A rival, a nice trophy, but mostly, playoff positioning
By MARK NELKE
Sports editor
The in-state rivalry game is a nice angle.
Playing for a new trophy – the Potato State Trophy, a large potato-shaped wooden beauty carved last summer by Idaho sports information director Jerek Wolcott in his backyard — that's pretty cool as well.
But the FCS playoffs are the biggest thing on the mind of the Idaho Vandals (8-3, 5-2), who play the Idaho State Bengals (5-6, 3-4) today at 3 p.m. at the sold-out ICCU Dome in Pocatello in the regular-season finale.
“I expect if we win this game, we will have a first round bye,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said of the 24-team FCS playoffs, which begin next week, “and if we lose i expect us to play next week and practice on Thanksgiving.”
The top eight teams, when announced by the FCS playoff selection committee on Sunday, will have a first-round bye next week. The remaining 16 teams will square off next week in the first round, with the higher seeds being the home teams.
Last year, Idaho earned a top-eight seed, and ended up hosting two playoff games. This year, the Vandals would probably end up with one.
Today, the Vandals face a Bengal team that has no problem moving the ball through the air. Problem is, ISU has major problems stopping people, giving up 77 points last week to an Eastern Washington team that scored on all seven possessions.
On Monday, ISU fired its defensive coordinator.
“They did not play their best football last week at Eastern, but they’ll be primed to play well against us,” Eck said. “We have to be prepared for anything on offense.”
Eck said he’s been impressed with ISU quarterback Kobe Tracy, from Highland High in Pocatello, who played at Utah Tech before transferring to ISU.
“Getting better quarterback play than they have the past few years,” Eck said.
The receiving corps is led by Christian Fredericksen, formerly of Rigby High, and Jeff Weimer, a transfer from UNLV.
Another wideout is Ian Duarte, formerly of Eagle High.
“We haven’t played a team that has played four wideouts the whole game,” Eck said. “Somethimes they bring their wideouts in to make them look like quasi-tight ends.”
Fredericksen, who walked on at ISU, was on the Rigby team that beat Coeur d’Alene in double overtime in the 2019 state 5A championship game at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow. He caught the 20-yard touchdown pass on the final play of regulation to force overtime.
“Probably one of the most fun games I’ve ever played in,” Fredericksen recalled of that 2019 title game. “It was awesome to see the guys come back from that crazy deficit in the last couple minutes. And then double overtime in a state championship game ... it was a blast.”
“It’s awesome to have a person like Christian in our program, whether or not he’s local,” second-year ISU coach Cody Hawkins said. “I love Idaho, I want to recruit local kids, but for him, all the things that make him special have nothing to do with Idaho. He’s tough, he’s a man of faith, he’s an outstanding student and person, He works his tail off, but he’s also the sweetest guy you have.”
Idaho won easily over ISU the past two years. Idaho quarterback Jack Layne, back from a broken collarbone earlier this year, was the starter in both those games, subbing for the injured Gevani McCoy.