2008 Idaho Vandals Football Betting Preview

[Shame About Ray]

NCAA College Football Wagering – Idaho Vandals

The Idaho Vandals are a bad team but they might be getting better for college football betting fans. They were vandalized by virtually everyone that they face but that was in the first year of a coaching change and they might be improved in Robb Akey’s second season.



But Idaho has some obvious faults sports betting aficionados should look out for– like a quarterback who can’t pass – which will likely keep them among the worst online wagering teams in the nation.

Offense

The offense returns all 11 starters, so experience is a plus. But quarterback is a serious concern.

Nathan Enderle returns as the starting quarterback but “quarterback” might be the loosest term to describe him. He threw 18 interceptions last year and only 10 touchdowns while completing under 45% of his passes. Considering backup Quinn Ashley is competing with him and can’t win the job outright, which shows he’s not a significant upgrade even if he takes the reigns.

The offensive line returns all five starters and the running back, Deonte Jackson, is the nephew of Steven Jackson, which is a good sign. He’s a talented back but he’ll see a lot of defensive attention given the passing situation.

On top of a sketchy quarterback situation, the wide receivers aren’t anything to write home about either. Never mind writing home, I’m not even going to write about them here since there are no real difference makers.

The offense will struggle to pass and likely because of that, struggle to run and just overall struggle.

Defense

The Vandals hope to fully employ their 4-3 defense this year, which they were unable to do last year because they didn’t have the right personnel. They were exposed because of it and had to switch out of it mid-season.

The front seven is still a work in progress, though, particularly the linebacking corps where three starters need to be replaced. They combined for over 300 tackles last year and David Vobora, who was third in the nation in tackles per game (12.3) is a big loss.

The secondary looks ok with strong safety Shiloh Keo returning. He had 81 tackles, four interceptions and three forced fumbles last year.

This unit is decent but clearly in transition still. They’ll also be hung out to dry on numerous occasions because of the challenged offense.

Outlook

Idaho is up there with Utah State as the worst teams in the WAC and college football, which is somewhat perfect that the two losers will meet up for a game this season.

But Idaho seems to be on the way up and might be a quarterback away from being a middle-of-the-pack team in the WAC.

The schedule is light early on but that’s by a regular team’s standard. For Idaho, no team is an easy win and most opponents will be looking at Idaho as an easy win. Outside of catching a few teams off-guard or topping Utah State, Idaho won’t have many wins this season.

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