MOSCOW, Idaho – Judging the state of a football team from an initial scrimmage is an iffy thing at best.
University of Idaho coach Thomas Ford Jr. was game, though, and took a stab at it after the Vandals worked live for about two hours with game officials during the team’s first practice in full pads at the Kibbie Dome on Wednesday.
Ford said he was eager to see the defense actually tackle, since to this point the team had only been in shorts, jerseys and helmets before recently adding shoulder pads.
Also, “I wanted to see if we could work operationally on offense,” he said. “I think all of those things got accomplished today.”
Another indicator occurred after the scrimmage. Vandals’ starters, still in uniform, sat at several long tables and in assembly-line fashion, signing posters at an industrial pace. An attribute of a potentially good team, it seems, is that someone actually wants your autograph.
Ford touched on this obliquely in praising the level of urgent, consistent effort he has seen throughout preseason camp. He said the Vandals realize “we are in position to have a chance. Not every team has a chance to be a playoff team.”
Things started off with a bang for the defense as junior safety Tim Jackson intercepted quarterback Joshua Wood on the first play, a short pass across the middle.
But Wood, a redshirt sophomore transfer from Fresno State who has already been named the starter, bounced back quickly. He led the offense to a pair of scores – the first a 25-yard Cameron Pope field goal.
The second, a 5-yard touchdown toss from Wood, was set up by a sparkling run by senior Elisha Cummings, who followed the blocks of senior guard Nate Azzopardi and junior tackle Charlie Vliem into the clear and rocketed into the end zone from 15 yards out. Cummings, however, was not a…
Source link : http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/aug/06/what-coach-thomas-ford-jr-learned-following-idahos/
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Publish date : 2025-08-07 02:09:00
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