Big Sky Football Kickoff: Plenty of new faces will need to step up for Vandals

By MARK NELKE 

Sports editor 

AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. — Jason Eck guided the Idaho Vandals to the FCS playoffs in 2022 for the first time since 1995, then did it again last season, reaching the quarterfinals with a mixture of players returning from the previous coaching regime, as well as his own recruits. 

If Eck is going to take the Vandals to the postseason once again, in his third season as head coach, it’s going to be with a lot of new faces playing key roles — and a few faces who weren’t even around Moscow last season. 

“Just a chance for other guys to step up,” Eck said Monday, at the Big Sky Football Kickoff at Northern Quest Resort and Casino, a three-day event which concluded with media day. 

Idaho lost nearly a dozen players to the transfer portal, including junior quarterback Gevani McCoy, a two-year starter and the Jerry Rice Award winner as the top freshman in FCS; junior running back Anthony Woods; as well as three cornerbacks — Marcus Harris (California), Ormanie Arnold (Cincinnati) and Murvin Kenion III (Sacramento State). 

“Corner is probably the position where we’re going to replace the most with guys that weren’t on the team last year,” said Eck, whose Vandals went 7-5 and 9-4 the past two seasons. 

Sophomore Andrew Marshall, Idaho’s third cornerback last year, has stepped up since last season, Eck said.  

The other three cornerbacks who are in the mix to play a lot all were starters, but at other FCS schools — Corry Thomas Jr. (Northern Iowa), Abraham Williams (Weber State) and K.J. Trujillo (Northern Alabama). 

“We’ve got to get those guys acclimated, make sure they are on the same page,” Eck said, “but they bring a lot of talent and experience.” 

McCoy left for Oregon State. Jack Layne, a redshirt sophomore, saw action each of the last two years, mostly in victories over Idaho State, “and I think he brings back a lot of experience and confidence,” Eck said. 

At linebacker, Xe’ree Alexander left after a strong freshman season and signed with Central Florida, and Tre Thomas opted for a shot at the Canadian Football League. 

“But we had some guys in the program (Isiah King, Dylan Layne and Jaxton Eck, the coach’s son) who are going to have a chance to step in there as well,” Jason Eck said. 

The transfer portal didn’t decimate the Vandals at wide receiver, but graduation did. Hayden Hatten and Jermaine Jackson are both in NFL camps, and Terez Traynor transferred to Tulane. 

Jordan Dwyer is the lone returnee with much experience from last year. He caught touchdown passes in his (and Eck’s) first two games at Idaho — at Washington State and Indiana in 2022, before an injury cut short that season. 

Michael Graves “played a ton” for Idaho in 2022, then was injured all last fall and this spring.  Mark Hamper saw action in six games last year, but was able to redshirt (as was former Lake City star Zach Johnson, who did the same) thanks to the new NCAA rule which allows players to play in up to four regular-season games (and an unlimited amount of playoff games) and still maintain their redshirt. 

Running back Anthony Woods left for Utah. Eli Cummings, who didn’t play last year, had a solid 2022 for the Vandals. Two newcomers in the mix are Deshaun Buchanan, a freshman from Chandler, Ariz.; and Nate Thomas, a transfer from South Dakota. 

“I got to see him play firsthand at South Dakota in 2021 when they beat us at South Dakota State,” said Eck, an assistant at South Dakota State for six seasons before taking the Idaho job. “And he played very well as a freshman in that game, and it stuck in my mind that this guy’s a good football player, and he’s proven it at a high level.” 

Layne has the most experience in the Vandals’ quarterback room, which speaks to the team’s youth at the position.  

“We have a third-year player (Layne) , two second-year players (redshirt freshman Jack Wagner and Nick Josifek) and two first-year players (true freshmen Holden Bea and Rocco Koch), so it’s a relatively young room,” Eck said.  

“And really, on offense we’re young. We really have no guys on offense this year that are going into their last year of eligibility. Every guy that we have on offense has two years of eligibility left. I don’t think I’ve ever had that situation before.” 

That’s normally good news, but with the current name, image and likeness rules which led to the departure of several of last year’s key players, there’s no guarantee all those who have eligibility left will return to Moscow to use it. 

IMPACT OF LOCALS 

Johnson came to Idaho from Lake City as a linebacker, but shined as an edge rusher in spring ball, and had two sacks in the spring game.  

“I’ve been very impressed by Zach’s natural ability to rush the passer,” Eck said. “And he’s worked hard on his body, he’s up to about 222 pounds now, and I really think he can be a difference maker for us. He’s still doing some things with the linebackers, but I think his speed can give some offensive linemen problems (as an edge rusher).”

Trevor Miller, a redshirt freshman edge rusher from Post Falls, figures to be in the mix for a spot on the travel roster, Eck said. 

Eck said he’s excited about the potential of another edge rusher, Matyus McLain of Priest River, who was slowed last year by mononucleosis. 

“I think he’s close to challenging for playing time there,” Eck said. “We’ve got a pretty talented D-line; we have a lot of D-linemen back from last year. It’s going to be a tough battle for playing time, but I think he’s definitely in the mix.” 

Wayne Queen, a redshirt freshman linebacker from Lake City, could find his way onto the depth chart on special teams, Eck said. 

Alex Green, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman from Lake City, figures to be in the mix for a spot on the travel roster, Eck said. 

Owen Forsman, a true freshman from Lakeland who enrolled at semester and went through spring ball, could be in the mix as the Vandals’ kickoff guy, and possibly later as a placekicker. Cameron Pope, a redshirt sophomore, has emerged as the kicker, Eck said. 

OVERVIEW 

The defense is led by a pair of defensive linemen, interior lineman Dallas Afalava and edge rusher Keyshawn James-Newby, and safety Tommy McCormick. 

Linebacker Mathias Bertram and safety Kyrin Beachem return with experience. 

Idaho has no seniors on offense. 

Of the five returning starters, four are offensive linemen (Nate Azzopardi, Layton Vining, Ayden Knapik and Charlie Vliem) to go with tight end Jake Cox. 

Despite having four returning starters on the O-line, Eck, a former offensive lineman at Wisconsin, said that position group is the biggest question mark heading into the fall. 

“Can we make the jump in the offensive line?,” he asked. “I think we need to make a bigger jump than we did last year in the offensive line. That’s what wins in FCS football; South Dakota State won the national championship last year; I think they had the best offensive line. I think Montana’s offensive line did a great job, winning our conference. They improved a lot as the year went on. They took some lumps in their Northern Arizona game, but the guys showed some resolve and some grit, and got a lot better as the year went on, and did a great job against us, beating us on the road. That’s where we’ve got to make a jump.”