Vandals in good shape after bye

In his fourth season as Idaho coach, Paul Petrino talks about the “private victories” the Vandal program has achieved under his watch.

Improved work ethic ... improved GPA, and APR ... getting better each day in practice.

A public victory would be the Vandals getting to six wins, and becoming bowl-eligible for the first time since 2009, and only the third time since moving up to Division I in 1996.

Idaho (4-4, 2-2 Sun Belt), coming off a bye last week, looks to inch one step closer to said bowl berth when the Vandals travel to Louisiana-Lafayette (3-4, 2-2) today.

“For everybody to know it, that puts a stamp on it,” Petrino said. “And it helps you to get to a bowl game, because you get a whole extra spring ball of practice (15 practices), for us to improve for next year.”

Monroe senior Elijah McGuire has rushed for 672 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 5.2 yards per carry.

Senior quarterback Anthony Jennings, a graduate transfer from LSU, has thrown for 1,281 yards and nine touchdowns, with seven interceptions.

Middle linebacker Otha Peters started as a true freshman at Arkansas when Petrino was an assistant there.

Redshirt freshman defensive end Joe Dillon has six sacks.

“They’ve got a lof of talent,” Petrino said.

But Idaho has some talent too.

“You take the two Pac-12 teams out, and the games where we’re evenly matched, we’re 4-2,” Petrino said. “If you can be 4-4 heading into these last four games, you give yourself a great chance. Now we just have to go out there and play our hearts out, and lay it on the line, and live with what happens. And if we do that, we’ll give ourselves a great opportunity to play a fifth game.”

Earlier in the week Idaho punder/kicker Austin Rehkow was named semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, which goes to the nation’s best kicker.