Preview: Idaho Vandals

[Harry]

2013 Strengths: Can I say none? In all seriousness though, there's a lot of depth returning on the defensive line, and that should be a huge help as the team faces several strong passing attacks this fall. Maxx Forde (four sacks, five tackles for loss last season) is the motor that drives this group and he'll be the main reason the Vandals get any semblance of a pass rush going. On offense, Najee Lovett caught 50 passes in 2012 and will be the key to this young passing attack's success in 2013. In addition, Idaho returns four of five starters on the line, which should help ease in new starters at running back and quarterback.

2013 Weaknesses: Breaking in new starters at both quarterback and running back should prove a bit challenging for the Vandals, no matter how battle-tested the offensive line is, so right away, expect a learning curve. Though senior quarterback Taylor Davis is the only player on the roster to have thrown a pass, it doesn't mean he's the best man to do so, which means Idaho could be handing the ball to a freshman this year. At running back, they only picked up a miserable 1,056 yards in 2012, and they're only returning 535 yards of that. After last year's defense allowed over 42 points per game (!!!), the initial thought is that things couldn't get much worse. But in actuality, it very well could. With just one returning linebacker on the entire roster in Matthew Willis, and new starters at three of the four secondary positions, things could start off very ugly for Idaho and finish just as bad.

Read more: http://www.mwcconnection.com/2013/7/13/4488352/wyoming-cowboys-non-conference-preview-idaho-vandals-mwc-football-mountain-west