WSU game, Petrino said some of the younger players, such as true freshman safety Desmond Banks, senior cornerback Christian Whitehead, who had an interception and forced a fumble, and freshman guard Steven Matlock, showed improvement.

"I still think each week we see ourselves improving," Petrino said. "You've got to have a lot of private victories before you have a public victory. And each week in practice, we're getting better each week."

Petrino noted the defense forced four turnovers vs. WSU, but "the offense just needed to give them some life by scoring to show, we're in this game," he said.