VANDAL NOTES: Vandals Watson, Cowan catching on

Call Deon Watson and Trent Cowan whatever you want — wide receivers, tight ends, a little of both …

But one thing’s for sure — in the absence of Idaho’s top three receivers, Watson and Cowan have stepped up of late, each playing a big role for the Vandals (3-6, 2-4 Sun Belt), who play host to Appalachian State (7-2, 4-1) on Saturday at the Kibbie Dome.

Watson, a junior from Coeur d’Alene High, is third on the team with 29 receptions for 358 yards and five touchdowns.

Cowan, a junior from Camas, Wash., is fourth with 28 receptions for 411 yards and three scores.

“I think they both got stronger and bigger in the offseason,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said earlier this week, in his weekly news conference with area media. “I think it’s helped them getting off jams, and people getting their hands on them. They’ve lost a little weight here recently; we need to try to get it back up a little bit. Sometimes it’s hard to convince guys -- get stronger and get bigger and you’ll get faster. Sometimes guys get worried that if they get bigger, they’ll slow down. I think by both of those guys really working hard and improving their strength, they’ve both got faster.

“Where they hurt people is, if you put a big linebacker on them, they’re faster than them. And if you put a normal size corner or safety on them, they’re more physical and bigger than them.”

The suspension and eventual dismissal of top receiver Dezmon Epps, as well as injuries to David Ungerer and Jacob Sannon, have tested the Vandals’ depth at receiver.

Watson was a wideout at Idaho his first two seasons. This year, he was moved to tight end, but still plays some at receiver. Last week, Watson had seven catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Four of his five TD catches have come in the last three games.

“We just try to move him around,” Petrino said. “Sometimes you just pick a certain corner that you’re going to go after, and sometimes some people have been rolling certain coverages at Deon to try to stop some things that we were doing earlier. We tried to do a few different things to try to get him the ball in this game. He did a great job getting ready to play; he had good releases and did a nice job this game.”

Junior Callen Hightower has stepped into Epps’ volume-receiving role, with 19 catches for 200 yards and a score in the last two games.

Petrino said Sannon and Ungerer, both sophomores, along with another injured player, senior cornerback Jayshawn Jordan, should be eligible for redshirt seasons.

“Those could all be a positive things next year, but this year it really hurt us,” Petrino said. “Where it really showed up was special teams. Jacob was our best special teams player last year, by far, and Jayshawn was a great special teams player.”

Second-half blues: Two weeks ago, the Vandals led 30-7 early in the second half before losing 55-48 in overtime at New Mexico State. Last week, Idaho led 24-0 late in the first half before faltering at South Alabama 52-45.

“In the second half, is it a little bit of lack of depth? Are we getting worn out a little bit? Is it just not being able to make the play in a crucial situation? That’s what we’ve got to continue to address,” Petrino said. “Where we killed ourselves was giving up a couple plays on special teams.”

Mostly because of injuries, “we don’t have a ton of subs,” he said. “Right now, we’re playing with about 29 guys.”