Petrino seeks fire at scrimmage

MOSCOW - The first day in full pads brought out what coach Paul Petrino wants to see in the Idaho Vandals. But it wasn't quite to the extent he wanted it.

"There were a couple of periods in live tackle I thought there was some good hitting," he said. "They were flying around. Then we had team where there was more control and we didn't keep our intensity. I didn't think there was enough fire."

With five days of practices under their helmets, the Vandals are heading into their first scrimmage of the fall at 10 a.m., today. What Petrino and his staff have seen throughout the week is competition fueled by increased depth at virtually every position with many of the position battles likely to continue throughout fall camp.

Today's scrimmage, however, gives players an opportunity to start to provide some separation and show their coaches they're the right fit. They can do it with fundamental football.

"A lot of hitting," said Petrino when asked what he expects to see in the scrimmage. "As much as seeing, I hope to hear it. I hope to hear a lot of popping; a lot of good hitting."

That, and following the plan.

"I want to see both sides of the ball execute," he said. "And not have a bunch of assignment errors.

"I just want them to give great effort and know their assignments and execute their assignments."