A glimmer of light for UI fans

Optimism and realism.

That would be a decent take on Idaho’s football fortunes this week.

And why, you ask, would anyone be optimistic after the Vandals were slaughtered 79-13 by Fresno State in their season opener?

Well, it’s simple.

Idaho can’t really be THAT bad. Hell, nobody can be that bad.

You’re a four-touchdown underdog playing a very good team on the road — and you turn the ball over nine times.

Nine.

I’ve been covering football at every level for a long time. A really long time. And I have never seen anyone spit up nine turnovers.

Not even bad high school teams.

IN FACT, it’s tough to get your head around it.

Quarterbacks Mason Petrino and Colton Richardson combined to throw five interceptions, one of which was returned for a 39-yard TD by Tank Kelly.

The Vandals also lost two fumbles.

But the truly astonishing thing is that besides those seven “routine” sorts of turnovers, our heroes managed to have two field-goal attempts blocked — and both were returned for touchdowns by Fresno State’s Jaron Bryant.

The second of those field-goal catastrophes came on the final play of the first half.

What fun, jogging into the locker room after that.

The carnage wasn’t over then, either.

Despite the fact that the Fresno State starters had their pads off and were chatting up their girlfriends by the middle of the third quarter, the Bulldog reserves rang up four more touchdowns before the merciful conclusion.

So there’s my optimism ...

The Vandals cannot possibly contrive to give away nine turnovers again.

Maybe ever ...

Like in the entire future of Idaho football.

THE SCHEDULE gets a lot easier, too, at least until Nov. 17 — when the Vandals finish the season with a cross-country jaunt to play Florida.

We have to assume that game was accepted by the university accounting department.

It’ll be a nice payday.

In the meantime, though, this team can play some decent football.

You’d hope, anyway.

Certainly the bout with Western New Mexico at the Kibble Dome this coming Saturday might wash away some memories of that horror show in central California.

If you ignore Florida, the rest of the Vandals’ opponents are at least in the same class.

Which brings realism into the picture.

Remember what was mentioned right up front in the first paragraph?

A little over a year ago, I got some angry emails when I suggested that Idaho dropping down a division was the right thing to do.

Most of the unhappy readers referred to the Mountain West as a good regional conference where the Vandals could be competitive.

So ...

This Fresno State annihilation was a splash-in-the-face Mountain West wake-up call.

Yes, I know there are mitigating factors — Idaho now has fewer scholarships, and Fresno State returned most of the key players from a 10-win team that captured the conference’s West Division and then beat a salty Houston club in the Hawaii Bowl.

We’ll say Fresno State is a top-drawer Mountain West team, then.

Fair enough, but is there any conceivable way that Idaho ever could recruit waves of athletes talented enough to regularly beat Fresno State — or, God forbid, Boise State?

No.

If you’re never likely to play at a conference’s top level, what’s the point?

The Vandals are right where they belong, so ...

They just need nine fewer turnovers.

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Steve Cameron is a columnist for The Press.

A Brand New Day appears Wednesday through Saturday each week. Steve’s sports column runs on Tuesday.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com.

Twitter:@BrandNewDayCDA