Before the vandals make the move to the big sky they're wanting to leave a lasting impression in the Sun Belt conference in football. Coming into fall camp it was no secret that the Idaho Vandals were deep in the receiving core, but with over a week's worth of practices in we didn't quite think the group was this deep.
Coach Petrino talked at length about his receivers after a practice earlier this week rattling off nine names who played well enough to see the field, but just how many of those guys can expect to see the field come game day and where do you have to draw the line to set your rotation.
"What I tell them every day is the film's their resume. So every day they are building a resume, like number one, he's gonna get the ball the most, number two the second most, number three the third most, that's how usually it pans out. You usually go into a game and play five or six but right now, they're just rotating and we'll see,” said Head Coach Paul Petrino.
One of the receivers who has performed well in camp and sits at the top of a catch chart is Jacob Sannon. The physical wide receiver who has been injured on and off throughout his career says the competition amongst the receivers is at an all-time high.
"I kind of like and enjoy the competition. Everyone makes plays and it kind of influences you to make plays when you see others make plays so we're always pushing each other. It's a positive vibe out there,” said, Receiver Jake Sannon.
David Ungerger is another name you have a top of that catch chart who's made play throughout camp as well as Alfonso Onunwor who has emerged as a top receiver, both figure they will get time on the field once the season opens up.
The Vandals saw the end of fall camp on Saturday. Since camp began on August 4th the team has focused on the fundamentals and went back to the basics.
Depth was key for the vandals on offense and defense as four starters return to the offense to help protect quarterback Matt Linehan. On defense, they will have tons of experience returning their front seven. From this moment onward the team's focus will just be on Montana State.
"From this point on we're focusing on Montana State, now we can start in fall camp you put all the offense and defense and now we can focus more down on exactly what we are going to run against them both sides of the ball so we should eliminate any assignment errors get those down to zero and just really get our execution down to fine point and doing everything right,” said, Head Coach Paul Petrino.
