NCAA Football Preview - Idaho Vandals

[Harry]

2012 SEASON IN REVIEW: Since posting an 8-5 record in 2009 and making it to the postseason, the Vandals have been nowhere near as strong. In fact, Idaho has won a total of just nine games in the three seasons since earning that rare bowl bid which turned into a 43-42 victory over a pesky Bowling Green group. The squad closed out the 2011 campaign with three straight setbacks and the defeats just kept on coming in 2012 as well, with five more loses before the program logged a 26-18 win over a New Mexico State team that lost 11 in a row to finish out the season.

Unfortunately for the Vandals, who were playing their final season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference, they were right back in the loss column a week later versus Texas State, 38-7, which means they were 1-6 just past the midway point. On Oct. 20, the Vandals were blown out of the water by Louisiana Tech, one of the top scoring teams in the country, by a ridiculous 70-28 final.

Due to the team's struggles, head coach Robb Akey was relieved of his duties in the middle of October, with offensive coordinator Jason Gesser stepping in on an interim basis. Brought on in 2007, Akey was just 1-7 in 2012 as his overall record dropped to a disappointing 20-50. Unfortunately for Gesser, he too had to deal with more lopsided defeats as the team lost all four games under his direction, closing with a 45-9 setback at Utah State.

Once the smoke cleared, the Vandals were hampered with a 1-11 record overall and were just 1-5 in conference play.

Dealing with a six-game slide to finish up the campaign, Idaho turned to former assistant coach Paul Petrino to guide them into the immediate future. Hired as the new head coach in December Petrino, who was on staff in Moscow between 1992-94, has been mostly tied to his brother, Bobby, during his coaching career, but is now ready to branch out on his own after most recently being the offensive coordinator at Arkansas in 2012.

"I'm very excited," Petrino said when introduced the first week of December. "It's a dream come true. I've wanted to be a head coach my whole life. I had a chance to come back out to the Northwest."

Read more: http://www.wzzm13.com/sports/article/265511/242/NCAA-Football-Preview---Idaho-Vandals