The batters were ahead of the pitchers. And the catchers. And the runners.
In Idaho’s first scrimmage of preseason camp on Thursday, the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 defensive lines dominated their opponents on offense early on. Although the Vandals’ offense had enough moments later in the 90-plus play scrimmage to reassure Idaho coach Jason Eck that he has players on both sides of the ball, and sophomore kicker Cameron Pope’s 45-yard field goal to close out practice and save his teammates from up-downs suggests the kicking game is in good hands, it was a day for the black jerseys.
The top three defenses all forced three-and-outs in their opening series, Eck emphasized, “and the top one defenses showed really good red zone defense.”
Redshirt freshman Zach Johnson said, “The defense was flying around.”
The tackles were live — just ask redshirt freshman receiver Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar, who was tackled by freshman and former East Valley High School star player Diezel Wilkinson after he caught a pass from second-team quarterback Jack Wagner through the middle and needed the coaches’ attention — and the referees’ penalties gave the day a game-like atmosphere.
“Everyone is excited. Everyone is pumped up,” Johnson said. “There was none of that stuff in practice where you can argue about whether something was a play or not.”
Wagner also led the Twosome to a 23-yard field goal in a series that culminated in his 48-yard sprint up the middle from his own 32-yard line.
“He’s really fast,” Eck said. “He’s probably our fastest quarterback.”
First-team quarterback Jack Layne also completed a 20-yard pass to redshirt freshman receiver Mark Hamper that overcame single coverage by Andrew Marshall to set up a first-team touchdown. Layne followed with a run up the middle on third down from the 15-yard line to keep the drive alive, then handed off to redshirt freshman running back Art Williams, who carried the ball for a short yardage touchdown.
“That was all offensive line,” he said magnanimously of his touchdown. But afterward, Eck emphasized, “Art ran really well. He got the offense going,” and after practice, Williams left the field with Idaho’s daily practice award, the Vandal battle axe.
Overall, however, the Vandals defenses held the upper hand on seven series, while the first team scored two touchdowns, the third team accounted for one touchdown when redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Josifek capped a 65-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Tony Harste, and the second team made its field goal.
Idaho’s newest player, tight end Mike Martinez, who joined the Vandals from UCLA late last week after a two-year football hiatus, played in the practice game with the second offense but was not called up.
“He hasn’t played in a while,” Eck said.
Veteran starting safety Kyrin Beachem returned from a hamstring injury and intercepted a ball in a seven-on-seven session before the practice game. But redshirt junior defensive lineman Aamari Notice did not practice because of an injury. Eck said his return is likely day-to-day.
“Some of our people are hurting,” he admitted.