VANDAL FOOTBALL: 1-4 teams with much to prove

Records can sometimes be deceiving.

Idaho is 1-4, but to hear Vandal football coach Paul Petrino tell it, “I wouldn’t be that fired up to play us if I were the other team,” he said. “I think they’d say on tape, we lead the league in first downs, we’re No. 1 in the country in scoring in the red zone. If you saw us on tape, there would be some things you would be worried about us offensively. And there’s times on defense we just fly around.”

The other times on defense have been the problem, which explains in part why Idaho is indeed 1-4 (0-2 Sun Belt) heading into today’s game in Mobile, Ala., vs. Troy (1-4, 0-1 Sun Belt).

An even better case could be made that Troy’s record is deceiving. Three of The Trojans’ losses this season have come to Power 5 conference teams — Wisconsin, N.C. State and Mississippi State.

“They’re a good football team,” Petrino said of the Trojans, “but it’s a game we’ve got to believe we can win.”

Troy won 34-17 at Moscow last year, and is favored by 12 points today The Trojans led last year’s game 24-17 at halftime, and blanked the Vandals in the second half.

According to Troy, the Trojans’ starting quarterback today will be a game-time decision. Starter Brandon Silvers was injured in the first quarter at Mississippi State. He was followed by 6-foot-7 Dallas Tidwell, and then Dontreal Pruitt. Pruitt completed 12 of 17 passes for 90 yards and rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

“He (Pruitt) is definintely different from the other two,” Petrino said. “If he’s in there it’s more zone read ... the other two guys are more traditional.”

Troy has a new head coach (Neal Brown), a new quarterback (perhaps, if Silvers doesn’t play) and a different running back (Brandon Burks) than the Vandals saw last year, but “they’re not totally different,” Petrino said. “They’re probably more so different on defense. Me and Vic (Troy defensive coordinator Vic Koenning) worked together for two years at Illinois. Offensively, it’s a little different, but he (Brown) was the offensive coordinator there before, and the OC worked underneath him, and they try to do the same things. But it’s always a little bit different, because of the play caller. They’ve been playing some good defense. Mississippi State, they shut them down most of the game, they only scored on one drive offensively.”