Vandals hit with a reality check on Saturday

You have to give coach Jason Eck a lot of credit.

The Vandals are now down two quarterbacks due to broken collarbones, and both top running backs were not available to play at the end of the blowout loss to No. 3 Montana State, yet he is not using any of those issues as an excuse.

During the postgame press conference and his weekly talk with the media on Monday, Eck gave full credit to the Bobcats for handing Idaho a butt whooping. It does help to avoid the excuse making when it was pure domination by the Bobcats on Saturday night.

There were a lot of questions about this Eck-led Idaho team after making the FCS quarterfinals last season, but losing a lot of offensive firepower in the offseason.

Many of those questions still have a “too be determined” sign on them as freshman quarterback Jack Layne is still working his way back from a broken collarbone suffered in the season opener against Oregon.

However, as the team sits at the moment there is one thing for sure: Idaho is a good team but it is not at the level of the top teams in the country.

All three losses for the Vandals have come against teams that are currently in the top six of the recent polls. Montana State remains in third and UC Davis sits in sixth in the FCS Stats Perform Top 25 list released on Monday. Oregon is No. 2 on both the AP and coaches polls at the Football Bowl Subdivision level. All three losses were on the road.

The issue is that if Idaho wants to progress in the postseason, it is teams like the Bobcats and Aggies that it is going to have to find a way to beat. After Saturday, when it wasn’t just a loss, but one of the most one-sided losses in recent Idaho history, it is difficult to see the Vandals at the same level as some of the FCS favorites.

I talked about it in a previous article, but Eck is one of the best at getting his team to refocus from a loss. After starting 0-2 in his first year with Idaho (against two FBS opponents), the Vandals have not lost back-to-back games since.

There are a few things that are in Idaho’s favor going forward.

The brutal part of the schedule is now over. The Vandals played two FBS teams (Oregon and Wyoming) and then five consecutive FCS battles against ranked opponents.

Idaho will get to play back-to-back weeks inside the P1FCU Kibbie Dome over the next two weeks when it hosts Cal Poly and Eastern Washington. Following the two home games, the Vandals will finally reach their bye week and get the chance to lick their wounds.

The final five games in the regular season are against teams that are currently under .500 and have a combined record of 11-21. On paper, Weber State is the hardest team left on the schedule. The Wildcats were ranked last week, but lost to Northern Colorado 21-17 to allow the Bears to snap an 18-game losing streak.

There is also a possibility that Layne can return before the end of the regular season. Eck said that the quarterback was getting an evaluation x-ray on Monday and they would go from there. He said that the game against Eastern Washington on Oct. 26 was the best-case scenario, but the fact that Idaho has a bye week after that game, Nov. 9 at Portland State might be the better target date.

Even with all of those positives that are lined up for Idaho the rest of the regular season, it is time for the Vandals to take care of business. If Idaho would like to have a repeat of last season where it earned a bye and hosted a second-round playoff game, the team has to go 5-0 the rest of the way.

A slip up against Weber State like last season would not knock them out of the postseason, but it would eliminate any chance of getting one of the top eight spots.

It is still in front of the Vandals. They were hit right in the mouth with a giant reality check by the Bobcats.

Now is the time to show that resolve they talk about and come together as a team to take care of business.

The reality is that the Vandals are currently not a contender for the championship, but that does not mean the Vandals of six weeks from now have to say the same thing.

Isbelle can be reached at 208-848-2268, risbelle@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyIsbelle.