College football countdown | No. 123: Idaho

[Harry]

Idaho will spend one season on college football's outer fringes as an FBS independent, along with its former Western Athletic Conference rival New Mexico State, before joining the Aggies as two of the newest members of the Sun Belt Conference in 2014.

Life on the fringe is recognizable space for Idaho, which has gone unnoticed and unknown for the better part of a generation since transitioning up to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1997. With one exception: Idaho won eight games in 2009, pulling magic out of its hat on more than one occasion, before stumbling back to a combined nine wins over the last three seasons.

Enter Paul Petrino, Bobby's younger brother and Arkansas' former offensive coordinator, and he's handed a simple yet complicated task – if not nationally known, make Idaho relevant. Think that's easy? Outside of New Mexico State, no other program faces a more difficult path from irrelevance back to bowl eligibility. Patience is the word of the day.

LAST YEAR'S PREDICTION

Simply put, there's not a whole lot to like on either side of the ball. While I like Blackman as Idaho's starter, there's a reason why Akey has yet to name his starting quarterback: he's still undecided. In all, Idaho is currently in a position where it's relying on the defense to win games. The linebacker corps is strong, but let's be serious: Idaho's not winning games on defense. While Idaho should win three or four games, two are coming against Texas State and Texas-San Antonio.

2012 RECAP

— In a nutshell: Idaho lost to an FCS opponent, Eastern Washington, and to a pair of teams making their FBS debuts in Texas State and Texas-San Antonio. The Vandals fired coach Robb Akey after a 70-28 loss to Louisiana Tech dropped their record to 1-7, with former offensive coordinator Jason Gesser taking over and losing each of his four games in November. Hey, at least Idaho beat New Mexico State. When taken in conjunction with the program's then-dire future – the school didn't land an invite to the Sun Belt until this spring – the 1-11 record cast an enormous shadow over the football program as a whole. Why even battle against the tide, scrambling to remain a member of the FBS, when you're barely a blip on the radar in the dearly departed WAC? Now, with its future more secure and an energetic new coach in stow, Idaho can finally take a deep breath and begin moving forward.

— High point: A 26-18 win over New Mexico State on Oct. 6, the Vandals' lone victory on the season. Nothing else qualifies.

— Low point: Idaho lost to Texas State and UTSA. That's not good. While Louisiana Tech beat up on several teams, the Bulldogs rolled up 839 yards of total offense against the Vandals on Oct. 20. That loss was the last straw for Akey, and deservedly so.

— Tidbit: Idaho finished second-to-last in the FBS last fall in scoring offense (15.8 points per game) and third-to-last in scoring defense (42.4 points per game), which is not an easy thing to accomplish. The Vandals scored more than 28 points only once, in an overtime loss to Wyoming, and held only two FBS opponents (the Aggies and Bowling Green) under 34 points.

FORMER PLAYERS IN THE NFL

— 6: P Bobby Cowan (Oakland), LB JoJo Dickson (New York Jets), QB Nathan Enderle (Tennessee), OG Mike Iupati (San Francisco), S Shiloh Keo (Houston), LB Korey Toomer (Seattle).

ARBITRARY TOP FIVE LIST

— College head coaches, last name starts Van-

1. Pie Vann (139-59-2, 1949-68)
2. Jerry Vandergriff (138-105-2, 1982-2004)
3. Whitney Van Cleve (80-93, 1955-73)
4. J.A. VanFleet (12-3-4, 1923-24)
5. Conrad Eugene Van Gent (14-8-3, 1916-21)

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/05/08/idaho-college-football-countdown-2013-preview-paul-petrino/2143911/