THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Sunday, April 24, 2016

Coming off a four-win season last fall that probably should have been a six-win season, the Idaho Vandals are talking a good game this spring.

This fall, they’ll need to go out and back it up.

“We feel like we’re definitely going to shut some people up this year,” Vandals running back Aaron Duckworth said after Friday night’s Silver and Gold game, which wrapped up spring practice. “Definitely.”

Six wins this fall would make the Vandals bowl eligible. Idaho has played in only two bowl games — both times the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, in 1998 and 2009 — since moving up to Division I (now FBS) in 1996. And in only a handful of other seasons were the Vandals even close to being bowl eligible.

But with most of an explosive offense from last year returning, coach Paul Petrino hasn’t shied away from the talk — saying Idaho should contend for not only a bowl bid, but challenge for the Sun Belt title.

“Offensively, we’ve got a chance to be pretty darn good,” said Petrino, heading into his fourth season as Vandals coach. “Defensively, we’ve improved.”

THE DEFENSE will need to prove it this fall, but the offense should be able to produce yards and points.

Quarterback Matt Linehan, who will be a junior this fall, missed all of spring practice with a foot injury, but he started most of the time the past two seasons. His backup, Jake Luton, saw a fair amount of time last year as a freshman when Linehan was out, and he looks like a starter out there as well.

Elijhaa Penny, a 1,000-yard rusher last year, is gone, but returnees Aaron Duckworth and Isaiah Saunders, as well as Denzal Brantley, who redshirted last fall, give the Vandals hope they’ll have a running game to go along with their high-powered passing game.

Petrino said the 5-foot-8, 201-pound, bowling ball type Duckworth, who will be a junior this fall, has probably emerged as the No. 1 back, “but I really like the other two. Isaiah is just a hard-nosed, downhill runner who can also pass protect and catch, and Denzal has just got big-play ability. I would say Duck has taken a little step ahead of the other two, but I can see all three contributing.”

At receiver, the since-departed Dezmon Epps was Idaho’s go-to receiver last year, but this year the Vandals should be able to spread the ball around a little more to several different guys, including former Coeur d’Alene High standout Deon Watson.

“ I think Deon is the top guy, but you’ve also got (Callen) Hightower,” Petrino said. “You have Trent (Cowan), you have Alfonso (Onunwor), you have Jacob (Sannon), and you have Dave (Ungerer). I think what feels better is you can’t just zero in on one guy.”

Watson and Cowan are returning tight ends, Hightower, Sannon and Ungerer are returning receivers and Onunwor, another receiver, is a junior college transfer.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do over the summer, obviously, but we’ve got the key components right now to be a good team,” Watson said.

WATSON CAME to Idaho as a receiver under the previous coaching staff, redshirted his first year, then was moved to tight end as a junior. He’s gotten bigger — he’s up to 6-4, 222 — and his numbers have improved each year.

As a freshman, it was 24 catches for 279 yards and one touchdown. As a sophomore, 37 catches for 343 yards and one TD. Last year, 42 receptions for 551 yards and seven scores.

“I think I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with my position,” Watson said. “Not too comfortable, obviously, but more comfortable with what I’m doing, and knowing what to do. That transition to tight end took me a little bit, but I’ve got a season underneath my belt, and I’m good now.”

Depending on the formation, he still finds himself playing some at wide receiver, with Cowan at tight end.

“Like I tell coach all the time, I just want to be on the field,” Watson said. “Doesn’t matter where.”

HE’S ALSO been through some lean times in Moscow — back-to-back one-win seasons, followed by last year’s breakthrough season of sorts.

“I think we’re building off that (four-win season),” Watson said. “We’ve got a lot of guys walking into this building with their head up, with confidence, and it’s been a while since we’ve seen that. I really believe we’re going to be good.”

And if it takes that feeling of being slighted, well, the more motivation the better.

“We go into every battle with a chip on our shoulder,” he said. “We’ve always felt that people have doubted us, there’s always going to be doubters, but all that matters is the thoughts that are in that locker room, that we believe in ourselves.”

Even Watson admits to having a little bit of chip on his shoulder.

“Being born and raised in Idaho, they’re going to overlook you,” he said. “Idaho’s not a big spot on the map, but we’re going to make it known.”

All that talk is well and good now, four months before the season opener. The proof, as it always is, is in the wins and losses this fall. Under Petrino, the Vandal offense has shown it can produce yards and points. The onus will be on the defense to improve to the point where it at least slows teams down.

“We have our eyes set on a bowl game, but our main focus is Montana State right now, our first game,” Idaho defensive lineman Tueni Lupeamanu said. “We’ve got to open up our season on a positive (note).”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.