Vandals talk football, new traveling trophy at Big Sky Kickoff event

Jul. 23—AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. — The 2024 Big Sky Kickoff media day brought lots of excitement, lots of anticipation and plenty of questions Monday at Northern Quest Resort and Casino.

For the Idaho football team, there are a lot more roster questions going in than last year, but the team is eager to prove itself and anticipates another strong season.

“Last year, we were coming into this event where we had a bunch of established first-team all-conference players,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said. “Now, we have some prospective first-team all-conference players. To me this is fun, this is the development part of coaching.”

The Vandals will enter the season without last year’s leading passer, top-two leading rushers and top-three receivers.

In their place are a bunch of hungry underclassmen ready to prove that they are ready for the opportunity. Wide receiver Michael Graves is the only senior on the offensive side of the ball.

“There’s definitely going to be opportunities for some guys to move into those roles,” Eck said. “I think some guys have really embraced that.”

Redshirt sophomore Jack Layne will take over duties behind center, taking over for departed quarterback Gevani McCoy who is now with Oregon State. And if Layne’s two appearances against Idaho State the past two seasons have proven anything, it is that he is ready for the moment.

“Jack really earned a lot of confidence in his teammates with how well he played in the Idaho State games the last couple years, particularly (last) year,” Eck said.

Layne has completed 49-of-69 passes in his Vandal career for 693 yards with eight touchdowns and one interception. He recorded 275 yards and six touchdowns against the Bengals last November when he got the call for an injured McCoy.

Eck pointed out that the tight ends like Jake Cox could be more involved with Layne at…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/vandals-talk-football-traveling-trophy-121600428.html

Author : Lewiston Tribune, Idaho

Publish date : 2024-07-23 12:16:00

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