THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Vandals have had to lean on their defense

With most of their starters on defense back from last season, you figured the Idaho Vandals would be pretty good on that side of the ball this season. 

But what no one knew was how important that defense would be, especially early in this season. 

But with Idaho (1-1) down its starting quarterback — and perhaps its backup — that Vandal defense might have to look something like the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers. 

That Steelers defense, you may remember, hunkered down after losing quarterback Terry Bradshaw to injury in Week 5, giving up nine points TOTAL in its next five games, with three shutouts. For the season, Pittsburgh allowed just 9.9 points per game, and posted five shutouts. But the Steelers were without running backs Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier for the AFC Championship due to injuries, and fell short in their bid for a third straight Super Bowl title. 

BACK TO 2024. 

Idaho started with a 24-14 loss at then-No. 3 Oregon that was much closer than most expected, mostly because the Vandals limited the explosive plays by the Ducks, and gave themselves a chance to win in the fourth quarter. 

Last week, Idaho won 17-13 at Wyoming, holding the Cowboys to just three points after the first quarter. 

“I thought we’d be pretty darn good,” third-year Idaho coach Jason Eck said of his defense. “We had a lot of guys coming back. We’ve got a good defensive line, and we’re good in the secondary. And I think our linebacker play’s been good.  

“I thought Zach Johnson (a redshirt freshman from Lake City High) really took a step up last week and played much better than he did against Oregon. It was really his first start.” 

Eck said Isiah King is playing at a high level, as is Eck’s son, Jaxton Eck. 

And he said the Vandals hope to get veteran linebacker Mathias Bertram back this week from injury, which will add to the depth at linebacker.  

“We've got a good defense, but we have to get better,” Eck said. “I think they have a chance to be one of the best defenses in the country.” 

THAT’S GOOD, because ... 

Idaho lost its starting quarterback, redshirt sophomore Jack Layne, to a broken collarbone suffered late in the Oregon game.  

And the Vandals may have lost his backup, redshirt freshman Jack Wagner, who suffered a shoulder injury — “some kind of sprain,” Eck said — late in the Wyoming game. 

“We don’t think it’s anything broken, or torn, but we have to rule that out,” Eck said earlier in the week. 

Wagner was slated to undergo more tests as the week went on, but “he hasn’t been ruled out” for this week’s home opener vs. UAlbany (1-1) at the Kibbie Dome, Eck said Monday. 

“But we don’t know for sure what his status is going to be,” Eck said. “But we have a lot of confidence in (redshirt freshman) Nick Josifek, who’s a talented young man, and came in and won the No. 3 job in camp. We'll be ready if he’s going go, and we’ll be ready if Wags is back.” 

Josifek played briefly last week against Wyoming when Wagner was hurt, but did not attempt a pass. 

Since college teams, unlike NFL squads, don’t have to post injury reports, unless the Vandals announce something beforehand, we may not know who Idaho’s starting QB is going to be until just before game time. 

THE 1988 Vandal football team is part of this year’s class for the Idaho Vandal Athletics Hall of Fame, to be inducted on Friday and honored at Saturday’s game. 

That Vandal team finished 11-2 — still the school record for victories in a season — and reached the semifinals of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs during the junior year of quarterback John Friesz, the former Coeur d’Alene Viking. 

“Excited about this 1988 team coming back,” Eck said. “It’s been a team we definitely aspire to (be like) ... coach (Keith) Gilbertson did a great job with that group. So many great players (along with Friesz, there was future NFL linemen Mark Schlereth and Marvin Washington) ... so it will be awesome to have those guys back in town.” 

Schlereth, the featured speaker at the North Idaho Sports Banquet in April at The Coeur d’Alene Resort, stopped by an Idaho practice recently, and Eck asked him to speak to the team. 

Eck said he’s hoping to invite the Vandals from that team to his team’s walk-through on Friday. 

HOME SWEET Dome. 

Eck made a push for fans to fill the Kibbie Dome on Saturday, noting the crowds at all six home games last year were “tremendous,” including two sellouts. 

“I think last year our crowds made a difference in the games, and that’s what the best teams in the FCS have,” said Eck, a former assistant at South Dakota State before getting hired at Idaho. “That's what you have at the Montana schools, that’s what you have at North Dakota State, that’s what you have at South Dakota State. We need to keep growing that here ... and not just for the big games. That’s my goal and design, to grow that here.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.