Aug. 17—MOSCOW, Idaho — Beginning last spring after the graduation of its leading pass catchers Hayden Hatten and Jermaine Jackson to the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints, respectively, a young Idaho offense has banged its head against a talented and experienced defense without great success.
It has not helped that Jordan Dwyer, the Vandals’ projected top receiver, has missed significant time with an injury.
“It’s a young room,” receivers coach Matt Linehan said. “There are a lot of growing pains that come with that.”
But Linehan reached for a familiar trope to discuss the role of spring practice and preseason camp battles in developing receivers: “Iron sharpens iron.”
So it does.
In the Vandals’ second preseason scrimmage Saturday, the offense finally flashed the gleam of an edge. Linehan said that going up against Idaho’s defense every day is teaching his receivers, “what might have worked in high school or against other guys is not going to work at this level.”
The number one offense connected for a 9-yard touchdown on corner route from quarterback Jack Layne to redshirt freshman wideout Mark Hamper.
Hamper ripped the ball away from senior transfer cornerback Abraham Williams on the play, though Williams recovered by running back the subsequent kickoff for a touchdown.
Adding to the offensive production, true freshman Tony Harste caught a pair of touchdowns with the reserves.
“He’s had a really good camp,” Idaho coach Jason Eck said of Harste. “He has impressed me, and he has exceeded expectations. He is probably going to play as a freshman.”
With Dwyer out, Hamper has made the most of increased reps.
“He’s showing up,” Linehan said. “Hamper is just a really good football player, in terms of being an all-around receiver. He will be a huge factor in our offense this year.”
Days like Saturday show Hamper…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/love-underdog-role-idahos-offense-020100292.html
Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Publish date : 2024-08-18 02:01:00
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