Its July and that means we are less than one month away until fall camp kicks off at Memorial Stadium. We decided to do a little research on the first opponent, the Idaho Vandals.
– Finished 2009 with an 8-5 record and won their bowl game, the Humanitarian Bowl, over Bowling Green by a score of 43-42 on a last second TD. They come into this season with a confidence that hasn’t been seen in Moscow in a long, long time.
– Have 14 starters returning – 4 on offense and 10 on defense.
– Offense averaged 33 points per game in 2009 and the defense gave up 36 points per game. They are not afraid of getting into a shootout.
– Starting QB Nathan Enderle is back. He put up some impressive numbers last year in their balanced offense with 2,906 passing yards and 22 TD’s vs. 9 INT’s. I could see them throwing more this year with the loss of a couple OL, including LG Mike Iupati who went in the first round to the 49ers.
– Monster RB De’Maundray Woolridge (985 yards and 18TD’s) is gone but they replace him with Princeton McCarty and Deonte Jackson, who combined for 1,100 yards while backing up Woolridge.
– The WR position will be a strength this year with the return of shifty Maurice Shaw and 6’6" Eric Greenwood. Those two combined for 9 TD’s in 2009.
– The Vandals play at Nebraska in Week 2.
– Last year the Vandals beat UND’s Week 2 opponent, Northern Illinois, by a score of 34-31 at NIU.
A more extensive preview will come during game week.
