One question lingered on the minds of every fan after a disastrous 48-7 loss versus Arizona State last Saturday:
How will the Cowboys bounce back?
It certainly won’t be easy for the Pokes, with a battle tested Idaho Vandal team rolling into town after giving the #3 team in the nation, Oregon, all they can handle in a 24-14 loss for the Vandals.
Get to know the Idaho Vandals
Idaho finished last season 9-4 as one of the top FCS programs in the nation. They competed in the FCS playoffs last season, where they fell to Albany in the quarterfinals.
Expectations are high for the Vandals again this season, especially after their herculean effort on the road against Oregon where the Vandals, who were near fifty point underdogs in the contest, found themselves within a field goal in the fourth quarter before eventually losing 24-14.
Sawvel pointed out a stout defense as one of the Vandals’ biggest strengths. The Vandals were able to hold Oregon off the scoreboard for over thirty minutes of gametime to keep things close heading into the fourth quarter.
“They’re very experienced, very physical, they tackle very well,” Sawvel noted of the Vandal defense. “They beat the dog out of Oregon physically.”
“There will be teams later on this year that aren’t near as good as these guys are on defense, so that’s a big challenge for us,” Sawvel added.
Some highlight defensive players for the Vandals include Jaxson Eck, who led the Vandals against Oregon with 14 tackles including nine solo tackles. Tommy McCormick was right behind him with 11 tackles. Sawvel noted both of these players when highlighting the Vandals’ defense as well.
Offensively, the Vandals struggled against Oregon with a pair of turnovers. The Vandals also struggled on third down, converting only two of 12 third down attempts.
The Vandals are led by quarterback Jack Layne, who was 11/25 for 168 yards to go with a touchdown and an interception against Oregon. He will likely be looking for wideout Mark Hamper, who had three catches for 57 yards against Oregon.
How does this veteran defense return to form?
The Cowboys featured one of the worst defensive performances in the first week of college football, allowing Arizona State 499 yards of total offense to go along with four offensive touchdowns.
“On defense, you know, you just dig yourself a hole and it’s really hard to call plays and stay in a rhythm of what you want to do offensively,” Sawvel said.
Against the Vandals, the Cowboys will be looking at their defense to really pave the way, especially for their offense which struggled even mightier last Saturday against Arizona State. For the Cowboys to gain momentum and stay competitive, their defense will likely have to get the ball rolling in their home opener.
For this veteran defense to succeed this week, though, they will have to go back to the basics this week and focus on tackling, something they struggled with against Arizona State.
“We didn’t tackle well, we had guys in position to tackle the quarterback who just didn’t get tackled. Then, all of a sudden, third and two and three became a thing,” Sawvel said.
Where is the depth at running back?
The Pokes have been touted to have one of the deepest running back rooms in the Mountain West, yet there wasn’t hardly any variation with who lined up next to quarterback Evan Svoboda against Arizona State. Some of that has to do with a variety of injuries, especially to starter Harrison Waylee who will be sidelined for at least the next two games. Dawaiian McNeely also wasn’t available, but will be gingerly added to the rotation this week, Sawvel noted.
However, both Sam Scott and Jamari Ferrel were available behind now starter DJ Jones against Arizona State, but neither got many touches. In fact, they combined for only six carries on the night, most of which came in the fourth quarter once the game was already well out of reach for the Pokes.
“Jamari had an injury leading up to about last Monday,” Sawvel said, “so he was a little behind where he would have been.”
“DJ was also our best pass protector and with what they do, there was a lot of different looks. So, there was a lot of DJ Jones in that regard,” Sawvel said.
With McNeely slowly being integrated back into the lineup, the Cowboys will hopefully have more depth at running back in the near future.
How does Svoboda find his footing in this new offense?
Svoboda struggled mightily against Arizona State and seemingly didn’t have the same poise as he did in his first career start against Texas last year. While a lot of things may have contributed to some nerves, including learning an entire new offensive scheme and playbook, last game being his first start as QB1, Svoboda just didn’t seem like his calm, cool and collected self against Arizona State.
“I think there’s a lot of things we could look at and address with it,” Sawvel said of his starting quarterback. “When you throw a pick six on the second play of the season, in your second start, does that lead you to be a little bit cautious?”
At the end of the day, Svoboda never really had a chance to show off what he can do against Arizona State, but he will have that chance against Idaho, in front of a home crowd. While there may be some growing pains, like his performance in the last game, Sawvel. his staff and the team still have the utmost confidence in Svoboda to lead the offense.
“Evan Svoboda is going to be a really good quarterback at the University of Wyoming,” Sawvel said. “Was he last Saturday night? No. Will he be this Saturday? I hope. But there’s going to come a time when we’re all going to be really happy he’s the starting quarterback because of the skill set he has.”
Getting back on track
Despite the circumstances that lead the Cowboys to this point, their home opener is a must-win not only to even out their record, but to instill confidence back in this Cowboy team. You can bet that this Cowboy squad is going to carry the feeling of that loss into their contest against the Vandals, but whether that’s for better or for worse is still yet to be seen.”
“We played like crap last week and we all have to own it,” Sawvel said.
“You got a little bit of a wake-up call, that we’re not as good as what we need to be.”
