Vandals brace for physical Southern Utah

The Idaho Vandals insist the record of their homecoming opponent this afternoon at the Kibbie Dome, Southern Utah (1-5, 1-2 Big Sky), is deceiving.

Then again, in their current state, the Vandals (2-4, 1-3) certainly can’t afford to be looking past anybody anyway.

“They’re a lot better than their record,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “North Alabama (a 34-30 loss) is a good team, they played two Pac-12 teams (Oregon State, losing 48-25 and Arizona, losing 62-31), and played NAU (losing 31-23) and EWU (losing 55-17). They’re a good team, won the league last year, have a lot of those guys back. They’re a good physical team that played really well last week (in a 48-27 victory over Sacramento State), so we’ve got to be ready for them.”

Junior Jay Green is Southern Utah’s leading rusher, with 470 yards and five touchdowns.

“Their O-line is big and physical -- that’s how they won the league last year,” Petrino said. “They lost that quarterback from last year (Patrick Tyler, who threw for 2,801 yards and 20 touchdowns), that hurt ‘em. They use running back by committee, but they all run hard.”

Thunderbirds offensive lineman Zach Larsen was an FCS All-American last year.

“They’re not going to run the ball right at you,” Idaho sophomore nose guard Rahsaan Crawford said. “They run east and west, and try to wear you out.”

At quarterback, sophomore Chris Helbig has thrown for 1,011 yards and five touchdowns, with two interceptions, and junior Aaron Zwahlen has passed for 577 yards with two TDs and three interceptions.

“They’re playing a different kid now than they did earlier,” Petrino said. “This kid’s more of a pure passer; they don’t look to run as much with him.”

Though both Vandal quarterbacks, Mason Petrino and Colton Richardson, are expected to play today, both are either playing with injuries or coming off injuries. With that in mind, Paul Petrino said true freshman Nikhil Nayar has been getting more reps in practice, just in case.

The Vandals have dropped two straight. Idaho bounced back from a 62-28 shellacking at Idaho State with a much better effort in a 24-23 loss at Montana State last week. But the Vandals have not lived up to the preseason prognostications, where they were picked to finish fourth by the coaches, fifth by the media, in the 13-team Big Sky.

“I don’t think its a desparation thing, but we definitely need a win,” Idaho senior wide receiver David Ungerer said.